[Adrian]

Let's talk about Haven then!

First of all, I'm going to be a bit blunt here. But I think it is needed, we really need to understand why things are like they are now.

Why do we keep Haven like it is and we don't merge it with Ra?

We don't find it as a solution. We see it more like a last resort, and a bad one. Haven is unique, it is a smaller and quieter world that used to have decent activity with smaller numbers than Ra. This is something a lot of users prefer and that some others preferred.

Why it seems dead now?

When it still had those decent numbers and activity, the majority was still against a merge but, let's say, a third was eager for that merge. Slowly they started migrating to Ra. Our policies couldn't be changed to disallow this because it would leave a lot of players in a limbo, losing their characters and progress.

With time, those numbers were slowly going down, to a point that after that third was gone, the opinion on merging got a majority for the "yes". A lot of players that didn't want a merge got to the extreme situation of having to reconsider due to the lack of population.

But NGD is at fault. They don't bring players, the game is boring!

We can't bring players to a game that fails retention on the first levels. We focused on fixing a lot of stuff in the end-gameplay to keep existing players and some that left a short while ago and keep population stable. It worked, but we didn't count on this massive migration to Ra. We saw it coming but not quite like this.

Ra, with the same updates, same gameplay and same content keeps its population stable (counting out ex-Haven players). Not only because there is more population, but because people feel we're going good even if we do it slowly.

We understand that it's not fun to wait while the numbers are low, but this is like a downward spiral. One gets fed up, then two, then everyone. As we are "a small team(TM)" we couldn't do things other way. Step by step. End-gameplay to keep the current players, then the Anniversary (if we didn't do anything big everyone would kill us) that we decided to do something that stays in the game, not something temporary. Now it comes to a month of bugfixing and then new Roadmap that will start with Low Level Warzone (Squid Island) and Clans.

So, this "small team(TM)" was relying on the community to be stable and believe in us. Yeah, lame, but the only thing we could do. Either that or use the last resort, killing a variation of the Regnum worlds that would offer a very different option to the many players that like this (even some Ra players go to Haven for this).

Let me be clear: this is not about faults. It is our responsibility and our actions through the years took us where we are now. But since the mid of last year we were given a new impulse for Regnum and we shared a new direction (Action Plan) and we almost fulfilled it completely (Clans, postponed sadly) and we're going to make a new Roadmap and we plan on fulfilling it as well. Our only petition: help us keep things stable. No obligation, of course! Just a petition.

Then, what is going on with Haven?

This is just my opinion on what I see, listen and feel. Haven community thinks the solution is more players. It seems logical, and it is. But to get there, there are so many things to do that the first step should be maintaining stability. We failed at that.

But the community, I feel, didn't help as well. No hard feelings, it is completely understandable. Come on, this guys promising more population for years and blah blah. It is difficult to make people believe in us due to our past. But for the first time, since mid last year we could set things right to face a better future for the game. We stopped promising stuff and commited to feasible goals. I think things are going well for this small team. The Soul Monger was something incredible for us, for the short time we had and how ambitious it was for us.

Ok ok, enough of feeling sorry for yourselves. What will yo do now?

As I said, we are facing a month of bugfixing and later on we will have a Roadmap for the rest of the year. In order to bring new users to the game we need to make the first levels enjoyable. How? With the best thing this game has: RvR. Squid Island needs objectives like the real Warzone but not as complete, of course: you will have to want to get to the higher tiers of the gameplay.

At the same time, Clans will be reworked as they are key in retention as well. After we achieve this, we will make the first marketing campaign in a long time. We will have something big to show (Soul Monger) as a hook and also the low level gameplay done, which can't be used as a hook. It is there because it should be!

I'm not satisfied! I want it now!

We're doing what we can with the resources we have. I know that's not enough given the current situation, but please try to look at what we're doing (specially what can't be seen!) to keep Regnum alive and you'll hopefully change your mind.