Daniel Erickson on Server Population.

[Applecrow]

AS to server merges causing queues to log in: I'd rather sit in a 40 min que to get on a full server than sit in fleet for hours BFG (Begging for group).

 

Fixing the problems with population needs to be their primary goal before they kamikaze their own game.

 

I've even started wondering if EA is holding back on some of these fixes until the free time is up for most players to see how many are still going to pay for the game.

[Tenceriker]

People need to stop knocking Dan. He said what he said when the company's official word on the topic was still 1.7 million.

 

Even if he knew people were canceling, a lot of employees at a lot of companies are not allowed to divulge company information until some sort of official release.

 

Yes, companies make their employees lie all the time. It's what adults do. You'll all understand someday when you grow up.

 

So it's okay to lie now, even if it ends up biting you in the ***? Ask Yahoo's CEO how that is working out.

 

Sure, companies often have policies that limit what employees can say and in this case Daniel would have saved himself a lot of trouble by not saying anything. You can get away with lying if you are a private company who never has to reveal anything but since he is part of a public company and he knew that they would eventually post the numbers he should have kept his mouth shut. All he did was undermine his own credibility.

[Ryath-Darsis]

I won't be around in 1.5 months when my sub ends and can see myself completely not logging in at all way before then. Sadly I'm not even leaving for another MMO or game. I'm just leaving due to boredom and misguided development.

 

I have to agree with this, and I think it will be the same for me at this rate.

 

AS to server merges causing queues to log in: I'd rather sit in a 40 min que to get on a full server than sit in fleet for hours BFG (Begging for group).

 

Again I agree, its not playing the game if I have to wait for over an hour to find a group to do any flashpoint with.

[Mechrophilia]

This is good to hear. Thanks for posting it, OP.

[Malstrades]

SERVER MERGERS NOW! not in 3 months when the game is dead and burried!

[Tiaa]

People still take anything Daniel Erickson says serious?

 

I thought we learned our lessons years back when you were all obsessed with his non-existent six pack.

[Itukaaj]

This change and other improvements are good for the game overall. Although my sub runs out I think in July I will probably give TOR a shot next February. I will let them work inpeace in the interim (maybe I'm lying about that part).

[SneiK]

This is coming from someone that sadly is in a dead server. 20-30 players on the fleet at 'peak' times, that's under 100 players online (mostly it's 8-15 fleet, under 50 the whole server)...MMO LOL...I like to pvp, but I simply can't. I can't do anything in the game so whatever BW does, server merges or character transfers, they need to do 'em fast.

 

The situation is actually so bad that people don't even play for FREE...

Edited May 11, 2012 by SneiK

[grezgorz]

The fact that not even the most basic precautions were taken to mitigate this 'classic MMO problem' speaks volumes about the designer's abilities or lack thereof. Solution: allow free shard-hopping with a reasonable cooldown and either limit or charge people who want to skip the cooldown or transfer to an overpopulated shard. Why this was not a part of the core design at release is beyond me. This should not be an issue in a modern MMO. Edited May 11, 2012 by grezgorz

[MbaxterBeau]

Why weren't the servers made to hold a huge number of toons to begin with? Seems it would be a win win for an mmo developer to have huge servers so there would be less of a chance for this to happen or to even need server mergers.

 

I'm thinking it has to do with the game engine not being able to handle a huge population. Hopefully all mmo developers learn from this effecting this game.

[Robert_Guiscard]

Just wanted to add my voice to the "mergers or transfers as soon as it can feasibly be done please!" crowd. I still enjoy the game, and appreciate what's being done, but after getting one character to 50 on a server that went dead (after following Bioware's advice and starting on a non-crowded server)...then rerolling on another server which seemed populated...then went dead...and rerolled on another (which just lost a bunch of Australian players), I'm just losing my interest in playing. I appreciate the free time, but I find myself less and less likely to log in these days.

[Jaavik]

They better be free transfers.

 

They are in part to blame for the problem, so to charge us for a solution would make me cancel faster then girls taking off their clothes when they see me.

 

They way I understood it, they are going to offer free transfers to "selected servers" and paid transfers to any server you want. They are going to try to build up specific servers first to get the communities beefed up.

 

I seriously doubt they will offer free transfers to the few already populated servers. I'm not sure how they would target specific servers that are more "Republic-heavy" or vice-versa, as some people have both factions for their characters, and if a server is more "Imperial-heavy", people with Republic mains might not want to transfer there as they don't want to be severely outnumbered, even though in the long run it would balance out for the community.

 

I don't think this sort of thing is as simple as some people try to make it out to be. If you get transfers to a targeted server so you finally have people to play with, then you will hear complaints that there aren't enough to play with "on your side".

 

If they simply found a server that was 75/25% imperial and merged it with 75/25% Republic, it would be best for the community but crappy for the individual that may have wanted to make the choice themselves.

 

Personally, I only have two mains that I want to take with me on a PvE server and I want to take them to a PvP server. Which I wouldn't get in a server merge.

 

In a nutshell, there's gonna be whining no matter what...

 

And as far as the "clothes thing", I seriously doubt you'd be playing MMOs if that were the least bit true...

Edited May 11, 2012 by Jaavik

[Valperion]

They way I understood it, they are going to offer free transfers to "selected servers" and paid transfers to any server you want. They are going to try to build up specific servers first to get the communities beefed up.

 

I seriously doubt they will offer free transfers to the few already populated servers. I'm not sure how they would target specific servers that are more "Republic-heavy" or vice-versa, as some people have both factions for their characters, and if a server is more "Imperial-heavy", people with Republic mains might not want to transfer there as they don't want to be severely outnumbered, even though in the long run it would balance out for the community.

 

I don't think this sort of thing is as simple as some people try to make it out to be. If you get transfers to a targeted server so you finally have people to play with, then you will hear complaints that there aren't enough to play with "on your side".

 

If they simply found a server that was 75/25% imperial and merged it with 75/25% Republic, it would be best for the community but crappy for the individual that may have wanted to make the choice themselves.

 

Personally, I only have two mains that I want to take with me on a PvE server and I want to take them to a PvP server. Which I wouldn't get in a server merge.

 

In a nutshell, there's gonna be whining no matter what...

 

And as far as the "clothes thing", I seriously doubt you'd be playing MMOs if that were the least bit true...

 

Forget servers transfers, its time for server merges.

* There is no reason to have "SO MANY" servers.

* Yes, launch did need servers but with communities dying at a exponential rate It's better to merge.

[Nyla]

Forget servers transfers, its time for server merges.

* There is no reason to have "SO MANY" servers.

* Yes, launch did need servers but with communities dying at a exponential rate It's better to merge.

 

Except server merges are more complicated and people might be upset because Bioware would have to choose which servers to merge together.

 

Server transfers were made for the oceanic servers so there's a better chance to have that ready sooner and it will give some freedom to players to choose their destinations.

 

In the end, it's somehow the same, dead servers are empty/don't exist anymore and people are now playing on high pop servers.

[Senatsu]

Except server merges are more complicated and people might be upset because Bioware would have to choose which servers to merge together.

 

Server transfers were made for the oceanic servers so there's a better chance to have that ready sooner and it will give some freedom to players to choose their destinations.

 

In the end, it's somehow the same, dead servers are empty/don't exist anymore and people are now playing on high pop servers.

 

To be fair, I think BioWare should be willing to take the risk and arrange server merges. What they could do is merge servers and give every player 1 free server transfer (could be per character, per legacy, per whatever), that way there would be much less servers and denser population, and people would be able to change to a different server if they don't like the one they ended up with.

 

As it stands now, there are way too many servers to suit such a "low" player base, also taking into consideration how many actively play, when most log in, and amount of players that can play at the same time on each server (I would estimate it to be around 4-5k before queues start). BioWare probably wouldn't have had this problem (at least not to this extent) if they had the current player cap at the beginning instead of a month after.

Edited May 12, 2012 by Senatsu

[Deadalon]

This is Warhammer all over again. They end up with 4 servers if they dont get their act together.

 

Why I dont like SWTOR enough to pay sub ? Companion system. Hate it. Can't see myself dressing up more "dolls" so my sub runs out tonight.

 

This stinks of Mythic and their unprofessional work. Bioware obviously can not create a good long lasting MMO. Cause if they did... they would have solved these forseen issues BEFORE the game launched.

Edited May 12, 2012 by Deadalon

[TheMunny]

This is Warhammer all over again. They end up with 4 servers if they dont get their act together.

 

Why I dont like SWTOR enough to pay sub ? Companion system. Hate it. Can't see myself dressing up more "dolls" so my sub runs out tonight.

 

This stinks of Mythic and their unprofessional work. Bioware obviously can not create a good long lasting MMO. Cause if they did... they would have solved these forseen issues BEFORE the game launched.

 

They looked at WoW's business/game model and said "Hey, we can milk millions of subs and all we need to do is teired grind-a-thon content!!!" Hell, they even gave you companions you need to gear out now instead of just your own set(s). Everything they have implemented is all about "GRINDING" because it worked for WoW.

Edited May 12, 2012 by TheMunny

[fungihoujo]

Funny- him honestly thinking that there would be queues in 1.2. The reality was- people logged on in 1.2, and 50% of the players who weren't a juggernaut, marauder or assassin unsubbed on the spot.

 

25% of subs lost since 1.2- and they're too bone headed to ever admit it was their game breaking patch that did it. 1.2 was the NGE all over again- good job BW in deciding to ruin your game faster and harder than anyone could have expected.

[boobaffet]

This is Warhammer all over again. They end up with 4 servers if they dont get their act together.

 

Why I dont like SWTOR enough to pay sub ? Companion system. Hate it. Can't see myself dressing up more "dolls" so my sub runs out tonight.

 

This stinks of Mythic and their unprofessional work. Bioware obviously can not create a good long lasting MMO. Cause if they did... they would have solved these forseen issues BEFORE the game launched.

 

Dont gear them then... what is this?

[boobaffet]

Funny- him honestly thinking that there would be queues in 1.2. The reality was- people logged on in 1.2, and 50% of the players who weren't a juggernaut, marauder or assassin unsubbed on the spot.

 

25% of subs lost since 1.2- and they're too bone headed to ever admit it was their game breaking patch that did it. 1.2 was the NGE all over again- good job BW in deciding to ruin your game faster and harder than anyone could have expected.

 

I dont get why 1.2 would be the new NGE. Ive honestly noticed few difference.( started playing yesterday for the first time after 1.1)

[discosoc]

I dont get why 1.2 would be the new NGE. Ive honestly noticed few difference.( started playing yesterday for the first time after 1.1)

 

It's not, he's just complaining. The only problem with 1.2 is that it just polished up the game a bit closer to how it should have been launched in the first place, rather than fix pop and LFG issues.

[boobaffet]

It's not, he's just complaining. The only problem with 1.2 is that it just polished up the game a bit closer to how it should have been launched in the first place, rather than fix pop and LFG issues.

 

And thats good for me since i didnt play a lot ( not even 50 yet). I might start playing for real once they merge thos ****n server.

[Zepath]

Do not see any problem with that. Only MMO I know that does it free is Rift.

 

First, that statement is incorrect ... all MMOs have allowed free transfers since WoW did it when a server is dying and they need to move the people elsewhere and shut it down. They charge when its for no other reason than, oh, my buddy started playing, or ... I've pissed so many people off here, I need to move.

 

Its the fact that they REFUSE to allow cross-server FPs or WZs that will make me scream BULLS*&T if they try and charge me for transfering my character.

 

Second ... from day one, the majority of us have simply asked they implement cross-server FPs and WZs ... that would deal with 80% of the problems most people have with the server populations. 4 hours waiting for an FP to pop IS NOT ACCEPTABLE .... 2 HOURS waiting for a WZ to pople IS NOT ACCEPTABLE>

 

And fortunately for me, they may have drug their feet too long. For the the last two months I've been begging my son and my guild mates to jump to another game ... to trying something new ... and they kept wanting to wait. Now they are starting to talk about games out there they haven't tried yet, and the games coming out soon.

 

I loved this game, until BioWare made it clear they don't ... and they certainly don't give a crap about my son, my guild, or me.

Edited May 12, 2012 by Zepath

[boobaffet]

First, that statement is incorrect ... all MMOs have allowed free transfers since WoW did it when a server is dying and they need to move the people elsewhere and shut it down. They charge when its for no other reason than, oh, my buddy started playing, or ... I've pissed so many people off here, I need to move.

 

Its the fact that they REFUSE to allow cross-server FPs or WZs that will make me scream BULLS*&T if they try and charge me for transfering my character.

 

From day one, the majority of us have simply asked they implement cross-server FPs and WZs ... that would deal with 80% of the problems most people have with the server populations. 4 hours waiting for an FP to pop IS NOT ACCEPTABLE .... 2 HOURS waiting for a WZ to pople IS NOT ACCEPTABLE>

 

And fortunately for me, they may have drug their feet too long. For the the last two months I've been begging my son and my guild mates to jump to another game ... to trying something new ... and they kept wanting to wait. Now they are starting to talk about games out there they haven't tried yet, and the games coming out soon.

 

I loved this game, until BioWare made it clear they don't ... and they certainly don't give a crap about my son, my guild, or me.

 

EA doesnt give a crap about your son, son.

[Zepath]

This is Warhammer all over again. They end up with 4 servers if they dont get their act together.

 

And you know what's funny about it (to me) ... Neither BioWare or EA give a crap. Its just so amazing to me, there is sooo much money floating around here, that they've already made back their money, they are making $15-20M a month ... and they are willing to let it go.

 

I guess there is always that next game we will pay the $100+ for the CE, then pay em $15 for 6-8 months (so another $100M) till we see the writing on the wall and quit .... and we'll do that over and over and over and over and over .... who is really the morons here?

Edited May 12, 2012 by Zepath