With early access and launch rapidly approaching, we know many guilds and player communities are eager to coordinate, pick a world, and prepare for arrival in Solisium. In this article we’ll discuss server structure, provide a list of worlds, detail the specific launch timings, and clarify some questions we’ve seen from the THRONE AND LIBERTY community.
Early Access & Full Launch Servers
We saw some questions from the community regarding how Early Access Servers and Full Launch Servers are planned to work and interact with each other. Our goal is to design a system that provides non-early access users the same fresh server opportunity as early access players. Please refer to the early access section in the TL Business Model - What to Expect article for more information.
Early Access Servers are the set of servers that open on September 26 at 10AM PST (5PM UTC) before launch on October 1 at 10AM PST (5PM UTC). After the full launch on October 1, all new servers opening will be part of the Full Launch Server group.
We want to provide some additional clarity on how these servers will work. Here’s a quick summary, with more specifics below the following items.
Once both groups of servers are live, players can create new characters on Early Access or Full Launch Servers at any time, subject to population caps. If you begin playing at full launch and want to join your friends on an Early Access Server, you may create a character there on October 1 regardless of whether or not you purchased an Early Access Pack.
Players can transfer from Full Launch Servers to open Early Access Servers at any time.
We will offer limited-time free transfers to all players from September 26 through October 17.
Early Access Servers will eventually have their transfer restriction lifted.
Early Access and Launch Server Transfer Details
At the full launch on October 1 we will temporarily restrict characters from transferring off of Early Access Servers to Launch Servers. Players on Full Launch Servers can transfer (subject to space availability) to either Early Access or other Full Launch Servers without restrictions. We plan to remove the ‘early access’ tags and let players apply to transfer from Early Access to Full Launch Servers when the time is right. Our team will work to determine the optimal time based on player feedback and data. We know players are interested in this date and as we get a feel for how population has been distributed following launch, we will update you with a planned timeline.
Limited Free Server Transfers
We know that launches can be a hectic time for MMO communities. Between queues, coordinating with guilds or friends, or finding new communities after launch, it can be hard to find the right server to call home. To help you find the optimal server to call home we are providing players the ability to claim up to two free server transfer tickets per day, beginning with early access and running through October 17. Please note that free transfer tickets will expire 24 hours after claiming to avoid players stockpiling.
During the free transfer period, you can transfer to eligible realms as frequently as you’d like (subject to the number of tickets claimed). Please be mindful when transferring. If you transfer off a server there is no guarantee you will be able to transfer back to that server if it reaches its population cap. During the free-transfer period there is no transfer cool-down. After October 17 server transfers tickets will need to be acquired with Lucent, and server transfers will be set to a 30-day cooldown.
Population Caps
THRONE AND LIBERTY Early Access and Full Launch Servers will have a maximum capacity of characters who can enter the server at any given time to help ensure stability. As a result, servers with a high population will likely have queues at launch. To mitigate queues, we will lock high population servers from allowing new characters to be created. All existing characters can continue to log-in. We will announce when character creation locks are being implemented on high population servers, and when they will be unlocked. If a server that has been unlocked reaches the population cap again, it will be re-locked. We hope that you are able to use the free server transfers to find the optimal server to call home for you and your community.
Server List
We are releasing server names ahead of time to ensure that you’ll have time to coordinate with your friends and guild members. It is important for our team to establish servers with healthy populations, and each region will launch with a minimum of two servers to choose from. We plan to open new servers as the existing servers reach their population caps. We have prepared many servers ready to be opened instantly should demand require, and share the names for the first ones we’ll open below. For PlayStation players, each region will feature one PlayStation-only server, which PlayStation players will be able to view at early access and launch.
At early access and Full Launch we’ll have servers in five regions:
- North America (NA) East
- North America (NA) West
- South America (SA) East
- Europe (EU) Central
- Asia Pacific (AP) Northeast (Tokyo)
Auction House Clusters
Auction Houses will be clustered to combine a region’s auction houses together. Let’s use the NA East region as an example. Auction houses on the Early Access Servers in NA East region will be clustered together. At launch, Full Launch Servers will be separately clustered from early access to ensure fairness. In the future, we will consolidate auction houses— resulting in early access and Full Launch clusters joining together while still contained within the same region.
Looking Ahead
We’re excited for you to set foot in Solisium and begin your adventure on September 26 for early access and October 1 for the Full Launch. Interested in early access on September 26? Checkout the Early Access Packs.
Our next server related article will include details around the pre-load experience for THRONE AND LIBERTY. Stay tuned to our website and social channels for more information as we head toward launch. We’ll see you in Solisium soon!