Server Pops Too Low - Remove Shards

[Darth-Rion]

Sharding won't be around forever, it's a temporary thing.

 

As always, my trusty source.

 

http://torwars.com/2011/09/09/zoeller-on-launch-day-world-instancing-dealing-with-gankers/

 

 

Love how everyone has completely ignored this post which explains everything.

[Jacen_Starsolo]

It really doesn't matter. All I know is that there are only 26 in my shard right now and the #2 shard has 40. Remove the shards.

 

Number you see is only your side too you know. I was on Quesh and saw the number at 1. Yet I ran across at least 10 other players from the opposing faction just moving around. And it's possible others I did not see.

[VoXPCS]

I said it in Beta, I knew it would happen. Dead servers even "FULL" ones.

 

I'm sure it's all psychology at this point. Show it full and the game appears to be doing well etc..

 

Eventually they won't be able to afford to keep the extra 30 running and will condense them.

[Feskitt]

In my opinion sharding is working against the very soul of an mmo. You lock people from interacting with eachother. And yes, I know its anoying to fight over mobs at times. But its hell lot more enjoyable to actually see OTHER players than running around alone.

No it's not.

 

 

[Feskitt]

I cant believe how people cant see the down side with sharding. The game is advertised as a Massive Multi player, i expected this, not Massive Multi player but all split up with shards. Take off the fan boy rose tinted goggles or admit you dont really want an MMO just a single player with a few co op missions

 

Reduce shards in appropriate social areas fitting w/ the SW universe. Areas like cities, ports, etc. Only there should there be lots of players.

 

 

Not in questing areas.

 

 

[Feskitt]

1. Friends
   
2. Guild
   
3. Sister Guilds
   
4. Meeting new people
   
5. Camaraderie
   
6. Feeling that the World I'm in is alive
   
7. Teamwork
   
8. The toons I see running around actually have people behind them
   
9. Unpredictable game-play
   
10. Massive Open World PvP Battles
    

 

Every single thing you listed can already be done as is.

 

 

 

All of the above is possible at a ridiculously small scale but not without jumping thru some silly hoops.

 

Now my question to you:

 

Why did you buy a game, that by definition means playing with a lot of people, if you only wanted to play with yourself?

 

I am playing with a lot of people. They're just not interfering with my questing because they're properly spread out. (well, except in those dungeons that need more phasing)

 

 

 

[Feskitt]

I stood waiting in line for 15 mins to kill one mob tonight. My idea of fun clearly diverges from the posters here.

 

Thank you. That situation is inexcusable nonsense, and why I'm GLAD the sharding and populations have been as they have.

 

 

I'm not trying to be hurtful, but I seriously think most of these people are using MMO's to fill a lacking social life.

 

 

[tekjunkie]

Sharding is evil, useless in all but on

e aspect. Get rid of it.. let the mmo be a MMOrpg.

[JonnyBigBoss]

Another case of you're damned if you do and damned if you don't. People whined on every other MMO release saying they lag and have to compete for mobs all over the place in addition to being ganked all the time. BioWare offers a solution by segmenting zones on release. Now you have these kids running around screaming that the world is going to end.

 

I can't stand today's society, and this SWTOR General Forum shows just that. It's full of people whining to no end.

[Jett-Rinn]

With the current lag on full servers it would be absolutely stupid to remove sharding at this point...if anything they need to increase it There is an insane amount of people playing this game and more coming in all the time (they are actually considering suspending digital sales) Until they buff the infrastructure they can't remove sharding the forums would be flooded with angry players....which is probably what the hate machine wants anyway. Edited December 27, 2011 by Jett-Rinn

[Waypoc]

Every single thing you listed can already be done as is.

 

 

I am playing with a lot of people. They're just not interfering with my questing because they're properly spread out. (well, except in those dungeons that need more phasing)

 

 

 

[/size]

 

Honestly and truly, good for you. This is not the case with a fair majority that have posted here.

 

And as I said, yes they can be done, but on a tiny scale and after ridiculous hoops.

[Waypoc]

Love how everyone has completely ignored this post which explains everything.

 

Didn't ignore it. It's just irrelevant to right now.

 

They're a week too late. People are flying through levels probably faster than they anticipated.

[Waypoc]

We had a 100 vs. 100 battle on Tat about 4 days following launch. I have a very, very high-end machine and had a good deal of stutter, but the game became virtually umplayable for nearly all my guildmates present.

 

Interestingly, the moment you wandered away from players, 90% of the performance problems subsided. Like, our battle wasn't bogging down the server, or the entire zone (as something like that would do in other games), but only the immediate area around the battle itself.

 

This leads me to believe that the sharding is more a result of the game being a resource hog (IE, we need to be protected from our own 'outdated' [re: not $5000] systems) rather than Bioware's servers being unable to handle the load.

 

This isn't an excuse for the sharding, but it does point the finger directly at the problem: this beast needed to be streamlined years ago. It chews up far too many system resources given its rather unimpressive appearance even at maxed settings.

 

I would have liked to have seen that.

 

But you make a good point.

 

P.S.- post your spec here or in PM please.

[SoggyHotDog]

First people want more servers to get rid of queue's, then the same people say there are too many servers and can't find anyone.

[Waypoc]

Number you see is only your side too you know. I was on Quesh and saw the number at 1. Yet I ran across at least 10 other players from the opposing faction just moving around. And it's possible others I did not see.

 

That could be but understand that the numbers I see are in the double digits but the actual people I see are 2-5 maybe.

[Mudanie]

With the current lag on full servers it would be absolutely stupid to remove sharding at this point...if anything they need to increase it There is an insane amount of people playing this game and more coming in all the time (they are actually considering suspending digital sales) Until they buff the infrastructure they can't remove sharding the forums would be flooded with angry players....which is probably what the hate machine wants anyway.

 

/notsureifserious.jpg

 

MMO = massive multiplayer online. Massive. MASSive. MASSIVE.

[Waypoc]

First people want more servers to get rid of queue's, then the same people say there are too many servers and can't find anyone.

 

This is not about servers as much as it's about getting people into the game with other people. If you need 2,000 servers fine, just let more than 5 people play together.

[knosian]

+1 to this.. Remove the shards already. There is no need for it past Nar Shaddaa. It KILLS the MMO feel to the game.

[Waypoc]

Thank you. That situation is inexcusable nonsense, and why I'm GLAD the sharding and populations have been as they have.

 

 

I'm not trying to be hurtful, but I seriously think most of these people are using MMO's to fill a lacking social life.

 

 

 

If you looked further down you would have seen a post talking about this situation. The line may have not just been because of people but also because of the respawn timer.

 

Decrease the amount of time between respawns and your problem is solved. What's funny is this has been the solution for years in MMO's that have areas that are overpopulated with more players than quest mobs. And it's worked. Why not use that solution here?

 

Sharding is the last resort.

[knosian]

If you looked further down you would have seen a post talking about this situation. The line may have not just been because of people but also because of the respawn timer.

 

Decrease the amount of time between respawns and your problem is solved. What's funny is this has been the solution for years in MMO's that have areas that are overpopulated with more players than quest mobs. And it's worked. Why not use that solution here?

 

Sharding is the last resort.

 

Exactly, sharding should be the worst-case scenario.

[einherjar_LC]

I couldn't agree more with the OP.

 

I see more people running around Asheron's Call (which has what? 500 subscribers) than I do running around SWTOR.

 

The instancing absolutely kills the MM part of the MMO experience.

 

Most of the time I really feel like I'm playing a single player game with a chat window in the upper left. Bioware really needs to do something to remedy this IMO because it's going to hurt them more than help them in the long run.

[Waypoc]

Definitely want to hear more opinions.

[DigitalDigital]

I know that there are shards and there are server caps and that players are spread across the servers to balance out the server loads and populations, but it seems that by doing this so aggressively, game-play is being affected.

 

Wherever I go there are very few players. When I look at the numbers for the planet I'm on they're in the double digits for the most part. Yet the server will still have queues. Again I understand the shards are in place but it's time for them to go away.

 

I'd like to run into 10-15 opposite faction players every now and then, not the rare 1 or 2. In friendly cities it's the same way; 1 or 2 players around.

 

EDIT: This is especially true on PvP Servers. World PvP only works when there are Medium to High populations.

 

On any planet's shard 1 there will be 48 players yet on shard 2 there will be 50 players.

Why is that? Why can't they all play together?

 

For that matter why not merge a few of the servers?

 

I think they're advanced planning to spread server pops will have to be adjusted a lot faster than they anticipated.

 

This is a MASSIVELY MULTIPLAYER right?

 

Please let us play together.

 

Thanks.

 

100% agree!

and if we are not playing together after the 30 free days, i'm out.

I already have gave them 160$ for this empty, dead feeling worlds...

and I was looking forward to playing with thousands.... 30 to 100 people per area.... it seriously makes my blood boil..... THAT'S NOT MASSIVE!!!

 

my thread on the same topic

http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=86813

[dozerking]

I have to agree, would love to see the shards go bye bye. The game already feels like a Single Player game with light multiplayer features. Without the massively feel to it, it really takes away from TOR's potential.

[GayRobot]

Is it possible to have areas outside the city be without shaders, then in city's throw them on?

 

So that in city's there is no having your computer chug through 100's

Edited December 27, 2011 by GayRobot