English

Game server configuration As shown before, the 2022 Community Survey showed a strong desire for a Simulation-like server without a strict speed limit. We had also previously received many comments from users requesting a reconsideration of the speed limit. These insights prompted us to rethink our server offerings. The survey about game server configurations clearly demonstrate the importance of involving our users in our decision-making processes, considering that we received a record high engagement (an unprecedented 8,912 responses), which indicates high demand for certain basic needs.

A large majority of respondents favour higher speed limits, with an overwhelming majority preferring a limit of 150 km/h for both ETS2 and ATS. Additionally, our User Panel also suggested implementing a regional speed limit around Calais and Duisburg, but the idea did not receive sufficient support with 43% in favour and 50% against. Another idea that was raised by our panel was applying speed limits by road type, so a rural road would have a different speed limit than a freeway, for example. We investigated the feasibility of this idea and while the game does label certain roads, not all roads all labelled as such, and thus we would not be able to apply speed limits to 'unlabelled' roads; that idea was therefore not deemed feasible for application. Our primary goal is to provide a fun and enjoyable online gaming environment for our users. Although we introduced a speed limit of 110 km/h in 2019 to create a more realistic simulation environment, we understand that there is also a need for more casual gameplay. When the Road to Simulation was pushed in 2019, we assumed that the Arcade server (no collisions, no speed limit, no road rules) would be able to meet that demand. However, we now know from internal data and reports that our Arcade servers are underutilised even during peak hours, and user testimonials have indicated that the vast majority of players do not believe servers without collisions or road rules are enjoyable. Indeed, our surveys revealed that 48% of respondents would prefer collisions on Arcade servers, and servers without collisions or road rules received only little support. There is, however, a small but not negligible group of users that do utilise our Arcade server, e.g. to get away from all the traffic or to set up convoy control profiles for events.

Someone recently said that "what the game is supposed to be is what the players make it out to be", and another reflected on the relation between driving style and speed limits by stating that some "people will be reckless regardless of their speed" and that the Road to Simulation did not change the way people play the game, but was rather a restriction of the options players have. Having a diverse group of players, each playing the game in their own respective style, is the charm of a MMO environment. Not everyone has the same interests and therefore forcing a one-size-fits-none solution is not fruitful, while a solution that only favours one group of players will antagonise the other. Our community can be roughly divided into a relatively small group of ‘hardcore’ simulation players and a larger ‘casual’ player base – each with very different preferences. We recognise that it is not possible to meet the demands of both groups simultaneously. Therefore, we have decided to offer the best of both worlds: a server where people can come together to drive in a more realistic manner, and a server where people can be more casual. We therefore go 'back to basics' by returning to similar server offerings as those that we provided in 2018/2019: Simulation 1 (similar to EU1), Simulation 2 (similar to EU2), and Arcade (similar to EU4).

Specifically, the speed limit will globally be increased to 150 km/h and it will be up to players themselves to adapt to the conditions on the road. Should you not wish to worry about any rules, then we will still have an Arcade server available. This gives players the ability to drive faster should they wish to, while others that wish to drive slower (e.g., by completing World of Trucks deliveries that are limited to 90 km/h or by completing 'real miles' in external companion apps) have that ability as well. We will maintain the current "Simulation 1" configuration as well, in a similar fashion as back in 2018/2019. "Simulation 1" will be the equivalent of EU1 (collisions, road rules, 110 km/h speed limit), a new server coined as "Simulation 2" will be the equivalent of EU2 (collisions, road rules, 150 km/h speed limit), and "Arcade" will be the equivalent of EU4 (no collisions, no road rules, no speed limit). We intend to use the Simulation 1 server as our basis where we continue to build on our unique simulation environment, for example with special 'live' events such as Operation HQ. We also hope that the Simulation 1 server provides a place where the more 'serious' and 'realistic' simulation enthusiasts can come together.

Finally, we were also informed that there are many users who believed that our automated AFK kick timer was too strict. This timer was set to 10 minutes and some felt the need to use external tools to bypass that timer. In the survey, we asked our players what they believe would be a more user-friendly timer. 95% of the respondents stated that a timer of 30 minutes or less would satisfy their needs. We have decided to go for a dynamic timer, that will automatically adjust based on how busy the server is. In the infographic below, you can see our new timers. By default, the timer will now be 30 minutes in case less than 90% of the slots are used; in case the server is busy, the timer will go back to 10 minutes. Patrons (Master Trucker tier) have received additional benefits. For them, the AFK timer will be disabled, unless more than 90% of the slots are utilised, in which case their timer will be set to 30 minutes. This change was already pushed back in February; check this infographic for an overview.

Feedback February 2023 results: what server configurations do players desire

The new server configuration will be applied to all our servers, including the ProMods servers with consent from our partners. The overview will be as described in the table below. Initially, slots for Simulation 1 and Simulation 2 will be divided equally as the Community Survey showed a large body of support for both configurations and we do not wish to steer where the demand goes; this is up to you guys. We will adjust the slots to favour the most popular server as soon as we have witnessed where the demand goes. The slots for arcade servers have been adjusted as well to distribute capacity better across a range of servers; the amount of slots is based on our server data from 2022 and meets peak demand.

New server configuration offerings for TruckersMP Servers with a 150 km/h speed limit have city speed limits of 80 km/h (50 mp/h)

中文

游戏服务器配置 如前所示，2022年社区调查显示，人们强烈希望拥有一个没有严格速度限制的类似模拟的服务器。我们之前也收到了许多用户的评论，要求重新考虑限速。这些见解促使我们重新思考我们的服务器产品。关于游戏服务器配置的调查清楚地表明了让我们的用户参与我们的决策过程的重要性，考虑到我们收到了创纪录的高参与度（前所未有的8912份回复），这表明对某些基本需求的高需求。 绝大多数受访者赞成更高的限速，绝大多数人更喜欢ETS2和ATS的限速为150公里/小时。此外，我们的用户小组还建议在加莱和杜伊斯堡周围实施区域限速，但这一想法没有得到足够的支持，43%的人赞成，50%的人反对。我们小组提出的另一个想法是按道路类型应用速度限制，例如，农村道路的速度限制与高速公路不同。我们调查了这个想法的可行性，虽然游戏确实给某些道路贴上了标签，但并不是所有的道路都贴上了这样的标签，因此我们无法对“未贴标签”的道路实施限速；因此，这一想法被认为不适用。我们的主要目标是为用户提供一个有趣和愉快的在线游戏环境。尽管我们在2019年引入了110公里/小时的速度限制，以创建一个更逼真的模拟环境，但我们明白也需要更随意的游戏。当2019年推出模拟之路时，我们认为Arcade服务器（无碰撞、无限速、无道路规则）能够满足这一需求。然而，我们现在从内部数据和报告中知道，即使在高峰时段，我们的Arcade服务器也没有得到充分利用，用户的评价表明，绝大多数玩家不认为没有碰撞或道路规则的服务器是令人愉快的。事实上，我们的调查显示，48%的受访者更喜欢在Arcade服务器上发生碰撞，而没有碰撞或道路规则的服务器几乎没有得到支持。然而，有一小群但不可忽视的用户确实使用了我们的Arcade服务器，例如避开所有流量或为事件设置车队控制配置文件。 最近有人说“游戏应该是什么样的，玩家会做出什么样的决定”，另一人则反思了驾驶风格和限速之间的关系，他说有些人“无论速度如何，都会鲁莽行事”，“模拟之路”并没有改变人们玩游戏的方式，而是限制了玩家的选择。拥有一群不同的玩家，每个人都以自己的风格玩游戏，这就是MMO环境的魅力所在。并不是每个人都有相同的利益，因此强制采用一刀切的解决方案是没有成效的，而只偏袒一组参与者的解决方案会与另一组参与者对立。我们的社区可以大致分为相对较小的“铁杆”模拟玩家群体和较大的“休闲”玩家群体——每个人都有非常不同的偏好。我们认识到，不可能同时满足这两个群体的需求。因此，我们决定提供两全其美的服务：一个服务器，人们可以以更现实的方式聚在一起开车，另一个服务器可以让人们更随意。因此，我们“回归基本”，返回与2018/2019年提供的服务器产品类似的服务器产品：模拟1（类似于EU1）、模拟2（类似于EUL2）和Arcade（类似于EU4）。 具体而言，全球限速将提高到150公里/小时，这将取决于玩家自己来适应道路上的条件。如果您不想担心任何规则，那么我们仍将提供Arcade服务器。这让玩家可以随心所欲地开得更快，而其他希望开得更慢的玩家（例如，通过完成限制在90公里/小时的卡车世界交付或在外部配套应用程序中完成“真实里程”）也有这种能力。我们也将以与2018/2019年类似的方式保持当前的“模拟1”配置。“模拟1”将相当于EU1（碰撞、道路规则、110公里/小时限速），一个被称为“模拟2”的新服务器将相当于EUL2（碰撞、路面规则、150公里/小时车速限制），而“Arcade”将等同于EU4（无碰撞、无道路规则、无限速）。我们打算使用模拟1服务器作为我们的基础，在这里我们将继续建立在我们独特的模拟环境上，例如通过特殊的“现场”活动，如总部行动。我们还希望Simulation 1服务器能为更“严肃”和“逼真”的模拟爱好者提供一个聚会的地方。 Fi公司