This has been a topic of discussion shortly after CE was initially released. I agree some players go over board, but what we do not want is all of the building restrictions that Dune has in place. A lot of players play CE for the building dynamics and it is boring playing on a private or solo and there is no one to show off to. Some players think they need a light on every wall piece on the outside so that it looks amazingly cool at night. It is surprising that Funcom would have signed such a long contract with GPortal, given that I donât think CE was not meant to be around as long as it has been around at least that is what I have read. But who knows. Without facts it is all speculation and opinion. Now the lag has been a consistent issue during certain play times and when there are many players playing. The joining of the two maps I believe has further caused the lag, because now you have dedicated CE and Siptah players on the same server, where they used to be on separate servers. I wasnât a big Siptah fan, so I didnât play it that much, but might check it out more now that I can teleport to and from. The Official server I play on wasnât experiencing any lag until the joining of maps. When I first joined the server I am now playing, I ran across a structure 10x10 or a little bigger, that stretched as far as the eye could see in to the sky. If you went into the building there was nothing there except what was on the first floor. Yes the guy thought he had to have a light on every floor placement so that the stormglass walls looked cool going to the heavens. Players get bored and they build. I am shy of 10K hours and will likely continue playing unless they do something stupid and incorporate some of the same building dynamics as Dune. Performance since enhanced came out needs to be dealt with and maybe it is paying off GPortal and building on Azure, of course nothing that easy. Like some have put it, it is walking a fine line players play for different reasons and that is something Funcom has has to consider when making decisions that impact thousands. My 2cents, opinion, no facts, expect experience playing the game since it launched to what we have today.
Some players build and build and have been doing it for years on their low pop server until now. I have reported a few and I am sure others has well, but it seems like you have to report someone 3 or more times before Funcom takes action. Players also used to weaponize this because Funcom doesnât have the support to actually go in and verify every report, so for a while they just banned players for a few weeks without any real justification other than another player reported them.
Yes - those are both problems, but that is why I argued that
I can understand that if there are a high volume of reports, it might take a while for them to all be investigated. It would be very hard to tell for certain whether that is the case or whether it requires a threshold number of reports to be made as both situations would look similar from the outside. Either way, in my view, all reports should be investigated, and it should be handled as fairly and even-handedly as it can be (humans are humans, there will always be some subjectivity). The report meta should not have been a thing (though we donât actually know for certain that no investigations were carried out, it just appears that way), but they can only investigate what is reported. Any attempt to monitor the entirety of hundreds of servers proactively would require a massive team and consequently massive expense. Therefore the system relies on reports. If players report build A, even though Build B on the other side of the map is actually worse, it is likely that the admins will only look at build A - if build A is a problem, then it should result in action - even though this is âunfairâ because âBâ is still getting away with it.
That doesnât change that some players choose to ignore the rules - in fact you reinforce that point - some players only stop because they have finally been reported. Some then take their punishment with equanimity, but others complain and blame anything other than the fact that they over-built, despite the rules clearly stating that they shouldnât.
I had written responses to multiple posts, but Iâm growing weary of this argument.
All @Xevyr said is simply sain and correct about the players bad behaviour on public servers. What worries me is that some people grow so big in empty servers thatâs giving them the illusion that they own it .
The excuse ⊠I provide for others is nothing else than excuse and it doesnât justify this action.
Unfortunately, the âblocks and dollsâ part of the game (i borrowed the sentence from my dearest @LostBrythunian ) is the part that that the game is mostly focused, so people playing this game mostly for this part will always try harder to destroy the server performance , simply because itâs a vanity issue.
I cannot blame players in this part and although i totally agree with @Xevyr i believe that itâs a âFuncomâ mistake also , since players pay for new blocks and new costumes for their dolls.
Funcom easily wash their hands with the sentence " itâs a free to play server" or âwe have thousands of free servers through all the gaming platformsâ . This however doesnât give better performance on private servers and owners of these servers often hire admins for others to play for free in their servers againâŠ
There for i believe that in the end with all this feedback gathered through the years Funcom should be the one to solve these matters without being punishing to their player base.
I know itâs not easy, there for i can only hope .
These are my thoughts on Officials in relation to how players build:
Attachments are developed over time, because of player connections, efforts and memories. This is where I understand why some perpetually refresh large bases.
There was a friend or loved one that passed and itâs being maintained in their honor.
Once there was a war that shaped their love of CE.
Maybe waiting for the time when their buddies will come back and can show them how awesome the fleshed out castle is now.
A parental figure on the server, doling out loot for newcomers.
Holding on to old gear or pets that can no longer be acquired.
These can elicit very positive thoughts and feels justified!
However, when we look at what Official servers are with the expectations and responsibilities we have charged on us as players, those feelings and memorials will clash. Especially if theyâre too large to reasonably excuse.
Then thereâs the concept of âhome serverâ. Plenty have one, they identify with it because they developed roots, they have claim or BVs. Maybe their fondest memories or the first server they joined.
These are very very human elements. I agree that rules, moderation and responsibility does very much lie at the feet of FC. But we canât completely take out the human factor or players responsibility factors. This game has A LOT of vets with hours in 10k+, these are devoted players. Myself Iâm getting close to something like 9k now, I believe. Some people are living their damn lives on Conan. Of course theyâre feel that flag planted.
Now I should clarify, again, FC has stated multiple times: it is not the size of the base or how many bases you have, it is the impact. A 6x6 tower that reaches the skybox will have little impact compared to a 200x200 spread across the land, potentially blocking passage, POIs, unique resources, encroaching on othersâ claim or preventing othersâ from building.
As has been discussed and enshrined in the ToC over and over, we share the server. Doesnât matter what mode. Doesnât matter the history or who has been there the longest.
Logging in simply for enough time to run through transportory stones bringing back up the timer is especially unjustified to keep large claim. A little better when these types stay logged in longer than that, but still, 1 day out of the 10 days just to make sure their builds donât decay, look at the BLB and maybe say hi to 2 people is ultimately selfish.
Hereâs the thing: if you built it once, you can build it again and you can take screenshots.
I believe if you only want to refresh until the next best content comes out, keep it small and out of the way. Keep the old stuff and most important, but you donât need 10 vaults of seeds, I can assure you. You can amass those seeds very very quickly now.
I think while some of us lived through the problematic early days and then the introduction of the ToC that rightfully deserved its criticism, it becomes clearer now on what we should be doing. New and old players who donât read the ToC, donât care or donât understand though? Ya, theyâre going to in spite of expectations.
I would suggest that most of us have a bit of humanity though. If something is egregious then have a conversation first. And Iâm not talking about personal pet peeves, playstyle expectations or aesthetics (ya Iâve seen some comments over the years, if I want to have a damn black ice box, I will, thanks!), have some damn restraint and donât lecture others on what you believe is âproperâ. Hell, even if they are clearly breaking ToC, HAVE A HUMAN CONVERSATION. You get more flies with honey.
Itâs better than involving FC if it can be helped. Assuming things are the same, you calling the admins is like playing a bit of roulette, you may get rid of the âproblemâ but then the rest of the server suffers too, including yourself.
Do not confuse client performance with server performance . And i believe you are.
Problem here ia that rules are no clear, and are extremely subjectiveâŠ
I have aeen small places.lag more than much bigger ones,
Keep an eye on chests , chest infpumd adds a ton pf lags. Much more thay build pieces.
Nothing ia mpre expemsive than ai and companionsâŠ
The tavern system is laggy⊠Purges are server killers , this thing are worse server side than a build piecea and a large keep
If anyone has time, iâd like to see this fleshed out a bit more. Perhaps the gameplay quality is more hinged on client, personal PC (i.e. Nvidia app) settings, etc. Iâve tried for 10k hrs of varied and different settings only to get the same result: Yesterday I went through 5 servers on official pve, the first 3 were horrible, could barely walk. The 4th was very smooth comparatively, just combat was impossible, and the glitches were prevalent. The 5th server i played was after saying FK IT and going to solo map, which I got bored of in about 10 mins. The 5th server ran like butter on hot toast. Played it for several hours with almost zero issues. It was sooooo nice being able to actually use skill in combat etc. So, is this related to client or server? Of note is that all 5 servers were below 90ping, same US PVE search parameter, not connected directly. They all had from 5 to 10 players online when I joined, and all had easy to find large builds. with extra perimeter walls, bridges, multiple armored pens, thralls galore, etc. 4 failed for me, one did not.
Donât think build sizes have anything to do with our currently crashing, unjoinable, Laggy game play. At 6 AM We can run all over with no lag. Even with 7 players on. Running past huge bases does not stutter the run past and no rubber banding. $ hours later with 13 on the server lag goes nuts.
Generalized Scenario, since so many seem to completely miss this. Using simple numbers so I can no brain it, please donât pontificate simply to argue details. Get the general idea and consider. The server host is a computer, not a magical fairy-dust powered intergalactic quantum computer, just a decent PC. This computer deals with the following: Server #1 6am 5 players log in. Compiling Render loads, background files, base game, for the following per player; 5k build pieces, 1k placeables, 100 thralls/pets, 40 tavern patrons, at least one NPC camp and 10-20 wildlife.
4 hrs later, 4 more players log in. Pc compiling render load etc for the grand total of 40k building pieces, 8k placeables, 800 thralls/pets, 320 tavern patrons, 6 NPC camps, 400 wildlife PLUS
there will naturally be at least 6 more bases extremely near to at least 5 of these currently online player bases so add another 30k building pieces etc etc.
I really do think builds have an impact on the server.
If you still disagree, I suggest the following test: buy a server by the best server host in the world, go in with one friend, build 40k pieces and see how it works out. To be fair, build this just outside of non-buildable land near Mounds or Asagarth, and fully decorate it, split it into the typical 4 or 5 bases near a major NPC settlement as is commonly seen on every server. . . Now plant 2 players worth of max thralls and build the average tavern of at least 40 seats. then invite 4 other players to join and watch them build naturally. LMK how it goes.
I imagine after 6 months or so everyone will still be in beast of burden and looting and stuffing warehouses of vaults. as is usual
The lag issue has solved itâs self. Enough people have given up and moved on that server populations have dropped down to the teens form the 30s. As easy as ever to get on and play as well as the Gportal servers ever have.
Straight up build pieces, no. Itâs what is inside them. I was more responding to the way the conversation evolved, however.
yet that does not explain why a brand new server that was launched on launch day, was having ping issues, and all type of problems, (and still does) exactly in the same fashion as 8 year old serversâŠ
if i would have seen sometghing different, then i would have probably asked for wiping all the servers builds and start again,. but facts shows the issue was not the database but something else.
dont get me wrong i know there is an effect, but not to the point of making the game unplayable,
alsoâŠ
people confuse a lot server side performance with client side performance.
client side seems to have gone to the better with ue5. server performance has improved but we were having the server performance years before enhanced came,
more than 12 players server went bad⊠now its a bit better, but far from ideal.
Do you think each and every Conan server is on itâs own âserverâ? Is it possible that these âfresh brand new Conan Exile Serversâ are on the same old servers that are running the 8 year old servers full of lag and bloat? 
(image from G-Portalâs site)
How many of the Conan Exile server are on one of these things, and how is that effecting each other, even if they are âbrand newâ?
And people confuse a lot of what THEY DO for âitâs all funcomâs faultâ as well. Players in this game straight up REFUSE to acknowledge that their actions have consequences and they DO NOT CARE how their actions effect other people in their shared space. They also do not comprehend that there is a difference between G-Portal and Funcom, nor do they comprehend how business works. And to be clear, I am NOT aiming this towards you. I am just stating the mentality of a number of people I have seen on these forums recently.
And to your point there are definitely times when players experience performance issues ON THEIR END and automatically assume IT MUST BE THE SERVER THUS FUNCOMâS FAULT! You are completely correct on that. 
Basically, what I am getting from this particular discussion as a whole:
Yes there are issues, no we wonât change our own behavior, itâs someone elseâs fault. Also, itâs my fault for my client being suck. Also, there are zero options to adapt and overcome so letâs just keep calm and carry on.
snarky aside, iâve played games with worse graphics and less server capacity and more players that werenât as abused as conan exiles by their own players. I suppose it comes down to demographics and whether or not the player base is capable of self-responsibility as well as how well or how much the game managers manage and control issues as they arise. I suppose in the end, it is what it is. After all my hundreds of hours of research into this and thousands of similar conversations, I have basically given up any effort to encourage personal adaptation to the obvious problems. There are always the few that will step up to the challenge, the rest typically just wonât. Such is life and such it has always been. Iâm just going to play on the one single server that works for me until it doesnât any more, enjoy the game while it lasts, and watch the players and corporate-dealings burn it to the ground. Thanks for the tips and hints and whatnot from all who participated here. Every comment had value to learn from. Perspective isnât always a waste even if it is based on bad data and/or opinion, thereâs always a root source that has quantifiable cause. Perhaps one of the few in IT that have read this and noticed the particular non-nuanced symptoms of obvious coding/mngmt/production/etc failures will one day take this info here and use it for something. As far as the rest, Freedom is messy, and more so is ignorance, and there has always been an abundance of both. mop in hand, I enter the EL to clean my own mess and will put effort into not saying anything about player behavior. Cheers! and may the crom be with you
true but there is something that is also true , funcom hire gportal, my complains goes to funcom, i am funcom customer, i am not gportal customer at all. so any problems with the service is funcom problem not ours.
also about how server is being handled⊠it is funcom rwho should put clear rules and limitation to the game, otherwise it will be abused and it will be continued to be abused. i have found out that most people dont even know there is a TOS, imagine that ⊠even with that thing popping every tme you log in.
Yeah but when Funcom was literally at the point that they were going to have to close their door forever if the early access sales for Conan Exiles did not save them, and the original server provider bailed on them, they had to take whatever whatever they could get and I have zero doubt that what they got was a equivalent to:
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8 years of It I swear I can walk this path in my sleep.
I have been up and down this hill so many times I know every blade of grass and stone, and guess what?
The path is just as rocky with every trip, just as twisted with every step.
After a while it just turns in to back ground noise.
While I would agree that buildings have an effect on performance, there are few things I want to say.
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Building is one of the unique, primary features of Conan and its incredibly, unfathomably good. To cut that down by forcing build limits would be disastrously bad. It would greatly reduce the fun that people get out of Conan.
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There are private servers that can handle noticeably larger player counts and buildings and mods than the officials, while the gameplay remains decent. So the finger pointing at gportal is probably pointing in the right direction.
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As pointed out by Hansel, people mistake server side performance with client side performance way too often. Especially when it comes to large constructions.