Commogroth Posted January 25, 2012 Share Posted January 25, 2012 After 6 years of WoW and either my dumb luck or lack of planning, I learned my lesson. Seemed like every server I rolled Alliance toons on, allies were horribly outnumbered anywhere from 3:1 to 5:1 by the horde. People want to play evil scary looking things for whatever reason. I've always preferred being a heroic good guy, but I'm not getting steamrolled due to population imbalances like I did in WoW and that's why I rolled Empire for this game. The difference in WoW is that there were actually a lot of servers where Alliance outnumbered Horde. And the dominant faction in general changed from time to time. In SWTOR there is not a single PVP server where Republic has higher numbers. I would venture a guess the same is true of PVE servers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scar Posted January 25, 2012 Share Posted January 25, 2012 I'll bite... Say I create a house with two rooms, but you can only enter one. In one room is a boring dude with a brown robe who will offer to teach you to meditate. In the other room is a bad***** with a sweet black robe who offers to teach you the secret of power. Which room do you choose? In a 2 faction game, if one side is way more attractive to players than the other...guess where they will go? Unfortunately this is a failed and biased analogy. Too many subjective terms thrown in. The rooms in the house are exactly the same. Same furniture. Same lay out. Same temperature. Same everything. One is Brown. The other is red. You can't control if more people want to see red. You can't control it especially if the people have never been really allowed to be in a red room before. The only way to influence it is to make the brown room have something that will attract some of the people in the red room. And at that point, you are tipping the scales of balance of power....which is a huge no no in MMOG's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
verdantsky Posted January 25, 2012 Share Posted January 25, 2012 America is to blame, after all, we fancy ourselves an empire and we illustrate this by choosing the faction which most suits our self-image. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jtheargonaut Posted January 25, 2012 Share Posted January 25, 2012 (edited) Unfortunately, I see the faction imbalance as BioWare's fault because they created the following environment: 1. One faction is perceived as being "good and honorable" while the other is perceived as being "powerful and vindictive." Most people IRL are good people, so when they play a game, they like to experience something different. This psychological slant *could be* blamed on the players, but BioWare could have given the Dark Side options on Republic to cater to that mentality, but they are merely just "I will kill you" or "I want more credits" type of decisions. On top of that, the Imperial stories seem to possess more depth than the Republic ones. I disagree, there is plenty of depth to both sides stories. I would suggest people get over the "perceived" as being good and honorable. It is a different republic. It's realy not arguable , this republic is not the republic of the "good and honorable" there is intrigue, and plenty of corruption in it's ranks. Edited January 25, 2012 by Jtheargonaut Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarrkLore Posted January 25, 2012 Share Posted January 25, 2012 (edited) I'll bite... Say I create a house with two rooms, but you can only enter one. In one room is a boring dude with a brown robe who will offer to teach you to meditate. In the other room is a bad***** with a sweet black robe who offers to teach you the secret of power. Which room do you choose? In a 2 faction game, if one side is way more attractive to players than the other...guess where they will go? I'd choose the first room. I love the Republic and I really wanted to play as a Jedi originally. But alas, Bounty Hunters are too awesome (I could blame Bioware for that part, but why would I want to?) and all my friends are on the Empire so here I am... But yes you're right OP. This is a problem brought on by the bloodthirsty, power-hungry players, not Bioware. Edited January 25, 2012 by DarrkLore Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kryptorchid Posted January 25, 2012 Share Posted January 25, 2012 I disagree, there is plenty of depth to both sides stories. I would suggest people get over the "perceived" as being good and honorable. It is a different republic. It's realy not arguable , this republic is not the republic of the "good and honorable" there is intrigue, and plenty of corruption in it's ranks. Unfortunately, you cannot simply disregard the "perceived" Republic, as that is what people go off when they select their characters. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
itsmymillertime Posted January 25, 2012 Author Share Posted January 25, 2012 Unfortunately, I see the faction imbalance as BioWare's fault because they created the following environment: 1. One faction is perceived as being "good and honorable" while the other is perceived as being "powerful and vindictive." Most people IRL are good people, so when they play a game, they like to experience something different. This psychological slant *could be* blamed on the players, but BioWare could have given the Dark Side options on Republic to cater to that mentality, but they are merely just "I will kill you" or "I want more credits" type of decisions. On top of that, the Imperial stories seem to possess more depth than the Republic ones. 2. Setting up a 2 Faction game is a recipe for faction imbalance. They could have organized this game differently. 3. Mechanically, the Imperial classes perform better over their Republic mirrors. Your min/maxers and beta testers know this, that info trickles into the community, so naturally, people will flock to the side with the higher performance ceiling. 1. jedi - good and noble other - powerful and vindicitve you described what george lucas created, bioware had no hand in it. 2. how could they split up the faction any differently? would that create more imbalance? 3. i play sith because i want to, not because of leet status. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kryptorchid Posted January 25, 2012 Share Posted January 25, 2012 1. jedi - good and noble other - powerful and vindicitve you described what george lucas created, bioware had no hand in it. 2. how could they split up the faction any differently? would that create more imbalance? 3. i play sith because i want to, not because of leet status. 1. The perception IS the problem, because people have no prior experience with this game when they first choose what faction they play. Perception is EVERYTHING. 2. DAOC has shown that 3 factions work extremely well in World PvP. BioWare could have made the game, with the same exact classes, but without a Faction-tie when you first create your character. Instead, as your story progresses, you decide to A) ally with the Jedi Order/Republic, B) ally with the Sith and Empire, or C) ally with a rogue Hutt/Mandolorian/whatever lore inspired independent faction. This would mean you can have Fallen Jedi, Reformed Sith, Defected Soldiers, etc. IMO it would make the game's story even more interesting. 3. You play sith for your own reasons, just as other people play for their own reasons. People who want to Min/Max will play Empire because the classes function better than the republic ones. So your statement really has no point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Agenteusa Posted January 25, 2012 Share Posted January 25, 2012 @OP You´re right they can´t. But they can know atm the amount of republic and imperials in each server and make something out of Ilum instead of what they did. It looks a solution that came from a chimpazee´s brain. And they also can think of rewarding people for fullfilling objectives in Warzones instead of rewarding them for doing dmg or healing alone. Objectives should be main, all the rest should be bonuses. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wisz_Rethon Posted January 25, 2012 Share Posted January 25, 2012 it's bioware's fault. when the ratio on a server exceeds 1:1,3 on one side, creating chars on the "bigger" side should be locked until the ratio is more balanced again lol, that's like saying you cant buy a mercedes until bmw sales are on par with mercedes sales.. You crazy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
azmundai Posted January 25, 2012 Share Posted January 25, 2012 Have you seen what the sith are wearing? It's like every fashion designer in the galaxy went over to the dark side. /thread Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TaintedSquirrel Posted January 25, 2012 Share Posted January 25, 2012 (edited) Had a Sage, Project sucked... Made a Sorcerer. Had a Trooper, Full Auto and MV sucked... Made a Mercenary. There, I proved you wrong. BioWare wanted me to make Imps, hands down. edit: Also Republic costumes are terrible. Edited January 25, 2012 by TaintedSquirrel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wisz_Rethon Posted January 25, 2012 Share Posted January 25, 2012 (edited) Had a Sage, Project sucked... Made a Sorcerer. Had a Trooper, Full Auto and MV sucked... Made a Mercenary. There, I proved you wrong. BioWare wanted me to make Imps, hands down. edit: Also Republic costumes are terrible. indeed, ripping a piece of earth and burying your enemy under it is soo lame compared to the good old purple lightning. And a trooper with a gosh darn cannon sticking out from between his arms shooting out a stream of bolts is so much more lamer than a dual wielding crouching mercenary thatt looks like it's taking a dump when firing tracers. Edited January 25, 2012 by Wisz_Rethon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TaintedSquirrel Posted January 25, 2012 Share Posted January 25, 2012 indeed, ripping a piece of earth and burying your enemy under it is soo lame compared to the good old purple lightning. And a trooper with a gosh darn cannon sticking in between his arms shooting out a stream of bolts is so much more lamer than a dual wielding crouching mercenary thatt looks like it's taking a crop when firing tracers. I'm talking about mechanic issues, not cosmetic. Please educate yourself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wisz_Rethon Posted January 25, 2012 Share Posted January 25, 2012 I'm talking about mechanic issues, not cosmetic. Please educate yourself. please educate me on how much full auto sucked compared, say, to unload? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TaintedSquirrel Posted January 25, 2012 Share Posted January 25, 2012 please educate me on how much full auto sucked compared, say, to unload? No thanks, if I tell you then you will want to re-roll Empire. I need uneducated players like you to stay on Republic so I can get warzones. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wisz_Rethon Posted January 25, 2012 Share Posted January 25, 2012 No thanks, if I tell you then you will want to re-roll Empire. I need uneducated players like you to stay on Republic so I can get warzones. too late, I already have one on each side, and enjoying both. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sevalaricgirl Posted January 25, 2012 Share Posted January 25, 2012 OP is asking people to take responsibility for other people's decisions. No the OP isn't and if you understood English, you'd know that. Server imbalances are caused by people wanting to be bad@sses instead of good people. My jedi sentinel has some damn cool armor, looks great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarthNemis Posted January 25, 2012 Share Posted January 25, 2012 Bioware can help by creating incentives to switch factions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jkomega Posted January 25, 2012 Share Posted January 25, 2012 Well see, i wanted to play either a consular or a inquisitor when i saw the game was coming out, but then it came down to either being able to shoot lightning from my fingertips or throwing pebbles at people... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghaiana Posted January 25, 2012 Share Posted January 25, 2012 No thanks, if I tell you then you will want to re-roll Empire. I need uneducated players like you to stay on Republic so I can get warzones. But then again consulars top the damage meters, it was here on the forums a few minutes ago..I don't agree with you that projectile is a problem, you just need to learn to handle it. Besides that the consular has quite a lot of instant spells that you can use over and over, in PvP they can stun quite well and if you have sage, healing is also one of your abilities. And for PvE, I think the consulars have a very nice story (after all the main focus of this game is PvE). And since when does anyone need education to play a game? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dominemesis Posted January 25, 2012 Share Posted January 25, 2012 Bioware can't fix server imbalance, not ever, because we as players decided as a majority to go sith instead of republic, so please stop complaining about a problem Bioware did not create. Anyone care to prove me wrong? The solution will be up to Bioware though. And many people, myself included have offered suggestions that don't involve telling players what faction they can be. Its up to BW to acknowledge the issue, and determine what solution they will implement. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swooks Posted January 25, 2012 Share Posted January 25, 2012 Allow free Empire to Republic faction changes (not Republic to Empire). Empire who are tired of PvP wait times and Huttball will transfer. Problem solved. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amenian Posted January 25, 2012 Share Posted January 25, 2012 It was the designers that didn't put any mechanism in place to avoid or negate the issue. It was the designers who didn't give the players a visual representation at character creation of the faction population of the server. Can you name an mmo with factions that does have mechanisms like these in place? WoW doesn't. Rift doesn't. Aion doesn't. Or at least, none of them did back when I played them. Why is Bioware expected to be different? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mackuss Posted January 25, 2012 Share Posted January 25, 2012 Republic is already getting more players as more and more empire are getting sick of playing Huttball 9 out of 10 flashpoints. This. It gives me a head ache how much people complain. IT WILL FIX ITSELF. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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