Hypothetical

Ok. As the title states. Ankama should make a non transferable server. Because honestly, server transfers ruined the game and messed up the community and economy lol. Also what are they thinking about with quests for dofuses?(lol) Anyway, that is besides the point. But for real, some of the best times me and my friends had, and from people I have spoken to was before server transferring was available. I realise that servers cost $$, but, honestly I to think that there would be a high playerbase. I mean why wouldn't there be? A server which doesn't have transfers sounds amazing, lol. People can't just join, exploit a server and leave. Whether it be for XP or kamas or whatever but, realistically I do believe over time this server could be amazing, reliving the old days of levelling which was enjoyable back then, nowadays it doesn't even feel like you should xp as end game isn't even hard to achieve lol. It just feels like a drag and it feels like it's just getting in the way. Even not allowing the use of ogrines at all would be amazing, but we know Ankama would never go for something like that. -- Anyway I would love to see what people think, is it a good idea? I just feel as if the game has lost it's touch and redoing it again with other people who feel the same way as myself without interruption by transfers would be awesome. Anyway, let me hear what you guys think!!! :- ))

Population dispersion caused by the addition of 2 Dofus 2.0 servers, epic server and Wakfu has contributed greatly to the thinning of playerbase. The increase of the world with the coming of frigost and divine dimensions further spread the already thinning playerbase.

Adding another new server will only make it worse. Ankama will spend resources making and managing an additional server, and this new server will cater to a very few individual who likes its concept, which means the regular server will lose more players, that could worsen their already low population. End result, low population will be lower and Ankama will have to maintain one more additional very low population server.

May sound a bit harsh. But to tighten up the playerbase, Ankama should REALLY close up several servers, just to make it more active.

I can already imagine those eyes looking around while reading this text, but then I ask you this question: why do larger companies with a playerbase bigger than Ankama could get, closing server, just to get the enviroment more lifelike?

IMO, there are just way too many servers for such a small community.

Forcing players to bigger servers and closing down some has been the logical idea a lot of other players gave for years, but sadly not practical. The merging won't go smoothly as a lot of players are going to lose their houses, paddocks, and there's others who enjoy the solitude and perks of being on smaller servers.
Now that we have the server transfer and account transfer services, it has become more flexible for players to move voluntarily. Why isn't everyone or most players moving to bigger servers like Rushu then or create a character there and start over? I'm quite sure finance is not the only issue. These thousands with a percentage of them could potentially quit for good if they were all forcefully crammed/merged with bigger servers.

Should look at it this way, that having a lot of open servers is not the reason for lack of liveliness. All players have a choice when they start off to pick their server, and people know before they even start which server is the most populated yet there are still players picking smaller servers.

Indeed from first appearance IF Ankama did merge smaller servers with big ones, we'd see an increase of liveliness but can it be certain we won't have players asking the opposite, of opening more servers then?

Gunnerwolfang|2016-01-29 01:08:54

Population dispersion caused by the addition of 2 Dofus 2.0 servers, epic server and Wakfu has contributed greatly to the thinning of playerbase. The increase of the world with the coming of frigost and divine dimensions further spread the already thinning playerbase.

Adding another new server will only make it worse. Ankama will spend resources making and managing an additional server, and this new server will cater to a very few individual who likes its concept, which means the regular server will lose more players, that could worsen their already low population. End result, low population will be lower and Ankama will have to maintain one more additional very low population server.

The thing is, everything that's been coming out is only catering to the veterans of Dofus. Dofus is not very noob-friendly at all, and I think that's part of the reason why the population is "thinning." There isn't any new blood coming into the stream. Put yourself in the shoes of a new person. When they first start the game they are greeted by the amazing new Incarnam. Ankama spent a lot of time and effort into creating a new Incarnam. Who did they do that for? The people who went there only to get the new achievements? But after Incarnam the new player joins the real world of Dofus, which is just a bunch of high-leveled experienced players who (usually) blow them off because they're already doing something else and don't want to spend the time to teach them about the game and level with them.
A new server would fix that problem because everyone would be on the same page. New players and experienced players alike would all be in the same boat, and veterans would actually take the time to show new players the ropes because they're doing the same thing.

With the new "refer-a-friend" coming out, a new server could be exactly what Ankama needs to pull some new players in. I don't know about you, but I have tried to get my friends to play Dofus with me and they stopped because I'm so far ahead of them. Being a new player with them is way more fun.

To quote Nerodos, " Unfortunately, your previously referred friends will not be carried over to the new system."
I don't see how this will be successful without new players. But new players won't just come given the current circumstances. Most people that are optimistic about the idea said that they would do it if their friends/guild-mates did it with them. That is putting yourself in a new person's shoes. It's boring doing it alone which is what most new players are faced with.

If Ankama were to release a new server along side their new movie, It could really draw in a huge crowd of new players.

trololo2222|2016-01-20 13:20:08

The very first wave of bots will easily destroy all the hype of the new server

I disagree. Bots are only successful because you can sell the mats for kamas, which you can then sell for real life money (or keep, I don't know what botters do with it). Nobody will be buying much mats because they've started anew, and don't have many kamas for bots' mats.

^this

Not only would it be great for new players, but it would also be really interesting as an old player to see all of the changes that Ankama has made from a new person's point of view. The change to professions in particular.

Just my opinion:
Actually if an experienced player started along side with new ones, they'd still have an advantage of their knowledge, they'd do quests a lot faster and progress further because they know what to do to save time. No doubt there would be good players who would be willing to help novices, but let's be honest, if a pro nerd player wants to start anew it means he'd do that with the mind to dominate the server. And time is what will show the difference between old and new players, it would be just the same as usual servers. After that the lack of players will make the server become another shika or zato or smth.

^ This...

Even if you make a new server where there will be new and old player playing on new accounts, old player will play by themselves in 1-2 months time and be level 150+, while the new players will not get any help from the busy old players and will still be a clueless level 50+ for the next 2 months.

Forcing old players to start back to level 1 will not ensure that they will play along the new players.

D1st0rt|2016-02-16 08:05:42

but I have tried to get my friends to play Dofus with me and they stopped because I'm so far ahead of them. Being a new player with them is way more fun.

Have you tried playing with them on a newly created character instead of your high level character?
Being a new with your friend does not have to be playing in a new server.

It's true that some players would progress faster and leave others in the dust, but that's true anywhere. There are people that love the grind and will soar far ahead of others regardless of whether there's a new server or not. It's about their personality. The server could be made in an attempt to bring in new players, and if everyone starts at level one it would force vets to play along side new players, at least at first. The vets should also play there with a mindset of helping the new players learn and grow, instead of being an "alpha player." That would hopefully get rid of the population issue

@Gunnerwolfang There's a different feel from starting over with one person and starting over with everyone. They feel more equal and more welcome (and are more likely to stay) if they're on the same page as multiple players compared to one.

But, this is all just hypothetical of course. I don't know what Ankama has planned, but whatever it is, it's probably better haha.

trilkgh|2016-02-16 17:10:18

@Gunnerwolfang There's a different feel from starting over with one person and starting over with everyone. They feel more equal and more welcome (and are more likely to stay) if they're on the same page as multiple players compared to one.

Problem is, that feeling of being equality and welcoming would probably only last for 1-2 days, maybe 1 week max, after that, the old players will be using high level characters and the new players will again be left all alone once again.

Have you tried looking for new players in Incarnam and talking to them? They are either: 1. old player creating new chars, and 2. new players looking for some guidance. Why do you think they have a hard time finding help? Not because there are no old players in Incarnam, but because those old players are too busy to help them.

Creating a new server will not change that, old players will still be too busy to help them. Heck, nobody even bother to make new characters anymore in order to play with friends who are new to the game, leaving a sense of power gap between new and old players who are friends. If you want to invite a friend into the game, create a new character, preferably one that you are not familiar using, so that your friends will not feel too helpless and noobie... He'd have more fun if he sees that you are also struggling just like them... Unfortunately, if this is happening in current servers, it will still be the same in a new server, new players will feel inferior to old players using classes that they are familiar with and can gain 150+ levels in a few week.

I think it would take longer than a few weeks to gain those levels. If a new server were to be created there would be no markets, so it would take way longer to get the equipment you would need to power level.

Ok, a few months if you like... Still, a server that will serve it's purpose for only a few months will not be worth all the hassles and problems it will bring into the general population. The current playerbase is spread thinly as is.

It might, if it were to bring in a bunch of new players. I'm not saying it wouldn't be a gamble, that's for sure.

No need to gamble, this is a losing odds to gamble with. We can't afford to lose at this time. Wasting Ankama's time and resources in order to further spread the already thinning playerbase is just not a feasible gamble.

You should see it as a long-term project, not a short-term one of 2 weeks only. If you want to bring new players you must also keep them playing or else it would be useless.

Can you see the new server's fate in 1 year? in 5 years?

Nowadays it's very possible to get pass the 100 lvl barrier in about 1 month playing non-hardcore, the speed of the game now is higher than before, pro players actually advance too fast compared to new players leaving them behind. That means new players can only play with other new players or with helpful veterans (which are very rare and won't be with novices for a long time). They would have to struggle to learn the game, and after some period of time they'll just quit. Then after few months you'd see high lvl players playing with themselves somewhere very var while new players are having hard time to find friends of the same lvl.

Also, remember not all people would be ready to ditch their old server to start anew again, which means the population of a new server would be more depended on new players. And as stated above, those new players might quit the game any time, leaving only few groups of pro players in the server. And after a long time passes, if another new player were to log on this server, what would he see? Deserted Incarnam and Astrub? High lvl players who don't want to bother with "nubs"? We already have such servers.

And lastly please don't think I'm such a hater, I only try to look at the future of this new server realistically.

Or maybe they can just make quests giving more xp so new solo players can level quick to 150+ without the need to find low level groups for grinding. Just like other MMOs where you can leveling fast with quests and when you hit the level cap, can start to find groups for equipment grinding and etc.

(sorry about my english)