Teefal Posted May 24, 2012 Share Posted May 24, 2012 (edited) TL;DR ... details on how they should roll out server transfers. Hi, I'm a software architect killing time in the forums while working on a system that's not unlike our server population quandary. For fun, here's one scenerio for how to roll out the server transfers in the US regions. This uses this thread for a general statistical basis. Bioware will of course have much better numbers. ASSUMPTION: My server, Jung Ma, is the desired goal. With 600 to 750 average concurrent users, it's never hard to find a group, there's always people nearby on the planets, but not too many, and there's an active, good community. Personally, I hope they don't allow transfers to Jung Ma in the initial batch. Given that it's currently #10 in the US, I'm using this as a way to gauge locked-out servers. GOAL: get as many servers as possible up to 1000 average concurrent users. * top-ten servers are locked-out to transfers. No exceptions. * the initial target servers will be those with av pop rank between #11 and #20. Only those servers will be available until they are either full (brought to 1000 av concurrent users) or all server transfers are done. If they fill up, then the next group of 10 will be opened up. * server transfers will occur in waves, starting with the servers with the lowest average concurrent population over the last two months. How long to wait before allowing the next server to do transfers is an open question. * within a server, accounts will be prioritized based upon collective play-time ... those with the most go first. Now, I don't mean number of days subscribed ... I mean number of minutes spent in-game. * guilds will automatically get a slot for each guild member once the guildmaster transfers over, meaning there will definitely be room on the chosen server for everyone. Character & legacy name choices will still be first come, first served, which means guild members will get the guildmaster's choice of server, but not necessarily their name/legacy. * active accounts will get emails inviting them to transfer in the priority order listed above. When servers fill up, update emails will go out to pending accounts to indicate the new set of available servers. * when there's a name (char or legacy) collision, the user gets to choose a new name either when filling out the form to indicate their transfer, or when logging in for the first time on the new server * on the server transfer form, accounts will be able to select which characters transfer. Characters on other servers will become available to transfer when that server gets its turn. * transfers are TRANSFERS ... characters will be deleted from old servers. * guilds go with the guildmaster. Characters remaining on the old server will not be marked as in that guild, though if they transfer to the new server, their guild status will automatically be transferred as well. * given this last point, guildmasters should be given a higher priority ... transferring sooner. * once servers have zero active account populations, they'll be disabled and removed from the server list. * once all waves have been given the opportunity to transfer, and following a certain grace period, emails will go out to unsubscribed accounts as well. Should someone resubscribe, they'll get their choice of server like everyone else, though they go in the second batch. * should someone resubscribe while on a disabled server, they'll be required to transfer before they can play. * once transfers have calmed down, and after a grace period, accounts still on low pop servers will get reminder emails on a periodic basis, escalating in their perks for transferring, depending on server pop. If there's only a few on a server, free game time might be offered to get these to move. * after all free transfers have completely calmed down, low pop servers will taken off the "new server" list, preventing new people from subscribing to very low pop servers. People can continue to play there if they want, but will be told that they should transfer if they want a growing community. Ideally, this will yield 15 to 30 servers with av concurrent users between 750 and 2000. Also ideally, they'll be able to disable or "hide" 15 to 30 servers as well. Thoughts? Edited May 24, 2012 by Teefal Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teefal Posted May 25, 2012 Author Share Posted May 25, 2012 (edited) Okay, so the missing part above is the grace period between opening a server for transfers and opening the next server in the list. With likely the forums going nuts with people saying, "When is it my turn?" etc, we could have a smaller replay of game launch. First though, why have staggered transfers at all? I'm assuming there's technical reasons for such an approach, along with a general fairness issue. My scheme above assumes the people who have played the most on the most empty servers get first choice of server and names, and get to start playing as soon as possible. Otherwise it comes down to who happens to see their email first. With enough of a warning, and an email to indicate precisely when transfers will be allowed for a server/account, they could stage it at regular, predictable intervals, such as once every hour (or two or three). You get an email that says, "You'll be able to transfer tomorrow at 2pm." Edited May 25, 2012 by Teefal Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kourage Posted May 25, 2012 Share Posted May 25, 2012 Super Servers, to me, means Fatman pops or higher. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oshimo Posted May 25, 2012 Share Posted May 25, 2012 anything less than a queue time for logging in in order to seriously sustain long term play is short-sighted. They already said on the podcast last week that they've doubled the capacity of servers since launch. I'm thinking anything less than 10k per server is wasting our time. And in months we'll be back to the same issue. Also en lieu of allowing anyone to remain behind on a light population server transfers of 200 or fewer concurrent (both factions added together) is a mandatory transfer ... the in game 'form' right when you log on should indicate where your guild mates have gone, where the guild is reforming, and if your legacy is available. I mean this better not be anything less than a magic system given the wait we have endured at our own cost to fund their development while this MULTIPLAYER game has been unplayable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JerokTalram Posted May 25, 2012 Share Posted May 25, 2012 (edited) The easiest thing for them to do especially concerning Guilds, is to transfer whole servers to new servers. Of course this isn`t a merge so you don`t have to go. So a transfer with every other transfer from server a gets moved to server b. No options in which server you go to. Edited May 25, 2012 by JerokTalram Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teefal Posted May 25, 2012 Author Share Posted May 25, 2012 (edited) Keep in mind, I'm talking 1000 *average* concurrent users, which includes the times most people aren't playing. Given the stats in the linked thread, Fatman averages about 2000 av concurrent users right now. I'm not talking total users on a server, which would be much much higher. I'm also not talking peak concurrent users, or even usual concurrent during primetime. Edited May 25, 2012 by Teefal Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
curtkram Posted May 25, 2012 Share Posted May 25, 2012 This is what I would like to see, which you don't address. I started a character and legacy on a server, got to 50 (plus a couple alts), and the server died. so I gave that up and moved to a new server. I created a legacy, and a lvl 50 character (plus an alt I really kind of like. Gunslinger sort of fits my place style. I wish I would have explored that more). Of course the server died. So I moved to fatman with the rest of my guild. When I start a character in a game, it is because I intend to play it. They have established in this game that I cannot continue to play my character. This is what I want them to fix with character transfers and population adjustments. I want to put all of my characters (except the ones I don't care about. there are a couple of those too) on one active server with my current guild. I want to be able to access content like the legacy reward and ops with all of the characters I created that should be able to access that content. Putting restrictions on transfers will probably mean I will be unable to consolidate what I've worked towards. That is a deal breaker. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GalacticKegger Posted May 25, 2012 Share Posted May 25, 2012 (edited) The easiest thing for them to do especially concerning Guilds, is to transfer whole servers to new servers. Of course this isn`t a merge so you don`t have to go. So a transfer with every other transfer from server a gets moved to server b. No options in which server you go to.I think the biggest concerns are naming rights (if that's even an accurate description.) Players want their character names, legacy surnames & guild names to remain intact. The guild that pays for a guildname.com website or has a Facebook account doesn't want to have to change everything. Edited May 25, 2012 by GalacticKegger Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teefal Posted May 26, 2012 Author Share Posted May 26, 2012 Yeah, some kind of priority rule would be great, such as: * number of people in guild * whether you have a website * whether your guild pre-exists TOR The only way to do this would be to have transfers to *new* servers, so everyone's in the same boat. I doubt they could ask people who aren't moving to change anything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MsDevil Posted May 26, 2012 Share Posted May 26, 2012 (edited) I have lvl 60 characters on two different servers, and I would like to transfer one of them so they are on the same server. Obviously, they have different legacy name, does any1 know what happens about that? I would like the transfered character to be part of the legacy on my other character, else it would not make sense to me. Edited May 26, 2012 by MsDevil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tloops Posted May 26, 2012 Share Posted May 26, 2012 I ahve a lvl 60 character on two different server. that would be amazing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allbrass Posted June 7, 2012 Share Posted June 7, 2012 Couple of my own concerns: 1. Fatman is one of the servers that is not to be touched by the transfers but I insist this be reconsidered. I think people should be allowed to be transferred OFF the server since it is a refugee server. I have a few characters that I've grown to like and would hate to continue on an overcrowded server when I have other options. 2. US servers 11-20 do not consist of a pure PVP server (you have west, but not east), which is a HUGE deal. I don't want an rp pvp server, I want a pvp server. But my only choices, if I want to transfer early, is to go either PVE or RP PVP. Fix this. 3. Someone else brought this up but how will combining legacies work? 4. You seem to reward those who transfer later than earlier. This is a mistake because, based on my concerns, it would make a lot more sense for me to wait to transfer than to try to transfer early. I'd want to wait until server populations balance out and I'd want a pvp server to actually be available (meaning I'd have to wait anyway for your 11-20 to fill). Basically it makes no sense to transfer early for ANYONE because you're taking a big risk doing something that could only be done once. Reward early transfers, not late ones. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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