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Server Wipe - Pros/Cons


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I'm interested in seeing what the pros/cons are to wiping the server again before the next stress test. I know the reasons the wipes occurred prior, but honestly at this point I think it would do more harm than good. The main reason, there are alot of us that don't feel like leveling up our characters and going through all that stuff again. I know there are alot that will come back, but I've seen a dramatic decline in how many people still play vs in the past.

So, I ask you to please consider all angles and at least tell us why, if anything you are going to wipe the server again. As for me, if there is another server wipe, I won't be back until the game is live and no other wipes will happen again.

Pros - Clean server, no bugged items, incorrect items, deleted inactive accounts

Cons - starting over, losing players, losing funding

Those are just the ones I can come up with, I'm sure there are many more that will have some input on this subject.

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there may be a few people with stuck hull upgrades still (due to a mission logging bug back in Feb I think), but I suppose these can be dealt with on a case by case basis by GM's, or that particular character being restarted.

The database format is now pretty much stable because most of the data that needs to be stored is in an appropriate format. The game balance is still a bit skew-whiff as people are levelling to 150 in a matter of days, which clearly depends on exploits. We need to find all those server exploits and plug them. So please if you know how to level up a player to that figure in days via a loophole drop us a line - most of them have been fixed now due to the honesty of the community but I'm pretty sure there are still a few in there.

It may be that we only have one more player wipe, when we announce the server as open. I think most of us would agree that ST4 has seen the transition from an alpha state to beta, with all the stability and game depth improvements that have occurred. You're certainly right about not wanting ST transition wipes, the last one was only triggered by the server crash we had. The only downside is that those people starting now have it a bit harder to level so quickly because of the exploits being plugged and they may be a bit 'miffed' about 'missing out' on those loopholes (when in reality they are just getting more game to play).

We'll have a chat about it - I certainly can't speak from a content point of view, but from a server standpoint I think we're not too far off from that open status, and the final wipe before the game officially 'starts'.

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Wipe. It's still stress test. I have no problem starting over with everyone else if having a totally clean dbase helps the game. If people leave as a result of that . . . well I guess they didn't fully grasp the meaning of the words "stress" or "test".

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Exactly, wipe the toons again, because some, like me, wouldn't really mind starting anew. Or you could wipe the toons that are above L75 or so, this would certainly allow for some to be able to keep items for the new toons. But I wouldnt mind starting over again.

Not sure if this would qualify as exploit or not, but in Mars gamma, there is a hole in the gravwell coverage around the destroyed freighter area that enables a wiley player to warp to deimos, then up to the freighter once the nav is discovered.. Not sure if thats an exploit or not tho..

Still, on the subject of a wipe, you could even consider wiping all characters above L30 or L30 and up. Or can it even be done that way?

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I think we should have wipes when they're absoutely necessary. But I do see the cons of wipes, and think that we should keep them to the minimum amount possible. Count me as a player willing to start over when it's necessary for the good of the game, but preferring not to.

(spelling)

Edited by Terrell
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I understand wipes may be necessary but imho they should happen only in last resort. Some of us spent a lot of time leveling and gearing up several characters and I for one know that I would take a break before redoing it again. I will (would) be coming back at some point tough. I believe the risk of losing disappointed players is very real, specially considering that nowadays many of the online characters are dual or tri boxes.

Edited by Sprotcha
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It is a stress test, and the game is what's important, not the race to 150. If/when a wipe is needed, it's obviously needed or it wouldn't happen. I had several chars reach 150 live, got bored and deleted them (after transferring money of course :)). Wipe the accounts, I'll be right back at it having fun playing. I do wish call forward were ingame, since I've messed up a bit on my skill points, but a wipe would do the same thing. :P

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i don't really mind starting over. i like the game as a whole. i fear if theres a wipe before my wife's toon(ivy :) ) gets to 150, she will be discouraged and wife aggro will be iminent. :)

if all nessesary repairs/tweaks are happy then open it up as "live" ,wipe the server, and lets get busy :D . untill then well keep working for 150 and learning the ropes :P

Edited by Blattu
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I understand wipes may be necessary but imho they should happen only in last resort. Some of us spent a lot of time leveling and gearing up several characters and I for one know that I would take a break before redoing it again. I will (would) be coming back at some point tough. I believe the risk of losing disappointed players is very real, specially considering that nowadays many of the online characters are dual or tri boxes.

I agree with this point of view. I've been playing the EMU since st 1 and have seen a tremendous improvement and applaud the Devs for all their hard work. I've also seen the playbase dwindle each time there is a player wipe. It's true many players are dual-boxing to quicken the leveling process of alts. I have never dual-boxed or run tours so it's taken me a bit longer to level my toons. The constant fear of a wipe has caused me to focus on just two toons this time around and have just recently started a third. This means I still have two available slots remaining to test new content while keeping my mains to assist in gearing them up. For those that are already bored because they've maxed their toons, feel free to delete your toons and start over.

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wonder if there is some way to backup the player database, so if there is another massive crash or something that would require a wipe, everyone's accounts could be retained at whatever lvl they were at when the backup was made.

but I have no idea if that would even be possible lol

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to offset your worries - I take a snapshot of the player database every week, and there's also a local backup on the development server.

There's no wipe on the horizon either, so don't worry about that.

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thank you TB

(sighs of relief,no wife aggro on the horizon) :lol:

/agree

But one request... When it is time, PLEASE just do it, no warning, no "Server wipe in x days" Just a surprise "Hey Happy mumble mumble day...You are all back to level 0" For me knowing the exact time of my character's demise alters my game play style. I seem to start wife agro projects, mow the lawn before the knee high rule, agree to *shudder* SHOP!, anything but play. Maybe one of those survey posts that only 10% answer asking how would you like to find out posts?

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Terrell

I think we should have wipes when they're absoutely necessary. But I do see the cons of wipes, and think that we should keep them to the minimum amount possible. Count me as a player willing to start over when it's necessary for the good of the game, but preferring not to.

Sprotcha

I understand wipes may be necessary but imho they should happen only in last resort. Some of us spent a lot of time leveling and gearing up several characters and I for one know that I would take a break before redoing it again. I will (would) be coming back at some point tough. I believe the risk of losing disappointed players is very real, specially considering that nowadays many of the online characters are dual or tri boxes.

cpwings

I agree with this point of view. I've been playing the EMU since st 1 and have seen a tremendous improvement and applaud the Devs for all their hard work. I've also seen the playbase dwindle each time there is a player wipe. It's true many players are dual-boxing to quicken the leveling process of alts. I have never dual-boxed or run tours so it's taken me a bit longer to level my toons. The constant fear of a wipe has caused me to focus on just two toons this time around and have just recently started a third. This means I still have two available slots remaining to test new content while keeping my mains to assist in gearing them up. For those that are already bored because they've maxed their toons, feel free to delete your toons and start over.

I agree with these guys. Im typing on my phone so won't say more than that for now :P

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:P

I know wipes HAVE to happen but please put it off as long as possible. I want to go fishing in cooper so bad but a wipe comes before I can reach the correct combat level... :P

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So, pretty much, we go into ST5 with the toons we have already? Is that what you're saying Tienbau?

we probably would have to wipe to go into ST5 to check that all the loophole hacks have been removed. We could probably keep the toons, but they'd need to be reset to level 0.

As far as I can see the only need for another player wipe before we go live is to check that leveling hacks are all fixed - in that regard it benefits everyone to report leveling hacks you may find.

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I have to chime in for a sec. Those of you that knew me on Andromeda knew that I was really dedicated to the game and really put in the time. However, due to me now being older and free time being a luxury (ahhh missing college) I just do not have time to keep leveling up. I played ST3 for a while and it took me forever to get to lvl80 or something on my TE. To do it again with another whipe coming.... Nah... When the game is ready to be played I shall come back. I understand the need for testing and whipes, however I just do not have the time, since I'm a lot more of a casual player nowdays.

Keep up the excellent work in mean time gents!

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