Character Transfer, Server Populations and You

[ScarletBlaze]

They will NEVER allow people to transfer from a PvE server, to a PvP server....

do you realize how unfair that would be if they did that?

When you level up on a PvP server, you risk people killing you. On a PvE server, you can level up without any threat.

Thinking they will allow pve to pvp transfers is extremely dense.

Reroll on a pvp server if thats what you want.

 

I might agree with part of that but disagree with regard to a pve and transferring to a rp/pve. It's basically the same so that argument might hold true from pvp to pve but not from pve to rp/pve.

Edited June 8, 2012 by ScarletBlaze

[HeavensAgent]

They will NEVER allow people to transfer from a PvE server, to a PvP server....

Most games allow it. I imagine SWTOR will as well.

[LG_XxLegacyxX]

I can understand as a friend of mine is on a pve server and would like to transfer off completely that server and come to the rp/pve server I am on but she can't. . She says she understands why she cant. She said she wil just wait.

Hi, Billy Mays here,

 

Why not just have you friend creat another character on your server for the meantime until character transfers open up for her server.

 

Why doesn't anyone do that? I did. I got so bored of having a failing guild and a dead server, I left my 50 and created a new character on The Fatman. It's easy, and fun! Try it today and watch the SWTOR as you knew it dissapear. A whole new adventure awaits on a highly populated server. Just ditch your old character and come on over. Don't worry though, Bioware is fast at work trying to help us transfer are 50's soon.

 

Thanks, I'm Billy Mays. I'll catch you next time on swtor.com.

[Jaavik]

It's not impossible to let people transfer from 1 origin server to a list of multiple destination servers. They could easily do it. But, it would be catastrophic during the first phase. Players have a choice on which servers they play on right now. And so they choose to play on The Fatman. If they are given a choice on where to go during the first-phase of character transfers they will choose to go to The Fatman or a similar high-pop server. It's human nature.

 

Those choices will be made available after the populations have stabilized. To let players have a choice now would be a really bad idea. Sorry.

 

That's not what I meant.

 

I don't mean let them go ANYWHERE they choose to. I know they want to build the populations up on specific servers so it isn't all concentrated on "Fatman".

 

I mean come up with a selection of specific "targeted" server types :

 

1. One Specific RP PvE Server
   
2. One Specific RP PvP Server
   
3. One Specific PvE Server
   
4. One Specific PvP Server
   

 

Make these the "targeted servers" to transfer to and then give each subscriber on the "Origin Server" the choice of which one they want to go to. It doesn't seem like this should be a problem unless there is some kind of coding difference where a character cannot just be moved from one type to another.

 

If that IS the case, then what about moving to a Role-Playing (RP) server. The game itself isn't even involved with the RP so there is NO coding involved, it's completely done by the players choice. So why couldn't a PvE player move to a RP-PvE server?

 

See what I mean?

Edited June 8, 2012 by Jaavik

[ScarletBlaze]

Hi, Billy Mays here,

 

Why not just have you friend creat another character on your server for the meantime until character transfers open up for her server.

 

Why doesn't anyone do that? I did. I got so bored of having a failing guild and a dead server, I left my 50 and created a new character on The Fatman. It's easy, and fun! Try it today and watch the SWTOR as you knew it dissapear. A whole new adventure awaits on a highly populated server. Just ditch your old character and come on over. Don't worry though, Bioware is fast at work trying to help us transfer are 50's soon.

 

Thanks, I'm Billy Mays. I'll catch you next time on swtor.com.

 

She would but her legacy level is pretty high and she doesn't want to lose all the stuff she has. . She not upset about not doing it. She understands she made the choice to play on the pve server. She willing to wait and see what happens down the road. But thank you.

[JKhayos]

I personally remember forum posts by the developers when the forums were absolutely FLOODED with complaints about 6+ hour queue times when the game launched. Bioware tried to explain to people that there WOULD be an initial drop-off of subscriptions (as any new game has) and they didn't want to have the population spread out among too many servers.

 

The problem being that who knows how many people quit because they paid $60 or more and couldn't get in to play the game in a reasonable amount of time. Either way, it wasn't going to look good for Bioware unless they were ready at launch with the capability to merge servers when the subscriptions dropped.

 

So Bioware caved and opened more servers, and just like they predicted it, once the initial hype was over and subscriptions dropped, we were all spread out over too many servers.

 

This is pretty serious truth here. My issue is simply that they knew the pops were going to drop, so why didn't they have transfers ready earlier?

[Sydth]

I don't understand why people complained about server wait times instead of rerolling during launch. I can understand not wanting to reroll when you already have high level characters that you have invested time into. But, we're talking about when the game launched. No one had characters yet that were so high that it was too inconvenient to start over on a server that didn't say "Heavy" all the time.

This is also why I AGREE with blaming players for bioware's screw-up on this mater.

[Jaavik]

They will NEVER allow people to transfer from a PvE server, to a PvP server....

do you realize how unfair that would be if they did that?

When you level up on a PvP server, you risk people killing you. On a PvE server, you can level up without any threat.

Thinking they will allow pve to pvp transfers is extremely dense.

Reroll on a pvp server if thats what you want.

 

Since being "killed" on a PvP server doesn't actually affect you in any way (other than having to travel back to where you were), I don't see the problem. And in many cases, due to the population problem, many people on PvP servers don't even run into opposing factions much while leveling.

 

And since other MMO's allow transfers of PvE players to PvP servers, I think it's absolutely ADORABLE that you are calling anyone else "dense".

[Jaavik]

This is pretty serious truth here. My issue is simply that they knew the pops were going to drop, so why didn't they have transfers ready earlier?

I'm right there with you...

[Rayla_Felana]

This is pretty serious truth here. My issue is simply that they knew the pops were going to drop, so why didn't they have transfers ready earlier?

 

I don't think you understand, they didn't want to have to have it in so early, they didn't want more servers, but the sheer weight of whine posts just forced them into the position of either have a lot of people quit in the next few weeks, much more than they wanted or bleed subscribers in the long term.

[psi_overtake]

I don't think you understand, they didn't want to have to have it in so early, they didn't want more servers, but the sheer weight of whine posts just forced them into the position of either have a lot of people quit in the next few weeks, much more than they wanted or bleed subscribers in the long term.

 

However, they did have the ability to raise the population caps on the servers. They were set arbitrarily low. So instead of raising the caps, they decided to create more servers. Probably the better move to look like a bigger game, but it lead us to this problem.

[Sydth]

Since being "killed" on a PvP server doesn't actually affect you in any way (other than having to travel back to where you were), I don't see the problem. And in many cases, due to the population problem, many people on PvP servers don't even run into opposing factions much while leveling.

 

And since other MMO's allow transfers of PvE players to PvP servers, I think it's absolutely ADORABLE that you are calling anyone else "dense".

 

I was killed for what seemed like hundreds of times by the opposing faction 10 to 20 levels above me on Nar Shaddaa, Tatooine, and Alderaan. Often times by the same person or group of persons who would camp the area or my base waiting for me to return. Not to mention during the Rakghoul event where it took me FOREVER to complete the missions (and the bug that reset the time it took for your infection to pop everytime you were killed). But you're right about the issue going away when the server died.

[justandulas]

Do we know what servers are eligable to move where yet or not until tues? This news made my week as my server has been a ghost town for awhile.

[Jaavik]

I don't think you understand, they didn't want to have to have it in so early, they didn't want more servers, but the sheer weight of whine posts just forced them into the position of either have a lot of people quit in the next few weeks, much more than they wanted or bleed subscribers in the long term.

 

Yeah, I think it was a "Damned if you do - Damned if you don't" scenario and I'm not really blaming Bioware either way. They had to make a call, they made it. It's just a shame they didn't have a back up-plan to fix the known results of the choice they made.

 

I don't pretend to know what goes into programming that, so it may have been unavoidable for all I know.

[Sydth]

Do we know what servers are eligable to move where yet or not until tues? This news made my week as my server has been a ghost town for awhile.

 

Nope not yet.. all that and more was answered in the original post

[justandulas]

Nope not yet.. all that and more was answered in the original post

 

I somehow missed that last line there about the FAQ on tues. Thanks for the heads up. Congrats to all of us waiting to transfer

[Jaavik]

I was killed for what seemed like hundreds of times by the opposing faction 10 to 20 levels above me on Nar Shaddaa, Tatooine, and Alderaan. Often times by the same person or group of persons who would camp the area or my base waiting for me to return. Not to mention during the Rakghoul event where it took me FOREVER to complete the missions (and the bug that reset the time it took for your infection to pop everytime you were killed). But you're right about the issue going away when the server died.

 

Yep, but the point I was making to Synxos was, that there are no "lasting effects" to a character that was on a PvP server that would make the possibility of a PvE character transferring onto a PvP server "unfair". It doesn't give that PvE player any kind of advantage or disadvantage.

[Ghostuka]

Good lord, they said the date was June 12th to start. Can you all like... I don't know... WAIT UNTIL JUNE 12TH TO SEE THE ACTUAL SERVER DESTINATION DETAILS before you start writing books about how pissed you are?

 

Come on, people. Enough of this foolishness. Take a deep breath and wait until they release all of the details.

 

Thank you.

[JeramieCrowe]

Yeah, I think it was a "Damned if you do - Damned if you don't" scenario and I'm not really blaming Bioware either way. They had to make a call, they made it. It's just a shame they didn't have a back up-plan to fix the known results of the choice they made.

 

I don't pretend to know what goes into programming that, so it may have been unavoidable for all I know.

 

Again, (I think you missed my post on this 2 pages back or so) they did have a back-up plan. Server transfers were successfully tested in closed beta. However, Legacy mucked it up. That's why I say they should have bit the bullet and did transfers before 1.2.

Edited June 8, 2012 by JeramieCrowe

[Creror]

Starting next week on June 12th, 2012, we’re allowing character transfers to occur between selected servers...

While we do not have a scheduled time frame for the launch of such a service...

We're in the final stretch of testing the service, and our release is now June 12th, 2012.

Is it just me or do these three sentences not make sense together? I mean, first it says "it starts on June 12". Then it says "We have no scheduled time frame". And then again it says "release is now June 12th". oO

 

Well, however, I'm really happy that we will get the opportunity to transfer before 1.3 and that it will be limited and directed. Otherwise - like already stated - we are at risk to get even more ghost servers while just getting ~2 high populated servers.

 

But now I'm wondering:

So let's say I'm transfering with a character named "Jaksen" (just an example) to a server which already have a "Jaksen".

That means I have to rename my character.

But what if my char is already Level 50 and the other one, that already exists on the server, is just Level 1?

So who will be prioritized now?

[Eitri]

However, they did have the ability to raise the population caps on the servers. They were set arbitrarily low. So instead of raising the caps, they decided to create more servers. Probably the better move to look like a bigger game, but it lead us to this problem.

 

Pure speculation here, but I got the feeling that their server infrastructure at launch didn't allow them to raise the caps. The servers would already scale and the starting areas usually had two or three instances, but even then it seemed like they could only handle a relatively limited number of players. So they really were faced with the decision to have long queues or add bunches of servers. I know I was happy I could get on, get the names I wanted and play when my number came up. After a 15 minute queue that is.

 

It really does seem like this game would be best served using an instanced model. That would allow the population to wax and wane more naturally as players finish story content, leave to play something else, and return to play through a different class story.

[Sydth]

Yep, but the point I was making to Synxos was, that there are no "lasting effects" to a character that was on a PvP server that would make the possibility of a PvE character transferring onto a PvP server "unfair". It doesn't give that PvE player any kind of advantage or disadvantage.

 

oh i see.. that is true.

I played Allods Online before this. When you died you went to Purgatory. The higher your level the longer the wait to resurrect. You could instantly rez with Myrrh but Myrrh costs in-game gold and isn't altogether cheap. This also made classes with resurrection all the more demanding. Oh, and then there's the risk your gear being cursed; all the stats turned negative [+50 strength to -50 strength] which required a VERY expensive cleansing scroll. Cursing is prevent with holy charms which expire upon death and also have to be replenished with in-game money.

 

So yes count your lucky star (wars) that there are no lasting effects upon death.

[Sock_Bramson]

Dreshdae Cantina should be a destination server.

 

Oh my, how did that get there? Oh well, at least it's a good suggestion. (make it so, BW, make it so)

 

-Hedley Melange <Dynamic>, Dreshdae Cantina-

[Jaavik]

When you transfer off your server to a destination, you get no choice at all of what server you are transferring on to. This decision was made so that Bioware would have control over the population that gets merged onto the new server.

So, they can watch as 100 people from the first origin server transfer onto the destination server. Then they know they need a bunch more, so they move three more servers and watch 300 people added to the destination server. When they feel like it's full enough, with some room for future additions to that server (people not logged in on origin servers, new accounts), they start a new destination server.

The server you move to (the destination server) has to be the same as the origin server because it's fair to assume most people that started on that server want that server type. If they said that you could change from pvp to pve, that would introduce each player getting to choose between server options. This would complicate their ability to control the population movement.

 

I guess I can understand it from a "flow" perspective and controlling the population. Doesn't make it any less frustrating.

 

I would be willing to wait until the "first phase" is done if I had a reasonable expectation of how long I would be waiting and I could still do it for free. I'm not asking to go to a specific server, just a specific server "type". If the cost of transferring is reasonable, I may consider paying for it. But if it's the cost of "another game", it'll be difficult to justify paying to move a small amount of information when i can just take that money and try a new game.

 

As far as "being patient" again... If we're talking "weeks", I can wait, if we're talking "months", I'll unsubscribe and try something else. But I'm right back to where I was. Waiting for some mysterious amount of time to pass before I get any info on what i want to do, then another mysterious amount of time to actually do it.

 

It's heartbreaking because I love the game, but they've gotten enough of my money while I'm not enjoying the game as I'd like to play it.

[Jaavik]

Again, (I think you missed my post on this 2 pages back or so) they did have a back-up plan. Server transfers were successfully tested in closed beta. However, Legacy mucked it up. That's why I say they should have bit the bullet and did transfers before 1.2.

 

I did miss that. It makes sense.