The first thing that needs to be understood is that there will always be a limitation. It may be a cap that we create or it may be the server crashing, but there is no way the game will be able to handle an unlimited amount of pieces to massive wars. We can constantly try to push back the point before this cap is hit, but hitting it is inevitable.
For the long-term, we'll be looking at some war redesigns that will better spread out the fighting in a way the game can handle it while still retaining the core components of war.
For the short-term, we have two options and we're giving the community the power to choose which option you want. Before jumping into voting, please make sure to think deeply about each option as both have important consequences. Below are the options:
1) No Visit Cap - In this scenario, the servers will run at maximum capacity and eventually crash. This means server lag and it means that, eventually, the server will go down for an indefinite period of time before our team can bring it back up and keep it running. While we check on them regularly, it's not out of the question for a server to be down for 24 hours before we're able to fix it. During this time, anyone on the server will be locked out of the game and anyone that unknowingly jumps to the server will also be stuck. The "upside" to this is that in war, the defender is not "penalized" and potentially locked out because an attacker brings too many pieces to the war.
2) Visit Cap with 30% more Capacity for Kingdom Defenders - This is a new version of the Player Cap that will prevent people from joining a server that is about to reach it's limits and crash. As the server slows down, most Players will not be able to visit the server. This would be the final limitation before the servers actually crash and lock everyone out. In this new version of the Player Cap, the limitation would be 30% less strict when using your Castle Estate or a Kingdom Embassy. The servers are significantly less likely to lag, crash, and lock players out, but it is still an artificial limit that will prevent Players from Visiting maxed out areas and preventing play in those areas.
EDIT: 30% server capacity is not the same thing as 30% of the Kingdom Members. Some have misunderstood an increase in server space to mean that only 30% of their Kingdom can join; this is not the case. The extra 30% capacity essentially means that each side will be allowed roughly the same number of participants before the server is considered "full."
Discussion is encouraged on this matter, but please remain civil and try to check biases at the door. We would prefer not to remove players or posts from the topic.
Current Implementation:
- Visit Cap limits players to Visiting Kingdom Castles and Embassies once it reaches high capacity (30% remaining space)
- For Kingdoms to qualify, they must have existed for more than 2 weeks
- Once the server reaches 100% capacity and is about to crash, the servers will prevent all travel
This thread will remain stickied, the poll will remain open, and votes are allowed to be changed. If the other option becomes the majority, we will switch to it.