35.1. Are there multiple worlds/servers/shards or one huge single shared world?
With MMOGs, one thing we like to say is 'Content is King'. There's nothing more challenging than filling a huge virtual world up with interesting content, points of interest, quests/missions, NPCs, etc.
We believe very strongly in a hand-crafted, interesting, immersive world, and this takes the artists, world builders, and designers a long time to make.
So, from our perspective, creating one vast world as opposed to a traditional 'shard' system just wouldn't be worth it... the content would be spread out way to thin and you'd probably just have repetitive terrain going on and on for hundreds of miles. An MMOG world should be interesting; in fact, it should be more interesting than the real world, with more fantastic views and settings, and more of them.
Currently, in order to provide enough interesting and compelling content, we think multiple game worlds or “shards” are the way to go.
Source: Official FAQ
I think there will be a demand for MMOGs that only use one shard at some point in the future. But I also think there will still be shards co-existing.
The main reason we have the shard now is that we simply don't have the budgets and time to build a single world with enough content. Eventually, in other words 'when' not 'if' this may change. If it does, I personally would like to work on a single shard game, despite many additional challenges such a game would present in addition to the technical and the content creation issues. - 29 November 2005
Source: Aradune Mithara
35.2.1. Will there be single character servers?
We plan on having single character servers. At this point, though, I can't say whether we'll have them at launch. I am a big proponent of them for RP servers, PvP racewar servers, etc. in addition to why you find them attractive.
That said, given the size and scope of Vanguard, its different continents, the different races, the myriad of classes, in general we encourage creating alts -- even to the degree of not really considering them 'alt's, but rather simply different characters you play in order to experience all that Vanguard will offer, which would be difficult with only one character. - January 2006
Source: Aradune Mithara
Will this server be available at launch?
I'd love to have it so, but I definitely can't promise that. Like I just posted, it depends on how many total servers we launch with. How many alternate ruleset servers you launch with depends first on how many servers you launch with period, and it's far too early to know that. - January 2006
Source: Aradune Mithara
35.3. Will there be over-crowded servers?
Hopefully not. By providing sufficient content and by launching and splitting servers as necessary, we hope to minimize this issue.
Source: Official FAQ
I'm simply going to do my best to make sure servers have enough people for the necessary critical mass, but not too many people which causes the problems this thread addresses.
I just want you to know there are financial issues that I don't have complete control over. I will do my very best to influence things, but I am not all powerful (yet). . - 28 October 2005
Source: Aradune Mithara
35.4. Will you allow server transfers?
This is undecided at this point.
Source: Official FAQ
35.5. Will you have different servers for different play styles?
We think an MMOG needs to choose a focus and stick to its guns... say cooperative PvE, ala EverQuest, or PvP, ala Shadowbane. BUT, we think a LOT can be done via alternate rules servers, including exploring PvP in an otherwise PvE game, RP servers, etc.
Before Brad McQuaid left Sony Online, one of the last things he worked on was Firiona Vie, the RP server, and we think it turned out pretty well (in fact, he leveled a Ranger there to 47). At Sigil and with our first MMOG, we plan on really pushing alternate ruleset servers to their limits.
Source: Official FAQ
Lastly, before stressing again that this is something we're going to test in beta, not something written in stone, I might also add that it could be something done with some of the servers and not all of them. If this is truly an issue that divides players in any siginficant way, alternate rule set servers are often the answer. I'm a big believer in them in general, for PvP, for RP, for all sorts of ideas. If you have a strong base that likes the core of your game but there are a few issues here and there that are controversial, where the community is perhaps split (not necessarily evenly, but to a meaningful extent), then altering the ruleset while still adhering to the core vision of the game is a good way to go in my experience. - 27 October 2005
Source: Aradune Mithara
35.6.1. How many PvP servers at launch?
Yes, at least one. How many alternate ruleset servers we launch with will depend on how many people we estimate to be playing Vanguard right away, which will depend on demand, initial sell-in, and other factors. - January 14, 2006
Source: Aradune Mithara
35.7. Will there be Realm v Realm Servers?
Awesome ideas and discussion. Definitely an area I'd like to explore with alternate ruleset servers. Likely not to be a server type available at launch.
Source: Aradune Mithara
35.8. Will there be Premium Servers?
We realize this is a complicated and controversial subject and are still debating the issues internally. More on this later.
Source: Official FAQ
We are not currently planning to have premium servers.
If we did, they'd need to damn well be worth it, and clearly offer more and not just what a player might expect anyway (easier said than done).
So I'm not ruling one out, per se... maybe we'll think of some good way to do one that players feel good about and that we feel good about. But no current plans.
Source: Aradune Mithara
35.9. Will there be Role-play servers?
There will definitely be PvE servers with alternate rule sets. Some sets might be perceived as more 'RP' than others, but because people have different definitions of what 'RP' means, we will likely label these server types with more specific names.
Source: Official FAQ
35.10. Does Vanguard tend towards role-playing at all? What in-game systems are there to develop this aspect of the game, if any?
We're implementing. One of our goals for Vanguard was, from inception, to appeal to several specific types of players, including those who count on the world to be immersive enough to support and enhance their role-play experience.
Source: Official FAQ
35.11. Will there be ‘iron man’ servers with permanent character death?
Perhaps at some point. We are certainly intrigued by the idea and know it's been experimented with recently. It is not a priority, however, to launch the game with one.
Source: Official FAQ
35.12. Can we have a 'no kids' or M-rated server with an age requirement to keep the immature people out?
I also don't think that an M rating would keep away the people some of the posters in this thread don't want to see in the game anyway. People of all ages are going to play the game regardless. Annoying jerks are going to be in the game no matter what, and we will do our best to deal with them from a CS standpoint and with game mechanics that will hopefully curb unacceptable behaviour.
Lastly, as I've posted in the past, I don't think it's accurate to pin bad behaivor on an age range. There are great players out there whether they are 12 or 60 years old, and there are jerks out there whether they are 12 or 60 years old too. - October 2005
Source: Aradune Mithara
35.13. Why can't servers intended for different timezones/playtimes be patched at different times?
This issue is a little more complicated than it would appear at first. The technology limitation is a bit of a misnomer. We have two things we're really talking about.
First, if you allow every English speaking person, regardless of location, to play on every single English speaking server -- then this is the problem that it creates: You patch the US servers first, and then 8 hours later, patch the UK servers. What happens to the person running v1.0 in the UK that logs into a server running v2.0? There's some ways to bypass this, but it is an issue. So it's a trade-off.
If we wanted to have separate patching schedules, which is theoretically possible, we could segregate UK servers from US servers and your account is only able to access one.. but most people don't want that and it doesn't adhere to our Vision of the community.
That being said, we really want to make sure that the impact of patching or downtime is as minimal to as many people as possible, and we're going to work toward that.
Source: Ozuri
Localized Servers on seperate patching schedules isn't as easy as it sounds, and it complicates the issue of patching and server execs by a factor that adds in many more things that can go wrong.
There's a customer support issue here, load to Tech Support, Operations overhead.. and the increased complication of adding all of these things together that allows for many more potential fault points -- places that things can go wrong.
All in all, please be assured that it is something of which we are ever aware and we'll do what we can to minimize the effect on all international players. -April 2005
Source: Ozuri
Also, after my tenure as Game Operations Manager at SOE, I have been working on a few new tricks to minimize downtime across the board. I hate long patch windows as much as the players do. Rest assured, one of my main focuses going forward is reducing the downtime and refining the patching process. -April 2005
Source: Artoi
35.14. Will players be forced to play on localized servers?
There will be no forced localization.
Source: Ozuri 07/13/06