Doesn't matter if you "slow it down" a little by removing "plot a course". The people who DO get through will not be the semi casual laidback roleplayer sorts, but the hyperambitious competitive ones. They only need to make ONE run, it doesn't take more than one ship to bring over a team of alts who are all
good at everything. They are not going back and forth on a daily basis, and after the initial transfer of wealth and skill, the rest will be done by mail. For some, it will be ALL by mail.
In fact,
the harder you make it to get there, the more it benefits exclusively the super elite, who have run out of markets on liberty and want to sail over their 99 skill crafters to set up huge settlements on the "fresh" server and find new markets there.
Now let me be clear -- I am one of those rich
-bored- Liberty veterans. On Liberty, I have dragon armor and LT weapons and mega tools and 2-3 GOLD sitting in the bank and nothing to spend it on, I already have my settlement expanded to nearly the size of Texas. I no longer even try to sell much because what the hell do i need more money for? I sell mostly 5 speed horses with wagons, which go for like 1.5 silver for everything, but there is no market anymore so I sometimes just give them away free to new players (but not many new players).
I am also a noobie Novus player. I have a rather small ramshackle deed in the middle of nowhereville, it is NOT impressive, just a smidgen larger than the free 20x20 deed, and I have all of five silver in the bank. Slowly, slowly, slowly I will be trying to make it on a level with my old server, the longer that job takes, the more fun that is ahead of me. Because once the servers connect, I simply mail my 3 gold on liberty to Novus, sail over on my magic enchanted Knarr my 90-skilled characters, and proceed to eat through the content on the new server too. In about six weeks, it will look (and feel) identical to Liberty. Most new players will probably fade away once they realize they are moving further and further down the player heirarchy level.
I don't want that. I love having a rustic little wood house farm where I milk the cows and shear the sheep and live a very simple and modest playstyle. Now, you can say that I am -STILL- free to do all that after the servers are joined, but it then becomes too easy just to send myself super tools and moolah right through my 100 Courier mailbox, and poof the simple life is over. It's like in the MMOs when they put up instant portals to everywhere then told the "immersion" players they could just "ignore" the portals. You cannot ignore a speedup of "evolution" on that scale. Superhighways and super canals will start crisscrossing the server whether they are needed or not, no one ever treasures a 40Q unenchanted plain iron rake (becuase its the best you can make yourself). All of the hunters are wearing dragon armor and weilding glimmersteel megaweapoins with 99LT, charging about on 75khm 5-speed hellhorse battle carts and mowing down waves of mobs like they were sheep.
Probably once Liberty and Novus servers are joined, we will start seeing a massive fall off in player numbers once more, as people get bored with that yet again. The first to go will be the newest players, the ones we need to be the lifeblood for the future. I will probably go back to exploring little podunk alternate servers (though I seriously prefer Sklotopolis both for the players and mostly for the professional administration), looking once more for a way to keep alive a game that has been the majority of my existence and of my sanity for the past six years.
If we can keep the fusion of the servers off for a minimum of 12 to 18 months, the better for most players. The better for
Sklotopolis.
I hope the NEXT server they open, has the following rules BEFORE THE SERVER EVER OPENS:1) it will never ever ever connect to the others. Well, maybe if it gets a supermajority 65% vote.
2) it wll have 3x/3x or lower skill/action, heck maybe even 1x/1x.
3) It will not have a player donations page for at least six months
Be careful what you wish for. Liberty was trickling off in numbers quite dramatically before the "fresh start" server opened, and the faster we bring the new server up to par with Liberty, the faster the new becomes the old, and the boredom starts setting in again.
ok wow a lot to read through but i have to say a lot you say makes sense i get where you are coming from with it . personally me i have never played wurm to make money even with my skills the only reason i want my other char over is ofc so i can use her for my own gain not anyone else`s gain lol but hey that`s me yes i would love her skills right now but she has no money bit like my char on novus
. for me i love the new start i have a place where i can dig,surface mine etc..... that has not been touched before kinda cool for me anyway as i have never done that on wurm before as it has always been made before i got there . i do agree with a lot of what you say especially the donation it could have waited a bit longer butttttt if it was not for the donations we would not have a server to play on i am very happy to donate when i can to keep it going ......... love the server btw also love the community that goes with . as for the lower skill action hmmm if i wanted that i would have stayed on wurm online tbh i dont want it handed to me on a plate but i want something a little more again another reason for choosing sklo in the first place , connection of the servers for me can wait yes i want my main char there but it can wait its not like i gain other than for myself lol . the fall off of player will happen no matter what in any game lets face it new is a novelty always has been always will be people get bored simple as that but all in all i still agree with the longer they are disconnected the better .
one more thing though it is poss that connecting them could make it so people populate both servers rather than just the new one it may be that some make chars on both servers ie.... alts and mains on both but ofc i do not know just mean its a possibility
the world is bigger now
or will be lol