Server population is dropping...

[Andryah]

Lol server reputation? Doesn't matter, as I was playing on Wall of Light for a while and degraded every player I could. I call everyone names, I kick people from groups for being terrible, but no one argues it because I'm one of the few tanks left on the server. So yeah keep your server community and rep because it doesn't really matter.

 

Please keep us informed as to what server(s) you are playing on.

[AislingKerrigan]

The idea of separate servers is outdated, it always ends up with some empty and others too full. Instead everyone should be in instances on the same "super server", kinda like STO. Some say they don't like instancing but face it, it's here to stay and the benefits outweigh the drawback. Can just use schemes to do a best effort in getting to see the same people often and could separate EU from NA and AU etc for response time and such.

 

Always populated sever is worth the cost of a few instances.

 

GW2's system is a good alternative. You have a 'home'(default) server but you can freely hop to any other server and there's even a spill-over feature where if your home server is full you can play on another server WHILE waiting in queue.

[Rotoroot]

Patch 1.2 will bring a lot more activity from players on most servers. But its a long term thing, if Bioware patch in content in a regular fashion then we should be OK.

 

I disagree, I think the population will drop by at least 50% within the first month of the release of 1.2 when people are underwhelmed by the additional content/features and overwhelmed by nerfs and balancing of the characters they enjoyed playing.

 

New patches won't help because people will leave and not be happy and won't be willing to come back when there's a lot of other options out there (especially around 1.2 release). This is the problem, because bioware focused on nerfs/balancing instead of fixing bugs and adding content, they have shown their priorities.

 

This is their first and possibly biggest patch ever and it is terrible. You think 1.3 will be great or 1.4? There will be more balancing and maybe one other mission added with multiple bugs left unfixed and problems from beta still obvious to anyone actually playing the game.

 

That won't bring anyone back but they can keep banking on the star wars name keeping their subscribers. That worked out so well for SWG.

[Manakar]

The idea of separate servers is outdated, it always ends up with some empty and others too full. Instead everyone should be in instances on the same "super server", kinda like STO. Some say they don't like instancing but face it, it's here to stay and the benefits outweigh the drawback. Can just use schemes to do a best effort in getting to see the same people often and could separate EU from NA and AU etc for response time and such.

 

Always populated sever is worth the cost of a few instances.

 

Champions Online has shards but they also made so everyone is on the same server.. If you are going to have shards then why not have everyone be on the same server? Its silly to have a bunch of servers where you cant communicate with people and then also have sharding.. lol

Edited April 1, 2012 by LexiCazam
Inappropriate content

[Swanea]

Perhaps the real issue, at least with regard of these two lines, has more to do with the quality of the guild in question; it is highly unlikely that such a drastic drop in a guild's population is due to people leaving the game. Build a community, give people a reason to play, and folks will stick around.

 

Sure dude. Been playing with some of these people since SWG release. And no, we were not looking for SWG2. Not even close.

 

Many of use have played together for 5+ years that were not part of that swg group. Our group always has a reason to play. Most just have not found TOR fun enough to keep playing and prefer other things to do. Sowwies!

[lHolyOne]

OK here we go, before i start complaining like every one else, i just want to say that this game is by far the greatest online game i have ever played, in my opinion,,from the graphics to the missions, on the fact you can actually have a convo and answer the questions by choice is amazing...it is defiantly much better reading a paragraph that looses your interest and it's great you can either answer nicely or being the dark side, of being bad. i know people are complaining but i think they have left out how great this game is...i find this game very fun and absolutely amazing. this game is honestly best online I've played and i have played a lot of them..this update 1.2 is going to be great, I'm honestly looking forward to it.. but now this is when i complain. we have way to many servers that have very low populations.. in my opinion i feel its about 70% of people need transfer because of low population, but i feel can easily be fixed by merging these servers, because if we transfer we may run into going to a server where others are leaving.. emerging is key...also in my opinion 30% of the people like my self definitely need transfers,, we have rerolled in to different servers just to find that they also have low populations.. we need transfer and emerging now. i have characters on different servers but i really need them on one in order to have a family tree. we really need this because many like my self are going to have problems considering characters are all over the place so how do we make a family tree and take part in the awesome idea of 1.2 patch. I hope we can get some merging and we defiantly need these transfers. how can we enjoyed all of the greatness of 1.2 when we cant even enroll a family tree. i know a lot have said this already and i have repeated myself many times but i had to say it, considering this is how i feel and i needed to vent.

[Kriminal]

I have no hope for 1.2, sheduled raids with the guild and on other times nothing to do again. Or yeah do ranked warzones vs the same people over and over again. No thx!

 

I'm leaving 3 50's behind. I did enjoy this game alot. It's fun to play but there is just nothing to do.

[HeavensAgent]

Sure dude. Been playing with some of these people since SWG release. And no, we were not looking for SWG2. Not even close.

Just because you weren't looking for this doesn't mean others weren't. You're a transplant guild. Transplant guilds rarely last in a new game, unless they're essentially willing to view their new existence as a totally new start.

 

Without a new foundation, transplants tend to collapse. What they've established in previous games is usually insufficient to support a community in the new title.

[DarthNiktu]

I'm on Kain-Kan (EU)

 

There are 7 ppl online at the moment

[killmaimburn]

The idea of separate servers is outdated, it always ends up with some empty and others too full. Instead everyone should be in instances on the same "super server", kinda like STO. Some say they don't like instancing but face it, it's here to stay and the benefits outweigh the drawback. Can just use schemes to do a best effort in getting to see the same people often and could separate EU from NA and AU etc for response time and such.

 

Always populated sever is worth the cost of a few instances.

 

That's what I always thought of when I played on b.net with diablo 2. Creating a new game is an instance... but everyone is in the same network. With more and more people clamoring for LFG tools LFWZ tools, this game will eventually go down that road. The server you play on will function more as a chatroom than a living world. I guess it's a shift in the market. Too many games had the open world feel to it and now more and more people want the opposite. And a few years later the market will shift again.

 

On Krath, the server I was playing on, I think since late January I was commenting on how empty the server felt. My guildies kept saying, no no the server isn't empty. But I made observation that there were 4 guilds on imps that actually ran ops and were visible regularly. There were a few guilds that had specific raid times that they logged on for, but for the majority of the time those players weren't online. Early January fleet population would be 120 people during peak hours, now it's 60-85 from what I've observed. Rolled a pub to see the difference, even less people on pub side. SOOOO MUCH HUTTBALL FOR IMPS... There are 2 very good pub teams on Krath, and when they play they dominate Void Star and Civil War. But Huttball is the Imp's game. lol

 

Recently I rolled a pub on Swiftsure. The pub population is greater than the imps was on Krath. I have a feeling that it'll stay that way.

 

When 1.2 comes out, everyone WILL log back on. That's how these games go. It's more like DLC. You stop for awhile, then a new DLC comes out, you log on, play the crap out of it and then stop again for awhile. That being said, the empty servers now will always be low pop servers, the high pop servers will always be high pop servers. Some people actually like low pop servers. I would say that I'm friends with a large majority of the imp players on Krath since there's not that many and I pvp and run HM's alot. Well, not anymore on that server. It has a community feeling. You don't get that on high pop servers. As much as I enjoy knowing my neighbors, I like monies. And I can't make monies on the GTN on a low pop server so I moved.

 

Server transfers are something that does need to be addressed. Many players feel cheated that they put forth so much effort only to find they can't do higher end content because they can't find enough similarly minded people around to join them. Rerolling is a pain in the arse. I forgot how much crafting costs while leveling a toon. I do cybertech to keep my vanguard up to date. Now I'm balancing crafting mission costs with new ability costs. Geesh, was so much simpler when I could transfer money from another toon.

[Azzras]

GW2's system is a good alternative. You have a 'home'(default) server but you can freely hop to any other server and there's even a spill-over feature where if your home server is full you can play on another server WHILE waiting in queue.

 

GW2 will not have an LFG tool for PvE.

[Solo_Han]

The fact that TOR has a considerably smaller population than WoW, yet has more servers baffles me.

 

I understand that between the 20-23 of December the developers were under pressure to allow everyone to play, so they did two things. They added new servers, and increased the player threshold on each server. I think that's a mistake, do one or the other, not both, or everything ends up stuck in 'Standard' as it seems to be.

 

Servers really need to be merged back to their original launch numbers. Those were good numbers, and, I'm sure that you did your research, and thought they would provide the right balance. The way it seems to be being handled (and the total lack of communication, or even admittance that there's a problem), indicates to me that it's more likely you just drew a number out of a hat, and thought - 'That's how many servers we need'.

 

Playing a heavily instanced MMO is already a fairly solitary experience, coupled with very few people in the surrounding areas (I'm talking like 9pm, and 3 other players on the same planet as you) makes for a very lonely MM-anything.

 

Moving to a new thread, and stating something like 'As this thread has reached over 1,000 posts, it has been moved to a new thread', should provide you with all the market research and public opinion necessary to make these kinds of decisions.

 

 

New-flash:

Low server populations = Players quit

Players quitting = Low server populations

 

Don't get caught in a catch-22, merge, give people the ability to do the group heroic quests that are good fun, but the majority of players are forced to simply drop, as they'll never be able to do them.

[Tenceriker]

GW2 will not have an LFG tool for PvE.

 

What does that have to do with anything? The point stands that the way servers are setup in SWTOR an old way of handling players that is outdated and suffers from many problems once the game population fractures.

[TUXs]

I have no hope for 1.2, sheduled raids with the guild and on other times nothing to do again. Or yeah do ranked warzones vs the same people over and over again. No thx!

 

I'm leaving 3 50's behind. I did enjoy this game alot. It's fun to play but there is just nothing to do.

 

This is exactly the problem.

 

1.2 is a minimal cosmetic fix, nothing else. ONE warzone, ONE Operation and a family flow chart that you'll get to spend 2min with before being finished.

 

Bioware is moving at a freaking snails pace. Hell, James just this week asked for feedback on Open World PvP...something Bioware told us was being worked on at the Guild summit. All these promises of "different teams" working on "different things"...and yet, all we're getting in 1.2 is cosmetics. In fact, they're moving so slow that people don't even bother complaining about space any longer...any dreams of that being expanded have been thrown out by most, in favor of SOMETHING to do at 50.

 

It's hard not to get frustrated. I'm not leaving, but I AM concerned.

[Icysunx]

We are also getting an extremely confusing and unwanted Orange Crit Craft System that will probably frustrate all non forum readers to no end.

[Azzras]

This is exactly the problem.

 

1.2 is a minimal cosmetic fix, nothing else. ONE warzone, ONE Operation and a family flow chart that you'll get to spend 2min with before being finished.

 

Bioware is moving at a freaking snails pace. Hell, James just this week asked for feedback on Open World PvP...something Bioware told us was being worked on at the Guild summit. All these promises of "different teams" working on "different things"...and yet, all we're getting in 1.2 is cosmetics. In fact, they're moving so slow that people don't even bother complaining about space any longer...any dreams of that being expanded have been thrown out by most, in favor of SOMETHING to do at 50.

 

It's hard not to get frustrated. I'm not leaving, but I AM concerned.

 

Yup, it only takes WoW 6 months to release 1 raid and rehash dungeons.

 

Takes them an xpac to get new battlegrounds in.

 

[TUXs]

Yup, it only takes WoW 6 months to release 1 raid and rehash dungeons.

 

Takes them an xpac to get new battlegrounds in.

 

 

Not sure if you're being sarcastic or not, but I never played WoW. SWTOR has had 6 months as well though.

[Citywok]

You guys are complaining about there only being one warzone and one operation in a major content update 3 months after release? Are you being serious? have you ever played any other MMOs before? Because I don't think a lot of you have. It is RIDICULOUS to expect multiple operations and warzones per patch. You are expecting them to add an expansions worth of content every patch! You guys are crazy. No game has ever added as much content as many of you think SWTOR should in such a short period of time. Quit, please go ahead. This instant gratification me me me society we live in ruins a lot of things.

[Azzras]

Not sure if you're being sarcastic or not, but I never played WoW. SWTOR has had 6 months as well though.

 

SWTOR hasn't been out for 4 months yet, and has released a new OP and FP in that time.

[Icysunx]

Yup, it only takes WoW 6 months to release 1 raid and rehash dungeons.

 

Takes them an xpac to get new battlegrounds in.

 

 

Except people never left wow in such high numbers are to render 80 percent of the servers unplayable.

[Citywok]

Not sure if you're being sarcastic or not, but I never played WoW. SWTOR has had 6 months as well though.

 

 

i don't know where you are getting 6 months because SWTOR has only been out 3 months. You have no idea what is reasonable to expect in MMo development. These things take TIME. I'm willing to bet SWTOR is your first MMO.

[Azzras]

Except people never left wow in such high numbers are to render 80 percent of the servers unplayable.

 

WoW has a ton of dead servers.

 

http://us.battle.net/wow/en/forum/topic/4079842536

 

http://us.battle.net/wow/en/forum/topic/4079872528

 

http://us.battle.net/wow/en/forum/topic/4079622292

 

What's the count now, 4mil unsubbed since cata launch?

 

Anyway, WoW isn't really the topic here.

 

Edit:

 

90% of all statistics are made up on the spot 75% of the time.

Edited March 30, 2012 by Azzras

[Icysunx]

Your right theres low servers on WoW but not 80 percent of them are dead with no way to transfer off. Stop trying to avoid the question by side stepping it. Your argument fails.

[Psychor]

As of 10AM EST today (weekeday):

 

• Fatman Hutta/Korriban are both sitting at ~29 people online.
  
• Naddist Rebels are both sitting at ~2 people online.
  

 

In reply to the person who asked why I used data from a weekday I don't see why it should matter. I'm comparing two PVP servers, on the same day and at the same time of day. The point is one shouldn't be 14.5 times more populated than the other.

Edited March 30, 2012 by Psychor

[Goretzu]

You guys are complaining about there only being one warzone and one operation in a major content update 3 months after release? Are you being serious? have you ever played any other MMOs before? Because I don't think a lot of you have. It is RIDICULOUS to expect multiple operations and warzones per patch. You are expecting them to add an expansions worth of content every patch! You guys are crazy. No game has ever added as much content as many of you think SWTOR should in such a short period of time. Quit, please go ahead. This instant gratification me me me society we live in ruins a lot of things.

 

 

Well Rift did pretty well.

 

But you're right there's over expectation.

 

Having said that warzones don't take that much work, otherwise Warhammer Online wouldn't have been able to make 1,000,000,000 of them in the late time of development they were added.

 

The problem with SWTOR WZ's though is mostly that due to large faction imbalances there is effectively only one warzone, which is probably aggravating things.

 

 

 

 

But really the big problem is when you design an MMORPG to mimic WoW, you've got to end up delivering something that matches up to WoW 2012.... not WoW 2004.

 

That's the harsh commercial reality.