The action RPG TERA is about to get a bit smaller. Developer Bluehole announced today that they'll be merging the game's eleven servers into three.
The four PvP servers will be combined into one currently unnamed server. The same will be done for the six PvE servers. The sole role-playing server, Celestial Hills, will be untouched.
Bluehole advises players to take several precautions before the server merges begin. The cap of eight characters per server will apply even after the merge so if you have more than eight spread across several servers of the same type, you should delete the excess. Players are also advised to redeem level 60 Reward Scrolls, remove any sales from the auction house, and think of a few backup character names in case someone from another merged server has the same name.
Servers merges are typically done in games that are losing players. The servers become too sparse and this causes additional players to leave because there's no one else to engage in group activities with them. This seems especially damaging for TERA, considering its player-run politics.
“We’ve got several metrics to measure server activity—and many of ours are below the mark,” said producer Chris Hager in a letter to players. “We’ve also been listening to the issues our players have been having in the game: lack of resources, lack of groups, extended wait times for dungeons, and so on. We feel that the best way to address these problems is to increase the number of simultaneous players on our servers."
TERA first launched in Korea in January 2011. It debuted in North America and Europe in the first week of May this year.
