Character Transfer, Server Populations and You

[Dyvim]

BW has said it will respect server types...

 

So RP-PvP will migrate to RP-PvP. My question is will they respect Location (east coast vs west coast). There are only 3 RP-PvP servers. Jung Ma is the most populated. Ven Zallow isnt, and it is east coast. Ajunta Pall is West Coast and is less populated as well. Soooo, what is the plan in a case like that, and what happens if the RP-PvP pool is too shallow to make one "robust" server?

 

With the free transfers, people are "stuck" in the rp-pvp type, but they could be also stuck with low pop unless all of them are combined...thx.

Edited June 8, 2012 by Dyvim

[Eitri]

Has anyone bothered to stop and think that BW might be going through their reams of data, identifying individual accounts, the number of characters on that account, and the servers those characters are on, and, based on a few assumptions (which have to be made), might offer up transfer paths based on that?

 

Assumptions such as (if 13,000 players have level 25+ legacies on Servers X, Y, and Z, and, of that same group of players, 75+% of them have lower-level legacies (if any exist) on Servers A and B, they might be spending this time now determining that it's wise to open up transfers from Servers A, X, Y, and Z to Server B (a lower/medium-pop destination server). The same process applies to every server - determining rerollers based on data, and working toward structuring the first round of free transfers to address both reroll condensation and population issues.

 

This would allow them to siphon off the rerollers from their current servers and condense all of their characters onto new destination servers (within server type, ofc), and after paying attention to over 140 pages of this thread, is something no one else has mentioned (at least that I could tell).

 

I will be very surprised if they've put that much thought into it. All the evidence so far points to them taking the simplest path. If they created new servers they wouldn't have to think about the destination and could concentrate more on which servers should go together but I think they've already decided what they're going to do and won't change it now.

[Elgann]

I will be very surprised if they've put that much thought into it. All the evidence so far points to them taking the simplest path. If they created new servers they wouldn't have to think about the destination and could concentrate more on which servers should go together but I think they've already decided what they're going to do and won't change it now.

 

There's actually very little real thought involved - it's more a case of processing power and formatting the queries to sift through all the information in the various databases that run the game. Run some queries pulling back all accounts, characters belonging to that account, and servers those characters are on, then run some sorts on it.

 

You'd be amazed at the type of insight you can glean from millions and millions of rows of data in relatively short time. Obviously, with the volume we're talking about here, it's understandable that the process will take some time with decisions needing to be made. Can't please everyone all the time kind of things, but if this is indeed the way they're going to go, I feel what I suggested (if they're not doing it already) would be the best way to go about doing it.

[PlagaNerezza]

This is probably one of the few times we'll find common ground on something, but I agree.

 

They're restricting these transfers for a reason, it's fairly clear. That reason is that when the community is given it's choice, it would apparently like 2-3 extremely full servers and 100 or so dead servers.

 

Now, when Bioware is given the choice, they would like to see a few dozen healthy servers, and by limiting our options thats really the only way to achieve that goal. The bottom line is that they are trying to fix the current problem, not recreate it, and by allowing us too many options, it would simply cause the same problems all over again.

 

There isn't anything wrong with paid transfers in this instance, as the free transfers are being allowed SIMPLY AND ONLY TO FIX THE POPULATION ISSUES ON CERTAIN SERVERS. The paid transfer service will be later put in place to fix problems caused by player decisions. Such as transferring from a pvp to a pve server.

 

Which won't work for a significant portion of their paying customers unless they allow you to consolidate abandon toons to the new server and generally that means having to use 2 transfers. Roll Naddist Rebels to the New Awesome server and now roll Fatman to the new awesome server.

 

If they don't do that the system runs the risk it will create new servers only with abandoned toons. There are 3 main servers. They will always be the main servers. If you already rolled to a main server and now you transfer my abandoned toons to a server(s) your trying to make main servers you better make sure that server is full to the brim.

 

Its really naive to assume that once I use my 1 free transfer that I'll play those toons at the new server. Considering the server is light and I play on full. What do you think is likely to occur when the 4+ hour rolling is going on? I'll be playing on fatman. Everyone else what will you do?

 

When roll is completed you logging out? You even going to know? Next time you log in and default to fatman or whatever you going to play that toon you rolled or you current full server?

 

Lets say you log in to the new place? Your first move? Look empty! What do you do? Some play, some go back to the populated server. Now keep doing that. Assume the model is dispersed to a few different home serves. You going to guarentee me a full server after the move?

 

So, I've already left behind the guild. Don't know anyone on the new server. I might be on the same server as some old friends.

 

OR

 

I play my fatman character that is active and in an active guild and doesn't require me to engage in any of that process?

 

I know I won't be that interested in playing my gimped gunslinger class I left behind just because you put him on a medium server..

[Elgann]

Which won't work for a significant portion of their paying customers unless they allow you to consolidate abandon toons to the new server and generally that means having to use 2 transfers. Roll Naddist Rebels to the New Awesome server and now roll Fatman to the new awesome server.

 

Call me crazy, but I honestly feel they're going to do this. They KNOW that a good portion of the bloated pop servers are rerollers, and I can't see the harm in going from:

 

2 full, 3 standard/heavy, 180 light to 15 standard/heavy, 140 light (those that chose to stay on dead servers).

 

All numbers are arbitrary and only for example purposes.

[PlagaNerezza]

Call me crazy, but I honestly feel they're going to do this. They KNOW that a good portion of the bloated pop servers are rerollers, and I can't see the harm in going from:

 

2 full, 3 standard/heavy, 180 light to 15 standard/heavy, 140 light (those that chose to stay on dead servers).

 

All numbers are arbitrary and only for example purposes.

 

I thought so until I read the posted plan that stated it might not be in this transfer.

 

I am semi-complaining out of my own selfish desire to get them under 1 server/legacy but also realize that there is a huge danger this just shifts the abandon toons to another spot that no one will play on. Those that get moved might find it as unappealing still and that will further bleed subscribers and/or result in more rolls to fatman, etc.

 

If I have to re-join a guild. Wait to move. Get dumped someplace I dont know anyone. When who knows which of my old friends who still play move, or assuming the go the same place. Assuming that doesn't fill up by the time they get around to it.

 

Or just log into fatman and play.

 

Based on the last population management they did do you trust bioware to manage the moves so you get a new home that is robust with your friends? I don't.

[Skidrowbro]

To help with some of the arguments of people being worried of being split up from their friends. You are all going to the same server when they transfer. Bioware is not going to randomly pick and choose where players go until the destination becomes full and when that happens they will pick another server. Edited June 8, 2012 by Skidrowbro

[WrecklessMEDIC]

Which won't work for a significant portion of their paying customers unless they allow you to consolidate abandon toons to the new server and generally that means having to use 2 transfers. Roll Naddist Rebels to the New Awesome server and now roll Fatman to the new awesome server.

 

If they don't do that the system runs the risk it will create new servers only with abandoned toons. There are 3 main servers. They will always be the main servers. If you already rolled to a main server and now you transfer my abandoned toons to a server(s) your trying to make main servers you better make sure that server is full to the brim.

 

Its really naive to assume that once I use my 1 free transfer that I'll play those toons at the new server. Considering the server is light and I play on full. What do you think is likely to occur when the 4+ hour rolling is going on? I'll be playing on fatman. Everyone else what will you do?

 

When roll is completed you logging out? You even going to know? Next time you log in and default to fatman or whatever you going to play that toon you rolled or you current full server?

 

Lets say you log in to the new place? Your first move? Look empty! What do you do? Some play, some go back to the populated server. Now keep doing that. Assume the model is dispersed to a few different home serves. You going to guarentee me a full server after the move?

 

So, I've already left behind the guild. Don't know anyone on the new server. I might be on the same server as some old friends.

 

OR

 

I play my fatman character that is active and in an active guild and doesn't require me to engage in any of that process?

 

I know I won't be that interested in playing my gimped gunslinger class I left behind just because you put him on a medium server..

 

I'll just use my situation as a likely scenario since I appear to be in a similar predicament as yourself. By no means is this exactly what's going to happen, but this is what I'm preparing to do.

 

I am the GM of an Imperial guild on Black Vulkars with 5 level 50's in the guild. I also have a level 50 Republic character on that same server. Black Vulkars is effectively a dead server and will most likely be selected as an origin server. I also have a few mid-20 characters that I play on The Fatman for a busier environment.

 

When Black Vulkars is chosen for free transfers to say The Swiftsure (a mid population server of the same type) I will move all of my Imperial toons and advise my guild to do the same to that destination server. All my legacy perks will go with me and I will rebuild my guild with the help of Customer Service. I will leave my level 50 Republic toon and wait until I can move him to The Fatman so I can bring all my legacy perks again with me to that server. I am more than willing to pay a fee for that particular transfer at a later date. This way I will have max legacy on two busy servers. One for my Imperial toons and one for my Republic toons.

 

Again, there's no guarantee this is how it will work. But it most likely will.

Edited June 8, 2012 by WrecklessMEDIC

[Jaavik]

No, you wont definitely be able to do this. Its quite likely that they will allow these types of transfers in the future but you will probably have to pay a fee because this is not about fixing a problem due to low population but from something the player chose to do.

 

A 2nd phase of free transfers that allows people to do some consolidation of their toons might happen but that again is more likely to be within the same server type and there is zero information to confirm they will do this.

 

Although I get the point that you were trying to make, I don't agree.

 

I was told by Bioware to "be patient" and I continued to pay my subscription. I was told to "re-roll" as a way to play on a POPULATED server while I waited for a way to transfer servers. Although I know it was a result of so many fans being frustrated with long queue times when the game was launched that they opened so many additional servers, Bioware stated the reason they didn't want to (which is what we're dealing with now), but eventually caved and opened more servers.

 

So here we are...

 

In order to enjoy the game, we were told that re-rolling on a populated server was the option we had if we wanted to enjoy the game under the understanding that Bioware was working on a "fix" for the population problems. So I did just that. In my desire to play with other people, I decided to experiment and rolled on a PvP server. Since trying it, I have found that I like it better, More action and tension when you can be jumped at any time and have to fight for your life.

 

I was waiting patiently the entire time, even DEFENDING Bioware against many of the people who QQ'ed about "mismanagement" and "broken promises".

 

Now while I am not implying that Bioware made any kind of promise that I would be able to consolidate all of my characters onto one TYPE of server (Such as moving from PvE to PvP), it was never explained that it WASN'T going to be allowed (I could be wrong, but I'd like to see the link to where it was explained) when the transfers are finally made available.

 

While waiting PATIENTLY, I went ahead and continued to play characters on my MAIN server (who were my favorites) and leveled them to 50. I also played on the new PvP server with some new toons, deliberately trying characters OTHER than my favorite to play (Imperial Agent). Had I known that I wouldn't be able to move those characters to a PvP server from a PvE server, I wouldn't have continued to work on them and just rerolled them on the PvP server (Dear GOD, the sheer amount of mind-numbing Space missions I did to get the complete Imperial Pilot Costume set ALONE).

 

I'm NOT claiming to be misled. But I don't see why a PvE character cannot be moved to a PvP server with the initial Free Transfers. It doesn't make sense to me, but I am open to an explanation to the reasoning behind it. I have a pretty strong Legacy on these characters and was eager to play them on PvP. Starting a Legacy over from scratch, or going back to waiting for the "appropriate transfer opportunity" will cause me to finally unsub.

 

Anyone who has seen my previous posts know that I have defended Bioware on many occasions and have been called everything from a "Fanbot" to a "Bioware Employee" for doing so. I've been patient and I've waited because I love the game.

 

If I'm being told that I have to wait for ANOTHER indeterminate amount of time in order to get the transfer I needed, then I'll move on and play a different game. I'm sorry, but i just can't wait any longer. And after however long it will be, I will probably have to PAY to move them.

 

Once I see that I can transfer them to a PvP server, I MAY come back. depending on what else is out there that I decide to try.

 

...did I mention I was being patient?

Edited June 8, 2012 by Jaavik

[PlagaNerezza]

To help with some of the arguments of people being worried of being split up from their friends. You are all going to the same server when they transfer. Bioware is not going to randomly pick and choose where players go until the destination becomes full and when that happens they will pick another server.

 

Is the underlined process 30 minutes into opening the automated function? 2 days till its full? 2 weeks? What happens to someone whose out of town and comes back? A friend who comes back? Your irl brother who might resub in a few months?

 

They go to where bioware says?

 

Unless you give people a lot more choice this is going to be a disaster. You cannot possibly even predict how this might go. You may all fill out the transfer request within minutes of each other and still not get main key guildies transferred to the same server.

 

This needs a lot more detail because what they put out is a nuclear warhead for guilds. Why?

 

Its completely devoid of facts and information that you can assess.

 

Did I mention those of us who will wait and see if this makes it better to roll the abandoned toons? Lots of folks will wait to see how this works.

Edited June 8, 2012 by PlagaNerezza

[Jaavik]

You may or may not have to pay a fee, but you definitely will be able to transfer from a PvP server to a PvE server in the future. Which was the original question.

 

 

I get that. I just don't think I can wait any longer.

 

I really like the game, but I want to start laying down some roots with a fun guild, enjoy the Legacy I've worked hard to build and play the game the way I want to play it (PvP).

 

Now I'm stuck with another "indeterminate amount of time (i.e. SOON)" before I can "pay them" to put my 50s on a server I want to play on with a guild I want to play with (I've been following a guild I want to join and have been keeping in touch so i can find out where they are going), or starting over from scratch and going through the exact same story quests to re-create the character (and Legacy) I want to play. I'm down to the LAST piece of Imperial Pilot Gear from doing endless mind-numbing space missions. There's NO way I'm starting THAT from scratch...

 

I just don't think it's worth it to me anymore, which is a shame because I really like the game, but I want to move on to build my legacy with other characters and new story-lines.

 

So for the first time since it's launch, I am seriously considering moving on and ending my subscription.

 

I knew I wasn't going to be able to transfer to ANY server I wanted, but I was under the impression that they were going to make "targeted servers" available for transfer, but not FORCE me to stay as PvE when I have discovered PvP is more for me.

Edited June 8, 2012 by Jaavik

[psi_overtake]

So for the first time since it's launch, I am seriously considering moving on and ending my subscription.

 

I knew I wasn't going to be able to transfer to ANY server I wanted, but I was under the impression that they were going to make "targeted servers" available for transfer, but not FORCE me to stay as PvE when I have discovered PvP is more for me.

 

You can always cancel your sub and come back when paid transfers are implemented

[ScarletBlaze]

Is the underlined process 30 minutes into opening the automated function? 2 days till its full? 2 weeks? What happens to someone whose out of town and comes back? A friend who comes back? Your irl brother who might resub in a few months?

 

They go to where bioware says?

 

Unless you give people a lot more choice this is going to be a disaster. You cannot possibly even predict how this might go. You may all fill out the transfer request within minutes of each other and still not get main key guildies transferred to the same server.

 

This needs a lot more detail because what they put out is a nuclear warhead for guilds. Why?

 

Its completely devoid of facts and information that you can assess.

 

Did I mention those of us who will wait and see if this makes it better to roll the abandoned toons? Lots of folks will wait to see how this works.

 

This comment mght help regarding your friends and guild members who don't transfer right away

 

Quote: Originally Posted by JovethGonzalez

 

Many guild leaders have contacted us with their concerns about coordinating their guild members in preparation for the free character transfer service and I wanted to take some time to explain how this process will work.

 

In order to ensure an optimal playing experience for every server, we’ll be offering direct transfers from one origin server to a pre-selected destination server. This means that the destination server will already be selected for the origin server. As mentioned in our blog post, all server types and languages will be respected. You will not find your PvE characters transferred to a PvP server, or vice versa.

 

Therefore, all guild members on the origin server will be eligible to transfer to the same destination server, ensuring that the guild has the opportunity to stay together.

 

As we mentioned in our blog, the character transfer service will be made available gradually, starting with a small number of origin servers and adding more until all servers eligible for transfer are available in the service. We know everyone is excited for the opportunity to transfer their characters, but it is critical that we do this gradually to ensure both a smooth transfer as well as a great player experience on the destination servers.

 

Eligible servers will be listed as they become available for transfers at http://www.swtor.com/transfer, which will go live on Tuesday. This is to prevent potential server load issues.

 

Please note that we will not be dividing the population of an origin server onto multiple destination servers for this free character transfer process.

 

Additionally, players need not worry about rushing to transfer as free character transfers between selected servers will remain available for as long as it is needed to help balance server populations naturally. Rest assured that if we ever decide to stop this free character transfer service, players will be given plenty of advanced notice.

 

We hope that this clarifies any confusion.

Edited June 8, 2012 by ScarletBlaze

[Sydth]

I want to transfer some of my characters from a PvP server to a RP-PvE server. And then I want to keep the rest of my characters on a PvP server. Will this be possible?

 

If so, will I be able to transfer my Sith Pureblood Smuggler to an RP server while keeping my level 50 Sith Pureblood Sorcerer on a PvP server?

[ScarletBlaze]

I want to transfer some of my characters from a PvP server to a RP-PvE server. And then I want to keep the rest of my characters on a PvP server. Will this be possible?

 

If so, will I be able to transfer my Sith Pureblood Smuggler to an RP server while keeping my level 50 Sith Pureblood Sorcerer on a PvP server?

 

This should answer that:

 

In order to ensure an optimal playing experience for every server, we’ll be offering direct transfers from one origin server to a pre-selected destination server. This means that the destination server will already be selected for the origin server. As mentioned in our blog post, all server types and languages will be respected. You will not find your PvE characters transferred to a PvP server, or vice versa

[WrecklessMEDIC]

Now while I am not implying that Bioware made any kind of promise that I would be able to consolidate all of my characters onto one TYPE of server (Such as moving from PvE to PvP), it was never explained that it WASN'T going to be allowed (I could be wrong, but I'd like to see the link to where it was explained) when the transfers are finally made available.

 

I'm sure this will be answered on Tuesdays FAQ, but I'll try and break it down. The reason you can't move from a PvE server to a PvP server at this time is because there will only be 1 destination server that you can transfer to initially. This is necessary so that BioWare can actively filter server populations onto a designated server and help control the population influx.

 

The other reason is because they want to make sure people who are playing on a PvE server currently aren't forced onto a PvP server. These restrictions will change over time. This is only the first phase.

[JeramieCrowe]

I was told by Bioware to "be patient" and I continued to pay my subscription. I was told to "re-roll" as a way to play on a POPULATED server while I waited for a way to transfer servers. Although I know it was a result of so many fans being frustrated with long queue times when the game was launched that they opened so many additional servers, Bioware stated the reason they didn't want to (which is what we're dealing with now), but eventually caved and opened more servers.

 

Do you happen to have a link that shows that BioWare suggested abandoning your character and rolling on a different server? I remember all kinds of players suggesting it, but I don't remember BioWare suggesting it...

Edited June 8, 2012 by JeramieCrowe

[Sydth]

This should answer that:

 

In order to ensure an optimal playing experience for every server, we’ll be offering direct transfers from one origin server to a pre-selected destination server. This means that the destination server will already be selected for the origin server. As mentioned in our blog post, all server types and languages will be respected. You will not find your PvE characters transferred to a PvP server, or vice versa

 

Thank you, Ma'am.

 

I did read that in the original post. While they are saying they're respecting the server types it's not saying that we can't choose a different kind of server if we so please to. Are they only going to offer me PvP servers since I'm on one or will there be some RP/PvP options as well?

[WrecklessMEDIC]

Thank you, Ma'am.

 

I did read that in the original post. While they are saying they're respecting the server types it's not saying that we can't choose a different kind of server if we so please to. Are they only going to offer me PvP servers since I'm on one or will there be some RP/PvP options as well?

 

More options for the Character Transfer Service will become available at a later date. This is only the first phase.

[Sydth]

Do you happen to have a link that shows that BioWare suggested abandoning your character and rolling on a different server? I remember all kinds of players suggesting it, but I don't remember BioWare suggesting it...

 

This was said by Bioware about a month after Launch (and the free month expired). It would take some digging to find the page but I also remember this being said too.

 

At the time I already had a lvl 50 Sorcerer and Sage before the month was up and didn't want to do all that content again. So i stayed on my server and prayed everyday for server merges

Edited June 8, 2012 by Sydth

[Buche]

This was said by Bioware about a month after Launch (and the free month expired). It would take some digging to find the page but I also remember this being said too.

 

At the time I already had a lvl 50 Sorcerer and Sage before the month was up and didn't want to do all that content again. So i stayed on my server and prayed everyday for server merges

 

I dont know where you were but they said to reroll about a week after the 20th (official release date) and they said to try playing on a server that is not full or heavy but to play on one that is light or standard.... it was not a month later when they said that

[JeramieCrowe]

Thank you, Ma'am.

 

I did read that in the original post. While they are saying they're respecting the server types it's not saying that we can't choose a different kind of server if we so please to. Are they only going to offer me PvP servers since I'm on one or will there be some RP/PvP options as well?

 

As mentioned in the blog post, we will be maintaining server types. So it will be RP-PvP to RP-PvP.

 

But that's just for the initial free phase. More options will open up later.

[ScRoBeY]

Say I have a character on a Pvp server language German, could I move to a pvp server/ English.. ???

[Yomitako]

This was said by Bioware about a month after Launch (and the free month expired). It would take some digging to find the page but I also remember this being said too.

 

At the time I already had a lvl 50 Sorcerer and Sage before the month was up and didn't want to do all that content again. So i stayed on my server and prayed everyday for server merges

 

They had simply made this a visible option for you. They neither told you to do it, nor did they force people in any way, shape or form, to re-roll on another server. They just presented it as an option. You, as the end user, are still the one responsible for clicking those buttons.

[Sydth]

I dont know where you were but they said to reroll about a week after the 20th (official release date) and they said to try playing on a server that is not full or heavy but to play on one that is light or standard.... it was not a month later when they said that

 

Right, right. I think they were saying to reroll when we were complaining about having to wait in long ques to log into our servers. Earlier I must have been thinking of when they were saying to reroll when are servers first started dying.