When will there be a SERVER MERGE?

[GBux]

Man its so sad when I open my mission log and at 50 and all i see are [HEROIC] and GROUP. my flashpoint folder is busting at the seams and i hate to see a game as fun as this go this way because stubborn(?) devs wont admit they need less servers and collapse a few.

 

This reminds me of SWG, when the combat upgrade came out. There was huge backlash against it, and instead of admitting they were wrong and reversing it, they instead let the game wallow to the back corner of the mmo world. Please devs, or whoever makes this decision, I was left out to dry once by a star wars game, with Diablo 3 on the horizon Im not sure I can continue to pay for a mmo which will have less online interaction then Im sure this upcoming rpg will have.

[GBux]

Server transfers were confirmed by a bioware rep at PAX

http://beefjack.com/news/bioware-to-introduce-more-robust-swtor-server-transfer-system/

 

-From the article

Star Wars: The Old Republic has already surpassed 1.7 million players, and the servers are getting a bit crowded.

 

Im not sure I view this article as reliable information lol.

[-Dench]

Well, they already stated they aren't going to do merges, so all that is going to happen is a lot of people will transfer off the lower pop servers and those servers will become even worse. Will they still ignore the issue then? We can't say for sure, but it's pretty bad as it is, ow bad does it need to be before they do something I wonder.

 

Well this is going to be rough on a lot of people then!

[durvas]

Server transfers were confirmed by a bioware rep at PAX

http://beefjack.com/news/bioware-to-introduce-more-robust-swtor-server-transfer-system/

 

Of course they're going to have them. It's a matter of how soon and if it will be soon enough to save the majority of players that would've quit in that time. It was needed months ago. Think of the attrition only in the last 2 months and how that has gone. If it's anything over 2 months from now you can probably just contract to about 10 servers now.

[Nakazia]

No, it forces Bioware's hand to fix the matter sooner and it provides players with an actual MMO experience in their MMO game. To do nothing but sit around waiting for Bioware to fix the issue is the definition of stupidity. If you want to have fun with a group of players who are passonate about the game re-roll on The Fatman or The Swiftsure if you aren't going to freak when it loses 25-35% of its players once Ocenia transfers happen, scratch that just roll on The Fatman.

 

So, in an effort to fix the problem the players need to make matters worse to get a point across? To me it seems pretty obvious there's an issue and it seems childish to try and "force Bioware's hand".

 

I sat at a character creation screen for the last two evenings contemplating what server I should re-roll to. I didn't want to roll on The Fatman.. but something with active people of all level ranges. Then I realized there's no guarantee that any server will sustain a healthy population in this game at this point in time, it's all a crap shoot picking a server... and that's only after I researched and found that about 90% of the servers available are actually worse off than my current one.

 

My server really isn't that great pop wise, still have issues with getting groups for flash points, PvP queues are just stupid and normally the round starts with 5 people... but my jaw dropped yesterday when I saw over a hundred people on the fleet for the first time in well over a month.

 

I won't re-roll to an over populated queue plagued server to try to enjoy an MMO with people while I pay monthly for it.

 

I won't give up my characters/credits/legacy/valor/trade skills/gear... everything I've worked for in the past four months.

 

I'll hang on a bit longer to my server and hope that legacy unlocks will pull back a few people to their original servers to re-roll, but if you never even had a healthy population like I did during the first three months... I'm sorry I don't even want to venture a guess as to how unfulfilling it must be to play an MMO when your servers a complete ghost town.

 

Something needs to be done to fix the FEW DOZEN servers sitting a light during prime time. Something needs to be done to bring more players together on far less servers. I don't give a rats patoot what it looks like, it is what it is and transfers alone won't cut it... nor will having everyone that plays this game consolidated to playing on The Fatman.

[Blistrich]

I actually just make a suggestion post regarding how the population wants transfers so badly, BW might as well charge us $5 a pop for them and just merge everyone who didn't want to pay down the road. And did anyone from this community respond to said thread? No, because people don't want viable solutions, they just want something new to ***** about.

[Kthx]

Quote: "tl;dr – You are right, I refuse to accept that a statistically significant portion of players have population problems, because nobody has shown this to be the case. "

 

/sigh. Let me explain something to you. Go on the server list and see how many show "light".

Then go on one of those servers and try to do a four man at any level, on any planet.

 

About 25% of servers are light. But, since by definition, the load on those servers is much less than servers rated standard, heavy, or very heavy, it follows that only a minority of players play on those servers.

 

Evidence does not have to be infallible, like a geometric proof, to be evidence.

And I am sure you are not a statistician.

You just like to stir things up.

 

You are right, I'm not a statistician, I'm a research analyst with graduate degrees in engineering and economics.

 

It is clear to anyone with a brain that a significant portion of players are on servers with population problems. You use the term "statistically" as though you know what that term means. I will give you a hint. It doesnt mean more than 50%.

 

Frostvein stated that I "refuse to believe that a statistically significant portion of the population has population problems on their server." I know exactly what "statistically significant" means, which is precisely why I refute his assertion. It sounds like you should direct your criticism of the use of the term "statistically" at him, not at me.

 

Maybe this is the first (M)MO you have played. I have played on probably 15 to 20, starting with UO during its launch.

 

My first MMO was Asheron's Call, so you started before me, congratulations. You are still wrong, however.

 

This game has the most dead servers I have ever encountered on a game less than 6 months from launch. So you can take that as "evidence".

 

My server has no population problems (and it's a standard server). My anecdotal evidence just canceled out yours. Your move.

Edited April 11, 2012 by Kthx

[Holden_Dissent]

I actually just make a suggestion post regarding how the population wants transfers so badly, BW might as well charge us $5 a pop for them and just merge everyone who didn't want to pay down the road. And did anyone from this community respond to said thread? No, because people don't want viable solutions, they just want something new to ***** about.

 

This is mainly true. The other half don't feel the need to educate themselves. They just read the title and go right for the reply button just to give their anecdotal information. If they would just stop to read, not only would they have seen your post, but they would've seen the 100s of posts telling everyone that transfers are coming. It's official and set in stone but people continue. Page 9 already of a thread that's now just acting as a trollcatcher.

[Drunkenpig]

About 25% of servers are light. But, since by definition, the load on those servers is much less than servers rated standard, heavy, or very heavy, it follows that only a minority of players play on those servers.

 

 

 

You are right, I'm not a statistician, I'm a research analyst with graduate degrees in engineering and economics.

 

 

 

Frostvein stated that I "refuse to believe that a statistically significant portion of the population has population problems on their server." I know exactly what "statistically significant" means, which is precisely why I refute his assertion. It sounds like you should direct your criticism of the use of the term "statistically" at him, not at me.

 

 

 

My first MMO was Asheron's Call, so you started before me, congratulations. You are still wrong, however.

 

 

 

My server has no population problems (and it's a standard server). My anecdotal evidence just canceled out yours. Your move.

Tonight I will check your asserted statistic that only 25% of the servers are "light". I have seen the number be in the 75% range (for NA). If Frostvein was the author of the statement about the statistically significant number, then I stand corrected and my comment should be aimed at him. I believe that "statistically significant number" in the context of whether or not a game has a "population problem" is subjective, and ultimately depends on whether or not the result affects the profitability of the game.

Does anyone know what is the approximate percentage of "light" servers now, as we type?

Edited April 11, 2012 by Drunkenpig

[Kthx]

Tonight I will check your asserted statistic that only 25% of the servers are "light".

 

The 25% estimate is based on the number of U.S. servers colored in white on the list available at:

 

http://www.torstatus.net/shards/us/stats

 

I believe that "statistically significant number" in the context of whether or not a game has a "population problem" is subjective, and ultimately depends on whether or not the result affects the profitability of the game.

 

The term "statistically significant", to me, is not a subjective term (other than in your choice as confidence interval). The term "population problem" is highly subjective.

 

Profitability is affected by the number of subscriptions, not number of people playing. We can have that debate too: There we have better data, but the data is sparse.

Edited April 11, 2012 by Kthx

[Nakazia]

I actually just make a suggestion post regarding how the population wants transfers so badly, BW might as well charge us $5 a pop for them and just merge everyone who didn't want to pay down the road. And did anyone from this community respond to said thread? No, because people don't want viable solutions, they just want something new to ***** about.

 

Why should anyone pay a penny to transfer when Bioware created this issue.

They placed large guilds on servers prior to launch

They offered too few server options in early access

They then opened far too many servers for the current subscription base to even fill.

 

Good solutions and constructive comments often go ignored in these forums it's true... but bad ones are proposed quite often as well which happens to be my opinion of yours.

 

About 25% of servers are light

 

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

 

I'd like to introduce you to the server status page on these forums. Upon viewing this page you will be able to clearly see EVEN IF YOU LOOK AT PRIME TIME, you're wrong. There's far more than 25% of servers that are light.

Edited April 11, 2012 by Nakazia

[Drunkenpig]

Most EU servers are "standard". Even at that level the game is gimped. If you like an MMO where it takes an hour to get a group of 4 people together, this is the game for you.

Right now, nearly every US server is light. In EU, only 2-3 are heavier than 'standard".

If a player has to wait an hour to get into a 4 man group, the server is too light. That is an effective definition of statistical significance. Getting together a group for a flashpoint is an even longer wait. So if BW, in an effort to cover up their failures, lists a server as "standard" when the average total planet population is on the average 10-15 (and they have done this, as I have logged in Naddist Rebels when the population is listed as being standard and I am almost alone in a planet; when there are only 15 people in a planet, finding 3 other people to do the group you want to do is not easy), then you cannot take their definition of "standard" as setting the standard.

Right now there is not one US server that is better than "standard". Over 90% are light. No, I can't play because I am at work, but when I get home tonight I will check again and see how full are the servers.

[Kthx]

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

 

I'd like to introduce you to the server status page on these forums. Upon viewing this page you will be able to clearly see EVEN IF YOU LOOK AT PRIME TIME, you're wrong. There's far more than 25% of servers that are light.

 

Not in the U.S., no. That is because you are checking the instantaneous server load off-peak. Most players have jobs and/or classes that they attend to during the day.

 

Conversely, if you scroll down to the EU list, which is currently at at peak, you will see that only 21% of servers are light.

 

No, I can't play because I am at work.

 

My point exactly.

 

Is Nakazia's argument is that the servers are light when nobody can play because they are at work?

Edited April 11, 2012 by Kthx

[Blistrich]

Good solutions and constructive comments often go ignored in these forums it's true... but bad ones are proposed quite often as well which happens to be my opinion of yours.

I'd pay $5 to get a level 50 off a dead server and have them in a high pop environment tomorrow.

 

Wouldn't you?

[Nakazia]

Not in the U.S., no. That is because you are checking the instantaneous server load off-peak. Most players have jobs and/or classes that they attend to during the day.

 

Conversely, if you scroll down to the EU list, which is currently at at peak, you will see that only 21% of servers are light.

 

 

 

My point exactly.

 

Is Nakazia's argument is that the servers are light when nobody can play because they are at work?

 

 

EVEN IF YOU LOOK AT PRIME TIME, you're wrong. There's far more than 25% of servers that are light.

 

I'll bold this again I guess since somehow it's still being misinterpreted.

 

I've been watching and even rolling on servers to compare populations probably a little too much recently.

 

On a good day we've got

6 servers at the heavy, very heavy, full status and the rest of our servers about a 60% standard, 40% light ratio.

 

On a bad day we've got

4 servers at the heavy, very heavy, full status and the rest of our servers about a 40% standard, 60% light ratio.

 

Any way you slice it tho.. look at prime time and there are dozens of servers at light.

 

I'd like to further state that even the lower end of standard (which my server seems to frequently teeter on when prime time begins) is still very sparse when looking at actual players in game.

 

The EU servers overall (yes, they are peak atm) seem to have a much better ratio of standard to light servers even in off-peak times. Because their player base fills the servers better. US severs on the other hand... simply too many servers and our player base is spread amongst all of them very thinly.

[Kourage]

I actually just make a suggestion post regarding how the population wants transfers so badly, BW might as well charge us $5 a pop for them and just merge everyone who didn't want to pay down the road. And did anyone from this community respond to said thread? No, because people don't want viable solutions, they just want something new to ***** about.

 

$5 ? lol

 

 

Try $20 or more per character!

[Nakazia]

I'd pay $5 to get a level 50 off a dead server and have them in a high pop environment tomorrow.

 

Wouldn't you?

 

Maybe, but I'd be really irritated and I'd think it was pretty sheisty if they did.

 

Shouldn't have to shell out more money or re-roll because of Biowares inability to provide us with a proper MMO gaming environment.

[davebushe]

It amuses me how we can get a nice new version of the thread. I wonder how many threads we'll get through before anyone from Bioware even admits that server population is a problem.

[Typheran]

interview with James Ohlen on Darth Hater.

 

 

DH: Is there any discussion of merging servers or adding incentives to move players to low pop servers?

 

JO: No, we’re not going to. Merging servers is not something we are looking at. We have a very healthy game right now, so that is not something we are looking at in the near future. We're always going to look at ways to make sure a server is healthy. There are a whole bunch of different ways you can do that. We're discussing them. We want to make sure players feel like there are enough players on their server to play with.

 

 

The rest of the interview.

 

http://www.darthhater.com/articles/swtor-news/20070-pax-east-2012-interview-with-james-ohlen-and

[Malefactor]

Server merge threads are in every MMO, including WoW (yes they have dead servers, and people have been asking for 7 years now and have not once received a reply). What Blizzard did, and what I expect BioWare will do long before they entertain the thought of merging servers is to implement cross server tools for group activities. I believe they are currently planning on cross server WZs in the near future, and once the tech is in place and working to their satisfaction it's quite possible, even likely, that cross server FPs and possibly even OPs will follow.

 

As far as transfers go, it will likely be restricted to prevent already full, or near full, servers from becoming overpopulated and causing long queues like the ones people cried and whined about at launch. For example, transfers would be allowed off of heavily populated servers but not to them.

[Safing]

Character Transfers will not solve the problem.

 

If you got the chance to transfer, would you go

a) to a low-medium pop server and hope the local population won't transfer out at the same time (and others also transfer there) or

b) to an already high-pop server making it even fuller?

 

So the only way transfers would work is if start and target servers were closely restricted. But then, where is the difference to a server merge except for leaving open a then completely dead server which newbies could accidentially end up at.

 

Thus Server Merges. No Transfers.

[Rhenthyl]

Canceled my subscription, this game in unplayable without any population. I'm a freshly capped 50 on a low population server, the guild I've been in decided to restarted on the only High population server in europe. Can't get geared by FP, no one on the fleet, can't do Heroics no one on the planet, can't get geared by PvP, everyone are battlemaster geared except me (it's like a lvl 1 vs lvl 50's), warzone queue can take an hour sometimes and lets not forget I'm playing a sniper which is "pure dps", yeah right.

 

For short the game is nothing but a frustrating experience for anyone on a low population server, I expected a good game since it's Bioware but forgot that making good games doesn't mean you can make and manage a good MMORPG.

Edited April 12, 2012 by Rhenthyl

[lavatious]

to be gods honest in absolutly fine with my little community.........

to quote a friend who was in "the tomb of freedon nadd" server "its great man there was 300 in fleet and 350 in korriban, and like 200 in drummond kass"

 

super great to socialize n all that but there would be naff all levelin going on the mobs would be all dead and respawn times. take a number pal theres a queue a mile long.

 

nahh im happy in my Rp-pvp just change the name lord calypho aint cool and gief us chat bubbles too and ice cream id like ice cream......... n a flake, with fizzy pop, or a hot choclate:)

[DiabloDoom]

On the low pop servers I don't think that we should be charged for our first transfers.

[Selvec]

Standard MMO procedure from what I have seen is one free transfer per account, and then a cost for each following charge that increases upon each transfer.

 

However, since this is a subscription based model, and that is standard on F2P, that should mean that transfers should be free, or possibly be free the first time, then cost an increasing sum of in game credits. The service should be included in the subscription payment.

Edited April 12, 2012 by Selvec