Feedback:User/Steel Legend/Guild Wars 2 Character Creation and "Full" Servers: A Potentially Devastating Scenario

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Guild Wars 2 Character Creation and "Full" Servers: A Potentially Devastating Scenario

At the suggestion of the Guild Wars 2 support page, I am posting this feedback here in the hopes that someone with the power to fix this will see it and take note. I'm sure that my concerns are far from those of the overall majority of Guild Wars 2 players(at least I think they are), but I know that there are a number of people out there who are concerned about certain aspects of the server system that could potentially ruin the game for a large subset of players. The primary issue I'm speaking about is the whole "preventing players from creating characters on servers that are currently 'Full'". I fear that this restriction may ultimately cause more damage to Guild Wars 2 than it would seem at full glance, particularly during the critical period of early player reactions to the game, and I would like to urge you to make a necessary change to this system to avoid any unnecessary backlash. Let me just start by saying that I completely understand why you currently don't allow players to make new characters on "Full" servers. It would be silly to expect that every server could host an unlimited number of characters/players. But in many people's opinions, this method of regulating server populations may in fact turn out to be a very destructive means of control, rather than an efficient one. Because of its uniqueness, WvW is posed to be a very popular form of play in GW2. Many guilds (my own included) are actually planning to focus the majority of their time in WvW. And while these guilds certainly appreciate the "guesting" ability in regard to PvE and PvP, they must ultimately accept the fact that, in order to play WvW with their friends or guildmates, everyone must have their characters on the same server. This poses a problem, however, because with the current server system, some players may not be able to do this on Day 1 (or even possibly for several days) because of the restriction on "Full" status servers. During the BWEs, I personally was never actually able to get onto the server that my guild was planning to join, simply because it was full every time that I tried to make a character. So you can understand my concern when I envision this happening for thousands of players during Early Access. A scenario where a player can't create a character on the same server as everyone else and is forced to either:


- Make a character on another server and then transfer at a later time, but is still unable to play WvW with everyone else for who knows how long.

- Simply wait until the server opens up more to actually create their character and play.


ArenaNet has been more than generous and creative in its approach to ensuring that players can connect with one another. Guesting is incredibly helpful and eliminates many of the problems of joining friends or guilds on other servers. Providing free transfers for characters during early period after launch will also solve a great majority of issues regarding population concerns and accidental server commitment. And considering these aren't even the only steps that you've taken to ensure the most fulfilling experience for players, it seems almost petty to complain about something like server regulation concerns. But I must protest that preventing players from CREATING a character on whichever server they desire, even if they aren't allowed to log in until room frees up, is a very harsh and frankly unfair policy to adopt. By doing so, you are needlessly risking the alienation of thousands of players who won't be able to play on the same server as their friends or guildmates. Players who could potentially grow frustrated and disillusioned with the game very early on and possibly even quit because of it. I mean think about it: these people could very well stop playing before they technically even get started! ArenaNet... This game is too important to jeopardize a large portion of its success on because of a potential hiccup such as this. I IMPLORE you to please explore an alternative means of handling character creation on "Full" status servers. Could you not also use the same system that is in place for players that already HAVE a character on a server that is full, and simply send newly created characters temporarily to a different server while they wait for space to free up (yet still allow them to actually CREATE their character on whatever server they choose, regardless of population)? I urge you to consider just how many frustrated customers you might potentially have when they wake up Saturday morning (after the server has already been up for several hours) and log into Guild Wars 2, only to find out that they are unable to join their friends/guildmates on the same server because its "Full", and worst of all, can't even make their character until space frees up. Think about how dejected these individuals would feel; how hopeless the prospect of a server actually freeing up on opening weekend would seem to them. Please... do not risk turning these players away before they've even had a chance to set foot on Tyria's soil. Your hard work and dedication deserve to be experienced by everyone who has waited so very patiently for the fruits of your labor. I know this message may seem rather long-winded, but I believe it was imperative that you know exactly what is at stake here (and that I was not simply just another player complaining for more features). I have faith that you will do the right thing and find a way to allow players to join the servers that they want to join, regardless of their current status, while also effectively managing server population as a whole. Thank you for your time and consideration. I wish you all the best come launch day and look forward to seeing you all in-game.

Sincerely,

Erik Waananen

a.k.a. Steel Legend


P.S. - For an even more detailed discussion on this topic with like minded opinions, please see the following recent Guild Wars 2 Guru thread: http://www.guildwars2guru.com/topic/43753-worlds-fullunacceptable/