i run a small community server called ashentide - i would love some feedback

[zacandneil]

hi all my name is zac 

and 5 weeks ago i decided to randomly open a vs server , i announced it on you tube and got quite a bit of posative respsone and on launch and over the weekend that it took place we had a active player base, now over the weeks following i made suggestion as the server owner to make things more better and give a more quilty experince , which i will go over shortly

now it 5 weeks in and it seem the player base has died off from having a regualr 20+ player  to having now 4-6 player regually it quite a loss of players. now when i pushed forward my idea of what i think would be a good way i got quite the push back from people and while i would love to just enforce it i know this isnt the best way to do thing.

the the key area i wanted to add was RP , a real economy , wars/pvp

these are the 3 key point in the triangle to success of which i think would make a good successful server as they all link and bounce off one another 

Roleplay : i wanted to add roleplay in a way to help players create story and lore and make normal interaction a little bit more exciting as well as making the poltics side of things fun as well and as well as planning role play event in future 


real econmony : i want to create a real economy within the world that allowed for many gameplay loops,  like allowing people to make bussiness that can compete to stay at the top of the leader board , help funding wars or help funfing creation of town and other projects, all prices would be effecred by the players etc, to help with this i suggested that players town bound and hermit (solo player) would have to stick to there profession to help start to create this economy and making it so that you cant just be self serstained and you have to interact with the communityt in some way becuase end of the day why play a multiplayer server if your only going to play as if your on a singleplayer world , now this topic is really expansive and can go into real depth so dont have enough space or time.

war/pvp : i wanted to get town wars and pvp going in a way to help circulate the items in the world as well as allowing for people to do pvp in a controlled enviroment so that people dont start just murding people when there board , as well as reward player for partaking in pvp/wars 

i made a document explaining in full on my discord to why and how we could do this and it was pushed back hard with reason i didnt think was very fair and espaclly when they not even given this all a try and as the onwer of the server this sounds wrong to say but i dont want to ruin everyone fun but also this has ruined my fun so i stopped playing on my own server and with it been 5 weeks in and nothing new or fun added it just seems my server is dying

so if anyone has any idea or feedback about anything server related or my idea or would like to get involed i would appreicate it if you let me know below and try and help me out

 

[LadyWYT]

55 minutes ago, zacandneil said:

so if anyone has any idea or feedback about anything server related or my idea or would like to get involed i would appreicate it if you let me know below and try and help me out

Welcome to the forums! This might be a bit harsh to lead with, but in all honesty...spelling and grammar. Neither one has to be perfect, however, good quality writing are important when it comes to making good first impressions. The more typos and grammatical mistakes that a post has, the easier it is to make the assumption that what's being advertised isn't the best quality either.

Anyway, aside from that, my general two cents:

59 minutes ago, zacandneil said:

the the key area i wanted to add was RP , a real economy , wars/pvp

Unless you've dealt with RP stuff and server moderation before, this might be a bit much to manage as a new server owner. When it comes to RP, it's best to think of it as running a TTRPG campaign: figure out what kind of setting you wish to have and story you'd like to tell, as well as decide whether you want the RP experience to be serious, or more casual. Once you've made those decisions, it's just a matter of finding like-minded players, and then make sure they get along outside of the game as well as while playing.

I will also note that PvP scenarios especially are notorious for causing drama, especially when mixed with RP. It's possible to host an RP-PvP server, but you will likely need some stricter rules to keep the peace.

1 hour ago, zacandneil said:

real econmony : i want to create a real economy within the world that allowed for many gameplay loops,  like allowing people to make bussiness that can compete to stay at the top of the leader board , help funding wars or help funfing creation of town and other projects, all prices would be effecred by the players etc, to help with this i suggested that players town bound and hermit (solo player) would have to stick to there profession to help start to create this economy and making it so that you cant just be self serstained and you have to interact with the communityt in some way becuase end of the day why play a multiplayer server if your only going to play as if your on a singleplayer world , now this topic is really expansive and can go into real depth so dont have enough space or time.

This is fine, but it's also a big task to balance. The main thing to watch out for here, I think, is players creating monopolies and using that power to bully other players on the server. That kind of situation can quickly kill a server's reputation and population; new players won't be inclined to join if the deck is that stacked against them, and older players will leave if they're getting run over by the monopolies.

 

1 hour ago, zacandneil said:

war/pvp : i wanted to get town wars and pvp going in a way to help circulate the items in the world as well as allowing for people to do pvp in a controlled enviroment so that people dont start just murding people when there board , as well as reward player for partaking in pvp/wars 

The same I said above could easily be said for PvP as well. The thing to watch for is players who consolidate power and use it to force the rest of the server to play by their rules. That kind of situation is really only fun if the player in question is one of the ones wielding that power, or if they were otherwise looking for a pure anarchy experience.

1 hour ago, zacandneil said:

i made a document explaining in full on my discord to why and how we could do this and it was pushed back hard with reason i didnt think was very fair and espaclly when they not even given this all a try and as the onwer of the server this sounds wrong to say but i dont want to ruin everyone fun but also this has ruined my fun so i stopped playing on my own server and with it been 5 weeks in and nothing new or fun added it just seems my server is dying

Overall, I think the issue you seem to have run into, is you tried to do too much at once, and didn't listen to your players' feedback or otherwise ask them for input prior to posting the pending changes. I'm also guessing that based on your initial description:

 

1 hour ago, zacandneil said:

and 5 weeks ago i decided to randomly open a vs server , i announced it on you tube and got quite a bit of posative respsone and on launch and over the weekend that it took place we had a active player base, now over the weeks following i made suggestion as the server owner to make things more better and give a more quilty experince , which i will go over shortly

That it was most likely a basic VS server experience, with no special rules or expectations other than just enjoying the game for what it is. If that's the case, that would be the experience that the players signed up for, and not RP, PvP, or intense competitive economic gameplay. 

As the server owner, you do have the final say in regards to what happens on the server. However, do keep in mind that if you drastically alter the server experience from what was originally set up, especially without considering how the current players feel about it, the players are understandably going to leave for greener pastures. I think it's better to start small, with a simple idea that will be easy to curate a good experience for, and then stick to that, rather than trying to do too much at once and winding up satisfying no one.

[Teh Pizza Lady]

Had you started with RP, economy, and wars/pvp, then the other players might have come (and stayed) for that. You're getting pushback because they didn't join a RP/wars/pvp server. They joined your server.

Instead, just as a casual observer on the outside, it feels like a classic bait and switch maneuver. 

[Sparkplug04]

22 minutes ago, LadyWYT said:

This is fine, but it's also a big task to balance. The main thing to watch out for here, I think, is players creating monopolies and using that power to bully other players on the server. That kind of situation can quickly kill a server's reputation and population; new players won't be inclined to join if the deck is that stacked against them, and older players will leave if they're getting run over by the monopolies.

Yeah, this is a very big problem when talking about markets. Because apparently, people can't be nice.
Not my story, but there was an incident I heard someone talk about where even the server admins were in on a brutal monopoly, keeping the tyranny running. One faction had beelined into the tropics and proceeded to procure Wildcraft cocoa trees for themselves and kill the rest. They never even sold it, just wanted to hoard it and make people know they had it. The faction declared that if they found anybody had cocoa in a meal, they would start a war.
Now, sure, odd claim to make, but the admins appeared to be in on it. How do we know?
Well, the guy telling this story managed to LEGITIMATELY steal some cocoa and bring it back. An admin found out and told him to dispose of it.

A monopoly enforced by the server staff. Slippery slope right there.

Also, just a side note, starting on servers after they begin can be quite a disaster. Found one civ server that sounded cool, but having nearly 0 access to food, no access to Butchering so my food gain is even lower, no bush foods, and then HoD killing me in both hydration and satiety.
Haven't wanted to play again, as I just cannot maintain myself and keep up with the server's progression after being tossed into the biggest faction.

Edited December 16, 2025 by Sparkplug04
Addendum for some advice/server critique in general.

[LadyWYT]

18 minutes ago, Sparkplug04 said:

Yeah, this is a very big problem when talking about markets. Because apparently, people can't be nice.
Not my story, but there was an incident I heard someone talk about where even the server admins were in on a brutal monopoly, keeping the tyranny running. One faction had beelined into the tropics and proceeded to procure Wildcraft cocoa trees for themselves and kill the rest. They never even sold it, just wanted to hoard it and make people know they had it. The faction declared that if they found anybody had cocoa in a meal, they would start a war.
Now, sure, odd claim to make, but the admins appeared to be in on it. How do we know?
Well, the guy telling this story managed to LEGITIMATELY steal some cocoa and bring it back. An admin found out and told him to dispose of it.

A monopoly enforced by the server staff. Slippery slope right there.

Yeah I was thinking about that while writing up my post. I don't even think the monopoly has to be for economic reasons either. Sure, some players might create one to enrich themselves, but it's also quite likely that some will band together to monopolize a critical resource(or a fun luxury like cocoa beans) just to be jerks to everyone else. Admins might be directly involved, but they can also enable the problem just by doing nothing and letting the players do whatever. Which is fine for an anarchy server, but in that case it's important to advertise that stance up front so players know what they're getting into.

 

29 minutes ago, Teh Pizza Lady said:

Had you started with RP, economy, and wars/pvp, then the other players might have come (and stayed) for that. You're getting pushback because they didn't join a RP/wars/pvp server. They joined your server.

Instead, just as a casual observer on the outside, it feels like a classic bait and switch maneuver. 

The other thing that comes to mind is an incident from my RP days in World of Warcraft. The guild master of one guild that I was in was in the process of making plans to transfer the guild from one server to another. For those who don't know, this is a BIG deal because guild members don't get transferred with the guild...each member would be needing to pay real money in order to transfer their characters to the other server. In any case, the guild master hadn't breathed a word about it to anyone else in the guild, not even the officers. The only reason the plan got figured out, is I stumbled across a post on the forums where the guild master was testing the waters of the other server, and then I asked one of the officers about it. The end result was members getting understandably upset and confronting the guild master about it, who walked back the plan rather quickly.

So yeah...really not a good idea to make sweeping changes to a server without consulting the players about it first. 

EDIT: It's also worth noting that the typical Vintage Story game requires more time commitment from a player than do other games. That's not to say that one can't play on multiple servers at once, however, given how much work it can be to make and maintain progress in VS, it's not out of the question that players will pick one server to play on and stick to that. Therefore if they only expect to be playing on one server, they're going to be a lot pickier when it comes to server quality.

Edited December 16, 2025 by LadyWYT

[zacandneil]

33 minutes ago, Teh Pizza Lady said:

Had you started with RP, economy, and wars/pvp, then the other players might have come (and stayed) for that. You're getting pushback because they didn't join a RP/wars/pvp server. They joined your server.

Instead, just as a casual observer on the outside, it feels like a classic bait and switch maneuver. 

As I stated in my post I shared my idea , I’ve not changed anything yet to the server , as I’ve tried in other games and such to create a this type of server and it waste of time doing that if no one is interested, so I tried a alternate way of doing it 

 

now I though with the original discuss with people about mods etc they were open to trying different thing so I though they be open for this as well , there is no bait and switch or anything like that as I never said what the sever was intended to be 

but as I’ve said I’m only adding these things to make the server more fun and add more content 

 

[zacandneil]

27 minutes ago, Sparkplug04 said:

Yeah, this is a very big problem when talking about markets. Because apparently, people can't be nice.
Not my story, but there was an incident I heard someone talk about where even the server admins were in on a brutal monopoly, keeping the tyranny running. One faction had beelined into the tropics and proceeded to procure Wildcraft cocoa trees for themselves and kill the rest. They never even sold it, just wanted to hoard it and make people know they had it. The faction declared that if they found anybody had cocoa in a meal, they would start a war.
Now, sure, odd claim to make, but the admins appeared to be in on it. How do we know?
Well, the guy telling this story managed to LEGITIMATELY steal some cocoa and bring it back. An admin found out and told him to dispose of it.

A monopoly enforced by the server staff. Slippery slope right there.

Also, just a side note, starting on servers after they begin can be quite a disaster. Found one civ server that sounded cool, but having nearly 0 access to food, no access to Butchering so my food gain is even lower, no bush foods, and then HoD killing me in both hydration and satiety.
Haven't wanted to play again, as I just cannot maintain myself and keep up with the server's progression after being tossed into the biggest faction.

But that gaming for you in general people not been nice lol, but I’m not about trying to make the game unfair or make it so people can monopolise on stuff things can be put in place to prevent it , the market is effected via the players not the admins , see we have a communist town on the server and they would provide for people that wouldn’t want to be part of say a capatlsit town , this is all down to how it managed , I have my way of doing it

[LadyWYT]

2 hours ago, zacandneil said:

I’ve not changed anything yet to the server , as I’ve tried in other games and such to create a this type of server and it waste of time doing that if no one is interested

If no one is showing interest, that would suggest that it's not something the general playerbase has an interest in. That doesn't mean that the server concept can't be done, but it does mean that it might be harder to find players who want to play on that type of server.

 

2 hours ago, zacandneil said:

so I tried a alternate way of doing it 

With all due respect...did you advertise the server's direction when you created it, so that players knew what they were getting into, or did you try to add a bunch of extras after its creation? If players signed up for a more standard VS experience at the server's creation, they're not likely to be keen on adding a bigger focus to stuff like RP, PvP, or elaborate server economics.

The key is to be clear about the intended experience up front, so that players who are interested in playing that way can be attracted and those who don't want to play that way can avoid it. If you start with a more popular idea just to get players on the server, and then change all the rules to what you actually intend, it's a classic bait-and-switch and players will absolutely leave as a result.

2 hours ago, zacandneil said:

now I though with the original discuss with people about mods etc they were open to trying different thing so I though they be open for this as well

If the original discussion was just about adding mods to the server, I'm guessing the players expected that the discussion would end there. That is, add a few mods to enhance the basic game experience, not add mods in order to encourage completely different gameplay(like RP and PvP) to the server. I will also note that just because players are open to trying different things, doesn't mean that they'll be willing to try anything or everything--there are limits.

 

2 hours ago, zacandneil said:

but as I’ve said I’m only adding these things to make the server more fun and add more content 

The question to ask here is "fun for who". Players who do not think the things are fun will leave, which means you'll need to try to attract the players who do find those things fun.

 

2 hours ago, zacandneil said:

but I’m not about trying to make the game unfair or make it so people can monopolise on stuff things can be put in place to prevent it , the market is effected via the players not the admins

If you don't want players to monopolize the server market, the admins are the ones who are going to have to intervene and put an end to it. Otherwise, the monopoly will continue, and players who aren't part of the monopoly will most likely just leave rather than deal with it.

 

2 hours ago, zacandneil said:

see we have a communist town on the server and they would provide for people that wouldn’t want to be part of say a capatlsit town , this is all down to how it managed , I have my way of doing it

As in an actual functioning town with players, or is this simply a concept? I am thinking the latter, since you indicated that the server has lost most all of its players. Which a concept is fine, but you will need actual players in order to make it work--players that are willing to just give their hard-won results to other players that haven't/won't put in the same effort. I could be wrong, but I do not think many players will be keen on that.

Edited December 16, 2025 by LadyWYT
missed a word