Since this is our last weekend without Tera the trolling on the forums is at an all-time high, particularly about the PVP servers. So let’s look at this a little bit more realistically. These are the common terms thrown around to describe each server:

Basilisk Crag – RP-PVP Community, Softcore/Casual, Lower Population, No Zerg Guilds, Friendly/Mature Players, Anti-Drama, Close-Knit Community

Jagged Coast – Hardcore PVP Community, Medium Population, Premade Guilds (From other MMOs), Quality over Quantity, Veteran PVP Players

Valley of Titans – Hardcore PVP Community, Highest Population, Old School PVPers, Top OWPvP Competition, Zerg Guilds, Official PVP Server, Oceanic Community


Current Reality:

1. Population – During CBTs it was pretty clear that Valley of Titans and Jagged Coast had higher population than Arachnaea and Serpentis Isle, so why are we getting 3 PVP Servers and 7 PVE servers? If anything, EME has learned something from KTera and other MMOs. One is that it’s always much better to add servers than to merge them to avoid the panic that the game is dead. Two is that the PVP community always complains the loudest. A large part of Tera’s US advertising campaign is saying how “hardcore” it is and its World PVP gives it a bit of an edge against other major MMOs, despite all the issues that many people have with it. Since ~90% of MMO players don’t look at the general forums much, they want to make sure that people on PVP servers do not end up with a lack of OWPvP regardless of what server they randomly choose.

It wouldn’t be much of a surprise if all 3 PVP servers have higher population than all of the PVE servers, so it’s really not something you need to worry about. To use a recent example, Rift was released in March 2011 with much less advertising than games such as Aion and Swtor, and within half a year it sold over a million copies. If Tera gets half of those numbers, how big would the population be across 10 servers? Ten servers is a very cautious number for this game and unless it completely fails all of launch servers will be very populated.

2. Player Quality – Let’s remember that this is the internet, even better, it’s an MMO community. People love to lie about their age, computer specs, jobs, relationships and most of all their skill and gaming experience. All servers will be full of drama, trolls and a great variety of the kinds of people we hate. Unfortunately PVP servers are usually much worse in this department than PVE and it’s just something we have to deal with. When comparing the best players in a game you are generally looking at the Top ~1%, those who clearly stand out above the rest. In a new game there is no way to tell who this 1% will be, largely because most of these people don’t frequent the general forums. In time this “elitist” community will begin to appear, but there is no way to predict where whether it’s on one server or multiple. There are simply too many people who think they are this 1% while having nothing to back it up.

3. Guild Quality – Most of the guilds that have been formed before release are not premades, they are an experiment. Even if they’ve come together during CBTs the chances that they will survive far into release aren’t that great. Depending on how relevant OWPvP is, people will be drawn to the few guilds that show themselves dominant during the early weeks. This is where Quality over Quantity argument does become relevant, it doesn’t matter how many guilds a server has as long as there a few that stand out above the rest. Both new and old players will strive to eventually join these guilds and be considered top tier by the community. There are only 3 PVP servers, and all already have a big number of guilds heading there. Most of them will start out on a level playing field and have the power to shape the quality of their servers. There are a few premade guilds with people who have known each other for years and will get a little bit of head start, but they are not all going to the same server and their impact is not as huge as some people make it out to be.

4. The Future – If Tera is successful and new servers are added the launch servers are very likely to remain as the place to be. This has been seen in most major MMOs for both PVE and PVP servers. Since there are only 3 PVP servers, it’s a pretty safe bet that all of them will provide a populated and very competitive environment. Many people like to remain loyal to their original server and this will be especially true if a good Server vs. Server system is introduced. Furthermore, if a Server vs. Server competition exists it wouldn’t make much sense for all the best players to pile into the same server. The game would provide best entertainment if we had excellent competition both within the server and against other servers. Obviously most people have their own/their guild’s interests in mind before the server in general, but hopefully we can act reasonably not to ruin our own gameplay experience. I am sure at some point they’ll introduce server transfers and it will make the balance of power between servers much more fluid.


What This All Means:

Tera is a new game, this means you don’t have to spend hours going around forums trying to figure out what server and guild you want to join based on people’s experiences with them. Most of the guilds are brand new and most of them only have a 3 paragraph intro to convince you to join them. Currently Valley of Titans is in discussion of being the most populated server, but making judgments according to Day 1 of character name reservation means little. With Open Beta ahead there will be many new people buying the game and as mentioned in this thread common sense suggests that all 3 PVP servers will have a healthy population and many quality guilds. Three populated and competitive servers are much better than one that’s horribly overpopulated. So let’s be reasonable and not jump onto the bandwagon of the server that says Full. The only reasonable labels are Unofficial RP-PVP and Oceanic since those include a small percent of the population who want to be in the same community. Other than that all 3 servers are PVP and we are all here for just that, PVP.

TL;DR Version : Just pick a server dimwit.

Amen.

I think it's pretty evident which server has what in terms of guild quality. Even if you just browse each guild list for each server you can clearly see a theme. People like to think that "hardcore" doesn't mean anything but the fact is it does and it's obvious what servers have the majority of quality hardcore guilds that have been established in other games. Not to say that there aren't exceptions. Obviously every server will have dominant hardcore guilds but certain servers obviously have a larger concentration of said guilds.

Quote: Hissatsu on 04/14/2012, 06:26 PM - view

In my experience with Aion and Rift a guild coming from another MMO only gives them an edge during the first weeks, and even that isn't always. They will not determine which server is superior, all guilds as a whole will. No one is going to a PVP server with intentions of being terrible, everyone would like to be the best. Hardcore is just a term used by those that are more vocal than others. You don't see people going around looking for non-hardcore guilds.

*starts a slow clap*

Thanks to all of you that have been so kind as to herd all the sheep onto 1 server for me to slaughter.

Id like to add that there is no RP pvp server. Im not sure why BC is being labeled RP because the vast majority of the guilds on that server are not RP at all.

Quote: Sixteen on 04/15/2012, 12:17 AM - view


I disagree. Oh and tons of people are looking for non hardcore guilds. How else did so many friendly casual guilds join bc.

Quote: Hissatsu on 04/15/2012, 11:16 AM - view

People look for casual PVP guilds because they want to avoid drama and elitist attitudes, not because they want less competetition. Before the game is released Hardcore and Casual are just words, which server stands out above the rest will not be visibile until guilds have a chance to prove themselves.