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We don't necessarily need a large amount of servers as much as a few servers with high playercounts and good quality. Many online games have only a few servers but very high playercounts, and this provides for much more player interaction (which is what makes Graal what it is). All of the most successful servers (such as UN, Era, and Zodiac) have extremely high playercounts, which make things like guilds, nations, PKing, party systems, and businesses fun.
When you go to a server with a much smaller playercount such as NPulse or Maloria, it is a much more tightknit group of players who all know each other and it can be somewhat intimidating for a new player.
While it is a tricky subject because it is only fair to give every player a shot at running their own online world, I think the server list and Graal in general could do with a little shake-up.
Gold and Classic playerworlds should only be those few servers which are fully up and running with plenty of content and an active staff team, and should all be closely watched and overseen by the Graal staff themselves. Because Gold and Classic playerworlds are the ones seen and played on by the majority of players, especially new ones, it only makes sense to make sure they are of the highest quality.
The Hosted tab should be used almost like the classic tab is now, for the newer playerworlds run entirely by players that have a decent amount of content but are not quite finished yet. These playerworlds can still be seen on the main list, which makes them easily accessed, but are generally not a part of the first impression a new Graal players gets.
The website should also provide more information to players about Hosted playerworlds and playerworlds that are Under Construction so that they know what is out there and what they can try. As of right now the only way I know of for a player to find out about an Under Construction server is to hear about it on the forums or to see it on the RC list (which many new players won't have a clue how to do) and type it into the box.
In conclusion, and for those who didn't feel like reading everything, I think a server-list with a few high-quality Gold and Classic servers with large playercounts, and then a Hosted tab for those servers who are completely re-doing everything (like Delteria, Maloria, and N-Pulse) would look much more attractive to new players and would help deal with the "empty" feeling that the serverlist has now. Seeing a few servers with playercounts of 100+ looks better than seven or eight with 60 or 70, or as little as 10 or even 0. |