Globalisation / Pricing Issue
Hello Gameforge team,
We have been closely following the recent developments regarding the future of 4Story. In particular, the fact that server structure and monetisation are being considered shows that an important period for the future of the game has begun.
In the long term, I believe that a One Client + One Server structure could be a strong, and perhaps even inevitable, option for 4Story. Bringing players from different countries together in the same client and the same game world could create more active PvP, larger guild wars, a more active economy, and a more populated game world.
However, there is an important issue that needs to be addressed alongside this change:
A global server should not necessarily mean global pricing.
4Story has a player base consisting of around 12 different countries and communities, and the economic conditions of these countries are very different.
Therefore, while bringing all players together on a single server, forcing everyone to use the same currency and the same price level could significantly reduce spending from some communities. Losing loyal players who have been playing 4Story for many years because of economic reasons would go against the purpose of globalisation.
I believe past experiences should also be taken into consideration here.
Kapak was an important example showing that bringing different countries into a global structure is not always straightforward. The fact that some country communities were left outside of this structure shows that future globalisation plans should be evaluated not only from a technical perspective, but also in terms of economic conditions and community participation.
The Lamia experience should not be forgotten either. Players who wanted to participate in Lamia had to use the English client and play through a different structure. It also provided a different experience in terms of language, client and payment system compared with the existing regional servers. As a result, this structure did not achieve the level of participation that might have been expected across different countries. It would be useful to evaluate the reasons behind this experience when planning future globalisation.
A similar issue still exists today. There are also non-Turkish players playing on the Turkish server in order to benefit from the pricing advantage. This should not be seen only as a problem specific to Turkey, but as an existing example of how regional pricing differences can influence player behaviour. A permanent solution should be found for these issues.
So what could the solution be?
In my opinion, the ideal solution would be:
One Client + One Server + Regional Pricing
All countries could be brought together on a single client and a single game world. However, the payment system could still operate according to the player’s verified country.
For example:
Turkey → TRY
Romania → RON
Poland → PLN
Germany → EUR
To prevent abuse of regional pricing, multiple criteria could be used to verify the player’s country:
- The country where the payment card/bank account is registered
- The country information provided by the payment provider
- The country registered on the account
- Phone number verification
- Additional verification when necessary
This could create a more reliable system that does not rely solely on IP addresses or VPN detection.
Alternatively, if a single pricing system is considered mandatory for the global server, players could be given the option to choose between a Global Server and a Regional Server.
The goal here is not to oppose globalisation.
On the contrary, we want players from all 12 different countries to come together in the same world.
However, the purpose of globalisation should not be to lose existing players, but to keep them in the same game and build a larger and more active community.
I believe Gameforge should also consider the following question when planning the future:
“How do we bring players together on one server?” is important, but so is “How do we keep players from 12 different countries in the same game while taking their different economic conditions into account?”
Globalisation should bring 4Story players together, rather than drive them away because of differences in purchasing power.
For this reason, separating the concepts of One Client + One Server and One Price for Everyone could be very important for the long-term future of 4Story.
If globalisation is supported by the right pricing model, it could become a major opportunity for 4Story. Otherwise, while creating a technically larger game world, there is a risk of losing part of the loyal player base for economic reasons.
