Why Terraria Servers are Dead..

Teraiaia servers are pretty sweet but why they die? :(

Credit for footage:
@MyraTerrariaOfficial
@PythonGB
@machamgusta748
@PSJR
If you see your footage used without credit please let me know in the comments!

Thanks for watching :)

[AZaqZaqProduction]

Hey, I'm the owner and lead developer for the Penguin Games server. A few comments from my own observations dealing with this:
- I am not happy about the player counts either
- When player counts are low, it causes a self-perpetuating death spiral where people join the server, see that the lobby for their favorite game isn't active, and then leave. Basically the only thing that helps revive player count is for the player count to be revived.
- "Just add more games" is easier said than done. Our dev team is small and we already have like 30 different gamemodes. From my view, we have had a pretty bad scope creep problem, and personally I'd rather prioritize quality over quantity. Any time a dev spends on a new gamemode could be spent adding new content or fixing bugs for an existing gamemode. At least that's my view of it; of course I wouldn't want players to get bored with what's there but I think we have quite a bit of content right now.
- The game hub being obscure is kind of intentional because I wouldn't want lobbies to be spread too thin, so we hope that concentrating players in a smaller selection of rotating gamemodes provides a better experience. I'd love to make all gamemodes playable at all time but we don't have the player counts for that, and we didn't even when we were at our peak.
- COVID helped us a lot, but unfortunately I can't cause a new pandemic to make my Terraria server more popular again :(.
- Another factor is that YouTubers don't cover us as often because Terraria server videos don't do as well in the algorithm. I assume that viewers don't care to hear about it because they don't even know what's out there.
- Yes, ReLogic has chronically neglected this scene. I would love to see an ingame server list.
- Map size variation in Spleef is supposed to be coming soon!

[BECTHNK]

The answer why ppl don't play multiplayer is simple: in Minecraft, there's almost nothing to in the game, while multiplayer provides some communication and fun activities with friends, while in Terraria you have access to excess amounts of solo content and fun activities which is why multiplayer always seems redundant besides a small group of friends playing coop.

[bsheepdestroyermakesstuff]

i gotta say its pretty brave for your FIRST criticism of a gamemode to be "it needs a battle pass" like they arent one of the most hated things in gaming for good reasons

[aevilious]

Im the owner of eternia, and i can honestly say If terraria actually supported us, it would both explode terraria server player count but also help terraria build there own player count.

[Glizzyk]

I got a penguin game ad while watching this video

[diogenmishel]

Hi! I am the lead admin & developer from Terraria Minigames server. In Terraria, the servers are really poorly adapted. There is no good API like in Minecraft. There is nothing to attract the attention of players to the servers. And if a player has joined the server, it is difficult to keep him. For example, we have been thinking for a long time about making it as easy as possible for players to adapt to the server. YouTube only helps, but it is not always possible to get a video from a major youtuber ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[WomanSlayer]

A lot of people play multiplayer in Terraria, just not a lot on public servers. Public servers don't have nearly as much potential as, say, a game like Minecraft. However, a playthrough with friends or even just random strangers you find online and start a groupchat with is and will be one of the most magical things you’ll experience in a game.

Minecraft playthroughs are often isolated even on multiplayer servers due to lack of any incentive to stick together especially because of the mob limit making the game easier than it already is when there are lots of people online, while having someone to base with would more often than not lead to betrayal or getting targeted than a peaceful experience, and the progression ends really fast with mostly mindless grinding making up the majority of the game, so after just a few days you will have no reason to remain on the survival server other than build structures or do certain community events to stave off boredom from lack of stuff to do.
Meanwhile in Terraria there are certain things like boss fights with the bosses scaling in stats to how many players are online, that encourages players to stick together and take down the threat. Going your separate ways is rarely a good idea when venturing into the unknown, as the evil regions and underground jungle will lead to a lot of pain and having one friend with you ensures a safety net for any coins or items you may lose on death, which is quite common in Terraria due to the obscene difficulty spikes on higher difficulties.

Basically, what it boils down to, is that Minecraft, due to its limited progression, becomes a lot more competitive due to players being the main threat in a much more peaceful environment than Terraria, which has an emphasis on cooperation against an extremely hostile environment, where players are either already competing against the eldritch horrors plaguing the land, or are at a point where they are literally so powerful that attacking each other will just lead to both players oneshotting each other before either side has the slightest chance to evade or perform game-changing outplays leading to one's victory. This makes Minecraft a better experience on public servers where there is constant competition, but Terraria a better experience on private multiplayer playthroughs due to its co-op being actually meaningful.

In Minecraft, you band together to kill a rivaling group over control of the world spawn. In Terraria, you band together to kill f*cking elder gods and destroy planets with full auto firework launchers that shoot f*cking nukes.

[Terrabade]

Hi, I am the founder and sole developer of Eternia.

It is obvious that Terraria is simply not designed for large scale public multiplayer servers. All of the solutions we have now: TShock, plugins, automatically refilling all items areas, lobby switching, etc. are achieved as a result of reverse-engineering Terraria. Using hacky techniques to patch the Terraria server assemblies and hook our own code into it, in combination with decompilation of the game’s source code to figure out how mechanics are implemented so we can extend/modify them as best we can in a server-sided fashion. The whole premise of these big public servers exists on the basis of community developers trying to push the game’s limited multiplayer capabilities to the extreme.
When you open a server up to beyond your group of friends, you open it up to malicious actors, and Terraria’s protocol and error tolerance/correction is not robust in the slightest when exposed to the vast array of exploits that exist, because this is simply not the intended use case.

Re-Logic does not provide public documentation. Re-Logic does not provide public developer tools like SDKs or a server-side modding API. It’s obvious that support for large Minecraft-style public multiplayer server networks was never meant to be part of the product. The Terraria server developer community has requested certain protocol changes and minor additions (such as SSC), and Re-Logic has however obliged.

We were the ones who chose to push it to its limits, beyond what was intended. For Re-Logic to make public multiplayer servers robust and act on these highlighted issues would be a massive commitment at the behest of our entitled expectations.

It would add longevity to the game to really flesh out multiplayer and build a more solid foundation for our creativity as Terraria server developers, but I think at this point they might as well rectify it in “Terraria 2”.

[manwiththeafro]

W critique i didnt think about how shitty the ui for joining a server is

[Koogun]

*As the owner of a PS4/PS5 all items server, I see an average of 4 - 30 new players joining every 24 hours, depending on the day.*

*My server's PvP and building community is quite active, but is limited by the player limit of 16.*

*Open for questions.*

[nneykobar_hali]

"Parkoore isnt as fun in 2d as it is in 3d"
Celeste looking at you from the shadows.
Smiling.

[fakeaccount]

*Short answer:* Terraria wasn't designed for multiplayer and creative freedom, it's a 'linear progression' sandbox, not a creative one.

[cal]

Teeria Legends player here, the server is still alive and lively. Didn't know Pedguin's server had died or smth. We still have a lot of new players joining every day and are still frequently updated. We now even have a custom Moon Lord battle which is quite fun.

[imjoni]

0:03 i clicked on the video out of curiosity and first thing i see is me rushing full speed to kill the guy with the red gem and failing miserably on penguin games ctg 💀💀

[Firewyrk]

About the registration thingy, that is a server side client called tShock, which allows for devs and server owners to install plugins. It requires players to sign in to save their data.

[darkdragonpl]

I think that part of the problem may be because terraria is a game people play to fight bosses, advance and overcome challenges. Pretty much all content on the internet revolves around classes, playthroughs, bosses, weapons, builds etc. And if someone wants to play minigames they usually go to minecraft.

[theprophet]

7:05 :O that's me! (the green slime)

despite the low player counts, some players have been on the server for a WHILE and they're astonishingly good at many of the games

[Brixxter]

I used to play on Pedguin's server almost daily, like 5-6 years ago. I made a lot of Steam friends over it (although I eventually lost contact with all of them). Eventually I just played different games and sort of forgot the server existed. I lowkey want to check it out again at some point.

[wrenn]

do not fucking suggest limited time rewards or a battlepass. listen to yourself

[C-Vite]

Man I miss Teeria Legends so much.
Hopefully someone here remembers that.
Some of my most fond memories in Terraria.