Just read this announcement by Luca on the community boards.

[i]Dear players,

after an accurate analysis of the situation based also on the feedback gathered through the poll on the support website and reading various forums on the Internet, we have decided that a consolidation for the European shards would be the best choice for the future of Horizons: Empire of Istaria here in Europe.

The merger of Earth, Ice and Wind into one single shard will begin tomorrow evening and as soon as possible we should be able to confirm the exact time at which we will start working on it and an estimated time for the end of the work that will see involved in a common effort both the teams at Artifact Entertainment and here at Game Network.

[/i]

If you would like to read the rest of the post please visit the community site.