Jump to content

The way server transfers need to happen


LeonBraun

Recommended Posts

For a 6 month(ish) old game, for the most part there is enough content, and most of it is working decently enough for the time being. Currently the single biggest issue in the game is that the community is spread too thin across too many servers.

 

This needs to be fixed swiftly, and it needs to be fixed decisively. But how can this be done? Here is the answer:

 

Normal Servers

 

Transfer to Normal servers (From Heavy+/Light): Free

Transfer from Normal servers (Including to other Normal servers): Paid

 

Normal servers are the single most important demographic server types that need to focused on in terms of creating an ongoing healthy community. Normal servers are where the game needs to start to improve, moving them to heavier/healthier status.

 

Any moves to Normal servers need to be free, with the exception of transferring from one normal server to another, as these servers need to continue to grow and develop community and transfers off them should be discouraged.

 

Light Servers

 

Transfer from Light servers to Normal servers: Free

Transfer from Light servers to Heavy+ servers: Paid

Transfer to light servers from any other server: Paid

 

As the game works to build community, it should be encouraged for those on light servers to transfer to Normal healthier servers with the objective of moving them towards heavy+ and a healthy status for all who play the game.

 

While there are certainly reasons to transfer to Light servers, for name purposes or queing or server first purposes, this should not be encouraged as it only works to divide the gaming community, and thus should be a paid only service.

 

Transfers to Heavy servers should also be a paid service, as Heavy+ servers already enjoy a healthy community population and they should be encouraged instead to choose a normal server in an effort to make that normal server more healthy.

 

Heavy Servers

 

Transfer to Normal server: Free

Transfer to another heavy server: Paid

Transfer to a Light server: Paid

 

As Heavy+ servers already enjoy a healthy gaming population, any who wish to choose a server without a queue time should be encouraged to move to a Normal server in an effort to move any given normal server also to a Heavy+ and healthy server status.

 

Transfers again to Light servers, while they still need to be available, should not be encouraged as it only works to continue to divide the gaming community across too many servers.

 

Notes

 

Now if these methods of transfers are made available, there will also be no need for server mergers, if transfers off Lightly populated servers are always available for free.

 

As long as transfers off light servers continue to be offered for free, then EA/BioWare don’t need to worry themselves about the poor optics (with the respect of onlookers) of closing or merging dead servers, so long as they don’t care about the maintenance costs required to upkeep these servers.

 

Avoiding server mergers also saves them from having to force players to choose new character names. Giving the player the choice, leaves the ball in the court of the player to choose a normal server where their desired toon name has not been taken.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This is cute but let me tel you how it will happen. EA is wanting to focus more on microtransactions. Paid transfers are the first step in this process.

 

Fatman to all other servers: free

All other servers to fatman: Paid

Link to comment
Share on other sites

So far as iv read transfers are free, some time early summer?

 

If you think you can free transfer to the busiest server in the list ( this is what id like to do).... get your head out the clouds, I just cant see that being allowed.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Server transfers are already planned, as was said, for early summer. The availability/method of providing transfers will likely resemble what you have described here fairly closely; I have a feeling you've experienced population-based transfer services before.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

You cant assume this will alleviate server merges. If the population is 5000, and 4000 people decide they want to ship off elsewhere, leaving those 1000 to fend for themselves, that server will not last long.

 

Now, if they institute server merges, with the ability to transfer to a lower population server after that merge, then that is fine.

EQ2 consolidated some servers, although they did not allow for free transfers if you did not like that server.

 

I dont care if they charge or not; I want character transfers instituted!!!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

You cant assume this will alleviate server merges. If the population is 5000, and 4000 people decide they want to ship off elsewhere, leaving those 1000 to fend for themselves, that server will not last long.
This problem would be eliminated, though, if transfers from low-population servers remained available indefinitely, as is stated within the original post.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

the issue is that you have to account that a percentage stopped playing already, a percentage of the active players are casual soloers who really dont care if there is 50 or 5000 players... So now resources are wasted keeping a server live for a small number of people. It is inevitable, with our without transfers, that there will be mergers.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

the issue is that you have to account that a percentage stopped playing already, a percentage of the active players are casual soloers who really dont care if there is 50 or 5000 players... So now resources are wasted keeping a server live for a small number of people. It is inevitable, with our without transfers, that there will be mergers.
Note that I never claimed otherwise ...
Link to comment
Share on other sites

This is cute but let me tel you how it will happen. EA is wanting to focus more on microtransactions. Paid transfers are the first step in this process.

 

Fatman to all other servers: free

All other servers to fatman: Paid

 

It doesn't make good business sense to start focusing on other exterior micro transactions while your main game base is dying. Take care of the population density on the servers first to make them healthy, then worry about the other trivial stuff.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This problem would be eliminated, though, if transfers from low-population servers remained available indefinitely, as is stated within the original post.

 

It would... And while it also does not make good business sense to keep dead servers going, it does help them avoid the bad optics of closing or merging dead servers.

 

Perhaps if the population becomes healthy again via the transfer system, the dead server issue will start to take care of itself as more players come back.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

So far as iv read transfers are free, some time early summer?

 

If you think you can free transfer to the busiest server in the list ( this is what id like to do).... get your head out the clouds, I just cant see that being allowed.

 

It should be the goal of everyone not just to have 4 or 5 healthy servers, but to have a great deal more than that.

 

With the current population they could have 30 or 40 healthy servers.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Transfer from Normal servers (Including to other Normal servers): Paid

 

Great way to send a message to customers who still pay the subs ... :eek: A subscription based game shall not charge for any server transfers. Rift has done it right, transfers are free, but have one week CD. SWTOR could improve on this model with adding free server transfers on CD (one week) and also paid transfers without any CD.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Great way to send a message to customers who still pay the subs ... :eek: A subscription based game shall not charge for any server transfers. Rift has done it right, transfers are free, but have one week CD. SWTOR could improve on this model with adding free server transfers on CD (one week) and also paid transfers without any CD.
Bad idea for many, many reasons.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Great way to send a message to customers who still pay the subs ... :eek: A subscription based game shall not charge for any server transfers. Rift has done it right, transfers are free, but have one week CD. SWTOR could improve on this model with adding free server transfers on CD (one week) and also paid transfers without any CD.

 

No... This is wrong.

 

Server transfers have to be moderated or it will be a chaotic free for all where everyone would transfer to the top 5 servers, and this can't happen.

 

As supporters of the game, we should all want MANY healthy servers, and as such good communities need to be promoted.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Rift got it right - and it certainly was not chaotic - in fact it worked brilliantly

 

All transfers free - allowed once a week

 

Could not transfer to "full" servers - unless: you already had a max level character on that server

Link to comment
Share on other sites

×
×
  • Create New...