evildestroyer Posted May 18, 2012 Share Posted May 18, 2012 Actually, despite being buggy as hell and having huge problems in ORvR, it took Warhammer longer to get to this stage. I know i played it for a full year before quitting for another game, then got bored with said game and returned for another 6 months. I had a blast in Warhammer, despite all the flaws, mainly because as soon as servers started to bleed they didn't waste time "merging" servers (aka closing low pop servers and transfering pop to more populated ones). From 1.2 mil players from launch month (september) it went down to 300k by late December much faster drop than SWTOR. But you are right they did merge servers faster though. What issues is D3 having, some of my officers and guild members (other mmo) are playing it and I've heard zero grumblings about D3 on our guild vent. So what are these issues. D3 had launch day problems, it was unplayable most of the day. Not many problems i encountered now, though the AH does not work right during peak times. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Photoshop Posted May 18, 2012 Share Posted May 18, 2012 Isn't right now early summer? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frostvein Posted May 18, 2012 Share Posted May 18, 2012 Isn't right now early summer? Summer does not officially begin till June 21st. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarthTHC Posted May 18, 2012 Share Posted May 18, 2012 (edited) Wow. I just looked at this chart and my heart sank. The number of servers reporting light population goes like / while those reporting standard or better is like \ I dig this game. I hope BioWare can do what it's going to take to keep it going and get it back to growing. (I know it's not reporting numbers that only BioWare has, but it is reporting valid information that clearly shows what is happening to the game's overall population.) Edited May 18, 2012 by DarthTHC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erictlewis Posted May 18, 2012 Share Posted May 18, 2012 Wow. I just looked at this chart and my heart sank. The number of servers reporting light population goes like / while those reporting standard or better is like \ I dig this game. I hope BioWare can do what it's going to take to keep it going and get it back to growing. (I know it's not reporting numbers that only BioWare has, but it is reporting valid information that clearly shows what is happening to the game's overall population.) Yes thats really bad looking, it keeps getting worse. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TarisKnight Posted May 18, 2012 Share Posted May 18, 2012 I am playing on the server "Flames of The Crucible": I was reserving Friday evening to do Heroics on Taris - no chance. 4 people on Taris (Imperial Side). By the way: why most of the players advocate transfers? Wouldn´t it be easier to just merge the servers? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rufcat Posted May 18, 2012 Share Posted May 18, 2012 By the way: why most of the players advocate transfers? Wouldn´t it be easier to just merge the servers? It's because BW has stated several times that they will not be doing merges. I do agree with you, though. Merges will make them look bad to their investors, sure, but the player base will be happier. This just shows you who Bioware/EA cares about, and let me tell you, it's not you. If I was running a business like BW and it was failing like SWToR, I would have done server merges first and looked bad for a few weeks, THEN started transfers when servers started overpopulating. I'd rather look bad in the short term than look bad in the long term when no one is buying my product. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xrayll Posted May 18, 2012 Share Posted May 18, 2012 Before: Player A on empty server A Player B on empty server B After: Player B on empty server A Player A on empty server B Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fanuvstarwars Posted May 18, 2012 Share Posted May 18, 2012 (edited) It's because BW has stated several times that they will not be doing merges. I do agree with you, though. Merges will make them look bad to their investors, sure, but the player base will be happier. What is worse? 1. Looking bad now doing a server merge, but retaining say 700 - 800k paying subs 2. Pretending its okay now, having tons of ghost towns, and retaining 400k paying subs since more leave do to 'lack of content' the game forces on them Maybe I'm wrong, but revenue would seem to be in the best interest of investors. Not the technical server count. Edited May 18, 2012 by fanuvstarwars one final thought Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobamech Posted May 18, 2012 Share Posted May 18, 2012 Bioware should have investigated into clustering population nodes together such that it doesn't really matter what server you were on. So for example, if Fatman had less people and Krayt Dragon had a lot of people, the server would load balance such that Krayt Dragon would be merged with Fatman without the end user ever knowing it happened. This could also work later in the evening such that you could potentially cluster light pop servers together so that it feels less barren. The concept of server names could be abstracted out or is more like a "group" you join such that you can always seem them visible. Unfortunately, I think a lot of companies are comfortable with the set architecture of working MMOs such that they don't want to innovate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andryah Posted May 18, 2012 Share Posted May 18, 2012 (edited) By the way: why most of the players advocate transfers? Wouldn´t it be easier to just merge the servers? Have you ever played Rift???? Best server transfer process to manage server populations EVER! Has worked for them for a year now. It's painless, automated, almost instantaneous, and gives the players a lot of control over where they want to play. When a server gets below a certain threshold, they issue a vacate notice for people to choose another server, and then they pull the server. Rinse and repeat as needed over time as populations shift. It really is the current industry best practice for managing server populations. It's better then WoWs approach, and is always free. AND, Bioware has specifically said they are going the transfer route, not merges. Edited May 18, 2012 by Andryah Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Photoshop Posted May 18, 2012 Share Posted May 18, 2012 What is worse? 1. Looking bad now doing a server merge, but retaining say 700 - 800k paying subs 2. Pretending its okay now, having tons of ghost towns, and retaining 400k paying subs since more leave do to 'lack of content' the game forces on them Maybe I'm wrong, but revenue would seem to be in the best interest of investors. Not the technical server count. Good point, they even have a transfer system in place because of the transfers to the Asia server. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andryah Posted May 18, 2012 Share Posted May 18, 2012 (edited) Good point, they even have a transfer system in place because of the transfers to the Asia server. Those transfers were largely done manually. The server transfer process coming is automated, and triggered by the subscriber. Edited May 18, 2012 by Andryah Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pureeffinmetal Posted May 18, 2012 Share Posted May 18, 2012 Have you ever played Rift???? Best server transfer process to manage server populations EVER! Has worked for them for a year now. It's painless, automated, almost instantaneous, and gives the players a lot of control over where they want to play. When a server gets below a certain threshold, they issue a vacate notice for people to choose another server, and then they pull the server. Rinse and repeat as needed over time as populations shift. It really is the current industry best practice for managing server populations. It's better then WoWs approach, and is always free. AND, Bioware has specifically said they are going the transfer route, not merges. Agreed. Rift's transfer system is brilliant and SWTOR would benefit from it. That being said SWTOR still has waaayyy to many servers. 120+ for US? You crazy? I realize they made so many because they couldnt support large populations at launch, but now the population is spread out. I still play the game and will continue to play. But I know more and more people will quit do a population issues. The longer this is put off the more people quit. I realize EA owns Bioware, but as a company whose games I've played for a decade, I know you guys can get this done. We need it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andryah Posted May 18, 2012 Share Posted May 18, 2012 (edited) That being said SWTOR still has waaayyy to many servers. 120+ for US? You crazy? I realize they made so many because they couldnt support large populations at launch, but now the population is spread out.. Agreed. They can do it the same way Rift does. Issue vacate notices on the worst servers, and after the notice period expires, close the servers to play (probably keep them as the database record of inactive characters that did not transfer by the deadline, so if/when they come back they are forced to move as soon as they log in). Best part is this can be done incrementally over the life of the game (like Trion as done for Rift) and keep grooming the servers into the right population ranges. They need to be careful not to mothball too many servers too fast though. All those D3 folks will be coming back soon since that game is pretty short life except for maybe some team PvP. Edited May 18, 2012 by Andryah Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lunarminx Posted May 18, 2012 Share Posted May 18, 2012 Vornskr has 24 people on fleet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Azumio Posted May 18, 2012 Share Posted May 18, 2012 Agreed. They can do it the same way Rift does. Issue vacate notices on the worst servers, and after the notice period expires, close the servers to play (probably keep them as the database record of inactive characters that did not transfer by the deadline, so if/when they come back they are forced to move as soon as they log in). Best part is this can be done incrementally over the life of the game (like Trion as done for Rift) and keep grooming the servers into the right population ranges. They need to be careful not to mothball too many servers too fast though. All those D3 folks will be coming back soon since that game is pretty short life except for maybe some team PvP. You hope their coming back, Andrea. I wouldn't count on it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kourage Posted May 18, 2012 Share Posted May 18, 2012 Vornskr has 24 people on fleet. Stop bragging. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taorus Posted May 18, 2012 Share Posted May 18, 2012 Jedi Covenant is a fine and healthy server. stop being lazy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DiLune Posted May 18, 2012 Share Posted May 18, 2012 I have wondered why they don't cluster servers together (battlegroups) and allow groups to form amongst them for everything. You could zone over to someone elses server while you were grouped and then back to your when its done. Your friends list could be populated by the battlegroup and you can all share a central GTN. Though server mergers would just be a lot less design intensive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FalanNess Posted May 18, 2012 Share Posted May 18, 2012 The Jekk Jekk Tarr here and I have to say that we need server mergers and fast. JJT was a mixed community of aussies/pacfic and since the transfers and patches are population has been cut in half and been degrading more and more. Its kinda sad as we once were a very heavily populated server. PvP ques are awful and finding anybody to do a heroic can be a pain. This isn't anybody's fault but fact remains that it was the transfers that kinda messed us over. I love this game and I love Star Wars but its getting sad the little amount of people on these days. Could I just reroll on a new server? Yes but I like my character...the entire point of the "story" and being "immersed" is forming attachments. My point..... /signed Please fix JJT. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DiLune Posted May 18, 2012 Share Posted May 18, 2012 The Jekk Jekk Tarr here and I have to say that we need server mergers and fast. JJT was a mixed community of aussies/pacfic and since the transfers and patches are population has been cut in half and been degrading more and more. Its kinda sad as we once were a very heavily populated server. PvP ques are awful and finding anybody to do a heroic can be a pain. This isn't anybody's fault but fact remains that it was the transfers that kinda messed us over. I love this game and I love Star Wars but its getting sad the little amount of people on these days. Could I just reroll on a new server? Yes but I like my character...the entire point of the "story" and being "immersed" is forming attachments. My point..... /signed Please fix JJT. I have a level 50 on two different servers and am not really that excited about making another on another server, working on my third legacy when I could have three 50's part of the same legacy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taorus Posted May 18, 2012 Share Posted May 18, 2012 One more reason why people should leave this game. <----Door is that way Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roalmo Posted May 18, 2012 Share Posted May 18, 2012 <----Door is that way Can't see it, there's a crowd in the way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FalanNess Posted May 18, 2012 Share Posted May 18, 2012 <----Door is that way Yeah don't worry plenty of people are aware of that and moving along.....at this rate if people keep "Heading towards the door" the game will be shut down as 100 million dollar failure. So instead of the door we might wanna try and keep the people we do have by getting us all back together so we can have fun Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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