Server Pops Too Low - Remove Shards

[Kirlain]

I completely agree with u guys. This looks like a single player COOP game, i just dont feel it as MMO. I have been walking through some corridors, cities i dunno, it just looks as a ghost world. As if there are no real people playing it, i cant see a fellow player, nor an opponent..

 

All looks stiff, Most of NPC models are unclickable looking as they are imprinted into the game. It feels a lot linear. Really the biggest problem is absence of great compact world that has a look and feel where people are running, fighting, talking whatever.. Planets and hubs are just devoid of players...

 

Dunno but I really expected it to be a real MMO, i just feel like I cant wait for Guild Wars 2.

 

Exactly my thoughts. Everything feels so dead from the cities to the map populations. Its been quite difficult getting some heroic quests done just because there's no one to group with. There's also little interaction/collaboration between players to really foster building friendships and a sense of community. In Bioware's defense, I don't know how easy it is to magically fix this overnight. One can only hope this is something they are cognizant of and trying to address.

 

I hate to say this, but this game I had high hopes for. Don't get me wrong, I am still enjoying it and am planning to play longer. However, I can't see myself sticking around once D3 and GW2 roll out. However, as long as there are people who don't mind, more power to them

[Werra]

Agreed.

 

I think that the merge will happen after the end of the free month subscription...

 

The problem is not in the merge. They need to REMOVE the shards. No point in merging the servers because we will still have the same problem, 500 or 3000 players per server wont make any difference if they keep using instanced servers or shards.

 

I think the problem is that they just dont believe in their 3d engine and net code along with their server infrastructure.

[Werra]

Eno one to group with. There's also little interaction/collaboration between players to really foster building friendships and a sense of community. In Bioware's defense, I don't know how easy it is to magically fix this overnight. One can only hope this is something they are cognizant of and trying to address.

 

Yes i mean the real aspect of MMOs and 'feeling' is players' interaction. I remember TBC and Quel'Danas - Sun's Reach area where we had a real world PVP. I really enjoyed being in a constant danger, i really liked that i could see so many players of opposite faction. The emotion was so intense.

Edited January 11, 2012 by Werra

[Kamikaze]

I agree; the game is simply much too empty.

[replar]

I would really love to see it go. This sharding takes the 'Massively Multiplayer' out of MMORPG.

[Venares]

/signed

Sharding is an utterly horrible idea, not to mention a very outdatated system.

And as most have said already, its making zones look like ghost towns.

[Jswizzle]

Newbie zones are full.

 

I'm sorry you out leveled every other player by a huge margin.

[CalvinDu]

Places like Alderaan and Tatooine are full of ghost towns, the game definitely laks that MMO feel most of the time.

[Cioffaz]

The problem is not in the merge. They need to REMOVE the shards. No point in merging the servers because we will still have the same problem, 500 or 3000 players per server wont make any difference if they keep using instanced servers or shards.

 

I think the problem is that they just dont believe in their 3d engine and net code along with their server infrastructure.

 

Imho removing servers will populate the remaining ones...all the shards they have. Server population and sharding system are different things. Server population is a problem, sharding is a design choice. We can agree or not on the desing choice but we must agree (and solve i think) the problem, first.

[Werra]

Yesteday on Tatooine there were 20 players, I felt like im the only 1 playing the game. No sign of opposite faction.

[Werra]

Imho removing servers will populate the remaining ones...all the shards they have. Server population and sharding system are different things. Server population is a problem, sharding is a design choice. We can agree or not on the desing choice but we must agree (and solve i think) the problem, first.

 

I have heard on other forums that a Bioware representative said they can remove and add shards at will. They are obviously lying as it seems the game isnt capable of handling the sandbox world. For example it is really annoying that u cannot see ur party member even if u r standing n the same spot.

 

The server merging will only be a temp solution to the problem, U still wont be able to see ur party member as outdoor public place is completely instanced. The only solution is sandbox with minor phasing such as EVE, WOW, Rifts even GW2 will have a sandbox server IS.

 

There are no real heroes, your name wont be remembered as a hero or a nemesis. I hate saying this, but when I played WOW, every1 knew who good and serious players were, we all knew the names of leading guilds, who to challenge for a duel to gain prestige etc...

 

COOP and MMO are completely different things.

Edited January 11, 2012 by Werra

[Cioffaz]

I agree with you sir, but if a server is low populated, even with only one shard it will be "crowdy" at the same level...

 

I don't like the shard system, but i can live with it now (RP-PVP server, nice populated atm...). You're talking about the game type (mmo or coop), not about server population, if i've understood you.

[Werra]

I agree with you sir, but if a server is low populated, even with only one shard it will be "crowdy" at the same level...

 

I don't like the shard system, but i can live with it now (RP-PVP server, nice populated atm...). You're talking about the game type (mmo or coop), not about server population, if i've understood you.

 

Yes sir, the problem is the 'feel' of the game. It feels like COOP game because of those shards ( instanced world). I play on heavy populated server ( Uthar Wynn), i also played on full ( Legions of Letow- LOL) server.

 

Its completely the same. FULL or LOW populated server its the same. Why? Because the instance can handle let say 100 players at the most. On low pop server u will have less instances then on FULL server. But, the effect will be the same. Instead of 20 instances on LOW pop server you will have 150 instances on FULL pop server ( the numbers are random just for example) and u will still be able to see only a dozen players.

[Hobnobb]

There is a reason why they have shards. They didnt implement the system just to piss us off.

 

However maybe they could try to make some exception for Ilum ...

[SinisterZz]

I play on Tassaa Bareesh and i barely come across any people; on Balmorra atm there are 10 people max. in fleet maybe around 30. Is Bioware going to do something about servers with too low populations? Server mergers? Char migrations? Ha well if nothign changes i will prolly have to reroll on another server wich i do not want to do!

[Flowerslayer]

The sharding should only prevent overpopulation, not kill the game entirely. When I see multiple shards holding 40-50 players on a huge planet it leads me to believe the engine is so poor it cant handle a decent population in the first place, hence the sharding.

[Werra]

I play on Tassaa Bareesh and i barely come across any people; on Balmorra atm there are 10 people max. in fleet maybe around 30. Is Bioware going to do something about servers with too low populations? Server mergers? Char migrations? Ha well if nothign changes i will prolly have to reroll on another server wich i do not want to do!

 

Mate, it wont be of any help. Even on FULL pop server the game is empty. They have put more shards there. The effect is the same > 5-80 players at the most.

Edited January 11, 2012 by Werra

[Jinzouningen]

Newbie zones are full.

 

I'm sorry you out leveled every other player by a huge margin.

 

thats a moot point. i work full time and have a family. i didnt rush through anything. I did every flash point more than once. people keep saying early zones are full and blah blah you out lvl'd people thats not even intelligent. There isnt anyone there. Plain and simple. Stop making excuses for something thats just a bad idea. I'm not a fan of the first guild wars and i cant bad mouth it either but when i went somewhere to do quests it was an instance. I honestly didnt get that. I could not see the point. That was some yrs ago and i didnt stay long but this game brought back the same feeling. No ones putting the game down just stating a fact.

[Werra]

thats a moot point. i work full time and have a family. i didnt rush through anything. I did every flash point more than once. people keep saying early zones are full and blah blah you out lvl'd people thats not even intelligent. There isnt anyone there. Plain and simple. Stop making excuses for something thats just a bad idea. I'm not a fan of the first guild wars and i cant bad mouth it either but when i went somewhere to do quests it was an instance. I honestly didnt get that. I could not see the point. That was some yrs ago and i didnt stay long but this game brought back the same feeling. No ones putting the game down just stating a fact.

 

I agree with u. Outdoor instancing was the only reason I have quit playing GW. The feeling is getting back GW2 wont be instanced thou.

[Werra]

1.0.2d is out and still sharding exists. It wont be fixed in 1.1 thou. They promised that will be only a temporary solution ( again lies) but im afraid that is how the game works. Yesterday Tatooine had 22 player in peak hours. It feels so void of life. Edited January 12, 2012 by Werra

[Dire-Wolf]

The sharding is way over the top. I play an Imperial on a pvp server (Infinite Empire) and I'm level 34. In all my hours of playing I've only seen four Republic players. Two in a sanctuary on Nar Shaddaa, one in a cave on Tatooine about to enter a phase and one riding a taxi on Alderaan. There is no such thing as world pvp in TOR. I get that the Empire out numbers the Republic but this is ridiculous.

 

It's not just world pvp that suffers either. You only ever see 3-5 other Empire players on the entire planet and it makes it feel like the game is empty and dead.

 

I really hope they remove sharding soon or at least increase the amount of people per shard. The servers can't be that bad that they can't handle everyone on one world, surely?

[Fyros]

Sharding isn't why you aren't seeing so few people, think about it a bit:

 

If your world has split into 2 instances and you're only seeing 2 people as you play in it then:

 

1) If the instances have the same number of people in them, you'd only have seen 4 people assuming the same distribution, if the two instancs were joined into one. Hardly an increase to "massive".

 

2) If your instance is lighter than the other, say only 10 in your instance and 100 in the other then why aren't you switching instance so you can see 20 instead ( 10 x 2 )?

 

The issue isn't the shards, its the server population being spread over a large number of difference spaces. The areas are massive and there are a lot of areas. You don't see people because they are spread out.

 

Even inspite of there being not a lot of others visible on my screen, it is still an MMO in my view because:

 

1) There always seems to be someone close enough to click the clickie that spawns once every couple of minutes while I'm fighting the mob that guards it, forcing me to kick my heels for several minutes waiting for the clickie to respawn.

 

2) Some bonus mission bosses "kill leader of whatever" always seem to have a queue of people waiting for the next 5 minute spawn. Some are happy to join up to share the next kill, some are not.

 

3) I can still form groups for group content if I want to. Last time was yesterday at 4 am when there were only 6 of us on Balmorra.

Edited January 13, 2012 by Fyros

[Werra]

Sharding isn't why you aren't seeing so few people, think about it a bit:

 

If your world has split into 2 instances and you're only seeing 2 people as you play in it then:

 

1) If the instances have the same number of people in them, you'd only have seen 4 people assuming the same distribution, if the two instancs were joined into one. Hardly an increase to "massive".

 

2) If your instance is lighter than the other, say only 10 in your instance and 100 in the other then why aren't you switching instance so you can see 20 instead ( 10 x 2 )?

 

The issue isn't the shards, its the server population being spread over a large number of difference spaces. The areas are massive and there are a lot of areas.

 

Even inspite of there being not a lot of others visible on my screen, it is still an MMO in my view because:

 

1) There always seems to be someone close enough to click the clickie that spawns once every couple of minutes while I'm fighting the mob that guards it, forcing me to kick my heels for several minutes waiting for the clickie to respawn.

 

2) Some bonus mission bosses "kill leader of whatever" always seem to have a queue of people waiting for the next 5 minute spawn. Some are happy to join up to share the next kill, some are not.

 

3) I can still form groups for group content if I want to. Last time was yesterday at 4 am when there were only 6 of us on Balmorra.

 

We dont see so many people because of shards. There is no other thing, except shards. If u read reviews of the game, that is the biggest flaw in the game. Game uses HERO engine and that is the worst engine as its purely based on instancing. 3d engine is not capable of handling mass -sandbox population and that is . Will they debug it?? I dont know.

 

One of my friends who is an excellent programmer also confirmed this. We dont see much people because they are not in the same instance of the particular planet. Think of it as parallel worlds. i remember playing WOW, that was never the problem even of low populated servers. Its because WoW is a sandbox game, and that is normal for MMO.

 

MMO needs to be populated a lot, nothing is more beautiful then seeing world full of people running around. This looks like Ghost World atm. In peak hours I can see 30 people in Tatooine and 80 on Republic Fleet. And server is Uthar Wynn heavily populated. Did i mention I HAVE NEVER SEEN a player of opposite faction.

You don't see people because they are spread out on different instances. Have u ever had a feeling of grandeur of being a hero or would be hero of a beautiful ORGANIC world that breathes. Have u ever seen a real player nemesis who will hunt u when u go questing. Well i have seen it. STV, WPL, the questing was never boring as u needed to fear for your life. And that is MMO. This has been a COOP game so far not MMO.

 

I play on PVP server and us who play want sharding completely removed.

 

Thats really annoying. 20 playere, 10 players, what?? We dont pay for single player game.

No world PvP at all, no socializing all I see is computer generated sprites. It looks very unfinished.

Bioware NEEDS to fix this, as GW2 will ruin the population. Also there is a possibility for the ppl to go play wow again....

 

I hate to say this but that is the truth.

Edited January 13, 2012 by Werra

[Ninyania]

Funny that only about two weeks ago the forums were ablaze with complaints that the login queues were too long and that BW should *ADD MOAR SHARDZ*...

 

Now, 14 days later, they should start consolidating them???

 

*** did everyone go?

[MookieFett]

Funny that only about two weeks ago the forums were ablaze with complaints that the login queues were too long and that BW should *ADD MOAR SHARDZ*...

 

Now, 14 days later, they should start consolidating them???

 

*** did everyone go?

 

you're a liar because sharding wouldn't even make the queues get shorter.