Decay refresh needs to be based on play length. I would say 1 minutes active time refreshes 10 minutes of decay timer when in proximity of your structures. This would mean that as you play, you refresh your timers and the longer you play, the more time gets put on your timer and you can leave your structures sit longer. Serial refreshers would need to actually play on the server.
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that ain’t playing either, that is just going afk in your base…
it would actively discourage you from doing dungeons and everything else which is NOT near your base.
again, you play how you like, and I play how I like, ok?
PS: If I wanted to go on a vacation for 10 days…no, I can’t, unless I want to start over again…
Great idea you got there, until somebody else thought about it for 2 seconds.
No the decay recovery would be a separate calculation based on how long you are on.
See right now the decay refresh is set at 240 hours(480 right now due to vacation timers) if you are in the proximity of your base. I want that to no longer be the maximum but variable based on how long you have been playing this particular session.
But refreshing timers isn’t playing anymore than leaving 2 pennies can be considered a tip…and needs to be seen in the same way.
you truly don’t get it…it just crowds the servers further, because you have a bunch of AFK base decay timer farmers now. And I’d literally be forced to do that if I plan to go on a vacation…or I need to start over. I’d do that, just saying…log in, go AFK and wait for the decay timer getting up to the amount of time I’m on vacation.
Truly bizare how you think that is even a semi intelligent idea.
Again, it ain’t even a problem to begin with. Just because a few people suddenly think that new players quit playing because there are large bases, is also just a fantasy.
Consider this: A new player is going to quit because he sees a big base slowing performance, or he quits because of the countless game breaking bugs, like getting disconnected by BattleEye ever 8 minutes, or he falls through the ground, or (fill in any other game breaking bug you have experienced)
But even for some strange remote reason on some server this is actually a true reason a new player quit: Server wipes wouldn’t even solve the problem of large bases or favourable positions being occupied.
Other more sane ideas were limiting building so that only alrge clans were able to build above 15k piece buildings with another 2k placables and 100 thralls.
Smaller or one man clans would be scaled down…drastically, considering with 2k building pieces you already have a big base.
Another idea was to have new dedicated “season” servers that get wiped regularely, probably every new Age, so a 1 year life span. The only (questionable) counter argument I heard against that was: " new servers are out of the question, I guess"
No, the truly bizarre thing is that you believe that AFK is something a normal person would do. Most normal people don’t have the unlimited time you are talking about and get gaming in when they can. AFK means your system is tied up. Assuming they would even get to that point because that’s work at that point over a game they aren’t playing anymore.
I mean eventually you got to ask yourself if all of this is worth it if you don’t play the game anymore.
you still haven’t understood that people simply go maintenance mode until the next content patch hits…they are still playing the game, once a new battle pass hits. So even your assumption about players is off.
oh, my sweet summer child…you should really read up on how much system resourced CE needs in minimized mode.
edit: So I actually made the effort to test this and 2-5% CPU usage and 3.4 Gigs of RAM ain’t braking my system and I can comfortly play another game on one machine…
but since you chose to ignore the actual reason why new players might not play this game anyway, I guess you saw that your “solution” is actually still looking for a problem.
yep, like adding resources to your upkeep. Resources are placed inside some sort of storage container where they get slowly drained or something like that.
You’d still ned to log in, but you also need to top up that container, in other words, you need to farm materials.
Also, thralls might actually want to eat and maybe even want to get paid in gold and silver.
Might not be a big hurdle for most, but still a better idea than Erjoh’s.
But I also want to stress again, that this is a niche problem for just a few servers.
The claim people made in this thread, like new players would just quit because of large legacy bases is practically a fantasy, maybe based on a single anekdote.
In other words, these are all solutions in search of a problem.
I would be interested to know what criteria should be used to select a few official servers so that they can be wiped regularly in the future.
I know players who have been playing non-stop on an official server for years and have invested a lot of time decorating and redesigning their base. If this affected them, myself not excluded, that would be a reason for them and for me to stop playing on officials and made a exclusive private server - an option that is now available to everyone who misses the presence of regular wipes on official servers: Set up one yourself and wipe there as much as you want. I’m pretty sure that this server will be permanently very empty very soon.
I fundamentally disagree with the descriptions made here. I don’t know of any PvE Conflict server that is said to be so full that playing there would be impossible; and yes, the situation may be different on pure PvE servers.
Ultimately, perhaps this is a question of subjectivity, but the whole discussion here seems futile to me. Accordingly, I will no longer comment on this and I firmly assume that Funcom will stick to its principle and will NO LONGER wipe the official servers - and that’s a good thing. 
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The data doesn’t support this hypothesis. There is no bump in player count like their used to be. They are not playing the next content patch. They are just refreshing because they don’t want to let go. Like @Kikigirl said. It’s a psychological thing of them being too connected to the digital world they created and this has now turned officials into urban decay of structures built in various quality with no one actually playing to justify these structures being there. Players actually playing need to be the priority for officials; not disgruntled bygones that have separation issues to deal with.
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who says they need priority? That is your opinion…the rest of that statement is also your view of things…
But have you even cared to compare that graph to other games that also have cyclical content, but have no “houses” to attent?
Pretty much the same graph, let me tell you. Which would make the bases of your whole point moot.
To even base the argument you make on that graph is kind of silly, because how many in that graph are even in “maintenance mode”? Can you tell? I can’t apparently you can for some strange reason.
And you and other convinced that people on “maintenance mode” are bad for the game have yet to exlain how it is bad for the community, nay worse for the community than game breaking bugs.
As I asked many times before: Why and how is this worse than getting kicked by BattleEye every 10 minutes or falling through the mesh?
edit: if you look really closely at the end of your graph, your subjecitve problem might actually solve itselve if FUNCOM doesn’t release some new content quickly. Player retention hasn’t dropped that low apparently since the game released 2017.
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I have already said that I will no longer comment on the topic of server wipes; but I would like to point out another aspect:
The number of Conan Exiles players on Steam is always given here in the forum as a reference - but not everyone plays Conan Exiles on their PC via Steam and, above all, not everyone plays Conan Exiles on a PC.
If you take into account the total number of Conan Exiles players on all plattforms, then in my opinion Conan Exiles looks better than I think it is often portrayed here in the forum - however, I don’t know how reliable sources like mmo-population.com and others besides Steam are.
Yes because your “maintenance mode” aka serial refreshers aren’t playing and aren’t included in the #s. They are represented because they are absent. Not playing. Not promoting. Just ensuring the spaces they captured years ago are not able to be used by people that are playing. That are promoting.
If what you said is true and they are just waiting for content to come, you would see a spike in people actually playing. This is not the case.
Fallacy of relative privation.
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Changing the name of the behaviour from serial refreshing, which is 100% what it is regardless of intent, to “maintenance mode” doesn’t excuse it.
There are self admitted serial refreshers, those who log in periodically to see if things have changed due to “insert issue” or if a rotation of the BLB has happened, view the map for new altars and log ins, etc.,… and each time they refresh.
When a new update comes out they generally try it of course. It ranges days to maybe a few weeks and then back to refreshing.
They could simply BV the most important stuff within those lapses of real play and come back for a playthrough.
They could do exactly what they’re doing now on SP or their own private server and it would be no different. Just a loss of constructions from the Official. Sure ya, some building techniques are unachievable now but does that really take away that much from rebuilding and having it all again in your own sandbox?
This is a reality of a good portion of servers in all modes. I believe there is legitimate concern over such serial refreshing because it most certainly impacts other players, new and old.
Because they’re taking up real estate for no other purpose but to hang on to the pixels in hopes of rekindling the same feeling they got a long time ago.
Whether we all like to accept it or not this is a shared sandbox. Since Funcom can’t/won’t it seems players have to appeal to others’ having the decency of personal responsibility.
How much of the complaints of paved over serial refreshed villas do you think are legitimate? I server hop. It happens a lot and is a turn off for others looking for an experience.
The lack of real oversight of the servers allows these behaviors and in turn creates calls for wipes.
I fully believe that if the servers had been properly moderated and proper systems in place, not to mention all the bug, communication and server instability issues addressed, population on Officials would be decent.
Instead the majority of them are ghost towns with about 1-2 per region and mode having not quite 40/40.
This was happening before the foundation bug.
***Sorry @Beharion the reply wasn’t meant for you. Sometimes using the forums on mobile is frustrating.
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aren’t included? how so? is the hourly query able to determine who is “playing” and who is just running around “refreshing”? Doubt it. No, refreshers are part of the data set, even if they stay in the game for just a few minutes…unless each and every refresher logs in between full hours when the data is gathered.
then I must be imagining the spikes at each release date. Or you can’t read a graph…I go with the latter.
Age of War chapter 1: End of June 2023 … bump in players (22k)
AoW ch. 2: End of September 2023 … uptick from 13k to 17k players
AoW ch. 3: Mid December 2023 … slight uptick only from 15k to 17k, but a sharp drop to 11k players in February 2024.
AoW ch. 4: Beginning of April 2024 bump to 15k slow decline until mid June, where it went up again to 15k because of hotfix/some gameplay updates
true the bumps aren’t as pronounced as the Age of Sorcery initial update, but still, you can always see an increase followed by decrease of playtime around an age and their chapters.
If you want to check yourself: Here is the complete update timeline
so you want to tell me, that right now people are rather not playing because they can’t build a base at the location they want to because there is already a huge castle that slows their performance, or they are not playing because they get kicked every 8 minutes? Please don’t try to gaslight me…
What all this data shows me however is, that this game is slowly fading into “who still plays that?”…well I guess the people that are emotionally attached to their buildings, definitely not many “new players” that heard about this “excellent” and so well maintained and supported game. Your idea is literally the equivalent of shutting down life support of a comatoes patient.
now who here is “emotionaly attached” or wants to “rekindle the same feeling they got a long time ago”?
40/40? Seems you are longing for times when the game was released, not possible 7 years after release…
If you really think that legacy buildings of refreshers is the reason people don’t want to play a poorly maintained and supported, bug infested, 7 year old game, you seriously are delusional.
I never claimed serial refreshers as being the reason. My point is that they’re a contributing factor to disinterest in the state of -Officials-.
Maybe I didn’t read all the previous comments thoroughly but I don’t understand why you keep making this comparison or calling people delusional for that matter.
Low numbers in a game is not good. How can wanting a higher population be a whim of nostalgia? There are games that have maintained high population for over 20 years.
Multiplayer in this game usually means interactions. Isn’t that truly what players are seeking? Aside from the odd solo looking for contiguous production?
The game is not in a healthy state and hasn’t been for some time. There’s many reasons for this, some more than others of course. I’d say the biggest problems with the game in general are the company’s own doing: bugs, server instability, lack of communication, breaking promises, poor support and moderation.
The problem of serial refreshing has always been there but much worse especially since the initial AoW release fall off.
Aside from Steam charts or elsewhere you can actually witness it in real time.
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how do you come to that conclusion? As I said before, I don’t even think that it is contributing or even a problem. Definitely not next to game breaking bugs almost each weekend, each new age, and even after regular patches.
no, I haven’t and I’m playing on 3 official servers…exclusively, since Age of Sorcery and I can’t say to make the same observation. Regularely check player list and I have seen plenty of noobies joining, leveling to 60 and after some time leaving again. I even have my main bases in starting zones (Sinner’s Refuge and south east beach on Siptah) so I sometimes offer help, info and thralls to noobies.
you see causation when there is just correlation…and we haven’t even established that it is a problem. You saying so, is more a “you problem” than something objectively bad for the game.
This is a great idea. Didn’t the game do something along these lines many years ago? I seem to recall times when I was in a hurry to refresh and the game didn’t fully recognize my presence and grant me the full amount of time, requiring me to spend a little more time running around the base.
We use to be able to feed thralls, more of a role play thing though since I’ve never had a thrall die from neglect. Something I think they should implement. As far as paying tharlls… hell no, they are slaves, they are lucky they even have food to eat since it usually spoils in the thrall pot anyway.
They could use the same criteria used before when they consolidated servers.
I play on console and the graph you show is very interesting. Average 3k players per day is quite bad, horrible actually. Viewing the graph below that one shows average players per month and clearly shows how bad it really is. 90K avg a year ago compared to 3k today clearly says something is wrong. I am one of the 87k not playing and my reason is the stupid changes to controls and UI.
Give me back the old controls and UI and I will start playing again. Until then, I will continue to refresh my base until I forget.
I come to that conclusion based on observations in the game, statements from players in spaces I am in including my own discord, other discords, steam, the forums and various spaces on social media.
I still don’t understand why you’re comparing issues with serial refreshing to game breaking bugs though? They’re not mutually exclusive. As I’ve repeated multiple times now, there’s many issues with the game. The point of talking about serial refreshing is in regard to the state of Officials, not the game as a whole.
I’ve played on many servers myself, like I said, I server hop. Been playing on and off since EA. I see what people do. When I can stay on a server long term (more than a few weeks) I see certain behaviours by the locals. A commonality in every server I have visited are that serial refreshing exists. Maybe it’s only 1 clan, usually it’s more than that.
I think you’re confusing serial refreshers existing based on some players with somehow serial refreshing being a behaviour of every player? Correct me if I am wrong. Definitely not the assertion I or erjoh would make (and while I wouldn’t want to speak for him, know him well enough to assume he’d agree).
Again, I need to reiterate since it seems to be lost on you. I am not claiming serial refreshing is the reason population is poor for -the game-. I am stating that serial refreshing has an impact on -Official servers-. Officials are a small piece of the pie. Big difference dude.
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I’m not saying it doesn’t exist, I do it myself. I’m asking why it is a problem? For you, the game, the official servers, new players, somebody stated even the “community”…the reasons stated by others here are more or less anecdotes reflected long enough in echo chambers or simply the way THEY like to play the game.
If your playstyle is different, cool…it doesn’t impact me how you play. Why does it impact you, or the others complaining that I don’t let my bases decay? Haven’t gotten fact based answers for that question so far.
Because it was mentioned that those buildings of “refreshers” semm to frighten off new players. Even you seem to understand that this is hardly the case. Why do people want wipes of official servers then, if that a) doesn’t solve this imaginary problem b) has no impact on real problems, like the bugs c) would literally cause the people that actually log in still to leave?
A wipe doesn’t get rid of people building huge. It doesn’t get rid of bugs, but it gets “rid of refreshers”, probably a few permanently.
how and who does it impact even? Why is it even important then, if it is only a tiny piece of the pie?