Daniel Erickson reveals plan to merge into super-servers!

[Gungan]

And Apple is planning to release an iToilet in Japan. Lets see which happens first.

[Urael]

Last time I checked Daniel said that SWTOR is NOT loosing subs.

 

I don't care what he says - it's all PR babble, he has ZERO credibility in my eyes.

 

QFT!

 

I have to agree with you.

[Pedra]

Soon!

 

Sapience blows chunks.

Edited May 24, 2012 by Pedra

[rbkrbk]

That would be cool, something akin to DCUO or Eve.

 

Yes, however, while it will be similar to DCUO, I doubt it will be exactly the same. DCUO runs on the Unreal engine. SWTOR runs on the Hero engine (or rather, Bioware's version of it). DCUO was able to make one giant megaserver that just added additional phases as necessary. The task is daunting on the Unreal engine, to say the least. On the Hero engine, it is much more difficult to implement something like this. I won't go into all the reasons, just read up a bit on both.

 

What I'm saying is, even if it won't be like the DCUO system, it is still a MASSIVE undertaking, and we should not expect this feature at least until closer to the end of the year. If they try and go the DCUO route, it will take even longer.

[Kabaal]

I'll believe it when i see it.

[ISTrick]

This is a great solution. It's better than I would have hoped.

 

+1 :cool:

[rbkrbk]

Everyone on Fleet shares the same general chat. It's bad enough with 250 people on the fleet and general chat is just scrolling faster than you can read it. Also, if there was world PvP, people don't want to be split up away from the fight. You must cap it at a reasonable population. They capped it way too low and opened far too many servers. Someone was boneheaded at BioWare. I hope that person was let go with the rest.

 

It wasn't a decision simply based on arbitrary numbers. The developers in charge on the population restriction didn't jsut wake up one morning and said "Hey, this is a good number to restrict phases to!". No. The reason is in fact because of the inherent problem with the Hero engine (especially considering that Bioware made "their own version"). The Hero engine CANNOT support as much of the physics (i.e. the actions and animations) of the game as the Unreal Engine. That is why on Ilum, in those "massive" 50vs50 fights (or heck, even the 25 vs 25), unless you had an above average or exceptional machine, you would just get a ton of lag. The Unreal engine would be able to cope with this.

 

Part of the reason is single-vs-multi-thread rendering, but that's not all, there are a number of reasons why Bioware has to put these limitations into place on worlds, but it all comes back to the fundamental inferiority of the Hero engine.

 

Just to be clear, I'm not disagreeing with you. The restrictions and limitations were bad design. But the bad choice was not the number of players they allowed in a specific place (if fact, those numbers were probably the most efficient they could make it), but rather, the engine they decide to build the game with.

[Torvasha]

This wasn't a 'plan' - it was a statement. A plan would inolve some course of action with defineable points along the way. Something that one would hope they would put out to the people to get feedback on before they go and implement it.

 

IMO the character transfer/server-merge plan is the last/best hope for this game. If Bioware/EA botches it - it will be the final nail in the coffin that has become SWTOR. The only way not to botch it is to have the community accept it - and i know that there will be arguements regardless - but if the basic plan sucks - the game will die.

[Hutt]

Based on torstatus.net.... The super server is happening even without intervention with pvp servers. Swiftsure the number 2 pvp server is in the beginnings of its slide as fatman is levelling off. Comparing it to economic models, you can determine "uh oh"

 

I've been playing Anchorhead in false hope...? Tonight ill be rerolling, I'm just not going to wait. This game is fun, with a community, not fun at all without, especially with a subscription.

[ItsMattsFault]

Some people will NEVER be satisfied.

 

Don't be that guy.

 

He, and almost everyone who complains, has every reason to. Being ignored completely by BW, then given vague stuff like this, while BW keeps ignoring problems.

 

Maybe we should all be like you and roll over, be happy with a sub-par game and never try and get the things changed that need to be.

[otherworlder]

I feel bad for all of the optimists in here who still think this game is going to magically turn around. I really liked this game.... I really would love to play a finished version of it, some day. But you simply cannot trust anything BW or EA tells you at this point.

 

Every scrap of info comes with "Soon ". The mouthpieces giving interviews use underhanded PR tactics like screenshots of a server selection page with nothing but Heavy servers showing, while over a hundred servers languish at Light.

 

Deceiving their own shareholders by using free months to greatly pad their real active subscription numbers. Frequently stating that subs have not declined, or that the game is meeting expectations.

 

Awesome features like rated warzones and tons of new crafting schematics are touted in trailers and promised by devs, then yanked in the 11th hour (rated WZs) or pulled with NO explanation whatsoever (1.2 armormech and synth crafting schems--NOT augments, but the new armor models promised).

 

This game is in a perilous slide folks. Just because one server has a huge pop (Fatman) does not mean the game is healthy or that tested, quality content will continue being released for the soon to be 200k people playing. This is exactly what happened in the end with SWG and Starsider, with Warhammer and Dark Crag... it is not a good sign.

 

Add to that the fact that EA is notorious for corporate suits deciding what we gamers want (wrongly), then rushing out games too early to get big holiday revenue, and promptly shunting them into maintenance mode when they inevitably fail as a result. If you think EA is still behind TOR or has any illusions about it regaining a healthy footing, you need to look at their track record.

 

They do not gamble on the underdog. They knock the last few quivering legs out and let it lie there whimpering until it passes, milking it for whatever it may still be worth.

 

This is assuming LA doesn't get disgusted again like they did with SWG and pull their IP. Ironic really... the only people playing SWG in the end were Star Wars Fanboys who loved to pvp or roleplay in that setting. That's pretty much all that's left here, too. LA must be livid, even as they cash their checks.

Edited May 24, 2012 by otherworlder

[Elboc]

Super servers sound great, I hope that really means what it sounds like it does. I always liked the idea in eve where everyone was together. Obviously not possible here but the closer the better.

[curzen]

when?

[DarthTHC]

when?

 

SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN!

[Astralll]

We already have instances for world maps so is it not a server cluster and load balancing issue? Personally I support Mega Servers as long as we can have populations of 7k-10k per server. At 1.7 million people that would be amazing.

[xandax]

when?

 

The crux of the matter.

 

Soon might be too late if it is a 'Bioware' Soon

[NasherUK]

Larger servers should have been in from the beginning. They were far to cautious with population caps at launch for fear of unplayable lag like we get at just about every other MMO launch :/

 

One thing they would need to do though with that many players is spread the population out. By making some of the planets as viable as a social area as the fleets.

Edited May 24, 2012 by NasherUK

[Nippon]

It's hard to believe there's much benefit in expanding to "super servers" in order to increase the maximum population of a server when the game's population as a whole is spread so thin.

 

How many "regular" servers could the community fit into?

 

 

Well look at some numbers EVE online boasts 200k+ subs and all play on 1 server...

 

SWTOR boasts 1.3 million subs as of May. Realistically thats 400-500k actual playing accounts.

 

So IMHO then need maybe 5 Super servers max....Not the 260 small ones they have now.

[dcgregorya]

I remember back in the day when there were 100+ people on fleet. I remember the game didn't like it too much.

 

Putting that much population on one server with this game almost seems like a Significant Technical Achievement. I thought BW couldn't do that sort of thing.

 

You'll still only have 100 people on fleets. The game's concept of a "server" is just logical not physical. A "server" is actually a group of servers and every planet/area is instanced to a population cap. If there's 500 people on Ilum there will be 5 instances of 100 people each.

 

It's not and will never be like Eve - Eve's gameplay is drastically simplified to allow it to work the way it does.

Edited May 24, 2012 by dcgregorya

[mjwalsh]

If they did this how would they handle duplicate user names and guild names? I'm scared about that one lol if I have to change either I'll be super pissed.

[Helistin]

If they did this how would they handle duplicate user names and guild names? I'm scared about that one lol if I have to change either I'll be super pissed.

 

Yeah, it's more important to hold on to the name jarjar or some other super original name on a dead server.

[RachelAnne]

Well unless they allow multiple chars with the same name, thats a horible solution. Tons of players would lose their char names, legacy name... if they merge them all into 1 or 2 servers.

 

After all its not my fault that unexperienced players went to empty servers on release. My server is healthy and fine, no need to change a running system. I definately wont give up my legacy and char names.

 

When they did that at Warhammer I canceled my account - same will happen if it happens here.

Edited May 24, 2012 by RachelAnne

[Evironrage]

Uh, 250k playerbase which is Rift or 1.3mil playerbase(supposed) which is ToR. Even if we lost another 300k, still doing better then the joke called Rift

 

GIve SWTOR another several months and then come back and let's revisit your statement. RIFT at one pt had 1.5million subbers.

To the thread though...It is a good/great idea if it gets done in the next 3months. If not it will be done out of necessity to keep what few folks are left.

Edited May 24, 2012 by Evironrage

[Hutt]

If they did this how would they handle duplicate user names and guild names? I'm scared about that one lol if I have to change either I'll be super pissed.

 

This is an inevitability. We will all have to move on from it. That doesn't make it stink less, but names will have to be changed.

[DarthTHC]

Well unless they allow multiple chars with the same name, thats a horible solution. Tons of players would lose their char names, legacy name... if they merge them all into 1 or 2 servers.

 

After all its not my fault that unexperienced players went to empty servers on release. My server is healthy and fine, no need to change a running system. I definately wont give up my legacy and char names.

 

When they did that at Warhammer I canceled my account - same will happen if it happens here.

 

While we're glad you got lucky and your server's population did not drop significantly, please do not assume that everyone who is complaining of dead servers chose a dead or light server when they signed up.

 

There were several days that all or almost all servers were listed as FULL and had queues. The vast majority of those servers are now barren wastelands.

 

Please figure this out.