Stop worrying about the server population

[MaximumOwnage]

I am worried about them. I am worried about all of the returning players that log into empty servers and quit again. I am worried about all of the new players that pick an empty sever and have a miserable experience because there are no que pops, no guilds recruiting an nothing affordable on the GTN, so they too quickly quit. How many of these disgruntled new and returning players will reasearch severs and either pay 10$ to transfer one character or start all over? Only a fraction.

 

Pot5 is now in worse shape than my first pvp server was just before the first round of mergers. I think there needs to be free transfers off of the dead servers so no one feels stuck. (And then close them). We can't afford to keep losing players over something that is fixable. Of course cross-server ques & gtn would also help, but we are as likely to get those as a hood toggle

 

Absolutly spot on!!! Thank you

[casirabit]

People will flood back to the game for 5.0 (dooms day) and then when rogue one comes out players that haven't played in a while will come back and stay..

 

Hate to burst your bubble. I know at least 4 people who are refusing to come back as they see nothing in this expansion worthy of their sub so they are not coming back and these were people that had played since launch.

Edited November 23, 2016 by casirabit

[TUXs]

Hate to burst your bubble. I know at least 4 people who are refusing to come back as they see nothing in this expansion worthy of their sub so they are not coming back and these were people that had played since launch.

Yup. I know plenty as well who have no intention to come back. 5.0 is a few new FP's and a longer gear grind than has ever been in-game before.

[Bruticis]

Hate to burst your bubble. I know at least 4 people who are refusing to come back as they see nothing in this expansion worthy of their sub so they are not coming back and these were people that had played since launch.

 

I know of at least 7.5 people that told my neighbor's gardener they plan to start playing as soon as 5.0 hits.

[Tsillah]

I'm sure some players will return...the real question is will they stay?

[Glower]

I keep seeing people say their servers are dead and what not....yes I agree they should merge all servers and make 1 east coast server and one west coast and do the same with other servers around the world. But people, you shouldn't worry. Here's why.

 

People will flood back to the game for 5.0 (dooms day) and then when rogue one comes out players that haven't played in a while will come back and stay. When episode 7 came out that's what happened to me. It inspired me to play again and I've been back since december. So stop worrying I think we will be ok....it also wouldn't kill swtor to put a commercial or two out on the tv so we get more players BUT NO.

 

They will flood back only to see RNG boxes with infinite farming. That will really impress them and will keep them subbed for a long time. Also all these old preferred players will resub for sure!

Edited November 23, 2016 by Glower

[ivanhedgehog]

I keep seeing people say their servers are dead and what not....yes I agree they should merge all servers and make 1 east coast server and one west coast and do the same with other servers around the world. But people, you shouldn't worry. Here's why.

 

People will flood back to the game for 5.0 (dooms day) and then when rogue one comes out players that haven't played in a while will come back and stay. When episode 7 came out that's what happened to me. It inspired me to play again and I've been back since december. So stop worrying I think we will be ok....it also wouldn't kill swtor to put a commercial or two out on the tv so we get more players BUT NO.

 

drugs are bad, just say no!!!

[ivanhedgehog]

the servers aren't dead, it's just the PvP & Raid cues that are dead... i log in and see people on every planet happily playing the actual game... it's all a skewed perspective, when people say the servers are dead what the really mean is nobody cares about their favorite side-content, players or devs... Raiding has killed itself with jerkwad elitists that complain that they can't get a group together because they keep dismissing and passing up on the "scrubs" that wanna join them, and PvP killed itself with a sub-population of sore winners and losers, that typically tell newbies they should just give up and have no business playing PvP... in kind it appears the devs have stopped caring about the toxic activities as well, since nobody except a handful play them, why bother making new ones if the elitists are just gonna run off anybody new... otherwise play the actual game and see how many people are on the planets playing the actual game as opposed to standing on fleet looking for a group and trash-talking any "scrubs" that wanna join... the only servers that are truly abandoned were originally PvP servers, that's telling in and of itself...

 

I leveled a charcater on jung ma the other day to 25. the imp fleet had 7 people on it including me.....thats sad. I dont pvp btw, so it wasnt ques that made me see that the server was deserted.

Edited November 23, 2016 by ivanhedgehog

[keimox]

I know of at least 7.5 people that told my neighbor's gardener they plan to start playing as soon as 5.0 hits.

 

Great! Maybe they will fill that spot what was left when tens of guilds quit after 4.0 and more will when 5.0 is live.

[MeNaCe-NZ]

I know more people leaving than returning but maybe that's just me ...

[Aeneas_Falco]

Sounds like my server, The Red Eclipse. But only the Imperial side, the republic seems to be the opposite of rude.

 

That seems to be the case on every server. General chat in Imp Fleet is always more toxic than Republic fleet. I guess all the edgelords, sociopaths, and garden variety trolls prefer villain characters as well.

 

On that note, it's one of the reasons why I spend more time logged in on Republic characters.

[Aeneas_Falco]

Yes, thank you, understood. Harbinger has been #1 forever and a day. But Shadowlands up until 3 months ago was always a solid #2 and usually no more than 3-5% behind.

.

 

Shadowlands used to have a very active raiding community. I wonder if that is why it has slipped from the second most active server in North America to fourth. Raiders aren't the only players displeased with the current state of the game, but it is fair to say that they're the most disgruntled.

 

I'd be willing to bet that most of the people who've left since KOTFE released, other than those who always depart when an expansion is finished, were raiders.

[MaximumOwnage]

Shadowlands used to have a very active raiding community. I wonder if that is why it has slipped from the second most active server in North America to fourth. Raiders aren't the only players displeased with the current state of the game, but it is fair to say that they're the most disgruntled.

 

I'd be willing to bet that most of the people who've left since KOTFE released, other than those who always depart when an expansion is finished, were raiders.

 

If Harbinger ever got to be as dead as Shadowlands is, I would no longer play this game. I am always shocked when anyone defends Shadowlands population. By my standards, that server is completely unplayable. I don't play for just 1 hour a day at the exact same time (shadowlands prime time) and hope and pray that I get a queue pop.

 

The ONLY server at this point worth playing at all is Harbinger by my standards. And Harbinger is slipping away lately. Nowhere near as dead as Shadowlands, but slipping non the less.

 

I hope this development team does something soon about this. Its not a joke and has been a very critical and serious problem in this game. Something needs to be done immediately. Why this is not priority #1 is amazing. How foolish of them.

[Bruticis]

If Harbinger ever got to be as dead as Shadowlands is, I would no longer play this game. I am always shocked when anyone defends Shadowlands population. By my standards, that server is completely unplayable. I don't play for just 1 hour a day at the exact same time (shadowlands prime time) and hope and pray that I get a queue pop.

 

The ONLY server at this point worth playing at all is Harbinger by my standards. And Harbinger is slipping away lately. Nowhere near as dead as Shadowlands, but slipping non the less.

 

I hope this development team does something soon about this. Its not a joke and has been a very critical and serious problem in this game. Something needs to be done immediately. Why this is not priority #1 is amazing. How foolish of them.

 

It's not a priority because it isn't an issue. I know this like rocket science for some people around here but Bioware has plenty of metrics they are using to backup the gameplay decisions of late. Raiders don't pay the bills anymore, get over it. The story and cartel market patriots are the current focus, as it should be.

[CorellianWannabe]

It's not a priority because it isn't an issue. I know this like rocket science for some people around here but Bioware has plenty of metrics they are using to backup the gameplay decisions of late. Raiders don't pay the bills anymore, get over it. The story and cartel market patriots are the

current focus, as it should be.

 

EA needs you to keep buying crap so the servers stay up!

Edited November 23, 2016 by CommunityDroidEU
Rude part removed

[Jamtas]

EA needs you to keep buying crap so the servers stay up!

 

No he's right. They drove a majority fo the raiding community away so raiders aren't paying the bills. Pretty soon, PvPers won't be paying the bills along with RPers, Preferred players, etc.

 

It really will be only the cartel whales left.

[nissanmaxima]

I would worry about server population. I lived through the ghost town horror's when the 1st great server merges came along not to far after launch. Server population is dropping fast, and another new movie is not going to change that. Creating 2 mega servers is not going to help either. They need to do what Star Trek Online has done, create one massive server. SWTOR does not have that many active players as it is, one server will help queue times for OPS and heroics. I just recently re subbed to try out the rest of the chapters and to queue for a few ops. I was in an OPS queue for 6 hours before it finally came up, someone declined and I was in queue for another 3 hours before I gave up. This was on a Friday afternoon/night. Heroics are no picnic either...something needs to be done.

[ElZaguero]

Not based on anything other than pure speculation but I think the price bump in the transfers came around because of the DvL event. There were ways to short circuit the event and get a full set of packs on any server you transferred to. We might see the return of 90cc transfers in the near-ish future once the event ends next week.

 

Either way, I'd start a new toon or two on your target server just to get a feel for things. With 2xp you'll be able to blow through level 50 on two classes over the weekend which should get you most of the DvL xp boost armor. Heck you might even be able to burn through Champion (or Eternal) level if you're really motivated.

 

Well, that's an interesting idea. Starting from scratch on a new server with no legacy, no money, and nobody to craft for me doesn't seem that appealing, but you're certainly right in saying that it would be educational.

[MaximumOwnage]

It's not a priority because it isn't an issue. I know this like rocket science for some people around here but Bioware has plenty of metrics they are using to backup the gameplay decisions of late. Raiders don't pay the bills anymore, get over it. The story and cartel market patriots are the current focus, as it should be.

 

And I have plenty of metrics to say most of the servers are dead. Its called queue times and fleet numbers. 1/2 of the servers have neither. They have zero people on fleet and zero queue pops. And the other 1/2 besides Harbinger have very slow queue pops and very light fleets during their peak times and little to no players in queue or on fleet after that 1 hour peak time.

 

Those are my metrics I use to backup my gameplay decisions. And unfortunately millions and millions of other subscribers used my metrics and long left this game. End of story. If you don't like those metrics, you can lump those metrics. Put those in Biowares pipe and smoke em. Enjoy!

[Ralei]

And I have plenty of metrics to say most of the servers are dead. Its called queue times and fleet numbers. 1/2 of the servers have neither. They have zero people on fleet and zero queue pops. And the other 1/2 besides Harbinger have very slow queue pops and very light fleets during their peak times and little to no players in queue or on fleet after that 1 hour peak time.

 

Those are my metrics I use to backup my gameplay decisions. And unfortunately millions and millions of other subscribers used my metrics and long left this game. End of story. If you don't like those metrics, you can lump those metrics. Put those in Biowares pipe and smoke em. Enjoy!

 

I'm sure that there really are a few dead servers, but to say any server except Harbringer has unacceptable q times is ridiculous. MY metrics tell ME that I've never had to wait a large amount of time for pve or pvp ques and I'm not on Harbringer. There are PLENTY of people on fleet spamming their weirdo things and plenty on starter planets weirding me out there, too.

 

In fact!!!Since they're doing transfer discounts, I have been thinking of transferring to a lower pop server so I can do my heroics in peace! But that's just because I'm grumpy.

[TrixxieTriss]

Yes, thank you, understood. Harbinger has been #1 forever and a day. But Shadowlands up until 3 months ago was always a solid #2 and usually no more than 3-5% behind.

 

I dread the thought of another server change. At 1K per toon, that would eat all my CC just to move 3 toons, and they're designed to work together for Crafting purposes.Then again, it looks like Crafting is about to be messily butchered into irrelevance with 5.0 so perhaps that argument is moot. Maybe I should just transfer all my best gear to one toon and move that one to Harbinger, abandoning the rest to dusty obscurity. It would be painful, but better than getting stuck on a ghost town server with no company but crickets and tumbleweeds.

 

What we need is either server merges or free transfers off dead or low population servers. It's crooked that they charge people to get off dead servers. I'm just lucky that most of mine are on Harbinger. Imagine how much it would cost to move 30+ toons

[TrixxieTriss]

I thought Episode 7 bring some players. I was wrong.

I thought KotFE will bring some players. I was wrong.

I know KotET (5.0) will not bring many players, not for a long time. Im sure.

 

We will lose more players than it brings.

[TrixxieTriss]

Okay, let's chill out and remember we're all likely grown ups here so let's all respect we're adults and counter argue instead of trying to invalidate people by calling them kids or snowflakes.

 

Yes, it's good to see some semblance of maturity

[Aeneas_Falco]

I would worry about server population. I lived through the ghost town horror's when the 1st great server merges came along not to far after launch. Server population is dropping fast, and another new movie is not going to change that. Creating 2 mega servers is not going to help either. They need to do what Star Trek Online has done, create one massive server. SWTOR does not have that many active players as it is, one server will help queue times for OPS and heroics. I just recently re subbed to try out the rest of the chapters and to queue for a few ops. I was in an OPS queue for 6 hours before it finally came up, someone declined and I was in queue for another 3 hours before I gave up. This was on a Friday afternoon/night. Heroics are no picnic either...something needs to be done.

 

Jesus.

 

What server are you on, out of curiosity? Six to nine hour waits for a queue to pop is insane.

[psandak]

I keep seeing people say their servers are dead and what not....yes I agree they should merge all servers and make 1 east coast server and one west coast and do the same with other servers around the world. But people, you shouldn't worry. Here's why.

 

People will flood back to the game for 5.0 (dooms day) and then when rogue one comes out players that haven't played in a while will come back and stay. When episode 7 came out that's what happened to me. It inspired me to play again and I've been back since december. So stop worrying I think we will be ok....it also wouldn't kill swtor to put a commercial or two out on the tv so we get more players BUT NO.

 

I did not read all seven pages of this thread, and I am one of the most optimistic players you will meet on these forums...

 

YES, there will be a significant bump in population when 5.0 comes out, but it won't last....never does. I have been playing MMOs for 16+ years and in every instance when an expansion is released there is a population boost. However, a month after the expansion is released most of those players are gone. They either consume all the content and move on, or they return in hopes what drove them away has changed and it has not. Some will stay, but not nearly as many as you think.

 

As for the movie, I do not think the movie will be a significant draw for the simple fact that there are a LOT of people who LOVE the Star Wars movies, but have ZERO interest in playing a Star Wars video game.