Server population is dropping...

[BlackZoback]

So why didn't Warhammer Online retain it's 1.4 surge of players?

 

Because warhammer wasn't that great of a game before 1.4 and is still not one after.

[BlackZoback]

Same reason why it's perfectly normal to lose 500 thousand+ people in 3 months, it makes sense to the 2-3 Fanbois who post in every thread about legitmate issues.

 

Never said it wan't a legitimate issues, just the size and scope your proclaiming it is. You post in every thread too btw, so what does that make you....

 

Also 500 thousand is a big number was it hard to pull it out?

[Goretzu]

Because warhammer wasn't that great of a game before 1.4 and is still not one after.

 

But the huge patch fluctuation didn't change the downward trend (well actually it did for a couple of weeks).

 

My 30 years of MMO experience (I often have 2 running at once ) tells me that if 1.2 isn't a great patch fluctuations won't mean servers are suddenly full.

 

If it's an astounding patch then, yes, maybe they will be.

 

 

There is no normal, there is just good and bad patches that improve or make worse good or bad games.

[BlackZoback]

But the huge patch fluctuation didn't change the downward trend (well actually it did for a couple of weeks).

 

My 30 years of MMO experience (I often have 2 running at once ) tells me that if 1.2 isn't a great patch fluctuations won't mean servers are suddenly full.

 

If it's an astounding patch then, yes, maybe they will be.

 

 

There is no normal, there is just good and bad patches that improve or make worse good or bad games.

 

It did for a couple of weeks, like you just said, people just didn't stick around because it wasn't a good enough to keep them, the game as a whole that is.

[sctechie]

is this 5 characters long?

[pogmahone]

There is just to many servers. Yes they may have 1.7 subs but alot of those were more then 1 month subs. Alot of people have stopped playing because there is nobody on there servers.

[Ansultares]

server populations are not dropping, people are just really good at hiding...

Everyone rerolled to a stealth class, because they're the only ones not getting totally reamed by 1.2.

 

Never said it wan't a legitimate issues, just the size and scope your proclaiming it is. You post in every thread too btw, so what does that make you....

 

Also 500 thousand is a big number was it hard to pull it out?

500k lost in the first three months of WAR is reasonably accurate.

 

But by 1.4 you're talking about a retention rate floating around 15% or less; essentially, the population was already so small that even 50% increase in pop trends was still an insignificant change in aggregate players.

 

Anyway, Mythic shot itself in the foot with WAR; you can't just slap on something as major as RvR during the middle of beta because whiny testers expected DAoC2. Nevermind that they never managed to resolve the performance issues associated with large scale RvR, such that mergers were less effective at keeping the game interesting, and they piggybacked end-game PvE onto RvR.

Edited March 27, 2012 by Ansultares

[Hempboy]

The population is actually closer to 10 million subs, TOR is just the preferred game of ninja worldwide.

 

10 million swtor subs = 9 million chinese gold farmers + 1 million subs

 

I vote for discounted credits, and conversions from credits into Gold Pressed Latinum LOLOL

Edited March 27, 2012 by Hempboy

[Andryah]

Anyway, Mythic shot itself in the foot with WAR; you can't just slap on something as major as RvR during the middle of beta because whiny testers expected DAoC2.

 

IMO, the DAoC2 expectations of the player base killed WAR more then any other single factor. There were other factors, but this one stands out above the others.

[Ansultares]

IMO, the DAoC2 expectations of the player base killed WAR more then any other single factor. There were other factors, but this one stands out above the others.

Hey, we kind of agree on something. You're right that there are other issues, but this one stands most prominently.

 

I wouldn't say it was the expectations so much as it was the knee-jerk reaction by Mythic to implement an RvR system, any RvR system really, into the game partway through beta.

 

If they had refined public quests and found some better talent to design some dungeons, it would have been a great alternative to WotLK.

Edited March 27, 2012 by Ansultares

[Rotoroot]

I too agree that player expectation may have killed war but it was also the way nerfs and balancing took precedence over bug fixing and adding content. Didn't surprise me though, it is Mythic we're talking about.

 

Its funny how much SWTOR is being run like Warhammer. I expect the same results. At this point I'm amused watching games fail because the developers just don't get it.

Edited March 27, 2012 by Rotoroot

[Touchbass]

It's almost 12am EST and ther are only 5 heavy servers (3rd tier of 5) and well over 30+ (didn't want to count so picked a conversative number) light servers right now. The population is just too spread out. Edited March 27, 2012 by Touchbass

[Tenceriker]

It's almost 12am EST and ther are only 5 heavy servers (3rd tier of 5) and well over 30+ (didn't want to count so picked a conversative number) light servers right now. The population is just too spread out.

 

Don't let the forum faithful know about this, they will brand you as a heretic. It's funny that of the 3 heavy servers most of them have more people in starter zones than other servers have in the "max level" zones. Including standard servers.

[Lt_Latency]

Yeah, MMOs should have a wait list for the first month or 2.

 

Don't know why they make so many servers. the play rate Always goes down after the first month or 2.

 

espically in games like this where they shard zones if too many players are in one spot. Pretty much no reason no to have all servers at heavy

[PostalTwinkie]

It's almost 12am EST and ther are only 5 heavy servers (3rd tier of 5) and well over 30+ (didn't want to count so picked a conversative number) light servers right now. The population is just too spread out.

 

My server is now "Standard" population, down from "Heavy" just a month ago. Now I don't know if that classification changed because of parameters set by BioWare, or because we lost people. But I can say for certain that we do have less players and that in the last month the number has gone down substantially. At peak we had close to 300 on Imperial Fleet at any given time, that number is now well below 200. On the Republic side we would have something near 100 maybe 120, it is now below 80 usually. Today during rush hour on the Republic side we had about 56 people on Fleet, Alder had 4 people, Tat had 7.

[thefixx]

"Enjoy the discussion", you say? Ahh, i see! "You may enjoy your discussions as long as they do not contain any criticism towards us or our handling of this game . Otherwise, they will be immediately locked and/or completely removed. Good day!"

 

There we go. That's so much less vague. No?

 

 

lol, exactly, don't you know, players don't know crap about mmo's did you forget that? only the dev's know what is good for us, so get in line and keep quiet and keep paying your subscription. lol

 

so when are the servers merging? cross server warzones doesn't help my server with the auction house being crap, can't sell crap, can't buy crap. Oh and we can't buy resources either, it's out of crap and that too. Also, doesn't solve the problem of grouping for world bosses. I guess they can't admit they screwed up by launching 50 new servers the 3 rd week of launch, when everyone had wood. Now we have too many servers. low population and the players are paying for it.

If the latency wasn't so high, the asia/pacific server is the BEST. It has only 1 pvp server.

[Davidc]

I've moved my post here as bioware moderators locked the original post and asked me to shift it.

 

its now more than a few months since release and I've noticed that there's alot less active people on servers now, particularly my server `Peragus Mining facility' a month ago you could log on in the middle of the night and see at least 20-30 ppl still doing stuff, at weekends imperial station would have 300 or so folks during peak times, this is now down to 70-100. So I ask the following questions.

 

1. Has the lack of content killed `TOR' already?

2. Was the game released perhaps 6-12 months earlier than it should have been? i.e a bit more time spent in development could have created a less buggy game with more content?

3. Should Bioware perhaps used a more up to date engine to take advantage of cutting edge graphics.

4. Should space combat in its current form have been implemented at all? the current Indiana Jones mining cart style ride is tbh pretty crap. Perhaps devs cold have spent their time better creating end game content then later releasing space combat as a full content patch.

5. When comparing this game to others, how can `Bioware justfy a monthly subscription for an essentially empty game? as the falling numbers seem to prove, there aint enough for people to do and we are losing more people.

6. Should the game have been released with random group finder and guild banks already in, as these things have been standard in mmo's for a number of years?

 

These are just a small selection of what could be a massive list of questions. I will keep playing for a few months longer, I for one am willing to give this game a chance to mature, but I've got alot of patience, most people don't. I'm already hearing from alot of friends that quit, that they weren't impressed with a severely bugged game on release missing core features that have been standard in mmo's on release for years, and a subscription fee that was the same level for an essentially underdeveloped game. And a pvp system that had little to do, especially on servers with population imbalance. Amalgamation of servers seems a solution on those with very low/ medium populations but only temporary if the game cannot improve at a pace that is going to keep people interested, as fans will only stay if theres something to keep them interested.

 

I ask does anyone agree with what I've said?

I'm asking this to get an opinion on whether other people feel the same way as I do, I love this game but can't help feel that its about to enter a comatose state from which it may never recover and the patient may shortly there after die, i realise this aint `wow'/spit (which i played from the week of release) but its still an mmo and as such is in the same market and therefore competing for the same customer base.

 

Please Bioware get a move on and in the words of an imperial Commander `Redouble your efforts' and get back on schedule. I'm doing my part by subscribing and am trying to get friends to come back, but I can only do so much, If you don't get a move on your gonna kill your own game, we need faster improvements and better game content patches alot sooner than your implementing them.

 

I hope this overflow of thoughts gets noticed among the throng of posts, its not whining but what I think are constructive comments

[TwwIX]

lol, exactly, don't you know, players don't know crap about mmo's did you forget that? only the dev's know what is good for us, so get in line and keep quiet and keep paying your subscription. lol

 

so when are the servers merging? cross server warzones doesn't help my server with the auction house being crap, can't sell crap, can't buy crap. Oh and we can't buy resources either, it's out of crap and that too. Also, doesn't solve the problem of grouping for world bosses. I guess they can't admit they screwed up by launching 50 new servers the 3 rd week of launch, when everyone had wood. Now we have too many servers. low population and the players are paying for it.

If the latency wasn't so high, the asia/pacific server is the BEST. It has only 1 pvp server.

 

It's ok. I went through the same thing with recent release of DCUO. There's no point in trying to reach out to them at this point. They're exhibiting the exact same dismissive and arrogant behavior we got from SOE. Hey, at least i got to say "Told you so!" to their delusional and belligerent fanboys. It's just a matter of time. I give it a year.

[Goretzu]

It did for a couple of weeks, like you just said, people just didn't stick around because it wasn't a good enough to keep them, the game as a whole that is.

 

Which is likely to be SWTORs problem unless 1.2 delivers. People don't leave a game they are enjoying, they don't not play it too (unless it's literally been going for 8 years).

[acelesson]

I've stopped playing almost completely. I will wait until 1.2 drops to see if it interests me more. Leveling more toons just isnt for me.

[noodlehaus]

It's ok. I went through the same thing with recent release of DCUO. There's no point in trying to reach out to them at this point. They're exhibiting the exact same dismissive and arrogant behavior we got from SOE. Hey, at least i got to say "Told you so!" to their delusional and belligerent fanboys. It's just a matter of time. I give it a year.

 

deep down though, being a star wars fan, i really hope you don't get to say "Told you so!"

 

i've unsub'd and hate this half-baked game, but i'm still really hoping that BW gets on their feet and make this game at least at par with WoW in terms of gamer-quality-of-life.

[RinqualFireburst]

Imagine the dropoff once GW2 joins the party

[Masakari_]

I've moved my post here as bioware moderators locked the original post and asked me to shift it.

 

its now more than a few months since release and I've noticed that there's alot less active people on servers now, particularly my server `Peragus Mining facility' a month ago you could log on in the middle of the night and see at least 20-30 ppl still doing stuff, at weekends imperial station would have 300 or so folks during peak times, this is now down to 70-100. So I ask the following questions.

 

1. Has the lack of content killed `TOR' already?

2. Was the game released perhaps 6-12 months earlier than it should have been? i.e a bit more time spent in development could have created a less buggy game with more content?

3. Should Bioware perhaps used a more up to date engine to take advantage of cutting edge graphics.

4. Should space combat in its current form have been implemented at all? the current Indiana Jones mining cart style ride is tbh pretty crap. Perhaps devs cold have spent their time better creating end game content then later releasing space combat as a full content patch.

5. When comparing this game to others, how can `Bioware justfy a monthly subscription for an essentially empty game? as the falling numbers seem to prove, there aint enough for people to do and we are losing more people.

6. Should the game have been released with random group finder and guild banks already in, as these things have been standard in mmo's for a number of years?

 

These are just a small selection of what could be a massive list of questions. I will keep playing for a few months longer, I for one am willing to give this game a chance to mature, but I've got alot of patience, most people don't. I'm already hearing from alot of friends that quit, that they weren't impressed with a severely bugged game on release missing core features that have been standard in mmo's on release for years, and a subscription fee that was the same level for an essentially underdeveloped game. And a pvp system that had little to do, especially on servers with population imbalance. Amalgamation of servers seems a solution on those with very low/ medium populations but only temporary if the game cannot improve at a pace that is going to keep people interested, as fans will only stay if theres something to keep them interested.

 

I ask does anyone agree with what I've said?

I'm asking this to get an opinion on whether other people feel the same way as I do, I love this game but can't help feel that its about to enter a comatose state from which it may never recover and the patient may shortly there after die, i realise this aint `wow'/spit (which i played from the week of release) but its still an mmo and as such is in the same market and therefore competing for the same customer base.

 

Please Bioware get a move on and in the words of an imperial Commander `Redouble your efforts' and get back on schedule. I'm doing my part by subscribing and am trying to get friends to come back, but I can only do so much, If you don't get a move on your gonna kill your own game, we need faster improvements and better game content patches alot sooner than your implementing them.

 

I hope this overflow of thoughts gets noticed among the throng of posts, its not whining but what I think are constructive comments

1. Well, the game has tons of content. The no-lifers obviously have done alot, but for everyone else, the game has tons of content. Expectations playing a part here. For all the people who accuse the game of being a WoW clone, those same people then whine that the game lacks features 1-24 that WoW has.

 

2. Perhaps, yes.

 

3. I wouldn't say an "up to date engine" for the graphics. But they should have used a different one and / or developed their own. The Hero Engine isn't up to this massive level of development, and part of the problems the game has is due to the engine.

 

4. Expectations. I love rail shooters and think the game is fine. Some players expected EVE Online or something. Some others wanted Battlefront-style combat. I think it escapes the scope of the game, it was never meant to have super in-depth space combat, just as the KOTOR games didn't. It's a story based, ground based game.

 

5. Complicated issue. How should people leaving affect the pricing?

 

6. Honestly, leaving a game just because it has "no guild banks" is idiotic. Yes, it helps, but it's not a game breaker, far from it. Both things would have been good to have, but the game is perfectly playable without them, just people overeacting as usual.

 

BW has their fair share of blame for some issues with the game and some missing features. But IMO a big part of the game's problems is the actual fanbase, all they do is whine about A, about B, about C, etc. Like the now sparse server pop - hundreds of threads about wait times, they open more servers, guess what? Now pops are down and everyone is too spread out. This was entirely the fault of all the whiners.

 

All that said, BW and the game do seem in trouble. I doubt 1.2 is gonna change it, even lots of people want those features implemented, but then some ragequit because of some perceived slight in them, and still others also quit because X minor feature isn't gonna be in 1.2... seriously, the SWTOR player base is even worse than WoW's, and I played that for almost 5 years.

Edited March 27, 2012 by Masakari_

[damianxx]

Please for the Love of sith MERG SERVERS! my server was the highest pop server in game now its one of the lowest on sat night we had a whole 63 ppl in imperial fleet and they had 30 on the other side PLEASE MERGE SERVERS!

[VinUnleaded]

I agree, its very bad....que times for PvP are long, and all the poor FP players are spamming for groups and finding none.

Time for server merges I guess.