FREE Character Transfers are Coming!

[HeavensAgent]

Given the way people reacted when ranked WZs were pulled out of 1.2, I'd be shocked if they ever provide a date for any feature again.

It does demonstrate why companies in this industry hesitate to even offer approximations.

[DawnAskham]

Why are there gamers out there that talk about how much this game cost to make? You're a gamer, not an investor ... why in the hell are you so worried about it?

 

Why are there gamers out there that talk about the investing company not making a profit this year? You're gamers, not stock market brokers or investors, so why in the hell are you worried about it?

 

When this game launched, these boards were filled with posts demanding servers be added due to server log-in queues. They added more servers. Now, the newness has worn off and servers are declining in population. This is normal activity in MMO's today. Why are so many people acting like this is some kind of global tragedy that's never happened before?

 

The Devs release a statement stating server transfers are coming soon, yet many are saying it's too little, too late. Too little, too late for what? If you're not happy with the game, why are you still playing it? If you're not happy with your server population, why don't you re-roll? Are you so attached to a pixel character that you have separation anxiety?

 

 

Gamers aren't gamers these days ... they're mostly over opinionated wind-bags with a keyboard. You should be ashamed of yourselves. It's a game ... play it to have fun or move on to the next entertainment venue.

 

I'll bite.

 

First, people care about the profitability of the game as it has a large impact on the future of updates and expansions - games that lose money don't add content (and may even be closed) while games that make money add content. People invest a lot of time in MMOs, and don't want to feel like they are investing time in a game with no future.

 

Second, you yourself pointed out that having populations and activity drop after the initial launch is normal and to be expected. So if every player knows this happens, why didn't Bioware foresee this issue and have a plan in place to deal with it at launch?

 

Finally, why do you feel it ok to call people out for not re-rolling, yet don't feel it is ok to call out Bioware for not having anything in place to deal with population issues today?

 

None of which is to say your final comment doesn't have merit, in fact it is the only one that does. At the end of the day the game is what it is, warts and all. If people don't like it, they should refuse to pay for it, though I feel they have every right to express why they don't like it without others calling them names.

 

I personally re-rolled months ago and still mostly enjoy the game while believing EA / Bioware are still willing to invest in the future. Even so, I may let my sub lapse when my time expires if at that point I'm no longer enjoying the game.

Edited April 30, 2012 by DawnAskham

[Amalice]

Guess I will be back when this happens... Have fun everyone =)

[amantheil]

I'm going to play GW2 also, and Tera, and Mists of Pandoria, and anything else that hits the gaming market. Why? Because I think it's foolish for a true "gamer" to limit themselves to just one title. I play them all! If they're fun, I continue playing. If I'm not having fun, I try something else.

 

I am enjoying SWTOR. It's a fun game. But to limit myself to one game doesn't make the game of my choice superior, it makes me narrow minded when it comes to gaming choices.

 

Well said. I can't wait to get my grubbly little hands on Diablo III, but I have no plans to leave SWTOR. Yeah, I won't be around on SWTOR as much for a while, but a break and an occasional change of pace is a good thing.

[HeavensAgent]

Second, you yourself pointed out that having populations and activity drop after the initial launch is normal and to be expected. So if every player knows this happens, why didn't Bioware foresee this issue and have a plan in place to deal with it?

They did, but the systems currently in place in other games, and in SWTOR at launch, do not account for mechanics like the Legacy System. The extra data involved rendered the existing systems incapable of performing the task. When this was realized, the developers set out to define a way to transfer characters that wouldn't negatively impact character information.

[HeavensAgent]

I'm going to play GW2 also, and Tera, and Mists of Pandoria, and anything else that hits the gaming market. Why? Because I think it's foolish for a true "gamer" to limit themselves to just one title. I play them all! If they're fun, I continue playing. If I'm not having fun, I try something else.

 

I am enjoying SWTOR. It's a fun game. But to limit myself to one game doesn't make the game of my choice superior, it makes me narrow minded when it comes to gaming choices.

I'm jealous. I've got too many things going on to really play more than one title at a time.

[Phantomlimbs]

Summer? Sorry my account will be prolly cancelled by then. Too late indeed.

 

^this

 

Really should have done at least paid transfers already. Now they get hit two-fold: loss of sales for xfers and loss of customers due to lack of xfers.

[Alkiii]

I'll bite.

 

First, people care about the profitability of the game as it has a large impact on the future of updates and expansions - games that lose money don't add content (and may even be closed) while games that make money add content. People invest a lot of time in their MMOs, and don't want to feel like they are investing time in a game with no future.

 

I never cared about Zelda not getting an update, nor did I care about the profit margin of that game. I enjoyed the game because it was fun.

 

I never cared about Rift getting an expansion, nor did I care about the profit margin of that game. I enjoyed the game because it was fun.

 

Too many of you worry about things that mean absolutely nothing to gaming. Is your investment in a video game worth that much to you? Is it so much of an investment that you feel that you have actually lost something because the future doesn't hold what you think it will?

 

Hell, I still play Ultima Online from time to time. I think if I worried about what people like you said, I would have quit 10 years ago. But no, I play the game because it's fun. That's the point in gaming ... personal entertainment. Again, if you're so unhappy, why are you still here?

 

Second, you yourself pointed out that having populations and activity drop after the initial launch is normal and to be expected. So if every player knows this happens, why didn't Bioware foresee this issue and have a plan in place to deal with it?

 

They do. It's called server transfers and it was announced to launch sometime in the near future. What, do you think they're supposed to read these forums and say, "guys, they say servers are dead, ACT NOW ... GO GO GO GO, SERVER TRANSFERS GO! NOW!" ????

 

Sorry, but corporations don't make knee-jerk reactions unless it's 100% completely justified. Up till now, it hasn't been 100% justified.

 

SWTOR is getting a bit old for me too, but I'm still having fun with it. I'm looking forward to D3, GW2, Tera and MoP ... the last thing you'll see me do is go to forums and bash a game that I'm not having fun playing just to prop up another.

 

Games are games ... play them or don't. No need to whine about it on the forums.

[Alkiii]

I'm jealous. I've got too many things going on to really play more than one title at a time.

 

I have kids, I have grand-kids, I have a career, I have a wife, I have a softball league I play for, I have all kinds of things going on. I still have time to enjoy some gaming also. Why limit myself to just one title? Why would any real gamer limit themselves to just one title?

 

Play them all! These are great times to be a gamer. Why hate on the ones you're not playing? What is it going to prove and/or what do you stand to gain from it? Nothing.

 

Play or don't play ... simple logic really. No need to cry on forums about it.

[RTCBrad]

Honestly I wanted this game to do well I really did, I loved kotor 1 and 2 and I love the time period it's set in.

 

Sadly it just isn't performing, sure there are apparently 1.7million subs, that's a hard nut to swallow considering the only real active servers are Fatman (NA) and ToFN (EU).

 

As I've said my server is dead, totally dead. Which sucks because I like the game, it needs tweaks for sure but it's barely 6months old I expect that. What I don't expect and can't deal with much longer is the fact my server is totally dead for me this game isn't an MMO right now, it's a single player rpg without the usual awesome things in a good single player rpg.

 

It shouldn't take this long to fix, this problem has been a long time coming I could see this was happening months ago almost immediately after launch when they "raised" server caps this was certain to happen. They have had plenty of warning and so far have done nothing and given us nothing, they have taken our £9/$15 a month without any regard for how we may or may not enjoy the game.

 

Even free character transfers, sure it will help a few people but do you really think anyone is transferring to a high pop server? No way. They will be transferring people to a wide range of low pop servers, it still won't fix the problem. There are way too many servers and quite evidently not enough players to fill them no matter how much you shuffle people around that won't change, it really doesn't take a rocket scientist to see that.

 

In spite of that Bioware still has not announced any plans for actual server merges i.e. taking people from all the "light servers" and putting them on 1 or 2 servers. Why? They would rather save face than risk openly admitting they have quite a severe population issue.

 

Hopefully the transfers will help enough (if and when they ever come) to keep me and others playing until server merges happen. If the population issue isn't fixed I'm fairly certain those light servers will soon become empty servers. And with GW2 on the horizon if the problem persists I certainly see no reason to stay and I know for a fact I'm not alone in that opinion.

[Matte_Black]

Free and paid for.

 

Does this mean free is from high to low pop servers, and paid for is going the other way? I hope not, and really can't understand why they don't just merge some servers. Surely character transfers will just exacerbate the problem on the low pop servers.

 

I am hoping this means the most and least populated servers will be allowed to transfer to the moderately populated ones for free. They certainly don't need everyone crowding onto the top 10 servers and Ideally they will vacate the worst of them for closure so you'd want to prevent people from transferring onto the desolate servers. I like the method they have chosen over server mergers because it allows the players some flexibility of what choice they want to move to.

[kiddynomite]

They need to make sure that transfers stay free for the remaining players because the population on each server will be deminishing at record speeds!

This games poorly run,buggy as all hell, graphics are weak, pvps a joke, craftings a joke and worst of all ITS A MASSIVE GRINDFEST.

LOL it takes 20 mins just to get from your ship to a planet because of all the zoning screens you have to go thru and the massive waste of time with the horrible cant spacebar thru it fast enough jibber jabber voice acting for every single npc in a hardmode flashpoint is torture.

In 6-8 months there will be maybe 12 servers left with minimal population on it.

[Aurrek]

I posted this in server stats too:

Fun for me is playing my main in pvp. To sum up my mornings I sit in q for hours. like this morning 3 hours and only a handful of 50's on, so of course no warzones. by mid day i get pops here and there but still too infrequent. by evenings(primetime) they start to be more regular but can still have 15min to 45 min waits. I have no desire to reroll even though I have a handufll of alts. it shouldnt be an issue but it is and a big issue with me. my sub is pretty much me paying for sitting in fleet twiddling my thumbs or afk with my speakers maxed so i can here the warzone pop.

[Algaaa]

They need to make sure that transfers stay free for the remaining players because the population on each server will be deminishing at record speeds!

.

 

they cant make it for free because most ppl will move to full servers. the best way they can do it its just queue everyone who want to move to special servers and others empty shut them down. but they want to earn money from ppl because they see now situation is critical and this is chance to get more money from players.

[Vlaxitov]

I'm going to play GW2 also, and Tera, and Mists of Pandoria, and anything else that hits the gaming market. Why? Because I think it's foolish for a true "gamer" to limit themselves to just one title.

 

I'm done buying every game that hits the market as you said here because you end up spending a whole lotta dough on a whole lotta suck. It also ends up supporting people who need not be making games. I'm not going to continue tithing to these so called game developers for a lottery chance that they make a quality game.

 

if a "true gamer" has to buy every title that ever releases like you suggest, then any "true music fan" has to buy William Hung's next release.

[DawnAskham]

 

They do. It's called server transfers and it was announced to launch sometime in the near future. What, do you think they're supposed to read these forums and say, "guys, they say servers are dead, ACT NOW ... GO GO GO GO, SERVER TRANSFERS GO! NOW!" ????

 

Sorry, but corporations don't make knee-jerk reactions unless it's 100% completely justified. Up till now, it hasn't been 100% justified.

 

SWTOR is getting a bit old for me too, but I'm still having fun with it. I'm looking forward to D3, GW2, Tera and MoP ... the last thing you'll see me do is go to forums and bash a game that I'm not having fun playing just to prop up another.

 

Games are games ... play them or don't. No need to whine about it on the forums.

 

I don't expect a solution to be created overnight. I do expect a game from a major developer with a major budget to have foreseen the need for transfers before they even launched, and to already have solutions in place.

 

The fact they did not foresee the issue or elected to not put solutions in place tells me and others that the folks running this game are either ignorant or were not given the resources needed to put solutions in place to provide the best service for the player base. Neither of which helps build loyalty and confidence.

 

There is nothing wrong or contradictory in pointing out where the game and its developers are lacking or providing disappointment while still finding enough good with the game to keep playing. I've never bought something that I felt was perfect and could not be improved in at least some small way.

 

I'd say people pointing out the various flaws or misses provides useful information to the development team to help improve the game as well as information to future MMO developers to provide better games. It certainly provides something more useful than comments simply agreeing with and supporting everything as is.

 

I agree that if the game has more negatives than positives for someone they should quit. Though I'd still suggest they leave feedback on what they did and did not like (both are important).

 

Only through player feedback will this game and future games improve.

Edited April 30, 2012 by DawnAskham

[HeavensAgent]

I have kids, I have grand-kids, I have a career, I have a wife, I have a softball league I play for, I have all kinds of things going on. I still have time to enjoy some gaming also. Why limit myself to just one title? Why would any real gamer limit themselves to just one title?

 

Play them all! These are great times to be a gamer. Why hate on the ones you're not playing? What is it going to prove and/or what do you stand to gain from it? Nothing.

 

Play or don't play ... simple logic really. No need to cry on forums about it.

Oh don't get me wrong. I may only play one game, and as such attempt to identify the title best suited for me, but I've got no issue with other titles. Each has their own merits, and I try not to "hate" on any of them. SWTOR's the best game for me at the moment, but it wasn't always the case, nor does it hold true for everyone.

 

No idea how you do it. I'm just focused on grad school at the moment, which does a pretty good job of sapping my free time.

[HeavensAgent]

Sadly it just isn't performing, sure there are apparently 1.7million subs, that's a hard nut to swallow considering the only real active servers are Fatman (NA) and ToFN (EU).

Here's the problem with your perception right here. There are many other servers with active server communities. Even on the basis of Fleet population alone, I'm talking about servers that push to 200 at peak hours. Population on individual planets fluctuating between 15-45, unless there's an organized event or activity taking place.

 

The Fatman and ToFN are far from the only active game servers.

[Algaaa]

I'm done buying every game that hits the market as you said here because you end up spending a whole lotta dough on a whole lotta suck. It also ends up supporting people who need not be making games. I'm not going to continue tithing to these so called game developers for a lottery chance that they make a quality game.

 

if a "true gamer" has to buy every title that ever releases like you suggest, then any "true music fan" has to buy William Hung's next release.

 

Ye you can stay here but now TOR is in big changes and nobody knows how going to be in the future. The most stabel MMO atm is wow but also who know how is going to be there. If you dont try the game you wont find your taste but to play at empty server im not happy too. So the best way is to wait for good changes in TOR back to wow or try other big hits like GW or d3. i been on beta D3 im fan of this game and i made my decission...

[Sporin]

Here's the problem with your perception right here. There are many other servers with active server communities. Even on the basis of Fleet population alone, I'm talking about servers that push to 200 at peak hours. Population on individual planets fluctuating between 15-45, unless there's an organized event or activity taking place.

 

The Fatman and ToFN are far from the only active game servers.

 

 

You have chars on all the servers?

[HeavensAgent]

I don't expect a solution to be created overnight. I do expect a game from a major developer with a major budget to have foreseen the need for transfers before they even launched, and to already have solutions in place.

 

The fact they did not foresee the issue or elected to not put solutions in place tells me and others that the folks running this game are either ignorant or were not given the resources needed to put solutions in place to provide the best service for the player base. Neither of which helps build loyalty and confidence.

Ah, but they did foresee such a need, and had an industry standard-fix in place to address it.

[Ghaiana]

I have kids, I have grand-kids, I have a career, I have a wife, I have a softball league I play for, I have all kinds of things going on. I still have time to enjoy some gaming also. Why limit myself to just one title? Why would any real gamer limit themselves to just one title?

 

Play them all! These are great times to be a gamer. Why hate on the ones you're not playing? What is it going to prove and/or what do you stand to gain from it? Nothing.

 

Play or don't play ... simple logic really. No need to cry on forums about it.

I can understand where people come from, that can only play one game at the time, I can also see why people play almost any game that hits the market. They are just different kinds of gamers.

[HeavensAgent]

You have chars on all the servers?

A fair few, yes. I have my own personal play style, and have a couple of characters on servers where that style is strong. I view these as my mains. I maintain characters on other server for game documentation: General wiki work, as well as community events and happenings.

[Algaaa]

HeavensAgent i sow you in many posts here and i see you really love SWTOR. You are lucky you in high populated server and you dont have problems now you try to calm down other ppl whos screaming for help or already made decision and left game. Ye you doing well but ppl is so angry now they in panic.

[Helistin]

Ah, but they did foresee such a need, and had an industry standard-fix in place to address it.

 

So the industry standard now is to keep people like me on dead servers for 3 months now and counting, where the remaining population is divided by two every month that passes by?

I can't understand why you feel the need to jump in to defend Bw even though they clearly made a mistake with the amount of servers they opened and didn't have any means to balance population in between them. This combined with no cross warzones/flashpoints and it's a disaster on low populated servers and it keeps on going.