World Merge FAQ
Why do we merge worlds?
From fighting your opposition in wars and invasions, to hanging out in the local tavern, we’ve found that a healthy realm provides more opportunities for players to enjoy the world of Aeternum.
In general, when our data shows that the experience in the world has become suboptimal, the team will investigate why conditions changed and if a merge is needed. Part of our investigation includes work to find the most suitable counterpart for worlds destined to be merged, helping to ensure your time in Aeternum is fun and socially exciting.
How do we determine if a world needs to be merged?
There are a few things we look at in order to determine if the world is unhealthy including, but not limited to, population size and overall engagement. Once we’ve identified that a world needs to be merged, we compare it to the existing worlds in the world set to find the most optimal partner world by comparing elements like faction, gameplay style, and language. By merging within a set, this means that a US West world will never be merged into a US East world but a US West world could be merged into another US West world.
What happens when we merge worlds? What can we expect?
Players on these worlds are not expected to lose any progress (including gold, items, faction, companies, etc.); however, territories should still belong to the companies on the world absorbing the merge.
For example, if World X was confirmed as needing to be merged, and World Y was identified as the counterpart:
- Players on World Y will not be impacted, other than an influx of players on the world. World Y territory ownership will persist after the merge. World Y will not experience downtime. Wars and Invasions will not be interrupted.
- World X characters will be relocated to World Y - their characters, companies, housing, gold, and owned items should remain intact, but territory ownership and contracts will not persist on the new world. War declaration on World X will be disabled.
We thoroughly investigate both worlds to make sure that the worlds we merge are the best compatible pair.
How will we know when to expect a world merge?
We strive to always schedule world merges on Wednesdays to prevent overlapping issues with any potential updates or patches we may have. However, this may not be the case.
Both worlds (the one being merged and the one being merged into) will receive a notification in-game telling players to expect a world merge. We will post a dedicated downtime notification on our official New World forums with a link to this FAQ.
What happens if the merge doesn’t work properly?
The team will be monitoring the merge as it happens and we will investigate and address any issues that arise as soon as possible. To ensure that we are aware of any issues that happen after the merge, we will open a temporary thread on the forum dedicated to issues that you’ve experienced post-merge, as well as relay any important updates related to the merge.