Almost two weeks since launch, Lost Ark players are still facing server issues
With queues still lasting upwards of four hours at peak time, Lost Ark's European problem is still its biggest burden
Lost Ark, the brilliant action MMORPG that took the industry by storm earlier this month reaching upwards of a million concurrent players on Steam is showing no sign of losing momentum as time goes on. While this is obviously great news for the player base as a whole, those playing on EU servers are still suffering through substantial server issues almost two weeks since launch.
This issue has been addressed on multiple occasions by the developers at Smilegate. Through server maintenance updates packing stability fixes, alongside the opening of a brand new EU West server region, attempts to lessen the strain of the EU Central servers have been numerous.
However, while these efforts have surely helped contain the growing pains as new adventures start piling into the game day after day, they’ve done little to drain the EU Central server of its bloated population problems. The blame can be placed primarily on a sort of sunk cost fallacy on the part of the players here, and it’s hard to blame them...
The most dedicated of players, those who have invested over a hundred hours into their roster on a EU Central server, are unable to transfer their progress onto less jammed up pastures. As such, they’d essentially have to start again from scratch, throwing the time they’d dedicated into the wind.
Some have bitten the bullet and transferred over to these new servers, reporting a far improved experience. Even so, the queues remain bulky and unflinching. Although, it may not be all bad news. There is a hope that the problem may fix itself in the coming weeks, thanks in large part to a series of big releases that may drain players away from Lost Ark enough for EU Central to find some respite at last.
Destiny 2 launching today on February 22, World of Warcraft’s 9.2 update, and of course Elden Ring hitting platforms February 25 all threaten to drag people away from the hit MMO from Smilegate.
Speaking personally as someone who also refuses to leave their stuffed EU Central server, that’s where my hopes lie. The realities of adult life make it difficult to invest as much time as you’d ideally want to into games, even if your job revolves around them. Having to start over from scratch in Lost Ark is more likely to put me off playing it altogether, and I’m willing to bet I’m not the only one with that sentiment. After investing so much time, the concept of a fresh start is a hard pill to swallow.
What do you think? Are you sticking it out on a busy EU Central server? Or did you make the leap to the lushous plains of EU West?
For more Lost Ark content, check out our quick guide on counter attacking in Lost Ark, plus our How to get Harmony Shards guide if you’re powering through tier one content right now.