Now, some people have suggested that we merge servers to try and solve some of the problems that Icarus has been having - some of these problem have faded with new options like Cross-Server dungeons, however there are still some problems that people feel would be best addressed by merging servers.
I'm not here to argue for or against a server merge - I'm just here to provide insight into why, exactly, such a thing wouldn't necessarily be quick or easy.
The main thing that I can think of would be names. On any given server, each name can only be used once. There will only ever be one character named "1pwny" on Baellas, for example. However, let's say that there's a player named "Goku" in both Hakain and Kalas; what would happen when the servers merged? Should the players be given the option to change their name? Should one get priority over the other? Should their names be permanently changed to "Goku 1" and "Goku 2"?
Similarly, Guilds. You can't have 2 guilds with the same name on a server, because it would cause needless confusion. However, different servers don't have this restriction. What would happen when you tried to merge servers? Would the larger guild keep it's name while the smaller one would have to switch? Who knows?
The other concern I can see would be the auction house. Each server's economy is separate, and different. If the servers were to merge, would every item be put together into one auction house? Well, that might pose a bit of an issue. What if Karasha gear that would sell for 2000g on Hakain only sells for 600g on Baellas? Will the players now have wasted significant money putting up items for auction that nobody will ever buy? Is it fair? No.
You could probably come up with work-arounds for these problems, and any of the others that a server merge would pose. My main goal here is simply to explain why merging servers would be a bit more complicated than just smushing the databases together.
I'm not here to argue for or against a server merge - I'm just here to provide insight into why, exactly, such a thing wouldn't necessarily be quick or easy.
The main thing that I can think of would be names. On any given server, each name can only be used once. There will only ever be one character named "1pwny" on Baellas, for example. However, let's say that there's a player named "Goku" in both Hakain and Kalas; what would happen when the servers merged? Should the players be given the option to change their name? Should one get priority over the other? Should their names be permanently changed to "Goku 1" and "Goku 2"?
Similarly, Guilds. You can't have 2 guilds with the same name on a server, because it would cause needless confusion. However, different servers don't have this restriction. What would happen when you tried to merge servers? Would the larger guild keep it's name while the smaller one would have to switch? Who knows?
The other concern I can see would be the auction house. Each server's economy is separate, and different. If the servers were to merge, would every item be put together into one auction house? Well, that might pose a bit of an issue. What if Karasha gear that would sell for 2000g on Hakain only sells for 600g on Baellas? Will the players now have wasted significant money putting up items for auction that nobody will ever buy? Is it fair? No.
You could probably come up with work-arounds for these problems, and any of the others that a server merge would pose. My main goal here is simply to explain why merging servers would be a bit more complicated than just smushing the databases together.