When will there be a "SERVER MERGE?"

[notebene]

But perhaps a solution in this case with names is if Bioware would pull their heads out of their asses, and remove the legacy name as a surname, allow us to have surnames on character then there might be no need for name changes if they set it up to where your first name and surname are together making each name unique. Like how many other MMOs do that allow you to name your characters a full name.

 

FFXIV did this, and believe it or not, there were these 'monster' threads about how that made baby Jesus and Michele Bachman cry. I think it's a perfectly acceptable solution.

 

But regardless, what will be will be. All I'll promise is that I'll just go quietly.

[MoonsLightV]

Some servers just need to be merged. I play on Kapal Rift which is not that heavily populated and I have never seen more then 110 people or so on the fleet at one time and i've been playing since early access. Its kinda sad that when I que for PVP at 12am I have to wait for an hour or more to even get into a match, and when i do, it ends prematurely because there isn't enough people in the match to keep it going.

Going to planets and seeing there are only 10 people on Ilum, or 8 people on Belsavis is a little discouraging.

Merging some of the standard servers together would be a good idea.

[Jswizzle]

I saw someone mention Rwokrowwro which is the server I play on. I figured I would try to count the amount of people online right now.

 

I didn't sit there and count every single person, but I got a good estimate that there are currently 200-300 players. That doesn't seem bad for 2:30 pm eastern on a Tuesday.

 

I like being part of a smaller server honestly

[MoonsLightV]

Unfortunately those asking for mergers have no real argument.

 

People were claiming the world was empty right after launch. Simple fact is, it wasn't and it still isn't. I play on a light server and I always see people. Never an empty zone.

 

I play on a light server and i hardly ever see people when I am on...see i could do that too only opposite.

[Mr_Crueak]

50% of servers are currently under-populated.

 

.

 

i stopped reading right there as 100% of this statement is completely made up out of thin air!

[Red_Cruiser]

The problem with MMORPGs is that a big release is so rare, and WoW's market saturation is so high, that the population never really increases that much after the first week because everyone who wants the game knows about it and has it preordered for the head start and other promotions, but everyone is on the forums talking about how they need to add more servers and then this is always the invariable result... Johnny comes lately gets encouraged to roll on a server with Low population and is never happy with the result. WoW introduced millions of new people to the genre. The BioWare/KOTOR names were never going to be able to do the same... the market just isn't that big and, quite frankly, the game isn't that good.

[Jswizzle]

I play on a light server and i hardly ever see people when I am on...see i could do that too only opposite.

 

Count the people online. I bet you have more than my server

[jHats]

Seems like almost every server is low population. At Peak hours, there are not many people on any one server. Rift had this issue, and in the beginning, they shut down servers, and allowed people to merge to other servers. It's odd that it takes hours at lvl 50 for a PVP game to pop, as there is hardly anyone on the servers. They also need to implement CROSS REALM Ques. WOW did this, and was a huge success. For any new MMO not to include this off the bat, is beyond bizarre to me. I think Bioware is too focused on fixing bugs than getting these servers in line. Wish I never leveled on what is now a "Low POP" server, as most of the time I feel like this is a single player game.

 

Bioware, what say you?

 

You are on drugs man lol.

 

 

http://www.swtor.com/server-status

 

 

A majority of US servers are standard right now and its 1:35 pm central time lol. At peak every server save 3-4 are standard to heavy.

 

How the euro list looks on that link right now, at 1:36pm is how the US servers look at their prime time.

[Nytak]

Well, I play on a server that hits Standard during US peak hours (and it is in western time zone). When I am on during peak hours, there is always less than 100 in every zone. If I go to places like Hoth, Voss etc, maybe 30 people max, and there are never multiple instances of any planets. Coruscant, which is generally one of the more crowded zones, hasn't had more than one instance in about two weeks.

[Mr_Crueak]

Count the people online. I bet you have more than my server

 

problem is counting people online is not accurate at all, what you see is only your instance of the world not everyone on that world!

[jHats]

If you play on a high populated server, you have no business bashing people for complaining about low populations.

 

50% of servers are currently under-populated.

 

I don't know this for a fact but i would venture to say most of these could be combined with another and STILL be less populated than the high pop servers.

 

What's better for bioware?

 

Negative media attention and possibly a public perception the game is not all it was expected to be because of a server merge, while players of underpopulated servers and the community as a whole become happy again.

 

The game actually dies, because under-population literally snowballs people into not wanting to play there. If this trend continues, people will continue re-rolling on high pop servers thus making the distribution worse. Eventually Bioware will be using 5% of the servers they are paying for because nobody wants to play on an underpopulated server.

 

Cut their losses, take a slight media hit, keep their consumers happily playing a "massive multiplayer" online roleplaying game. Sounds like the way to go to me.

 

I'm very happy with the game. It's quite buggy in certain content, but that is not a game breaker and is generally fixed within the next week of writing a bug report. Low population is however game-breaking for me, my guild, and most people on my server(rwookroo). Something needs to be done. Bioware suggested people spread out, we did. Too thin. This needs to be fixed. Immediately.

 

You don't know anything for a fact. Case closed.

[TheHeadCapper]

The problem with MMORPGs is that a big release is so rare, and WoW's market saturation is so high, that the population never really increases that much after the first week because everyone who wants the game knows about it and has it preordered for the head start and other promotions, but everyone is on the forums talking about how they need to add more servers and then this is always the invariable result... Johnny comes lately gets encouraged to roll on a server with Low population and is never happy with the result. WoW introduced millions of new people to the genre. The BioWare/KOTOR names were never going to be able to do the same... the market just isn't that big and, quite frankly, the game isn't that good.

 

I would say you are incorrect in regards to Star Wars, it's a very big IP that many players who haven't played MMO's are joining just because of it. I still see new people in the newb areas asking newbie questions.

 

Quite frankily as a person who likes RPG's and likes rolling alts there is nothing even close as a comparison to SWTOR. No way i would even consider getting another MMO.

 

Sure it may not be geared towards WoW raiders, but guess what those of us that grew up on Star Wars in our childhood have families now and can't put the same time we used to be able to in games. Something like this is the perfect game for me and a number of people i know with similiar situations. Our guild is growing with friends of friends joining the game that have never played an MMO before.

 

Lots of people could care less about the "world" of wow or warhammer but have a big interest in Star Wars.

Edited January 25, 2012 by TheHeadCapper

[jHats]

Well, I play on a server that hits Standard during US peak hours (and it is in western time zone). When I am on during peak hours, there is always less than 100 in every zone. If I go to places like Hoth, Voss etc, maybe 30 people max, and there are never multiple instances of any planets. Coruscant, which is generally one of the more crowded zones, hasn't had more than one instance in about two weeks.

 

This has more to do with faction imbalance than population. Move to a different server if yours is too low. Crucible Pit is actually more Republic than Sith.

[Gilpatric]

As far as the gaming community is concerned, server merger is the kiss of death. Server merger is widely perceived as 'game failure.' That's why WoW is sitting with dozens of empty servers right now. Activision won't admit that the flagship game is in decline.

 

If EA cuts the number of TOR servers now, it will cause a firestorm of TOR hate and 'I told you so' in the Internet game forums. Since most people are sheep, that would drive away many potential customers.

[Arkimor]

Merging servers won't happen for several months. Merging servers would generate bad press, even though the game does already need it.

[Nytak]

This has more to do with faction imbalance than population. Move to a different server if yours is too low. Crucible Pit is actually more Republic than Sith.

 

Yeah, you're right actually, I was going to edit my post to point it out, but we have roughly a 3:1 imp/rep ratio (best estimate our guild has come up with so far), so it is a completely different situation for the other faction on my server.

[Jswizzle]

problem is counting people online is not accurate at all, what you see is only your instance of the world not everyone on that world!

 

searching by level should show everyone no? That's what I did on republic + imperial side.

[matthewdbear]

As far as the gaming community is concerned, server merger is the kiss of death. Server merger is widely perceived as 'game failure.' That's why WoW is sitting with dozens of empty servers right now. Activision won't admit that the flagship game is in decline.

 

If EA cuts the number of TOR servers now, it will cause a firestorm of TOR hate and 'I told you so' in the Internet game forums. Since most people are sheep, that would drive away many potential customers.

 

True Statement /smile

[RickRedOne]

A month ago all over the forums was "OPEN MORE SERVERS", now you want server mergers.

 

Then 2 months from now it will be "open more servers" again. Give the population time to settle down.

[matthewdbear]

A month ago all over the forums was "OPEN MORE SERVERS", now you want server mergers.

 

Then 2 months from now it will be "open more servers" again. Give the population time to settle down.

 

Another True Statement /smile

[Grendelwolf]

I predict a " free to play" option in the near future.

 

I have played many MMOs on release day, usually within a month of release day is when the servers are the busiest.

After the first initial month of releases and the servers are still going strong then I can tell that the game will be a keeper, and continue to go strong.

If the server populations are dying out, and there are only a couple strong populated servers then I can tell that the game is hemorrhaging subs, the game is dying, and 99.99% of the time the MMO goes free to play.

 

Hate to say it but SW TOR is dying, and I base this on the fact that people are suggesting server transfers due to too many low pop server activity within the first couple months of release.

Edited January 25, 2012 by Grendelwolf

[Quip]

A month ago all over the forums was "OPEN MORE SERVERS", now you want server mergers.

 

Then 2 months from now it will be "open more servers" again. Give the population time to settle down.

 

 

 

Wait a minute there mister!

 

Are you saying that it's wise to collect data and examine a situation as it evolves before you make sweeping alterations to a plan?

 

With that kind of talk you'll never get elected!

[GarbonzotheDude]

As some others have said this is more a faction population issue than the servers as a whole. So merging them really isn't an option.

 

Not to mention the bad pr that would follow it.

 

Plus, I'm pretty sure they'll over transfers before considering merges.

 

There is definitely a population issue just not with servers in their entirety. Least far as I can tell.

 

It does seem like they opened too many though. That's a tough call to make though really or at least seems to be. I don't think I've ever seen a company completely get it right.

[Berrett]

1st month is always big for a mmo especially swtor, then after a month people start cancelling their accounts, it happened in wow too, the game didn't get big until aq and it only had 2mil players.

 

So give it time and if tor isn't the game for you just leave without making a big production of how it will fail and all the short comings.

 

You just gotta be concerned with George Lucas retiring from hollywood because he was ridiculed for his starwars movies, he just might pull all starwars content from us now that would be a shame. Then what would we do... jk anyway

[SalvorHardin]

Because it's you who aren't thinking things through.

 

No not everyone who will ever play this game is playing it right now.

 

 

However, we have 124 servers in North America alone.

 

Another 91 in Europe.

 

Thats 215 servers total for this game.

 

Do you honestly believe this game needs now or will ever need 215 servers?

 

It won't be blowing up like WoW, and you're deluding yourself if you think it will. I like the game, I truly do but WoW is an anomally in this business. In the rare chance it does it doesn't need 215 servers right now.

 

Assuming this game sold 2 million copies and assuming that each and everyone of those people are still playing the game that's a little over 9000 people per server, total. That's not on at one time, that's not on everyday, thats not even online for a set period of time everyday just a total.

 

Thing is this game doesn't have 2 million people playing it. I'm not about to guess at the numbers that left after the first free month ran out but I'm going to bet it was marginally substantial, simply because that's how MMOs go. You have a lot of people who are just there for the first free month, or just to check out something new, and many find that the new game isn't something they're willing to pay for, at least not right now.

 

The initial sales for the first year is what you're basically going to deal with in an MMO, after significant development post launch you may or may not see a larger flux of new players but overall the main chunk of your playerbase is going to be what you got within the first month or two of launching.

 

 

All of the above is rational and expected from any "new thing" . Just like the grand opening of a business, you have to anticipate a busy period where lots of people are going to come in and look around maybe buy something and then never come back. Eventually things die down, which is the point when you're no longer giving balloons to kids, no longer giving out freebie nicknacks ect...

 

Same with an MMO, anticipate a huge turnout at launch. Cap server pops and open extra server that you probably won't need in a month or two to better facilitate people being allowed to play. If they keep the number of servers they are eventually going to need and just dealt with queues there would've been a lot more pissed off people than there were a month ago.

 

After it all dies down, people leave or stay you're playerbase is going to be smaller regardless, that's just the way these things work. At that point and especially here, it makes sense to merger lower population servers so when new people DO come in they see a world that's alive and well, not void and vacant. Because that's what we're all about here in MMO land. Multiplayer, seeing people all over the place, as it is now the only place I EVER (no matter what time of day it is) see people everywhere is in fleet. No matter if I'm on my 50, my 45, my 30, my or my 3 12's.

 

IF your game reaches a point that it needs to grow, THAT is when you open new servers or reopen old ones.

 

As of right now, yes they would be smart if they merged the low population servers. Fuller servers if for no other reason gives the feeling that the game is doing well, and would actually HELP the game grow.

 

In all Bioware/EA is just wasting money they could pump into other things or simply keep as profit by leaving low population servers up instead of merging them.

 

 

Yes, think before we post...

 

 

You're talking about regular MMOs. I agree that WoW is an exception, but so is TOR. They both have been developped by some of the very best western video games studios. They both have true "oversized" ambition, unlike korean MMOs that launch in Europe and US (GW, Aion, Tera...) or licensed MMOs (LoTRO, STO, MO...) that just pretend to bring you a real game. Even games such as AoC, WAR or Rift never gave themselves the means to trully succeed.

 

I believe BioWare is actually betting the farm. This is NOT a typical MMO. This IS an exception. It's only a pitty not everyone sees it (not even the majority of people actually enjoying this game). I'm completly amazed by many aspects of this game. A lot of time, I think to myself "I never thought such an amount of work, dedication and attention to detail could be put in a video game".

 

And even if I believed this game was just your average MMO like you seem to, one month would be far too early to even consider server merge. You at least would have to wait and see if the IP is big enough to bring more people.

 

Now, I'm not a gambler but I'd actually bet that one year from now, TOR will have 3 to 5 million subscribers.

 

So don't take it personnaly when I advise not to post before thinking cause this was not addressed to you and from the wall of text you posted, you don't seem to need the advice. But we are in a clear disagreement as to what this game really is and most importantly, what it will become.

Edited January 25, 2012 by SalvorHardin