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Region Merge Update

[p][/p][p][/p][p]Heroes of Arkesia,[/p][p]The region merge for North America has arrived! The merge will begin tonight during the weekly maintenance at 12AM PT (7AM UTC). We are currently estimating total downtime for the North American regions to be 20hrs. For the European region, we estimate that downtime will last 8hrs.[/p][p]If you’re currently a resident of the North American regions being merged, learn about our plans for structuring servers, along with the planned compensation, gifts, and more![/p][p][/p][h2]NA Server Structure[/h2][p]Our teams at Amazon Games and Smilegate RPG have been collaborating in-person on some region merge magic to create the best possible experience for players post-merge. While the servers of North America West and East will be connected into one in-game region, the game worlds will remain in their original server locations. This will allow players to enjoy the positive aspects of the merge, such as a combined Auction House and Market, and new players to forge relationships within raid/dungeon groups, while mitigating concerns around latency/ping. Players will continue to enjoy the same experience while in their world, and you can learn more about the matchmaking/party-finder experience for instanced content below. For players joining from NA West, please note that the Auction House and Market will be hosted out of NA East, so players with high latency may notice slight lag in extreme circumstances.[/p][p][/p][p]Dungeon/Raid Experience[/p][p]Immediately following the merge, we will be implementing a temporary ruleset for all instanced content (raids, dungeons, etc.). This temporary ruleset will be replaced with an improved version during the November Update, which will stay in-game as the planned final ruleset featuring different rules for matchmaking and party-finder.[/p][p][/p][p]Temporary Ruleset (October - November) for matchmaking and party-finder[/p]
  • [p]Instances will default to NA East for lobbies with players from different worlds.[/p]
  • [p]If the lobby has 8 players from Brelshaza, the lobby will be created in Brelshaza.[/p]
  • [p]If the lobby has 8 players from Thaemine, the lobby will be created in Thaemine.[/p]
  • [p]However, if players from both Brelshaza and Thaemine are in a mixed lobby, they could still enter an instance hosted in NA East.[/p]
[p][/p][p]Final Ruleset (Planned for the November Update)[/p]
  • [p]Party-Finder: Instance will be created in the world of the lobby leader.[/p]
  • [p]Matchmaking:[/p]
    • [p]A full group of players from the original NA West worlds will have an instance created in NA West.[/p]
    • [p]A full group of players from the original NA East worlds will have an instance created in NA East.[/p]
    • [p]A mixed group of players will default to NA East. For players that rely on ping to NA West (such as those connecting from Oceania) we recommend using the party-finder tool to ensure they can find or create a lobby that best meets their needs.[/p]
[p]We’re excited for the opportunities this will create for players to be able to play together while still having control and agency over their raid and dungeon experience, and will be on the lookout for feedback to ensure it is best meeting the needs of our community.[/p][p][/p][p]Back-up Plan[/p][p]While testing has looked extremely promising for this custom solution leading up to the merge, we are preparing a back-up plan of hosting the Brelshaza and Thaemine Servers in NA East to avoid ongoing extensions of the region merge maintenance. If we need to proceed with the back-up plan, it could result in an additional maintenance. Afterward, we will continue to investigate the solution with NA West and NA East hosted servers that are connected, and identify a future window to make the change. We will provide updates and ensure the community is made aware of the status and result as we proceed through the merge.[/p][p][/p][h2]General Merge Notes[/h2]
  • [p]While based in NA West, Brelshaza and Thaemine will need to share the same server time as the other worlds in the region, so they will be updated to NA East timing.[/p]
  • [p]It may take up to one hour for the NA West Crucible Leaderboard information to display after servers are up from the merge, due to the server refreshing rankings hourly.[/p]
  • [p]We’ll be on the lookout for feedback regarding the post-merge experience. If you encounter issues or have feedback, please let us know![/p]
[h2]After the Merge[/h2][p]Merge Compensation[/p][p]The following compensation gift will be available in the in-game shop \[F4] for players in the merged region at no cost:[/p]
  • [p]Rest Bonus Recovery Brew x3[/p]
  • [p]Aura of Resonance Recovery Elixir (14 days) x3[/p]
  • [p](NEW) Ebony Cube Entrance Ticket Selection Chest x3[/p]
  • [p]Regulus's Light Currency Chest x5[/p]
  • [p]Crystalline Aura (3 days) x1[/p]
  • [p]Collective Battle Item Chest x3[/p]
[p]There will also be a 1-day Azena’s Blessing compensation sent to each character in the merged region with Azena’s Blessing active during the merge. This compensation will be sent in the next week or two, once the data for the impacted characters has been collected. We appreciate your patience in the meantime![/p][p][/p][p]Merge Gift & Celebration Packs[/p][p]Along with the merge compensation available for only players in North America, a gift will be sent to players in all regions, which can be claimed in the Product Inventory after the merge. The gift will contain:[/p]
  • [p]Rest Bonus Recovery Brew (14 days) x3[/p]
  • [p]Aura of Resonance Recovery Elixir (14 days) x3[/p]
  • [p]Collective Battle Item Chest x3[/p]
  • [p](NEW) Ebony Cube Entrance Ticket Selection Chest x3[/p]
  • [p]Legendary Pet Upgrade Supplies Chest x1[/p]
  • [p]Small Processed Chaos Stone (Weapon) Chest x10[/p]
  • [p]Small Processed Chaos Stone (Armor) Chest x10[/p]
[p]Along with the gift, there will be some special limited-time packs available through the in-game shop after the merge.[/p][p][/p][p]We appreciate your patience during the extensive downtime required for the merge. We’re excited to see the new friendships formed by players joining together in the new region! Updates can be found on the Lost Ark social channels, primarily the Lost Ark Game Status X account, throughout maintenance. We hope to see you back in Arkesia soon![/p]