Consolidated Post: APAC/Oceanic Server Concerns

[soneil]

Will guilds be able to transfer intact? Our guild has invested a fair bit of credits in bank tabs alone. Not to mention all the things we've stocked our bank with.

[DarkHerring]

In my mind the wise course of action would be to firstly;

 

1) Merge the APAC servers into one.

2) Give time for the dust to settle.

3) If for some reason it simply isn't providing the gaming experience players on the APAC servers are accustomed to, or a large part of the population abandons the game (which from what I've seen in the chat is going to happen anyway if they merge to NA westcoast servers), then and only then, merge to the NA servers.

 

At least they will have given the APAC regional players a chance to play on a local server, and not just close up shop and loose half the player base here... because of an unwanted merge...

 

 

They should give you a job

[odonoghuet]

I would absolutely love to simply transfer to the APAC PvE server, and live happily ever after.

 

Is BioWare underestimating the APAC population? I can almost manage on Master Dar'Nala, so a merge of the 3 APAC servers would render a perfectly respectable population.

 

Bioware isn't looking at the APAC Population. It is looking at how much revenue that the APAC is bringing in compared to the cost of advertising to APAC ($0) and the cost of maintaing the Australian Servers.

 

Low and behold, no word for 8 months then bang here is the one size fits all solution. Could the timing be more LUCKY for Bioware that it happens right at the 12 monrth mark, about the time of an anual contract renewal on hardware like servers, we all get transfered in batch lots off the closing servers to US ones. No giving choices as that may take too long and EA don't want to pay to extend the lease for that. Lucky too is the timing of Makeb, that expansion we all paid for in advance assuring that we will at least look at the game after the transfer to the US servers, trying to milk another subscription month out of us so we can equip our all new range of purple gear, or we can $$ buy the unlock for all the toons we raised during double XP weekends.

[Tale]

The least they could do is front up and admit this merger was more about cutting costs than improving the playing experience of APAC players.

[S-leonhart]

Well, lets hope that EAware actually pays attention to their APAC customers outrage at this U.S merger idea and changes course.

 

Currently reading fleet chat on Dalborra, you would not believe the outrage over this U.S merger, They made some really good points.

 

Increased ping is going to be horrible.

U.S community is... well they said "make Mike Tyson sound like an Oxford graduate".

Second rate names.

Target U.S servers are already unstable.

 

Probably the best one was that the APAC experience will be dead. "We aussies will no longer have our identity and will simply be lost in the tide of americants." (Quote from fleet chat again).

[Amlici]

The least they could do is front up and admit this merger was more about cutting costs than improving the playing experience of APAC players.

 

Nah they are just another dodgy overseas MMO company that doesn't care about anything but money and themselves. Your name is dirt in our region now Bioware.

[Brillat]

Bioware have made their decision. I don't think it was thr best one, but they've made it.

 

We need as a community to at least make sure

 

(1) we're not screwed out of our names by some L5 free-to-play account that hasn't been played in 3 months because we're the 'transfers' , as a long time sub holder with many hours invested in my character I think i deserve a mechanism for keeping priority over inactive / F2P players

 

(2) we get a choice in target server - if we 'want to keep our chosen playstyle' fine but what if we think one of the other two of the three target servers will give us a better experience? Or we need to consolidate characters?

 

Please, let's stop posting about 'it was a bad decision' 'we should have merged' 'unsub unsub unsub' and instead fight as a community to get at least some recognition of the above concerns given that transfers *WILL* be happening.

[scaramunja]

Always about whats good for you self-centered Americians

 

oh settle down, stop being a self righteous tool. Im an aussie, BW tried, the game didnt go aswell as they wanted, it got rationalised. Big deal, move on.

Edited March 26, 2013 by scaramunja

[PurpleCliff]

Please, let's stop posting about 'it was a bad decision' 'we should have merged' 'unsub unsub unsub' and instead fight as a community to get at least some recognition of the above concerns given that transfers *WILL* be happening.

 

Everything is in flux until it actually happens. I don't think it's unreasonable to urge BioWare to change their mind at this time.

[Elysiah]

Not defending them but why would they keep paying for the servers if apac populations are so low? Lets remember its eaware we're talking about here. They care for profit only. All this ************ and moaning in the forums isn't going to change anything and I'm sure they're ready to lose a few subs over it.

(Plus I'm sure most of you that say you're leaving will stick around anyway)

If the ping is anything like WoW it'll be playable and not game breaking.

As for losing character names, really not a big deal people.

 

Chill out people.

[AnarchyAngel]

Merging the servers is the first step, after this then you should consider other alternatives, I still think its an opportunity for Bioware (EA) just to close servers and save money, there going to lose more people than they will gain/save closing the APAC servers. There reasoning is game play styles differ, yes Id agree if this were a standard mmo but even on a pvp vs pve server there is like 4 planets that this differs on. Id personally make it a PVE server and if you want PVP then just turn it on.

 

Also why isnt it being discussed the idea of just letting us joining the US servers for PVP and Flashpoints? That way we get the best of both worlds? and dont tell me its not possible anything is possible its just time and as we all know the almight dollar what this is all really about.

[keitzy]

Bioware have made their decision. I don't think it was thr best one, but they've made it.

 

We need as a community to at least make sure

 

(1) we're not screwed out of our names by some L5 free-to-play account that hasn't been played in 3 months because we're the 'transfers' , as a long time sub holder with many hours invested in my character I think i deserve a mechanism for keeping priority over inactive / F2P players

 

(2) we get a choice in target server - if we 'want to keep our chosen playstyle' fine but what if we think one of the other two of the three target servers will give us a better experience? Or we need to consolidate characters?

 

Please, let's stop posting about 'it was a bad decision' 'we should have merged' 'unsub unsub unsub' and instead fight as a community to get at least some recognition of the above concerns given that transfers *WILL* be happening.

 

Why they didn't listen many posts, so why would we fighting them change anything. IT's decided by the EA accountants. Either merge to US or unsub.

Lets hope they don't screw over guilds.

Gotta feel For Notorious Synergy(imp) and TEHEE(pub) on Dalborra as they have the most PVE progression on Dalborra.

Considering NS were the second in the world to do the hidden boss in TFB HM its kinda sad that so much history from one server will be gone. The Dalborra community is awesome and will be sadly missed.

Edited March 26, 2013 by keitzy

[Fontine]

I'm Curious as to what this means for legacy unlocks and reputation stuff, as it is all linked to my legacy does this mean i will have to begin all over again?

[ZinBladez]

This was a finacial decision pure and simple.

 

Some months ago I predicted this outcome in this very thread, it was the most likely outcome by far.

Do I like it? Heck no!

 

Lets be clear its not about "solving" population issues..here's why

 

Taking MAster Dar'Nala as an example.

Master D has 27-50 people on rep fleet at prime time currrently, I checked The Bastion of late and it was about 60, add them together you get 110... is that a "solved" population???

Of course not!!

 

By contrast Dalborra has had of late about 120 on Rep Fleet during prime time and Gav Daragon had approx Master D numbers.

 

Lets add these all together

 

Master D 50

Dalborra 120

Gav 50

 

= 220

 

So 220 for a merged Rep fleet pop in APAC prime time

vs

110 Rep fleet in APAC prime time with Master D rolled into the Bastion!

 

So this not the best fix for APAC pop issues AT ALL .

In fact its a worse solution for APAC players in their prime time than an APAC merge, simple math proves it.

 

Its about the cost of maintaining APAC servers vs APAC population and thats it.

Oh and of course lets not forget that this was probably known since they first looked at this issue in August 2012..

The APAC server contracts have just come up for renewal..

 

The solution from a business sense has been obvious for months.

Likewise the best solution for the players has been obvious for months ( APAC server merge which 90% of players wanted).

 

Its a monetary decision pure and simple and anything else is pure unadulterated spin.

 

Frankly this may well be the end of my days playing MMO's..

 

On another note...the delay in dealing with this issue only made the population issue worse leading to this result becoming more and more likely. Like many others I feel like I have been strung along until they had to pay to renew the APAC servers...

 

Not happy at all!

 

PS. I feel most sorry for the Dalborra players, their server was the best of all and was functional, not great but you could get stuff done and now they have lost that..

 

 

Your words are so agreeable. much respect

[Alvii]

PLEASE READ THIS ERIC MUSSO AND EVERYONE ELSE BEFORE THEY POST FURTHER !!!!!!!

 

This is my first time posting so I will make this short, SEPARATING all 3 oceanic servers and sending them to different NA servers will NOT solve the population issue !!! The problem is that oceanic and american folks play at different times, so the effective number of people online at oceanic primetime has NOT changed !!! I will still be playing with the same number of people currrently in MDN even if I move to Bastion because most americans will be sleeping when oceanic people play ie. there will still be problems with pvp/fps/ops. There is a very very big flaw BW's logic if they think sending all oceanic players to different servers will solve the population issue. Population issue can only be solved my a merge.

 

I sincerely hope everyone reads this, Thank You.

 

Dabinllo/Mathdebate/Cunninglinguist MDN

Edited March 26, 2013 by Alvii

[LightAndShade]

I am prepared to give you the benefit of the doubt that you are still trying to improve our 'playing experience'. This whole revenue/server lease theory could be true but I don't care. Thats because, if you have not told us that due to 'financial reasons' or otherwise, you are taking this course of action, then I have to take you on face value and assume you are trying your best, albeit slowly.

 

You need a way better understanding of what the players want. Conduct a poll or actually speak to people. I would bet my subscription on the results showing an undeniable majority of APAC players value ping over population, server type, legacy and character names combined. Not everyone, but a huge majority. A majority so big that they are worth pleasing if you really have the APAC community's best interests at heart. Do the research, and show me results that say otherwise.

 

This is the wrong decision. I find the reasons you have given us confusing and inconsiderate to the way everyone appears to feel about the issue.

 

TL;DR Change this decision. I cannot be any clearer about it. I will be unsubscribing if you don't.

Do nothing; it would be better than this because to me and I would say the majority (WTB Stats): PING > POPULATION

[Tom_the_Narwhal]

Here is a long post I made from my perspective. I hope Bioware read it.

 

http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=615362

[Bethykins]

Well Bioware.... I guess its a discision. One that should have been made 6 months ago.... oh hang on that would mean you would have been paying for servers that no one was using!

I will unsub and I am not saying this as a threat just as a fact. With the double exp weekends I decided to roll on Dalborra and started leveling and having a great time. Regular warzone pops and flashpoints met some great people. And now you tell me you will transfer alll my characters to the Bastion. This is not a server I want to be on. It will not solve the prime time server population for us it will be only slightly better meaning its still completely ****!

Not to mention latency, while it is on par with WoW in this game it matters alot, particularly when it comes to pvp and cutting edge pve where a half second counts. And yes I did play on the NA servers to start with and yes I did complain about it at the time and dream of lower ping which you guys delivered... I wish you weren't taking it away.

 

I am very disapointed. Dalborra was a rocking server and you ruined it.

I would also like to say that refunding the payment for Makeb might be some goodwill though not necessarily in line with T&S. Cause you are going to need all the goodwill you can get in Aust/NZ at the moment.

[PurpleCliff]

PLEASE READ THIS ERIC MUSSO AND EVERYONE ELSE BEFORE THEY POST FURTHER !!!!!!!

 

This is my first time posting so I will make this short, SEPARATING all 3 oceanic servers and sending them to different NA servers will NOT solve the population issue !!! The problem is that oceanic and american folks play at different times, so the effective number of people online at oceanic primetime has NOT changed !!! I will still be playing with the same number of people currrently in MDN even if I move to Bastion because most americans will be sleeping when oceanic people play. There is a very very big flaw BW's logic if they think sending all oceanic players to different servers will solve the population issue. Population can only be solved my a merge.

 

I sincerely hope everyone reads this, Thank You.

 

Dabinllo/Mathdebate/Cunninglinguist MDN

 

Sorry to disagree, but I really don't think that's a big issue here. Tons of US players play on "off" times. As to latency and community though, yes we lose them.

[JakeTetra]

its my opinion that by playing on an APAC server we have come to expect a lower pop than any US/EU server, a merge between the 3 servers would not yield enough players to compete with any of the US mega servers, but we were not asking for a merge to be able to compete, a merge was a quality of life improvement. centralising all of the APAC players gives us a greater population, while we still get our ping our sense of community and an all round better game.

 

the merge between APAC servers and US servers will have a negative effect on the APAC players that remain, we lose our character names and our community, we do not get the full benefit of the high pop servers because of the time zone difference, yes we will have all the late night americans playing but that would be comparable to a merge of the APAC servers. on top of that we lose our ping, giving us a disadvantage in both pve and pvp. this will lead to a majority of APAC players leaving the game, which means Bioware loses subs and the remaining players lose friends and will lead to more un subs for various reasons.

 

while i understand the argument that there are 3 different servers and a merge of all 3 is undesirable for an incredibly small group of players. opening up transfers between APAC servers or only to Dalborra would prove extremely beneficial. Players from the other 2 servers will be able to transfer to dalborra. once that happens the numbers that want to stay will be clear to you and then appropriate action can be taken, which could be the closure of the two empty servers. in this way no one is forced onto a server type they dont want to be on, its up to the individual player. forced transfers can then be put in place for the dead servers while one can still be maintained.

[Citara]

..... We will then offer Free Character Transfers to anyone currently playing on an APAC server to a North American server of the same gameplay type, specifically:

• Mastar Dar’Nala (PvP) will transfer to The Bastion (PvP)
  
• Gav Daragon (RP-PvE) will transfer to Begeren Colony (RP-PvE)
  
• Dalborra (PvE) will transfer to The Harbinger (PvE)
  

 

.....

 

-eric

 

Hi Eric and Bioware and EA,

 

Can I ask, that since many of the current players on all 3 oceanic servers will have already gone through one server transfer (initially back in the days of the commencement of oceanic servers), and since many of those players were players that have been PAID subscribers since commencement, can we ask that, as the plan is to move us all again, can the decision be made to allow character/legacy names to be kept based on time of creation rather than "name already in use on server destination"?

 

It would mean only a small oceanic population quantity worth of players on those US servers would be displaced (have to change THEIR name) amongst the vast number of existing US server players already playing. And not all oceanic server population names would qualify as I imagine we have had new players/characters created that would also be merging (who's names already may be taken).

 

I think this would go a long way to repair the relationship, that both Bioware and EA have been reluctant to make any effort, with between themselves and the oceanic community, especially since a lot of us were subscribers from the start (even the start where Bioware/EA did there best to try and prevent oceanic players from even playing the game... I remember that too).

 

If only just to validate those oceanic players that have remained committed (through subscription or just simply still playing) for the last year (and for many... the year and 3.5 months or beyond for anyone in BETA) that we have been part of the community.

[wikd]

That's the end of this game for me for all the obvious reasons.

 

I highly recommend everyone tries a few different games, dota is pretty good.

That RL game can be pretty good too.

 

Jeck is my steam name, add me.

 

Also I agree with Pade, go eat a FUC.KING FAT D.ICK YOU FUC.King EA CUN>TS.

[Obirayy]

Just got word that Jogger the pro scoundrel is unsubbing... Bioware this will be the end of you

[PPAlien]

So, not sure if this is allowed, but I did notice that as long as it is not for profit or abusive a certain other survey was allowed on these forums recently. So here is a PETITION TO KEEP THE LOCAL APAC SERVERS AND MERGE THEM INTO ONE.

 

Sign it if you agree and pass it on to your guildies/friends etc. At least we may get some idea of the numbers for this solution.

 

PETITION FOR MERGER OF 3 APAC SERVERS INTO 1

 

 

(On a similar note, how hard would it be for BW to include a survey in game upon everyones next log in where they just have to click their favourite option for server merges? Sounds pretty simple)

[Obirayy]

That's the end of this game for me for all the obvious reasons.

 

I highly recommend everyone tries a few different games, dota is pretty good.

That RL game can be pretty good too.

 

Jeck is my steam name, add me.

 

Also I agree with Pade, go eat a FUC.KING FAT D.ICK YOU FUC.King EA CUN>TS.

 

Hajahahahahaga