Mega server naming debacle

[Mechrophilia]

When I looked at the origin/destination matrix last night, I noticed that the Harbinger was where I was being moved to... But then I also noticed that the Harbinger was also in the list of servers being moved to "the Harbinger". That's when I realized that the new Harbinger was in all likelihood a new server, and that folks from the original Harbinger would probably be subject to possible name changes, like all of the other origin servers.

 

I'm therefore not at all surprised to see multiple posts by people wanting to know why their names need to be changed if they are already on the destination server...not knowing that that their server is only an origin server that shares the same name as one of the new mega servers.

 

...So why didn't the staff just create brand new names for the new megaservers? A quarter of these "name change" posts would probably not even exist if the destination servers were originally named. It would have been far less confusing. I guess It's water under the bridge now already, but I know that if I were on the staff, the new servers would all have been assigned new names so that the entire playerbase would understand and be prepared for possible name changes.

[LukeSaberRattler]

It could have been more plain but at the same time people have to take responsibility for their own reading comprehension as well. Not everything can be laid out it such a way that 5 year olds can understand, and even if it was there would still be people on here complaining because they still didn't notice.

[Greyshadow]

I like ot think my reading comprehension is fine:

 

Earlier this summer we launched the Free Character Transfer Program which offered players the option to transfer their characters from specific origin servers to selected destination servers. Following the success of the Free Character Transfer Program, and after closely monitoring server populations, we have now taken the next step in our on-going server population balancing process. We have upgraded destination servers in order to support a significantly higher number of players. As of tomorrow, all characters on origin servers will be automatically moved onto the upgraded high population destination servers. By centralizing our player populations on these higher population destination servers, we feel that we can offer our players the best possible Star Wars™: The Old Republic™ experience.

 

 

Where does it say that these are ALL new servers? I am already on a "destination server" why would I go look at the origin/destination server matrix, by all accounts *I* wasn't moving servers. I'm sorry, but whether or not ALL of the servers including the "destination" servers are in fact different servers than they were yesterday is NOT clear.

[Rothie]

I like ot think my reading comprehension is fine:

 

 

 

 

Where does it say that these are ALL new servers? I am already on a "destination server" why would I go look at the origin/destination server matrix, by all accounts *I* wasn't moving servers. I'm sorry, but whether or not ALL of the servers including the "destination" servers are in fact different servers than they were yesterday is NOT clear.

 

The lack of the term ‘Existing’ Destination servers is the caveat. All that is stated is they now have Upgraded destination servers that can handle more people. I know when I read it, I assumed it meant the same as you did, that they improved the existing servers and more people would be moved to them.

 

But, I guess they thought that by moving everyone in the game it would be fairer in the name lottery for everyone to risk losing one, than have a small portion be safe while the majority be at risk. Who knows, maybe it was a tech issue and they needed to move everyone.

 

I don’t know, and don’t really care anymore. It’s a known fact that BW/EA’s communicative skills re SWTOR is abysmal on a good day, so this is just more of the same.

[Greyshadow]

The lack of the term ‘Existing’ Destination servers is the caveat. All that is stated is they now have Upgraded destination servers that can handle more people. I know when I read it, I assumed it meant the same as you did, that they improved the existing servers and more people would be moved to them.

 

But, I guess they thought that by moving everyone in the game it would be fairer in the name lottery for everyone to risk losing one, than have a small portion be safe while the majority be at risk. Who knows, maybe it was a tech issue and they needed to move everyone.

 

I don’t know, and don’t really care anymore. It’s a known fact that BW/EA’s communicative skills re SWTOR is abysmal on a good day, so this is just more of the same.

 

If they had said in the first place "We setup new servers and on reinstallation of the character database, everyone is subject to a name change" then while I guarentee that there would be gripe, there would be a lot less of it.

 

As opposed to trying to pull this "we did a calculation so complex, we hired Stephen Hawking to come in and work out the physics of who would get to keep their name."

 

It's deliberately misleading, and I can't for the life of me figure out why they thought people were going to fall for it. I AM highly disapointed that I have to change 2 of my characters names, but it's the execution that has me really incensed.

[Rothie]

If they had said in the first place "We setup new servers and on reinstallation of the character database, everyone is subject to a name change" then while I guarentee that there would be gripe, there would be a lot less of it.

 

As opposed to trying to pull this "we did a calculation so complex, we hired Stephen Hawking to come in and work out the physics of who would get to keep their name."

 

It's deliberately misleading, and I can't for the life of me figure out why they thought people were going to fall for it. I AM highly disapointed that I have to change 2 of my characters names, but it's the execution that has me really incensed.

 

Yupyup, thus my ending line It’s a known fact that BW/EA’s communicative skills re SWTOR is abysmal on a good day, so this is just more of the same.

 

Nothing they say surprises me anymore. Like how they’re going to do so much better getting information out on a more timely basis, then we don’t hear squat for over a month from the CM lead or how they’re going to be pushing content out at a MUCH faster pace, we’re at well over 23 weeks without an actual content patch, so hell, ANYthing they do if it beats that they can claim victory lol.

 

In the end, I love the game, but am so fed up with their mismanagement of it that I’m ready to say **** it an cut my loses now and say screw the subscription rewards for f2p, because at this rate I won’t be playing even if they paid ME to do it.

[aeterno]

I wondered the same thing.

 

At one point I tried to login and the new servers we're showing offline with our toons on them but they had different names. Red eclipse was Joliees hutt or something like that. So yea, seems like all new hardware/servers. Really perplexing that they didn't spin this as a migration to new servers as opposed to mergers into existing ones.

[Greyshadow]

I hear ya, I might just be catching the same boat as you when you sail away.

 

 

Ok, yeah it WAS about the name changes, but then it became how/why it was done, before that it was the Chevin Event (what a mess that was), before that Mandalorian Rage (BH class quest that was nearly impossible to finish cause you'd get bugged if you died), before that it was the security key fiasco, before that it was removing color customization, before that it was removing color crystals from green/blue items, before that it was the orange dot!

 

Yeah games have problems, and bugs, that's why you have a test server that's why you have a QA team, that's why you had a year long beta (though some bugs from beta STILL persist) There's no reason for this stuff.

 

Are they seriously going to tell me they thought the layout of the Chevin Event was perfect? Didn't they envision a hundred people trying to change the disco lights at once, or trying to follow the droid, or my favorite, the Droid Race where BOTH factions had to work the same spot, wasn't THAT a thrill to be nearly 500th in line to click something? Sure I popped over to Nar Shaddaa 5 to do it where there were like 10 people, but with this last round of merges, I might have to wait till there's a Nar Shaddaa 10 next time.

 

Yes, I am afraid I have to give the developers a lot of flack for allowing this stuff to happen, however it's the front office's shortsightedness that is driving it into the ground. EA paid a LOT of money for Bioware, so they need to be able to turn a profit on that AND TOR (because I am sure that loan isn't paid off yet), which means getting as much green as they can while spending the least.

 

Meanwhile Doctor Ray and Doctor Greg are laughing all the way to the bank.

[Greyshadow]

I wondered the same thing.

 

At one point I tried to login and the new servers we're showing offline with our toons on them but they had different names. Red eclipse was Joliees hutt or something like that. So yea, seems like all new hardware/servers. Really perplexing that they didn't spin this as a migration to new servers as opposed to mergers into existing ones.

 

It WOULD have made more sense I agree.