I ran all the way from Oja to the Bronze doors...

[miadon]

I ran all the way from Oja to the Bronze doors...

...and I didn't bump into a single damn person.

PS is too damn big (map wise) for the current player population.  It was too big when  the bronze doors were introduced and there were a lot more players.  But now it's redonkulous. 

[Aramara Meibi]

I doubt they will cull the playable area, but I think we can all agree that the active player count is sparse. Expansion of the landscape, new areas to play and explore will most likely boost numbers for a time until people get bored with it.

Part of the problem lies in that there is no reason to go out into those vast spaces other than questing and grinding. RP rarely leaves the taverns and even more rarely leaves Hydlaa. So, develop RP which requires people to leave their comfort zones as it were.

Also, places like the BD seem to solely be the realm of the NPC. What I mean is, no PC can ever become a city guard, or a member of the Sunshine Squadron, and thusly we will never see persistent RP taking place at the BD. That's probably my biggest complaint of having NPCs, is that they rob the player of RP situations.

[miadon]

yes, 'culling' the playable area is problematic due to quest based NPCs, trainers and resources scattered in those areas.  But PS expanded (map wise) far too much.. wasn't like there was some steady increase of players constantly requiring a bigger area and bigger area....

New maps are/were nice but they were never really needed.. But hindsight is 20/20

Sad truth is there are now far more NPCs in the game than real players.. even at peak times.

[tman]

I ran all the way from Oja to the Bronze doors...

With the pterosaur service, there's even less of a reason for people to be anywhere between cities.  As a player I'd gladly spend a small sum of in-game money to save myself 20 minutes of real time watching my character run in a straight line.

[miadon]

that isn't really the point I was getting at.. although yes it does mean that it makes the wilderness even more empty.

I remember the days when there were over 200 people on at once and you always bumped into people all over the place

[Rigwyn]

It would be nice if there were that many players again.

Currently role players are being smart and concentrating around Hydlaa. This is the best thing people can do IMHO as it increases the player density (for that area) without any need for changes.

[Lusserall]

It would have been much better if the devs had expanded from hydlaa making a open world to run through.
Go from hydlaa to east hydlaa gate without entering the city, sewer entrance on the outside of the wall.
Real forest to the magic shop to wander through with agro creatures when you leave the pad.
Instead of all those far away city's with big useless empty wasteland in between.

[LigH]

So what's the point, exactly?

The world too big? The players too few? Too little reason to be anywhere but in Harnquist's forge?

As many people, as many opinions how to solve the issue. And only one person to decide about it. Another Wiseman's Beard thread...
__

P.S.: Of course you can pick daytimes with little population, miadon, especially not during weekends.

[miadon]

Yes, the world is too big.  Even back in 2005 when it was just hydlaa, dungeons, oja, 1 piece of wilderness, sewers, arena  it was just a tad too large.. even then as you will remember people complained that oja was always dead.. mostly because no one spawned there..  then for a while Enki spawned there, but that's another story.

whats the point in this topic?, in the large scope of things.. not much.. it's more a mild rant out of frustration.

However yes, just moaning doesn't do anything but.. and yes a lot of the solutions to the current state of things have been brought up again and again over the years but I have no power to implement them. But I don't want to get into that and create some forum argument. Only things I can do is RP the way I do

[Talad]

I ran all the way from Oja to the Bronze doors...
...and I didn't bump into a single damn person.

In PS there are no "damn persons" that's probably why you didn't find any Anyway my suggestion will be to gather players in taverns/plaza and go hunting together in the open areas, just randomly walking outdoor is not very easy to meet people, and in case you do they may be heading somewhere else.

Many people find interesting to explore and walk around, and a large world allows that. What we are working on is to put more content into the existing areas, for example plants/herbs to collects, or tribes expanding. Without big areas we will not be able to do so.

[Aramara Meibi]

What we are working on is to put more content into the existing areas, for example plants/herbs to collects, or tribes expanding. Without big areas we will not be able to do so.

Of course, giving us a reason to go gather those herbs would be helpful.

[Knightspark9]

To be truthful, the idea of more expensive herbs appeals to me.

[Candy]

Well, I noticed my Mortar and Pestle have been changed in category to "Tools - Alchemy" - is that being worked on?

And to get back on-topic, you can ask where people are in Gossip. As far as I can tell most groups these days don't mind if you jump in on their RP.

[Sadie]

Talad,
   (a challenge, mayhap?)
   make an alt.... then you walk around....  You may see what we are speaking about, in lots of different respects......

Sanrai   

edit:  This is not meant as pointing fingers at anyone, just a friendly challenge....

[carua]

I understand what the OP is saying,I haven't played this game in 2 years and it seems rather empty compared to back then.However,I was just in the stonehead tavern in Gugrontid and it was so full of players and items i couldn't be there with ~55 people on line and about half of those in one location.Sure this place is big,but I'd like to think someday soon[tm] all that space will be full.I'd definitely say it's unfair to blame Talad or any of the dev's for it not being up to your standards,don't forget these are people giving away their time for FREE for us to have the game we love.They deserve nothing but our respect.

BTW,put up some notices and get an event going,then we'll see how dead this game actually is,the community will always pull together when someone takes the initiative and takes the lead