Warhammer Online closing 63 servers

By Oli Welsh Published 11 March, 2009

Final round of transfers today.

Mythic's MMO Warhammer Online is closing 63 low-population servers: 43 in the North American and Oceanic regions run by Mythic itself, and 20 of the European servers operated by GOA.

Mythic has been offering free transfers off these servers for some months now in a campaign of consolidation, after the game's registered players fell from a high of 750,000 immediately after launch to 300,000 subscribers early this year.

The final round of character transfers, which took place yesterday in the US and is currently underway in Europe, is automatic and compulsory. The "source" servers will be closed after it'sc complete.

Lists of the servers being closed, and the destinations for characters on those servers are available on the US and European WAR websites.

Healthy server populations are critical to any MMO, but especially one with the large-scale player-versus-player warfare dynamic of Warhammer Online - so server closures like this are something of a necessary evil.

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About Oli Welsh

Oli is Eurogamer's acting deputy editor and reviews editor and likes to take things one word at a time. He is among the best dressed people in South London.

Read more articles from Oli by visiting the Oli Welsh archive page.

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Comments (41) Latest comment 3 years ago

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  • iokthemonkey #1 3 years ago

    Ouch.

    What's with these MMO companies overselling though at the start?

    The maths don't add up here. They're down to just under half of the population they originally had, but the number of servers being closed doesn't tally with that ratio - I believe I read somewhere it was going from 60 to 20 in the US (if anybody knows different, please feel free to chip in). So from the start they set up servers that would only be half-full. I know it's not an exact science and some servers just end up busier/less populated than others for whatever reason, but I just don't get it.

    What happened to the idea of expanding based upon uptake?

  • drchocapic #2 3 years ago

    Ouch

  • Moz #3 3 years ago

    Ouch! hadn't realised the number of users had dropped by so much.

    Is a shame it has the potential to be such a good game, just really wasn't in a finished state when it launched.

    Personally can't be bothered with it now, if I'd been able to play as a slayer from day one of the most recent patch it would probably have been a different story.

    If there are others like me out there WAR has made WOW some money as it gave me a taste for MMO again then didn't deliver so I've found myself back playing WOW after a 3 year gap!!

  • paul.doh! #4 3 years ago

    I really liked WAR, but the server I was on was too quiet so I left so to me this is excellent news. I think I might re-subscribe!

  • Benno #5 3 years ago

    This game isn't going anywhere, its in great shape at the minute IMO.

  • Benno #6 3 years ago

    3 servers are all getting merged into burlok

    cant wait

  • Seto #7 3 years ago

    Just resubscribed to this - great news that there will be more people about .

  • DFawkes #8 3 years ago

    Awesome, an influx of peons to smash from those 3 other servers :)

    I've never understood why new MMOs have so many servers, though I suppose it's better that than not being able to cope with demand. As long as it's still got a relatively strong subscription base (relative to all but the great unstoppable one), and it's future is secure for a while, I'm happy.

  • Benno #9 3 years ago

    fawksy whats your char name on burlok? what tier are you in?

  • andijames #10 3 years ago

    Maybe more people would of stuck around if they were more populated so this may have a positive effect on building back up the community. Did they spread the game worlds too thin to start with?

  • Benno #11 3 years ago

    Possibily, WAR more than any other game needs a large density of players on a particular server. I am glad they are biting the bullet and doing the merge.

  • DFawkes #12 3 years ago

    Difawkes, Tier 2.

    I've never subbed full time to an MMO, but aiming for the next Tier is a big motivation for me. That we've got incoming people from other servers to Burlok is a fantastic bonus, but I've never had trouble finding groups as is. Did some great PQing last night, and got lots of new armour and a sweet axe.

  • Eraysor #13 3 years ago

    The servers really need to be almost totally full for this game to work. It's no fun on your own, and public quests are impossible.

  • Velios #14 3 years ago

    I found this to be a really poor game, and was one of the 450,000 that didn't activate a subscription after launch. I just couldn't see any real sense of community, it was just a single player game really, where you might team up with some random for 5 minutes only to look over your shoulder and he's gone. EVE is far better with it's corp system.

  • dxm #15 3 years ago

    Agreed that low pop servers where sucky. My main char was on burlock and in the end I just stopped playing as it was (or felt) empty.
    Started some characters on higher pop servers and it was much more fun.
    Will log in again this weekend I think and see if I get back into it.

  • Wellytopp #16 3 years ago

    Our server is full, I now have over a 10min queue to log on in peak times... and don't get me started about the fortress/keep take latency issues...

  • anomagnus #17 3 years ago



    any MMO is caught with a catch 22 when it launches.

    Launch with too few servers, and people get pissed of they cant enter the game.

    Launch with too many, and you probably have to merge a few at the end.

    Mythic choose one of the only two options it had. Things haven't worked out entirely to plan, and now they're merging. It doesn't mean the game is failing, it means that they were cautious and optimistic at the beginning.

    Sadly, those that wish to see the sKy falling will choose to interpret this as the end of WAR.
    Edited by 1 at 11/03/09 @ 10:25

  • DFawkes #18 3 years ago

    I had a great experience once when I tried to solo take every BO in Tier 1, Chrace. It worked too, I used my Lion to distract when I got low on health, and take out all the guards. It was a challenge, but fun.

    That was, until I got to the last one. When I'd got the last guard, about 10 Destro guys came running up and laying into me! But just then, reinforcements all flocked in, and we held them off easily. We all warbanded up and kept that whole isle for the evening, despite attempted counter-attacks. It was great, especially since the group role played so we discussed our homelands (I was already there) and beliefs.

    That's what I've never had on WoW, and is why I like WAR more. It really is the community and sense of being a part of a greater war that makes it, which is why these server merges are a good idea.

  • iokthemonkey #19 3 years ago

    Launch with too few servers, and people get pissed of they cant enter the game.

    ---

    True, but surely if they have the servers ready and in place, all they need to do is turn 'em on and repopulate the server list to show new ones, right? I appreciate some people will stick with their original servers but if you do get an overwhelming response doesn't it make more sense to respond to that rather than start with too many servers?

  • Kremlik Verified Co-Founder, Crash To Desktop #20 3 years ago

    Well this is what happens when you assume ALL players will be sticking about past the release month - happens every time all the time...

    Yea Anon the valut forums (aka where the WAR haters amass) are screaming 'WAR is dead!!!', when LOTRO is running just fine on half of what servers we have in WAR :), hopfully now we've sorted out the server issue now they can work on extending the size of the servers themselfs and using those spare and empty servers as new server/instance nodes.. Possibly bring back the cloned servers again, that was actally not a bad idea..

    Money is on both Mythic and GoA openin up new servers in the summer anyway when the other games have dried up with content for a time and CoA opens up anyway.

  • spammage #21 3 years ago

    Consolidation is a word usually reserved for failing MMO's. Discuss.

    Any WOW server issues are moving people OFF realms which have become too densely populated.

  • El_MUERkO #22 3 years ago

    WAR needs a large density of players on a server that are also balanced equally between order and destruction, if this closure creates that situation on the remaining servers and if those servers are maybe boosted in power so less servers hold more people then the dynamic that was sorely lacking after launch may well come to pass.

  • sneetch #23 3 years ago

    I just transferred to Karak-Norn from Karak-Hirn and I can't believe the difference in play quality so far, last night I ended up in a RvR warband in T1 with my Warrior-Priest bank-alt (I accidentally booked out of Altdorf) and got into a two hour fight with Destruction in ORvR. Three-four levels later I'm really looking forward to playing more WP and I need another bank-alt. :)

    I though Karak-Hirns population was fine, it seriously wasn't, since joining Karak-Norn I've been in T3 keep sieges and PQs and it rocks with this level of activity. T1 (and no doubt T4) is a bit rocky at times for some people with the extra players from trial accounts "lagging" things up (as in client slowdown rather than server lag).

    As my mate said, "it's actually great to be complaining about the lag in Altdorf with all these players but bloody hell, have you no Dessies to kill?" :)

    @iokthemonkey
    It's difficult to judge, as with all MMOs a lot of people just joined for the first month at launch, in this case some were just burning time while waiting for WOTLK (that's what I was planning on doing BTW), the servers were a lot busier then and it could have gone either way, unfortunately it dropped but the game is awesome and I reckon will be a builder, hell, another 3 of my mates have dropped WoW for it.
    Edited by 2 at 11/03/09 @ 11:38

  • Kremlik Verified Co-Founder, Crash To Desktop #24 3 years ago

    @sneetch o/ at me if you see me :) Norn is a huge change from what we had on Izor as well however it can get a litte bit too zergy for my liking hopfully the new content will expand past the city RVR content so we aren't all stuck in the same zones at times

  • Gl3n #25 3 years ago

    They made the classic mistake of opening with far too many servers to begin with. As a result populations were often diluted and people started leaving when RvR was too sparsh. Too many zones, too many players.

  • iokthemonkey #26 3 years ago

    It's difficult to judge, as with all MMOs a lot of people just joined for the first month at launch, in this case some were just burning time while waiting for WOTLK (that's what I was planning on doing BTW), the servers were a lot busier then and it could have gone either way, unfortunately it dropped but the game is awesome and I reckon will be a builder, hell, another 3 of my mates have dropped WoW for it.

    ----

    I agree, but if you look at the ratio of uptake versus sales, they were way off. As I say, I'm sure I read somewhere they were dropping to a third of the launch number of servers in the US, yet their subscription rate is closer to about half of the initial launch. I just don't get how those figures tally unless they simply launched with an over abundance of servers.

    As I say, surely it makes more sense to have the servers PRIMED for use but not yet live. If the uptake is too great, put the new servers online when it becomes clear there's a problem, rather than spread everybody across too many servers then have to consolidate.

  • dolphan #27 3 years ago

    I was tempted to try WAR out for my MMO-dabbling after getting bored of WOW, but I've gone back to LOTRO instead. Maybe in another year.

  • Rizo #28 3 years ago

    like i said from the start shit game thats dieing!

    Back to WOW

  • Khanivor #29 3 years ago

    I get the feeling the high number of initial servers was put in place to satisfy the suits, who could point at big numbers and do another line.

  • Furfoot #30 3 years ago

    I gave up after being sucked through a freaking keep door for the 1000th time.

  • Slabbathepave #31 3 years ago

    Thie is my MMO of choice. The one i decided i wanted to give a large chunk of my time over to. Really wanted to get into it.

    Unfortunately this is the only MMO that doesnt work. Bugs the hell out of me but i cant log in at peak times and that pisses me right off. Constant lag and DC around evening times. Very very irritating. Has been this way since launch for me and i have no reason to think it will get any better. Such a shame.

  • Hypercube #32 3 years ago

    like i said from the start shit game thats dieing!

    Thanks for taking the guess-work out of whether or not you're a moron.

    Anyway, I've been having a blast on my new server (started a new char with a r/l friend, then several alts after that) and I've been in almost constant oRvR since about lvl 13. Now lvl 17, just got 2/3 of the Obliterator set for my BW and I can safely say that I've never had this much fun in WoW. I do miss the fishing sometimes... how strange!

  • sneetch #33 3 years ago

    @Hypercube
    like i said from the start shit game thats dieing!

    Thanks for taking the guess-work out of whether or not you're a moron.

    LOL! Excellent, excellent, excellent. I do so enjoy a good retort. :D

    I do miss the fishing sometimes... how strange!

    I do too at times, it's very odd.

  • sneetch #34 3 years ago

    @Slabbathepave
    Thie is my MMO of choice. The one i decided i wanted to give a large chunk of my time over to. Really wanted to get into it.

    Unfortunately this is the only MMO that doesnt work. Bugs the hell out of me but i cant log in at peak times and that pisses me right off. Constant lag and DC around evening times. Very very irritating. Has been this way since launch for me and i have no reason to think it will get any better. Such a shame.

    Funny, apart from a couple of times recently when the login servers failed, I've had no problems at all.

    Perhaps I'm just lucky or perhaps it's your net connection/in-game settings.

  • Slabbathepave #35 3 years ago

    @sneetch

    Perhaps your right. I have been in contact with customer support on both sides and they of course blame each other. Either way its beyond my meager abilities as a paying customer :)

    What i do know is that WoW and LOTRO both work so well at all times that i cant help but think its WAR and not BT.

    A huge shame really because WAR is the only MMO i am interested in playing but i can in no way justify paying a monthly sub for it to not work at peak times.(and i have tried to justify it oh so many times :))

    If it were just laggy i could put up with it but i seriously doubt its a question of bandwidth... it just boots me off of the server.

  • Minako #36 3 years ago

    This is why games should be designed like Eve, Guild Wars and similar games; where everything appears to the end users as one giant server. Characters can freely go anywhere, none of this pay to transfer a character nonsense. Eliminates the problem of friends not being able to play together without creating new characters on the same server. If a game isn't doing well then machines can be quietly removed and no bad press when it happens, which often drives even more people away and/or keeps new players from joining.

    The whole server shard concept is old tech and needs to go away. Massively should mean EVERYONE plays together in the same world, not a bunch of identical little worlds. The server loads would balance out, as players in Asia most likely won't be on at the same time as those in in the west; with some overlap between Europe and North America. In practice, many of the games are run by different companies in different regions, but at least let everyone in the same region play together.

  • Kremlik Verified Co-Founder, Crash To Desktop #37 3 years ago

    Aye Slab WAR has more 'active' areas to handle then WoW or LOTRO although both have their own player intantive areas but their main content doesn't revole around them.. Hopfully the engine and hardware of WAR will improve to support it more in time

  • sneetch #38 3 years ago

    @Slabbathepave
    @sneetch

    Perhaps your right. I have been in contact with customer support on both sides and they of course blame each other. Either way its beyond my meager abilities as a paying customer :)

    What i do know is that WoW and LOTRO both work so well at all times that i cant help but think its WAR and not BT.

    Oof, I know that pain, I was caught in a responsibility ping-pong match between NTL and PlayNC over whose fault it was that I couldn't connect to Tabula Rasa. In the end I just gave up, I'd played the beta and it wasn't *that* good. :)

    A huge shame really because WAR is the only MMO i am interested in playing but i can in no way justify paying a monthly sub for it to not work at peak times.(and i have tried to justify it oh so many times :))

    If it were just laggy i could put up with it but i seriously doubt its a question of bandwidth... it just boots me off of the server.

    Naw, probably not bandwidth in that case. Although one of my friends is with BT here in Ireland and his network connection seems to do a hard reset every night about 9. Which is a bit of a pain.

    The only thing I can think is that it's the client overloading but that's easy to detect: if the problem improves or goes away when you set all graphical settings to minimum then it was a client problem, either way as (I imagine) you've cancelled your account there's no easy way to check... unless you get a trial account, and as that probably won't work without dl'ing the trial client it'd be a lot of effort for a stab in the dark.

    Actually, I just realised that I told a lie: I used to have atrocious "lag" back towards the start, it was UI lag rather than net lag, the problem was with the game refreshing the icons that show the list of effects characters are under too frequently and it was damn near unplayable at times in scenarios and ORvR but one of the earlier patches sorted that out.
    Edited by 2 at 11/03/09 @ 16:09

  • levitate #39 3 years ago

    I never got into this game even though I tried and initially liked it. I got my purple backpack and some other purple things but that's it. The first tiers were almost empty and the quests dull. I'm not spending another 6 months of dull questing just to experience an even duller endgame.

  • iokthemonkey #40 3 years ago

    I don't think you'd have a large number of offline servers sitting ready at a release for the eventuality that you might need them since it would be wasted money if you didn't.

    ----

    Not really. If a company hosts multiple MMOs (as GOA for example do) having the hardware ready and waiting wouldn't be that big a deal. If the game in question doesn't need it, another game will. And considering they've already spent the cash on servers they're now switching off anyway...

    The thing is though by starting smaller, consolidating the position THEN expanding, it gives a much better player experience (higher population servers) and is better from a PR angle.

    I appreciate it IS tricky to get the numbers right but as I say, the maths don't work here.

  • Lemming81 #41 3 years ago

    AS messy as the "adding too many server-->screwing the population balance-->getting rid of the needless servers-->consolodating the population" fiasco was, I can confirm it HAS worked.

    Now with the free trial available, lets hope it draws back the players it would have lost because of that problem.