Unofficial RP Super-Servers

[RossaK]

Oh bollux, I was hoping this controversy was dying down....

 

Here's my honest $.02 on this situation, because it really needs to go away now:

 

I think the title "Super-Server" needs to be set aside. Completely. While the premise was well-intended, it's not REALLY turning out to be indicative of anything super. There are RPers on ALL the RP servers. Additionally, servers marked as "super" aren't being proven to have a larger RP population than any other RP server. And population sizes do not necessarily equate to better RP support or experiences. Labeling certain servers as "super" is misleading.

 

If swtor-rp.com wants to serve the entire RP community, this would be a good way to do it. Call the servers "SWTOR-RP" servers if you wish. But stop using the term, "Super-Server" and stop actively pushing RPers toward them, to the possible detriment of the other RP communities that you claim to support. All this is doing is causing RPers who aren't on the designated Super-Servers to feel slighted and defensive. Is that what you intended?

 

As part of an already small community, we need to pull together and support ALL of us, no matter where we RP. Let's agree to drop this discussion and support RP on our own servers.

 

 

I agree with most of this post. Sadly those same people who feel/felt slighted or defensive are the ones who very clearly have turned good intentions into something negative. At this point its not worth maintaining the super-server title. But at the same time those people with knots in their knickers over this will most assuredly keep pushing roleplayers towards this server or that server.

 

We are a small community and we should be pulling together.

[Guildrum]

Yes, but would pulling together as you would suggest result in 2-3 active RP servers and all the others being dead? If you've RPed on WoW before, you know what I am talking about. We should be pulling together on the forums, chatting on how to keep RP alive and ideas for RP characters and events, and prevent ourselves from "factioning" based on what server we are on.

[Sivri]

I kind of agree with the previous poster, I don't think that somehow, for whatever reason gathering all of the RPers on one/two servers is the solution. That's what happened in World of Warcraft, where you really had RP on either, 1. Moon Guard or 2. Wyrmrest Accord, and if you didn't choose on of those servers, no matter how densely populated they are, you are pretty much going to be alone in the RP. There are enough RPers to fill the RP servers, we just need to make it easy to engage in RP, walk around instead of running, talk in Cantinas, all that stuff. All it really takes is to pique some peoples' interest to start RP.

 

Just my 2 cents.

 

Edit: Not that I am saying that the conversation needs to stop, it's good to organize RP regardless of your server of choice, but what I've gotten from the thread is that there is this idea that there needs to be a couple of "RP refuges" instead of spreading it out over different RP servers.

 

Seeing from an EU perspective having played WoW for quite a while and spent half of that time roleplaying, we had a situation where yes Argent Dawn was big, but it was (in my eyes) almost -too- big. You could be an evil-doer and no one would really care because so were the next ten people down the line.

I played on Steamwheedle Cartel, a smaller server - and yes, with it's own clear issues like clique-forming (a luxury problem compared to extremely low population) etc. but, RP was very clearly there and the community as such was functioning quite well. It wasn't as big as AD, you could perhaps compare AD to being a big city, and SWC to a smaller village where knowing just about who everyone is on the surface is a viable thing.

And SWC wasn't the only RP server going on in a well-functioning way, in the "shadow" of AD.

 

What I am trying to say here is that, the fact that we are many servers right now isn't necessarily something that is going to prevent good and thriving RP communities from happening. I had a blast back then, by far some of the best experiences in Roleplay that I have, have come from my time there.

Neither is the development going to happen over-night, and yes it might be that right now we're not enough to spread out to all of them but all that comes with time - if a server today maybe only has around ten roleplayers, they're eventually going to be joining up somewhere else, but as long as there's a healthy 5ish small-medium sized guilds with people willing to work for their community then there's plenty of potential for the server to still develop into something good with time. And when I say time I mean more than a year

[Guildrum]

Well of course, there is no denying that. I was just thinking that the label/idea of super servers should be dropped, because that would inevitably result in bringing in the majority of the roleplayers, leaving nothing for the others servers. What should happen is that we organize RP across all of the servers, at least proportionally, rather than just encouraging growth on any few servers.

[FreelanceWizard]

Well of course, there is no denying that. I was just thinking that the label/idea of super servers should be dropped...

 

I agree, but for different reasons. Right now, a superserver is less critical because it seems like we have a lot of RPers in TOR -- more than WoW has or possibly ever had. So, unifying the community on a single server isn't really necessary. 2-3 years down the line, of course, it may be a useful concept (note Moon Guard and Wyrmrest Accord on WoW). At the time a superserver was declared, I don't think anyone was expecting the volume of RPers that would be playing this game.

 

That said, the major reason I'd like to see the whole superserver thing fall by the wayside is because it's clearly giving a set of people on several servers a great deal of heartburn. Without speculating on anyone's reasons, I will say that this is bringing out the worst in "RPer drama," making us look bad, and potentially driving away new role-players. Despite knowing many people on one of the RP servers, I chose not to create characters there specifically because of that behavior, and in another thread, another player has said basically the same thing. I would be surprised if some players newer to the community looked at those (and this!) thread and said to themselves, "Man, they're already having ugly drama? Screw this. Better roll on a PvE server." This is not good.

 

Look, it doesn't really matter who said or did what in this whole superserver thing. It doesn't matter because all of the RP servers appear to have good, solid RP, so where you play largely doesn't matter. What continuing this battle does do is make RPers look like drama queens and tears the overall community apart.

 

So, maybe, possibly, we could let this whole thing drop?

[Jubmania]

I agree, but for different reasons. Right now, a superserver is less critical because it seems like we have a lot of RPers in TOR -- more than WoW has or possibly ever had. So, unifying the community on a single server isn't really necessary. 2-3 years down the line, of course, it may be a useful concept (note Moon Guard and Wyrmrest Accord on WoW). At the time a superserver was declared, I don't think anyone was expecting the volume of RPers that would be playing this game.

 

That said, the major reason I'd like to see the whole superserver thing fall by the wayside is because it's clearly giving a set of people on several servers a great deal of heartburn. Without speculating on anyone's reasons, I will say that this is bringing out the worst in "RPer drama," making us look bad, and potentially driving away new role-players. Despite knowing many people on one of the RP servers, I chose not to create characters there specifically because of that behavior, and in another thread, another player has said basically the same thing. I would be surprised if some players newer to the community looked at those (and this!) thread and said to themselves, "Man, they're already having ugly drama? Screw this. Better roll on a PvE server." This is not good.

 

Look, it doesn't really matter who said or did what in this whole superserver thing. It doesn't matter because all of the RP servers appear to have good, solid RP, so where you play largely doesn't matter. What continuing this battle does do is make RPers look like drama queens and tears the overall community apart.

 

So, maybe, possibly, we could let this whole thing drop?

 

Agreed =)

[PrinceOmnius]

For the people who choose The Progenitor EU we had a pretty amazing event yesterday and we have another big one coming up next saturday.

 

http://www.swtor-rp.com/progenitor/page/1/m/3305111/viewthread/1815261-madame-sadira-hutts-annual-ball-reconciliation

[Sotof]

The project with the guild cloud was fine, however the moment they tried to circumvent Bioware's launch program it could only turn into drama. People are silly, for now a super-server is absolutely unnecessary and hopefully it always will be if we nurture the RP community well.

[ProsaicProse]

I'm honestly concerned about the whole super server thing. Having logged into, and made characters on a few of them, I'm finding the horrendous queue times and General chat to be daunting. There aren't that many RP servers as it is, it might be a better idea for people to spread out a bit more. >.<

[Darka]

I have started seeing some complaints over RP being solely in Cantinas

I will admit that social hubs will always be more popular and able to find things more easier but if you feel RP is lacking outside of the cantina, be pro active about it

I will ICly interact with anyone anywhere

[Zealuu]

This sounds like a very nice concept. Glad we settled on The Progenitor(s?) now.

[Lord_Paladin]

I'm honestly concerned about the whole super server thing. Having logged into, and made characters on a few of them, I'm finding the horrendous queue times and General chat to be daunting. There aren't that many RP servers as it is, it might be a better idea for people to spread out a bit more. >.<

 

This is a launch condition, and because BioWare didn't stock RP servers with only RP guilds on the Guild Launch program. They also threw in a whole bunch of non-RP PvE guilds too.

 

In a month or two you'll start to see people level out their play time and queues will start to go away. Right now lots of people are on vacation.

 

As for spreading out the RPers across several servers, I still think this is a terrible idea.

 

I would rather have a server of all RPers, than have it spread across 6 servers and be outnumbered. With the super server setup, we had a chance to make a server where RPers outnumbered the non-RPers (who will, incidentally, be the first to leave for a different server if the queues keep up).

[StealthNerf]

As for spreading out the RPers across several servers, I still think this is a terrible idea.

 

I would rather have a server of all RPers, than have it spread across 6 servers and be outnumbered. With the super server setup, we had a chance to make a server where RPers outnumbered the non-RPers (who will, incidentally, be the first to leave for a different server if the queues keep up).

 

I'm not really concerned about total numbers of RPers vs non-RPers because I will never get a chance to RP with everyone.

 

My favourite RP is one on one with just a few people. I can have that just as much on a huge server or small server.

 

We also need several servers due to ping and location issues. From Australia I'm on a west coast server which has a good 80ms difference to an east coast server. I don't really like to choose between RP and ping. Some say it doesn't make a difference, but I can definitely feel it.

 

Plus after being forced to play on east coast servers for years (like Age of Conan which had no west coast servers) at 320 odd ping, I'm really savouring the 180 ping I get now. I do RP a lot, but like to do other stuff just as much, so this is a big issue to me.

Edited January 1, 2012 by StealthNerf

[ProsaicProse]

Aye, it seems as if the "super servers" are mostly (all?) East coast. I'm a west coast person, and yes, high ping due to distance... sucks.

[AlyxDinas]

People should simply play wherever and encourage RP on whichever server they are on. I'm on Lord Adraas, sure, but it's mostly because my guildmates are on Lord Adraas too.

 

In all, people shouldn't put too much thought or stock into this. Play on the server that is best for you and your needs. The important thing is to foster the community wherever you are.

Edited January 1, 2012 by AlyxDinas

[Ayami_no_baka]

RP Super Server = Bad idea.

 

Already the only server where I ever encounter a queue is Lord Adraas. I have been on that server since before it was declared a super server and am now less than happy with that decision I love the server, I love the people and the community and do not wish to leave...but the queue is starting to get worse and it's no fun matter anymore.

 

There are hundreds of RPers out there, the forums already give very good information about what's going on on which server, guilds, events, etc...declaring a super server was totally unnecessary. The reason for chosing a server shouldn't be 'Is this the RP super server?' It should be 'Do I have friends here?' or 'Is there a guild here, that I fit into?' or 'Is the RP community, what I am looking for?'

 

Well...I think this is another case of unofficial forums trying to mess with official decisions and not being able to stay humble and out of harms way. It's good to have a RP forum to turn to...but that forum making such huge decisions and looking to every new player as if it's the only way to go - I don't like that AT ALL.

 

Well...I will have to deal with it now. I didn't get a say in this. Neither did all the other RPers on Lord Adraas. Only a few people voting on an unofficial website...LOL -.- Fail.

[alienshirt]

but the queue is starting to get worse and it's no fun matter anymore.

 

It surprises me how so many people complain about queues this early still in the launch period of SWTOR. The most I have experienced during peak weekend playtimes was 15 minute queue. Are players that impatient they can't do something else during this wait time or launch the game ahead of time before they are "ready" to play? Personally I would rather experience a small queue then play on a server with half the population. Plus I don't think the queue is going to be a permanent issue we have to deal with as the weeks go by.

[ProsaicProse]

Erm.. the queue I waited on the other night for Lord Adraas was about 30-45 minutes. When I crashed after I got in, I didn't bother trying again and logged in somewhere else. >.> Edited January 2, 2012 by ProsaicProse

[Ayami_no_baka]

It surprises me how so many people complain about queues this early still in the launch period of SWTOR. The most I have experienced during peak weekend playtimes was 15 minute queue. Are players that impatient they can't do something else during this wait time or launch the game ahead of time before they are "ready" to play? Personally I would rather experience a small queue then play on a server with half the population. Plus I don't think the queue is going to be a permanent issue we have to deal with as the weeks go by.

 

I am not talking about 10 minutes from time to time. I am talking 30-45 minute queue every evening. And yeah, for people with a real life and only limited time to play per day that IS an issue If of the maybe 2 hours I have each evening I have to be in queue for 50% of that time, that's not very funny

 

So yeah...queues are an issue. And not because I am impatient, but because I can't play whenever I want. And the queue was not an issue before the super server declaration So...I stand by my point.

[Shaddaq]

Hello,

 

I suspect queue problems are temporary. I think they will clear in a few days or weeks.

[PrinceOmnius]

I am not talking about 10 minutes from time to time. I am talking 30-45 minute queue every evening. And yeah, for people with a real life and only limited time to play per day that IS an issue If of the maybe 2 hours I have each evening I have to be in queue for 50% of that time, that's not very funny

 

So yeah...queues are an issue. And not because I am impatient, but because I can't play whenever I want. And the queue was not an issue before the super server declaration So...I stand by my point.

 

It depends on your scedule and preference. I'm on The Progenitor the european super server and it has queues too, often about 30-45 minutes especially around prime time. But what I do is that I load up the game when I get home and fix dinner. By the time I'm done I'm always ready to play the game.

 

Queues are a disadvantage now but when the population stabilizes on the servers your going to be happy that you picked a superserver, because they will still have a crowded population with plenty of people in rp hotspots.

 

I picked Argent Dawn for that reason, and tho it had queues during the first year and around the launch of new expansions you always had a good population in between. I love that, but I can see other people prefer a light population server where everyone knows each other.

 

If you absolutely hate queues then I'd advise to avoiding the superservers. I'm sure there is plenty of RP to be found on the other servers EU side and US. But if you like crowded servers like Moonguard/Argent Dawn and are willing to pay for it with waiting a bit to get in then the superservers are what you're looking for.

[SelinaK]

Other chat channels of note:

 

On The Progenitor, /cjoin rp as well as /cjoin rpempire and /cjoin rprepublic - hopefully Bioware will put interfaction chat in at some point, at least for RP servers - it really is a pain at the moment organising events

 

On Lord Adraas, /cjoin swtorrp as well (I'm not sure why this isn't in the first post!) and /cjoin rp (really, it shold be just rp, as we know what game we are playing already, but the preorder people screwed up and that's why we're stuck with the silly names for most channels because it's hard to get people to move now) as well as /cjoin imperialnet and /cjoin republicnet and there is also another one but I can't remember the name

Edited January 7, 2012 by SelinaK

[Ganden]

Other chat channels of note:

 

On The Progenitor, /cjoin rp as well as /cjoin rpempire and /cjoin rprepublic - hopefully Bioware will put interfaction chat in at some point, at least for RP servers - it really is a pain at the moment organising events

 

On Lord Adraas, /cjoin swtorrp as well (I'm not sure why this isn't in the first post!) and /cjoin rp (really, it shold be just rp, as we know what game we are playing already, but the preorder people screwed up and that's why we're stuck with the silly names for most channels because it's hard to get people to move now) as well as /cjoin imperialnet and /cjoin republicnet and there is also another one but I can't remember the name

 

I'll make some amendments to the original post. Thanks

[SelinaK]

Most of the people on Lord Adraas seem to be using the RP channel as an OOC channel, with another channel for OOC - there seems to be an equal split between OOCers between OOC and swtorrp, which is a shame, I wish the preorder people had sorted themselves out better because it seems like most people are simply going to stay put and split up, a bit like the whole people who got left behind on other servers The Progenitor has loads of RP on EU too though, I just keep coming on quite late and the timezones make it easier visiting US sometimes

[arcaspiff]

you forgot to mention Ebon Hawk