Server population is dropping...

[KindBudhArsh]

i dont agree on the server pop droping, atleast on my server, its actualy rising. But as far as server merges... NOT YET!, atleast until they optimize the engine to get us better FPS! imagine the Horrid FPS threads if they merge servers and server pops double... think ppl! think and be careful what u wish for

[Waypoc]

i dont agree on the server pop droping, atleast on my server, its actualy rising. But as far as server merges... NOT YET!, atleast until they optimize the engine to get us better FPS! imagine the Horrid FPS threads if they merge servers and server pops double... think ppl! think and be careful what u wish for

 

I agree server pop is dropping, at least on my server, it's actually getting lower. But as far as server mergers, do it now while you still can.

[dyves]

Ironically, the servers that had the worst queues at release are the only ones with decent populations now. The servers that rarely even reached "very heavy" are the servers that now stay standard all day. And there's quite a few more of the latter than the former. If Bioware is smart, they'll be proactive about mergers, take the short-term PR hit, and increase the likelihood of retaining the players they already have.

 

That's because the meaning of the status categories changes when a player cap is raised, meaning that where a population of 2000-2500 would register as full or very heavy in the first couple of weeks, now it'll only register as standard or heavy for servers that experienced a cap raise.

Not saying that there isn't less players for a number of servers, that's what always happens after a launch month, people playing more and longer in the beginning or not continuing after the free month. However, the status categories have changed as well over the weeks, which makes them impractical to translate them to actual player numbers.

 

As for what's a healthy player population, sorry, but servers with standard status and ingame player populations ranging between 1-2k at peak times easily equal and dwarf most of the high population servers in other MMO's.

Edited January 22, 2012 by dyves

[jonobiwan]

Gotta agree with you there. I think this might go down as one of the biggest fails in gaming history. I remember a quote during Beta where one of the EA guys was saying they were shooting for 10million box sales. They might get 10 million downloads if the game foes FTP LOL. Seriously though I think they have barely cracked 2 million sales, and sub numbers have only gone down, since they announced 1.5 million subs. EA really has bad luck making MMOs.

 

We'll know the real story once they start laying off employees and they share their experience with the public.

 

This won't go F2P for a long time. It's actually doing quite well for an MMO. Drops are common after release especially after the holidays.

[urborror]

No they should merge servers fast. Republic side on a middling server is 1/4 capacity it should be, 1/10 the capacity it could be.

 

I switched from a heavier to lighter server for an alt for no reason--it's dead, GTN is dead, heroics are dead, the slow-leveling casual players find the heroics too hard, so there are no heroics whatsoever, there's no MMO in the RPG.

 

They were hoping for 2.5X the initial sales, didn't happen. Merge fast to improve the experience of playing the game. I want to do heroics. They're phenomenally fun when everything clicks. When I can't play them I'm not motivated to play. You can find groups on planets with 80 people, not 15.

 

Reminds me of horrible web start-up companies I worked at where everybody was more concerned with the Powerpoint presentation to the board than actually making the company successful. They're all out of business.

[jonobiwan]

That's because the meaning of the status categories changes when a player cap is raised, meaning that where a population of 2000-2500 would register as full or very heavy in the first couple of weeks, now it'll only register as standard or heavy for servers that experienced a cap raise.

 

As for what's a healthy player population, sorry, but servers with standard status and ingame player populations ranging between 1-2k at peak times easily equal and dwarf most of the high population servers in other MMO's.

 

Agreed.

[XLauncher]

Ironically, the servers that had the worst queues at release are the only ones with decent populations now. The servers that rarely even reached "very heavy" are the servers that now stay standard all day. And there's quite a few more of the latter than the former. If Bioware is smart, they'll be proactive about mergers, take the short-term PR hit, and increase the likelihood of retaining the players they already have.

 

Indeed, that's my thinking on the subject. It may project an image of weakness to consolidate servers, but there's a sort of synergy to consider here. The same amount of people spread across x servers makes those servers much weaker than the same amount of people all on one server. On my own server, I'm often responsible for the only implants on the GTN; it's stuff like that that can turn people off to a game.

 

If they consolidate now, they can really shore up their subscriber base for the months ahead. I really, really hope they're at least looking at this, if not already working something out.

[jonobiwan]

No they should merge servers fast. Republic side on a middling server is 1/4 capacity it should be, 1/10 the capacity it could be.

 

I switched from a heavier to lighter server for an alt for no reason--it's dead, GTN is dead, heroics are dead, the slow-leveling casual players find the heroics too hard, so there are no heroics whatsoever, there's no MMO in the RPG.

 

They were hoping for 2.5X the initial sales, didn't happen. Merge fast to improve the experience of playing the game. I want to do heroics. They're phenomenally fun when everything clicks. When I can't play them I'm not motivated to play. You can find groups on planets with 80 people, not 15.

 

Reminds me of horrible web start-up companies I worked at where everybody was more concerned with the Powerpoint presentation to the board than actually making the company successful. They're all out of business.

Some servers are dead but most are doing well server mergers eventually but not now.

[dyves]

They were hoping for 2.5X the initial sales, didn't happen. Merge fast to improve the experience of playing the game. I want to do heroics. They're phenomenally fun when everything clicks. When I can't play them I'm not motivated to play. You can find groups on planets with 80 people, not 15.

 

Reminds me of horrible web start-up companies I worked at where everybody was more concerned with the Powerpoint presentation to the board than actually making the company successful. They're all out of business.

 

This makes no sense at all

 

Wrong analogy, and if you mention figures, at least provide a source.

[Mannic]

As for what's a healthy player population, sorry, but servers with standard status and ingame player populations ranging between 1-2k at peak times easily equal and dwarf most of the high population servers in other MMO's.

 

I don't know what other MMO's you've played, but 1-2K on a server is not anything to write home about.

[Zorvan]

Some servers are dead but most are doing well server mergers eventually but not now.

 

You merge the servers now, less people leave due to having noone to play with and not wanting to start over on another server.

 

Or you merge them later when those people have already left.

 

Either choice is "bad PR", but only one choice helps retain rather than push away.

 

At least right now they can use the "We made too many servers." excuse to soften the blow.

 

Later, that option is gone.

Edited January 22, 2012 by Zorvan

[jonobiwan]

I don't know what other MMO's you've played, but 1-2K on a server is not anything to write home about.

Actually once an mmo's population stabilizes that is fairly good.

[jonobiwan]

You merge the servers now, less people leave due to having noone to play with and not wanting to start over on another server.

 

Or you merge them later when those people have already left.

 

Either choice is "bad PR", but only one choice helps retain rather than push away.

Yeah I agree.

[Darkness_au]

You merge the servers now, less people leave due to having noone to play with and not wanting to start over on another server.

 

Or you merge them later when those people have already left.

 

Either choice is "bad PR", but only one choice helps retain rather than push away.

 

At least right now they can use the "We made too many servers." excuse to soften the blow.

 

Later, that option is gone.

 

+1

 

I hate running around in ghost towns.. PVP queues are a joke etc..

[dyves]

I don't know what other MMO's you've played, but 1-2K on a server is not anything to write home about.

 

Right after AoC and LotrO went F2P, their highest populated servers that were bustling ranked 1700-2400 players logged in at peak times. That was at their peak right after the F2P move, usually the figures are ofc lower.

A full Rift server with queue has no more than 2000 player logged in, that's its cap.

 

I could give more examples of other MMO's, but they're about the same kind of PCU (peak concurrent users).

Edited January 22, 2012 by dyves

[Renzetsu]

im waiting in a queue of 600.. still alot i reckon!

 

although 2 weeks ago i often waited in a queue of more than 1500

[Mookiethejookie]

You mean player counts are down after everyone has to be back at work now that the holidays are over?

 

Inconceivable!

 

Jimer you are the true fanboi , I really hope bioware gives you a keychain for your loyalty , you have a amazing way to spin everything into a positive.

[Kalosis]

also,12% of players have been banned for cheating.

[Wolfeisberg]

Jimer you are the true fanboi , I really hope bioware gives you a keychain for your loyalty , you have a amazing way to spin everything into a positive.

 

What part of that is he wrong? The game did launch during a holiday, when a crap ton of people take a holiday vacation from work and/or school. There was an unusual amount of people having an unusual amount of free time compared to non holidays.

 

Or are you just trolling him because he made a good point, and since you actually have nothing valid to rebuttal with, you just decide to insult him instead?

[Lordlok]

http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2011/12/21/bioware-swtor-queues-are-here-to-stay/

 

People raging because Bioware wouldnt add servers.

 

2 weeks later, we are in a thread full of people raging because there are too many servers.

 

 

Forgive people for assuming it would be a game worth playing...

 

The devs should have just said " Sit tight, in 2 weeks they'll be a mass-exodus of angry customers and then you'll get your shot"

[Dazgra]

Love how you guys are making excuses for the bombing population even though it's been in steady decline ever since it launched.

[AzKnc]

It's not that surprising, half (or more) of the launch playerbase didn't sub after the boxed days.

 

And why should they? Unless they want to roll 8 chars for the stories or sit at the fleet waiting ages for lvl50 warzones or spamming lfg for hours to run any hm instance.

 

The longer bw waits to put what's really important into the game, the worse it's going to get.

[dyves]

Love how you guys are making excuses for the bombing population even though it's been in steady decline ever since it launched.

 

Actually, there has been nowhere near a 'steady decrease since it launched', so you're wrong in there already, but yes, ofc during holiday and directly after launch people play for far more hours a day than later on. Next to that, it's purely common sense to realise that not everyone who buys an MMORPG will also be subbing to that MMO after the free month ends. That's a common trend in all MMO's, none ohave a 100% retention.

 

I think that the figures in the upcoming days will show how many people actually have left after the free month. But so far, it's doing alright.

 

It's not that surprising, half (or more) of the launch playerbase didn't sub after the boxed days.

 

And why should they? Unless they want to roll 8 chars for the stories or sit at the fleet waiting ages for lvl50 warzones or spamming lfg for hours to run any hm instance.

 

The longer bw waits to put what's really important into the game, the worse it's going to get.

 

Utter fabrication. The figures point more towards a 10% decrease, that's the realistic estimation, not based on charts of which the creators themselves have stated often that it doesn't measure player numbers, and why it doesn't measure that.

Edited January 22, 2012 by dyves

[Ryzerion]

That's how life is with MMORPGs now n days.

[Cosmic_Gate]

I personally have a couple ideas why I think population levels have dropped since launch.

 

1) Most people that bought the game at launch probably realized that their comp wasn't able to run this game as smoothly as say...WoW... where a lot of current players are coming from. (I personally fit into this as well, but have since built a new gaming rig)

 

2) Speaking of WoW... I think quite a few players that came over to try the game have since went back to their lvl 85's with their elite pvp/raid gear. I really believe that this is a big part of the reason. A lot of players have invested so much time and money on WoW over the years, that they just can't cut the cord yet.

 

3) PvP... although you have to give BioWare credit for even having PvP from the start, you have to admit it has a ways to go. I have only played a bit of it so far, and just warzones up to this point... BUT I do feel like they run slow, and buggy. This is the one area in the game so far that I feel like they didn't have (most) everything smoothed out before launch. My comp runs PvE great on high settings but as soon as I go into a match it's like playing on my old comp again... very disappointing. I dunno if that's just me or if other people feel the same way.

 

Like I said you have to at least give them credit for having it available to us, but I think after most people coming from WoW PvP they expect a lot more... (even though WoW PvP is not all that great IMO). Blizzard didn't even have the stuff they do now with PvP until quite a bit later. But I think for a lot of players PvP is a very important part of the MMO experience. I personally think that this game has a lot more potential with what can be done as far as PvP goes... I hope they explore more of this as time goes on. I think a system more like what Mythic did with DAoC would work great with this game. Siege type warfare would be awesome.

 

Just my two cents...

Edited January 22, 2012 by Cosmic_Gate