Those who walk through the world of the Early Access version of Pax Dei will stumble upon numerous plots of inactive players. Now, the developers are taking a remarkable measure to address this problem.
Update from August 23, 2024: According to the developers of Pax Dei, the process of clearing inactive plots has been completed. In total, 7.8 percent of all plots have been removed. As a result, most of the full servers have switched to “High” status (via Discord).
What is the current state of Pax Dei? Since the start of the Early Access phase on June 18, 2024, quite a bit has happened in the world of the sandbox MMORPG. The developers at Mainframe Industries have implemented numerous hotfixes and optimizations to address the worst issues in Pax Dei.
Having achieved that, the team is now working on new content as well as expanding and improving existing systems and features – such as combat systems, PvP, social interactions, marketplaces, and PvE content for solo players (via Discord).
The delay in content and feature updates has had its cost, MeinMMO already reported about this in the second preview report from July 2024. Player numbers have significantly fallen, leading to an increasing number of inactive plots in the world.
Strolling past all the abandoned houses and tools felt like walking through a graveyard of construction sites, which slows down the remaining active communities and hinders new players from finding a good spot for their own plot.
The world of Pax Dei is beautiful, here is the trailer for the Early Access launch:
Understandable but drastic measure
How are the developers addressing the problem? On one hand, the new content and expanded features are intended to lure back as many players as possible into the world of Pax Dei. On the other hand, the devs already announced via Discord in July that they wanted to conduct a cleanup operation in August to remove abandoned plots and thus create new space.
Now, the developers revealed the specific dates for the cleanup operation on their Discord channel:
- On August 19, 2024, the plots that will be removed during the cleanup operation will be marked.
- The actual cleanup operation is scheduled to take place on August 21, 2024.
All (!) of the following criteria must be met for a plot to be removed, according to the developers: The affected plots are those
- whose owner has not been active since July 22
- that have played less than 120 minutes in total
- that have crafted very few items during this time (less than 50 in total, less than 20 in the past month, less than two in the past two weeks)
- that have placed very few items on their plot (less than 40 in total, less than 20 in the past month, less than two in the past two weeks)
- that do not belong to any clan with two or more members
Furthermore, the affected plots are those
- that contain zero items and the number of items added in the past month is zero
- that have produced zero items and the number of crafting events from the past month is zero
- and whose owner does not belong to any clan with two or more members
If you are concerned that your plot might be affected, the developers have a simple tip for you: Log into Pax Dei before August 19 and place an item on your plot or craft something there.
How does MeinMMO evaluate the action? With the multitude of criteria that must be met at the same time, the developers ensure that only players who have been inactive for a long time are affected.
Nevertheless, the cleanup operation carries a certain stigma. After all, Early Access access costs between 40 to 100 Euros, depending on the edition, and a benefit of the founder’s package reads on Steam as follows:
- You will receive unlimited access to the game for the entire duration of Early Access (i.e., until at least June 2025), along with a specified number of plots.
So we want to know from you: What do you think of the action? Should currently inactive buyers of the EA version rightfully forfeit the paid benefits to improve the experience for active players? Share your opinion in the comments! More about the game: Pax Dei is the best bad MMO for relaxed walks against a beautiful medieval backdrop in Early Access
