Question about EU/US Cross-Interaction

[Dabuddah.4298]

So I was trying to get some of my friends to play GW2, but turns out they're EU. Took me a minute to figure it out because it had been a while since I ran into this problem. I added them to my friendlsist, invited them into my guild, into my group. Hence why I didn't see it as a problem at the time. They were able to accept both but then the moment they ported to my map we couldn't see each other. It was only then I realized that they were on an EU server.

 

My question is why we have so much interconnectivity from EU to US in that we can be friends, join the same group, and even join the same guild but we can't seem to be able to actually play together? I wouldn't like to recommend removing a feature but if you're not gonna let us play together, why can we do the rest of that stuff?

 

Thanks!

[Infusion.7149]

login + TP server is cross region which is why you can transfer between EU+US. The maps are not cross-region however.

[Shinjiko.1352]

The whole region thing feels very dated and archaic to me. Other than ping there's no real reason for the lockout for pve. My schedule is always flipping and some days pve is dead in the timezone I'm active. I would love for the guest feature to actually work in pve because then I could choose where I play depending on my schedule without having to shell out every time. 

 

Gw2 partners that create content such as WP have been given the ability to change regions freely on a whim. So the feature is in the game. Just let other players do it via guesting so that way you still make money off transfers atm because they'll still be bound to their server for wvw purposes. There's no game breaking reason for not letting players choose which region to pve in freely. 

 

The money is made from wvw for transfers and could be left as is. But tbh wvw's coverage issues would be resolved mostly if regions didn't exist since separating zones in a 24/7 competitive game mode was always going to cause issues. But that's another beast entirely. 

 

 

 

Edited August 12, 2021 by Shinjiko.1352

[Inculpatus cedo.9234]

Are you sure WP doesn't have two accounts?

Because his achievement points, etc. are vastly different when shown on-screen, sometimes.

 

Regardless, would you be willing to wait up to 30 minutes each time you wanted to change regions/data centers?  With the risk that you might lose all progression, items, etc. permanently, in the transfer?

[Dawdler.8521]

3 hours ago, Shinjiko.1352 said:

Other than ping there's no real reason for the lockout for pve.

Yep, thats the reason. Moving on...

[Zephire.8049]

1 hour ago, Inculpatus cedo.9234 said:

Are you sure WP doesn't have two accounts?

Because his achievement points, etc. are vastly different when shown on-screen, sometimes.

He may very well but multiple Arenanet Partners have confirmed they have the ability to change between NA and EU, it's just that not everyone uses it (or uses it often). But Mukluk, for instance, does a weekly stream on EU and plays with EU players but plays on NA the rest of the time, all on the same account.

 

Though he has said it can sometimes take a bit as the data is transferred, so my suspicion would be it's less the account gaining access to a different region just like that and more that the account is being duplicated to the other datacentre. For the user it's simple but on the backend it's a lot more than just changing a flag on the account.

[Inculpatus cedo.9234]

Ok, so some Partners have the ability to change Worlds at no cost (or are given the Gems to do so).

Everyone can change Worlds, but it does cost Gems.

 

That isn't the same as what the OP is referencing; being able to play from either data center/both data centers at the same time. 

[Danikat.8537]

I like having the ability to add people on NA servers as friends and whisper them or send them mail. I've got a few people from this forum on my friends list and we've sent mail back and forth a few times, some of them I know play on NA servers and some I'm not actually sure because it's not been relevant. It would also make things like the gifting strangers thread more difficult if you could only respond to requests from your region.

 

So I think the only one I'd say could be taken out is the ability to group together because that does seem pointless when you can't meet up, but maybe it would be better to add a warning. If you join a group with someone from another region you both get a message to say you can chat but won't be able to meet up in the game.

 

2 hours ago, Zephire.8049 said:

Though he has said it can sometimes take a bit as the data is transferred, so my suspicion would be it's less the account gaining access to a different region just like that and more that the account is being duplicated to the other datacentre. For the user it's simple but on the backend it's a lot more than just changing a flag on the account.

 

That sounds like it's the same transfer process that's available to everyone, they just don't have to pay gems to do it. (Presumably Anet thought the money they bring in from advertising is worth losing the cost of the transfer fees, especially if the alternative is they just don't do as many streams.)

 

Anyone can transfer their account from one data centre to the other, but it does take time for it to go through, and you have to log out completely and back in.

[Dabuddah.4298]

I'm just trying to point out that there is a frustration with newer players/players I'm trying to get to return because of this. With the MMO market shattered right now, I was hoping to get some friends to try out GW2 -- but they don't end up wanting to because they already made an EU account and don't wanna deal with the hassle of transferring, even though the first two are free.

 

Personally, I'd say expand the guesting feature to be on either end. But obviously I have 0 expectations that anyone from A-net will see this and even if they do I doubt it'll be a feature in a patch at some point... Although, admittedly, it'd be a good way to get more customers.

[Rasimir.6239]

31 minutes ago, Dabuddah.4298 said:

Personally, I'd say expand the guesting feature to be on either end.

What other posters have tried to say but maybe hasn't been stated clearly enough:

 

The restrictions on playing cross-region are strictly technical. The game has two datacenters (one for each region), and while things like chat and guild interactions work on systems that function cross-region, the bulk of your character and game data resides in one datacenter, and moving it to the other one is a process that takes significant time (as in minutes).

 

Playing the game with players who's data resides on another data server doesn't work simply because the delay the server has for accessing data from both datacenters simultaneously is too large to allow for fluid gameplay for both players.

[Shinjiko.1352]

On 8/12/2021 at 5:16 AM, Inculpatus cedo.9234 said:

Are you sure WP doesn't have two accounts?

Because his achievement points, etc. are vastly different when shown on-screen, sometimes.

 

Regardless, would you be willing to wait up to 30 minutes each time you wanted to change regions/data centers?  With the risk that you might lose all progression, items, etc. permanently, in the transfer?

 

Honestly... Yes. I doubt it's 30 mins. But i know it takes a few minutes to do. I'd be willing to sit and wait the time if it meant I could play pve in a more active timezone. I generally stick to wvw for a long time and don't jump in and out. So I'd transfer to eu to pve for the long time I do that. Then when I feel like doing my long wvw session, transfer back to NA where I can access my home server again. 

 

As I said  the guest system could be upgraded so you can pve in different regions without losing your home server. So the whole thing is temporary. If it puts too much strain on the server put a daily cap on guesting. Also obviously whilst guesting you can't enter wvw since you're not on your home server technically. 

 

It just really sucks that I get to enjoy NA prime time in wvw but when I want to pve after it's the middle of the night in USA so pve stuff is lacking and lfg is dead. 

[Inculpatus cedo.9234]

Well, you can do that.  It just requires Gems.  Moving accounts has a price. 

[Danikat.8537]

I've personally had to wait just over 20 minutes for a transfer to go through, so I know it can take a while. I also had 2 which went through in about 4 or 5 minutes each, but that was back in 2012 and I'm not sure how much has changed since then.