Server population is dropping...

[skinthinner]

If the servers weren't dead then people wouldn't complain that they are. Fact is - the population is dying.

 

 

this is faulty logic at it's best.

[voicesinmyhead]

I think they should merge at least half the servers, maybe even 75% of them.

[Raiffiel]

A server merge wouldn't be terrible, but it does take time and tactics. Implementation will not be immediate. Do you think they have anything to lose by shutting off a few servers and either backselling the hardware or storing it until the hardware is needed? Keeping light pop servers doesn't do anything but run equipment and cost money. So people, please, relax. I'm sure it will happen soon after 1.2 is released and they have a better idea of what their fanbase numbers are.

 

Oh and as far as "THis game sucks and pop is dropping to prove it" or "BW doesn't care about the fanbase, because they wont do what I say right now!" kind of logic, that is pretty immature. Some of you folks need to get out of the house more often.

[sctechie]

You all are missing the huge f-ing elephant standing right in front of your faces.

 

3 months ago these servers were not 'dead'. All of the people on these servers that are now 'dead' did NOT all re-roll.

 

Do you HONESTLY think all those people are still playing the game? I started on 'The Fatman' a month after release. I have never had server population problems. The reality is having a big pop server just lets you chew through the limited and boring content that much faster.

 

I know some of you don't care and will happily waste your money on a dying game, but take this as a warning for the rest of you:

 

The population of this game is dropping because it is a BAD GAME. That's all folks. Don't waste your money begging for a server transfer that is MONTHS away. Why pay EA another $45 just so you can wait like good-little-sheeple for the privilege of playing a SPBORPG? (single-player beta online role-playing game)

 

I mean damm I waited years for this game and it's the biggest, stinking pile of fail I've ever seen. Hundreds of millions of dollars FOR THIS!?!??!?!?!?!?!?!

[skinthinner]

You all are missing the huge f-ing elephant standing right in front of your faces.

 

3 months ago these servers were not 'dead'. All of the people on these servers that are now 'dead' did NOT all re-roll.

 

Do you HONESTLY think all those people are still playing the game? I started on 'The Fatman' a month after release. I have never had server population problems. The reality is having a big pop server just lets you chew through the limited and boring content that much faster.

 

I know some of you don't care and will happily waste your money on a dying game, but take this as a warning for the rest of you:

 

The population of this game is dropping because it is a BAD GAME. That's all folks. Don't waste your money begging for a server transfer that is MONTHS away. Why pay EA another $45 just so you can wait like good-little-sheeple for the privilege of playing a SPBORPG? (single-player beta online role-playing game)

 

I mean damm I waited years for this game and it's the biggest, stinking pile of fail I've ever seen. Hundreds of millions of dollars FOR THIS!?!??!?!?!?!?!?!

 

you forgot to add.... 'but I'm still here, playing and posting'... at the end of your rant.

 

if this game is sooooo bad, why the heck are you here posting? honestly?

[Jeopardydd]

they messed up right after launch. people were complaining about queues, so bioware added a ton more servers so that the queues disappeared.

 

problem though - there were always going to be more players at the same time at launch than there would be in the few months that followed, and Bioware "overcorrected" by adding too many servers. this is a much bigger problem that queues for a few weeks (which just make the game seem popular).

[FariaFirst]

I'm fairly new to the game. I've had it for less then 2 months. Compared to other MMOs I've played, my server population is a tad on the light side. Putting together groups for FlashPoints has been near imposable. On average it takes 1 hour to never to form a full group. Please understand, that I do enjoy the game, but the seemingly lack of an immersive "multi-player" experience has been disappointing. However, this is one of the coolest online single player games I've had. This isn't a rant... just my personal observations.

[Touchbass]

There are reports that transfers won't be in till summer time ... damn you Bioware Edited April 1, 2012 by Touchbass

[Touchbass]

I'm fairly new to the game. I've had it for less then 2 months. Compared to other MMOs I've played, my server population is a tad on the light side. Putting together groups for FlashPoints has been near imposable. On average it takes 1 hour to never to form a full group. Please understand, that I do enjoy the game, but the seemingly lack of an immersive "multi-player" experience has been disappointing. However, this is one of the coolest online single player games I've had. This isn't a rant... just my personal observations.

 

True words, yeah it's causing a serious problem where other players are just not logging on anymore. There really isn't a reason to log on unless your leveling alts at this point.

Edited April 1, 2012 by Touchbass

[Incendergel]

Glass half full - empty argument. People who say why are you posting or leave already isn't really fair. Maybe they are trying to voice or argue a reason to merge servers and make it a higher priority? Or...maybe they did stop already and are just using their remaining time to do whatever it is they do on the /general forums... Either way their time, their dime, move on.

 

I tend to agree that there is a big issue with some of the servers and their lack of people and also faction imbalance. Faction imbalance has been a issue since launch and if you can't see it you either play on the positive side (Imperial) or a highly populated server. If you play on Republic and a lower populated server, say Dragon Trail, then the game isn't that much fun at all. Sure, it was upon launch, as it was for everyone. But do us a favor and log in to Dragon Trail today, right now, Republic side, and tell me how many people you see across the various zones and Republic fleet. It is in bad shape.

 

Now yes, there are options to the subscriber. He or she can cruise the forums and log in to various servers to find one that is higher populated. However, with that comes a catch. First - you lose friends (if any are left playing that is) from the current server whom may not move with you. Secondly, you have to start over. Not a huge deal I guess but it is a matter of hours and dedication depending on what you did (PvE vs. PvP). Third, and last, you lose all forms of income via crafting, crafting alts, and money gained by questing and doing whatever it is you do.

 

So in a nutshell moving servers has a greater cost in time than what it may actually yield. Sum it up - it has a really crappy return on investment if you ask me.

 

Is the game doomed? I can't tell the future but here is what I do know. The game looks great. It has a rather great single player feel to it as one levels up. Class quests are fantastic. Space combat was fun and a nice break. A lot of content once you hit 50 as it relates to PvE. World PvP is not something most people hoped for. Warzone PvP is getting boring with the same maps - more so if you came from another MMO. Valor change is something most people either like or hate - pick you side but another game with more experience is due out shortly which some will migrate to.

 

Moreover, there is only so much you can do with light sabers. There isn't a active portal for valor rank listing, weekly stats, good, bad, and ugly achievements. No bounty board, no reason to play on a PvP server.

 

Good game? Yes. Return on initial investment for class quests? Yes. Massive? No.

 

Potential? Undecided. The ball is in Bioware's court.

[Snarking]

Hey guys, I'll be honest- I'm new to MMOs in general- this is the first time I've ever reached a level cap in one! But now I have a level 50 with several legacy levels on a server with far too few people to do much endgame stuff in. Even the biggest guilds don't seem very big here, so hard mode flashpoints are difficult to get going, and operations seem all but impossible! 16 50 level players seems unimaginable here- I'm not sure I've ever even seen that many 50s at the fleet at one time before! I've waited like, 45 minutes or so for one warzone! When I saw a new player, I couldn't find a single person all day who wanted to run BT! I don't have an infinite amount of time to start from scratch and just ignore all the benefits legacy is apparently going to give me, so I'm feeling incredibly trapped here on the Kath Hound server. What can I do? that's why I feel we need to either merge some servers or make transferring to another server a possibility, or both.

 

Have we heard anything from bioware about this? I can't seem to find anywhere where they mention this problem, but it looks like a lot of people agree with me...

 

I love the game- the gameplay and the story are both great, but I want more then a handful of people on my server to enjoy it with. The sooner this can be implemented the happier I will be.

[sctechie]

you forgot to add.... 'but I'm still here, playing and posting'... at the end of your rant.

 

if this game is sooooo bad, why the heck are you here posting? honestly?

 

Actually, I'm not. I haven't logged into the game in a month and never will again. Actually it's probably been longer than that at this point. Just waiting for my game time to expire like everyone else still around this rotting corpse.

[Kalfear]

Server mergers not the answer sadly!

 

Well not the long term answer.

 

The problem is this game doesnt make you connect to your character and thus its easy to walk away from.

 

Back in EQ, there was many times I got fustrated and mad and wanted to quit but I had a connection to my character and the thought of cancelling account and losing character just didnt work for me. I needed my fix.

 

TOR you level up to fast, nothing is truely challenging so nothing is special.

 

Yeah I got this purple crafting item, so did 90% of the server...meaningless!

 

YES, I got this boss drop! Oh he drops it everytime so anyone thats done this FP/Heroics has that item.

 

Nothing is special and thus nothing is meaningfull.

 

And end result is you level through and walk away.

 

You could merge all the remaining players but in 3 more months 80% (guessing but feels accurate based on server pops) will have left for new games and you will have to make new friends just to do old content!

 

Server merges are not the be all end all fix people think they are.

 

The game is defaulty as far as massively multiplayer goes.

 

The line is there but there is no hook or sinker.

 

But yes, its a fantastic single player game and on that note thinkill log in and waste a few hours running 2 man heroics solo!

[evildestroyer]

they messed up right after launch. people were complaining about queues, so bioware added a ton more servers so that the queues disappeared.

 

problem though - there were always going to be more players at the same time at launch than there would be in the few months that followed, and Bioware "overcorrected" by adding too many servers. this is a much bigger problem that queues for a few weeks (which just make the game seem popular).

 

Bioware purposely reduced server pop caps and created queues, they wanted to spread out people and even stated to join servers with no queues which people did.

But back then people got the game cause if was hyped so much, they thought this would be a new mmo. But its not the same crap with a star wars theme i am sure more than half of the players that were playing in the first 2 weeks quit the game.

[HeavensAgent]

The problem is this game doesnt make you connect to your character and thus its easy to walk away from.

I disagree. I feel SWTOR emphasizes and encourages attachment to one's character far more than past titles in the industry.

 

I truly believe players aren't leaving in the quantities that many believe, they're rerolling. A handful of identified servers are seeing inflated growth as folks from all over flock to them for a new start.

 

If someone truly loves a game they don't wait for something to happen, they take action and address the situation themselves. It's the sign of a potentially successful and long-lived title; the developers could still blow it, but at least the required community is present.

[Touchbass]

Bioware purposely reduced server pop caps and created queues, they wanted to spread out people and even stated to join servers with no queues which people did.

But back then people got the game cause if was hyped so much, they thought this would be a new mmo. But its not the same crap with a star wars theme i am sure more than half of the players that were playing in the first 2 weeks quit the game.

 

Yeah, left and right people are bored and aren't playing much. That isn't a good sign for a game just out once you factor in the budget that went into this game. Rift holding a million players is a lot more amazing then this game barely holding on to 1.7million once all things are considered.

[RinqualFireburst]

I disagree. I feel SWTOR emphasizes and encourages attachment to one's character far more than past titles in the industry.

 

I truly believe players aren't leaving in the quantities that many believe, they're rerolling. A handful of identified servers are seeing inflated growth as folks from all over flock to them for a new start.

 

If someone truly loves a game they don't wait for something to happen, they take action and address the situation themselves. It's the sign of a potentially successful and long-lived title; the developers could still blow it, but at least the required community is present.

 

So a couple servers are growing because of re-rollers... the other 200 servers are freefalling.

lol... no problems at all!

[Touchbass]

So a couple servers are growing because of re-rollers... the other 200 servers are freefalling.

lol... no problems at all!

 

Stop exaggerating, it's more like 202 are freefalling. Even Tom Petty can't believe it.

[BucMan]

Yeah, left and right people are bored and aren't playing much. That isn't a good sign for a game just out once you factor in the budget that went into this game. Rift holding a million players is a lot more amazing then this game barely holding on to 1.7million once all things are considered.

 

But Trion was smart enough once they realized that they had too many launch servers due to the flood that was launch week. Once it calmed down they reduced the number of servers and got it together. I am pretty sure Bioware will go down this path as well. Some official announcements regarding it would surely help.

[Ortagos]

there is only one problem....

This game belongs to EA. EA has shares at the stock market.

 

Lets imagine a bit:

BW/EA announces that they merge servers. For Outsiders it means, there arent enough people playing the game. result will be it looks like EA/BW/SWTOR is loosing players and the result of that... there shares go down on the market.

 

so my guess is:

EA/BW waits till there is again a hype because of 1.2 then a few after the hype startet they annonce something that they found a way/ improof the game to let more people play on one server and thats the reason they gona merge servers.

During the hype of 1.2 the shares go up again and they could even use that to put some negative into something good looking

Edited April 1, 2012 by Ortagos

[HeavensAgent]

So a couple servers are growing because of re-rollers... the other 200 servers are freefalling.

lol... no problems at all!

I'm not trying to say that there's no issue, just that it's probably not resulting from people leaving the game. There are definitely too many servers at this point, and a good number of them need to be shut down. That being said, I don't believe cancelled subscriptions are the primary factor for these servers' reduced population.

[Incendergel]

Bioware knows it is a issue. My issue is their ignorance for not telling people what their plans are to address it and focus only one what patch 1.2 may or may not do.

 

They know Ilum and other PvP aspects of the game are a failure in the eyes of subscribers. They have made a few changes to cater to one side of that player base. Will it work or not no one will know until it goes live. I do think many of the harder core pvp'ers who like open world pvp and incentives have left. Probably went back to the 2 ton gorilla called WoW and their next promise of questing on PvP servers which bring factions together for a cause. We'll see.

 

Questions at hand are many. Is it because there is no civil war feeling in the game between factions? Is it because there isn't any PvP on PvP servers aka no open world fighting? Is it because the game was sharded to hell in a hand basket during release to make questing and leveling easier? Hell, I didn't see an opposing faction until I was lvl 28 and landed on Alderaan. Is it because the game plays like a single player game aka great class quests? Is it because you are on the republic/imperial fleet, walk to your ship, enter cabin, select planet, fly, then ping pong between ship, orbit station, docking station, then ground or whatever the process is which is super stupid? I mean - we can go on and on about what is great and what is lacking - but at the end of the day it comes down to:

 

1. Population on server

2. Faction imbalance

3. PvE vs. PvP servers - feel the same

 

Some people are just calling it like they see it. I'm not here to perpetuate misconceptions, I'm stating facts. Don't believe me log on to my server, Dragon Trail, and take a look. Prime time, early morning, you pick. It is a dead server. And while some people are ok with re-rolling to higher populated servers it isn't a option for me. I'd rather spend that time elsewhere since I've already leveled, built crafting alts, saved money, expanded inventory space, etc. It just isn't a viable option.

[HeavensAgent]

They know Ilum and other PvP aspects of the game are a failure in the eyes of subscribers. They have made a few changes to cater to one side of that player base. Will it work or not no one will know until it goes live. I do think many of the harder core pvp'ers who like open world pvp and incentives have left. Probably went back to the 2 ton gorilla called WoW and their next promise of questing on PvP servers which bring factions together for a cause. We'll see.

You speak with a lot of authority on behalf of a community you're not a part of. Though SWTOR's PvP elements need work, there is a significant presence within the hardcore PvP community that believe the developer's efforts up to this point are far from being a failure. Additionally, we have not left the game; we have rerolled and are now staging player-created open-world PvP events. To state that we would return to WoW in search of open world PvP is laughable; that game has never adequately supported a true open world PvP environment. At least SWTOR boasts the depth needed to build upon what is already in place and generate our own activities.

[skinthinner]

as a side note... what are the figures on the population INCREASE on servers as population DECREASES on other servers?

 

I am thinking that people aren't really leaving in droves, and overall server population is not dropping, but rather increasing if not the same.

 

Leave one server, go to another that is higher pop... other servers feel like ghost towns and people whine in forums... meanwhile other servers are full and healthy and people just don't feel like going there.

 

Also, when new blood comes into the game they go for the higher pop servers at start, so the cycle grows.

[HeavensAgent]

I am thinking that people aren't really leaving in droves, and overall server population is not dropping, but rather increasing if not the same.

I imagine subscription numbers are in fact dropping. At this point in an MMORPG's life cycle it is expected that a title will suffer subscription losses. That being said I don't believe these losses are any greater than average for the industry. In fact, I imagine SWTOR could very possibly be showing less player loss than average.