Bioware Please Merge Servers

[TUXs]

Really, If you are asking for mergers which you are. Then this is a lie. because you are asking for my freedom to play where I want away. So a bit of a contradiction there TUX.

No...it's you assuming something you shouldn't. No contradiction at all. I believe most servers need to be closed outright, they're doing far more harm than good at this point. Once the dead servers have been trimmed, I don't really give a flip where you play or if you want to move around daily to follow the populations.

[Talon_strikes]

It's kinda funny how you basically say the same sentence over and over again without even trying to argue or answer my questions in a serious manner. But okay, I understand. Everything you say is absolutely right and every other opinion is wrong and laughable.

 

Lol, dude.

Way to avoid trying to formulate a counterargument.

 

"It seems"... that's exactly what I ment. You make assumptions based on what you hear or read about the servers. But you barely present us solid arguments.

Please don't try to misconstrue my argument to fit your narrative. I was being modest. What I'm saying aren't assumptions--they're clear cut facts. Everyone and their mother knows that The Harbinger and The Red Eclipse are the only servers with consistent MMO populations.

 

Getting a dedicated RP server is way more than other MMOs are offering to their RP community.

I'm sorry if you feel that way.

 

I was probably sitting here, asking why Bioware wasn't introducing RP instanced for all server as well.

If they did that, all hell would break loose. I don't want to see RP'ers running around like headless chickens because the general population will rip them to shreds with all the trolling, baiting, and general riff-raff that goes on in gen chat.

 

All I said was that I do not understand why it is feasible to merge PVE and PVP, but not PVE and RP. Why should RP players keep their own servers when many PVP players already lost their's?

 

And no, I'm not a salty PVP player who lost her initial server. I'm actually playing on an RP server myself.

Then you can't speak for the PvP community. I've been a part of the PvP community. I know what it's like, and there's no reason to beat a dead on why the PvP servers have failed. Again, everyone and their mother...

 

Ah, the one point I sorta agree. Yes, combined servers will make it easier for trolls to ruin the RP experience and, I'm honest, I have no clue how to fix that. But seriously, if someone wants to troll the RP community, he will do it, no matter if he has to change the server or not.

Solution: keep 1 RP server per region.

 

Trolls will still happen, but it's much easier on those servers for them to become outcasts and easily ignored.

 

And that's actually the reason why I would love to have instanced RP (including an additional RP chat that is only active within those instances) instead of a dedicated server. Instanced RP would decrease the number of people ruining events by accident and it would allow the players to hide the general chat if they don't want to read through all the ooc discussions.

Look, I am not against that, but these server merges are for closing down DEAD or NEAR-DEAD servers. These dedicated servers have been around since launch and the RP'ers seem to be doing just fine. No need to create any unnecessary chaos and confusion in all of this.

[casirabit]

I know there are some servers that probably need merging (old pvp servers for one) but not every server needs to be merge and that is where you come across people that get aggravated by people always screaming for mergers.

 

For one thing: Ebon Hawk does not need to be merged. Groups form with no problem.

 

For another thing: Not everyone wants to be on the cesspool called Harbinger. There have been people that state if they are forced to go to Harbinger their guild will leave, so you are creating more problems than you are solving by stomping your feet demanding everyone be merged to Harbinger. (NO THANK YOU)

 

Another thing not everyone does pvp and you will probably not see much improvement for your ques for pvp. Maybe a little bit but not enough for most of the ones screaming merge all the servers into one.

 

I will concede that some of the old pvp servers need merged but I will not concede that all servers need to be merged and that is what is getting a lot of people aggravated with all these server mergers threads.

[Talon_strikes]

I know there are some servers that probably need merging (old pvp servers for one) but not every server needs to be merge and that is where you come across people that get aggravated by people always screaming for mergers.

 

For one thing: Ebon Hawk does not need to be merged. Groups form with no problem.

 

For another thing: Not everyone wants to be on the cesspool called Harbinger. There have been people that state if they are forced to go to Harbinger their guild will leave, so you are creating more problems than you are solving by stomping your feet demanding everyone be merged to Harbinger. (NO THANK YOU)

 

Another thing not everyone does pvp and you will probably not see much improvement for your ques for pvp. Maybe a little bit but not enough for most of the ones screaming merge all the servers into one.

 

I will concede that some of the old pvp servers need merged but I will not concede that all servers need to be merged and that is what is getting a lot of people aggravated with all these server mergers threads.

My Merge Servers thread seems to have been merged into this one.

 

This is what I proposed to the studio as a definitive solution to streamline the servers and for each to always have a healthy population:

West Coast:

The Harbinger - main server

Begeren Colony - RP server

 

East Coast:

The Shadowlands OR Jedi Covenant - main server (whichever is more populated will be the main server)

The Ebon Hawk - RP server

 

EU:

The Red Eclipse - main server

The Progenitor - RP server

 

All other servers that aren't listed should then lead to giving every player stuck on an unnamed server a complimentary server transfer of all their characters to whichever region(s) they choose. BW sets a deadline to do this. Once complimentary transfers end BW will consolidate the unnamed servers in each region into the main servers (e.g. Pot5 into Shadowlands for PvP/PvE; Jung Ma into Ebon Hawk for RP), and if people want to transfer to the other server or to another region they will have to pay a cost for missing the promotion. I think this sounds more than fair for both the studio and the playerbase.

[fushnchips]

My Merge Servers thread seems to have been merged into this one.

 

This is what I proposed to the studio as a definitive solution to streamline the servers and for each to always have a healthy population:

 

 

shame your not thinking about the EU servers at all with multi language issues and I think 1 US RP server can do all PvE into 1 server for US.

[Talon_strikes]

shame your not thinking about the EU servers at all with multi language issues and I think 1 US RP server can do all PvE into 1 server for US.

It's not that I'm not thinking about them. It's just that various statements have been made which conclude that the foreign language community is MUCH larger on TRE than they are on their respective regional servers.

 

What I'm trying to accomplish by having 2 servers per region is not mess up the already healthy state The Ebon Hawk is in, while giving those customers who may not have good bandwidth in other regions the ability to continue playing in their respective region. While I'd like Harbinger to be a megaserver, that's just not practical and not fair to others who RP or may be on the East Coast and would rather stay playing in that region.

[fushnchips]

It's not that I'm not thinking about them. It's just that various statements have been made which conclude that the foreign language community is MUCH larger on TRE than they are on their respective regional servers.

 

What I'm trying to accomplish by having 2 servers per region is not mess up the already healthy state The Ebon Hawk is in, while giving those customers who may not have good bandwidth in other regions the ability to continue playing in their respective region. While I'd like Harbinger to be a megaserver, that's just not practical and not fair to others who RP or may be on the East Coast and would rather stay playing in that region.

 

You try and post that in the German/French forums and see the backlash lol It will be worse than RP players not wanting to be merged to the Harbinger the real issue is server types like pve,rp,pvp are a thing of the past they just need a better way to implement instances and enforce real rules with real mods in game to take action on those trolls.

 

I was playing WoW with a friend yesterday and he was on another server we grouped up done missions, retro raids and more now only if SWTOR could do that.

[kodrac]

they just need a better way to implement instances and enforce real rules with real mods in game to take action on those trolls.

 

That's just crazy talk lol. You do realize you're on the SWTOR forums right? Are you even playing the same game as the rest of us?

 

I was playing WoW with a friend yesterday

 

Oh. That explains it. You're just out of touch if you think BW would hire people and completely change their server setup, you know, invest. We're trying to find solutions that are more realistic.

Edited March 10, 2017 by kodrac

[Yodial]

West Coast:

The Harbinger - main server

Begeren Colony - RP server

 

East Coast:

The Shadowlands OR Jedi Covenant - main server (whichever is more populated will be the main server)

The Ebon Hawk - RP server

I agree for server american.

EU:

The Red Eclipse - main server

The Progenitor - RP server

No for them.

 

EU

The Red Eclipse- English server

T3-M4-German server

Mantle of the Force- French server

Is better for European community.

 

Sorry for my bad english

[Cruxa]

You try and post that in the German/French forums and see the backlash lol It will be worse than RP players not wanting to be merged to the Harbinger [...]

 

Most probably wouldn't even try to read it. After all the most likely answer to a question (whatever that question may be) that is stated in english on a german server is: "Das ist ein deutscher Server hier, schreib gefälligst Deutsch." (That's a german server here, write german.)^^

 

So no, two servers for the whole EU won't work, there has to be at least one german and one french server. I know many people that would feel absolutely miserable on an english speaking server and just tried this game in the first place, because german servers were offered.

And besides, T3-M4 (german PvE) is doing just fine, albeit not comparable to Red Eclipse, and even Vanjervalis Chain (german RP) is... surviving. You can consistently PvP at prime time, which is more than can be said about truly "dead" servers, although GSF can only be played at days where it has CXP bonus, and even then only within a 5 hour window and long queue times.

Can't say anything about Jar'kai Sword though (german PvP), but from what I hear, its condition is about as bad as for other old PvP servers.

[Nightblazer]

click dat link pls

 

No. Reported because posting your referral link is against ToS.

Edited March 10, 2017 by Nightblazer

[BJWyler]

Ironically, many of those who refuse to transfer to a higher population server use the loss of things such as guilds and guild assets, decorated strongholds, etc as their excuse for not transferring, but they demand server merges.

 

If the upheaval to those things that a transfer would cause is so dreadful, then why is is it OK to demand server mergers which would only force everyone to suffer those headaches and nightmares?

 

"I refuse to solve my perceived problem using the means I have available to me. BW, make everyone suffer the headaches and nightmares that a server merger would cause."

 

Yes, there have been two mergers in the past. Both of them caused nightmares and headaches for guilds. Some guilds never recovered after those merges. Neither merge transferred guilds intact or guild banks.

 

Now, there are a host of other things that have been added to the game that would be impacted by server merges.

 

Correct, but mergers may be the only solution to the current problem. As I have said before, if BioWare can afford to keep "underpopulated" servers running without detriment to the game or the bottom line, then fine. The real issue here, the QQ contingent notwithstanding, is the fact that the transfer and merger process is such a half-arsed "solution" at this point for those specific reasons mentioned. It could very well be that had BioWare put in a concerted effort to ensure that a transfer or merger actually does transfer all necessary data to another server, that mergers would not be necessary except for the case of cost savings by closing unneeded servers.

 

In the end, the final decision is up to BW. As TUXs said, BW gets to dictate everything, We can voice our opinions, but we do not get to make the decisions.

 

If BW sees no alternative, then I would expect them to merge servers. The problem that many who demand server merges have is that BW apparently DOES see an alternative at this time. BW has chosen to leave the choice of server and server population up to the individual player and lowered the cost of server transfers indefinitely.

 

Many of those that demand server merges don't like this decision, though, and continue to pester the devs like petulant children, hoping that the devs will cave and give them their server merges,

 

Child 1: "Mommy, can we have a cookie"

 

Mother: "No."

 

Child 2:"Mommy, we want a cookie."

 

Mother: "No."

 

Child 3: "Mommy, give us a cookie."

 

Mother: <silence>

 

Child 4: "Mommy won't give us a cookie, so let's sit and plan a way to make her give us a cookie. We'll make her see that she is wrong and she really should give us that cookie."

 

 

I would not expect to see server merges until and unless BW can insure that no one will be negatively impacted in any way with regards to things like guilds and guild assets, strongholds, legacy storage, etc. That is just my opinion, though, and I expect that those demanding server merges will continue to pester the devs like those petulant children.

 

Again, the QQ contingent notwithstanding, this is a real issue for people who are just looking for the MMO experience that one would expect from this game which still is, at the core, an MMO. It's not good for the long term health of the game to leave things as is and expect these people to have to go through the headaches of the half-arsed implemented transfer process just to get that experience. Nor is it really fair to ask them to do so, regardless of the cost of the actual transfer.

 

In all reality, what everyone should be pestering BioWare to do is fix the damn process so all the stuff that needs to transfer over does get transferred over. However, in all reality I doubt that the issue can be resolved by BioWare, like many other simpler things that have been requested and cannot be done due to "technical" reasons.

 

I don't see the lack of any movement or comment about mergers as BioWare seeing the current transfer process being the alternative. I see it as BioWare acting in their "business as usual" manner and turning a blind eye to problems with the game that they cannot actually solve easily, if at all. Therefore they take a page from the EA handbook and maintain radio silence on the issue to avoid any controversy that they can.

 

I personally don't think that mergers are needed right this minute, but I think the time is coming that regardless of the issues, they will be needed and will have to be done in order to extend the life of this game. Unfortunately, I only see that extension being another year or two from that point onwards. It's quite clear to me that BioWare put all their eggs in the 4.0 and 5.0 basket in the hopes of turning the tide in the dwindling population, but have failed miserably in that aspect. It's unfortunate because there were some very good ideas and systems that came with both expansions but were just implemented extremely poorly.

 

BioWare keeps looking for panaceas and miracles to help them "right the ship" and I fear that at this point, thanks to their lack of ability to manage and maintain an MMO over the course of the last 5 years, that only a miracle will see us here to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the game. One way or another, unless 6.0 or 7.0 is the second coming of the Jesus Patch, I think mergers are inevitable and will be necessary in order for this game to reach 8.0.

Edited March 10, 2017 by BJWyler

[mmmbuddah]

West Coast:

The Harbinger - main server

Begeren Colony - RP server

 

East Coast:

The Shadowlands OR Jedi Covenant - main server (whichever is more populated will be the main server)

The Ebon Hawk - RP server

I agree for server american.

EU:

The Red Eclipse - main server

The Progenitor - RP server

No for them.

 

EU

The Red Eclipse- English server

T3-M4-German server

Mantle of the Force- French server

Is better for European community.

 

Sorry for my bad english

 

That is pretty much exactly waht needs to happen for the EU servers. But BW doesnt use logic....

[Ratajack]

Correct, but mergers may be the only solution to the current problem. As I have said before, if BioWare can afford to keep "underpopulated" servers running without detriment to the game or the bottom line, then fine. The real issue here, the QQ contingent notwithstanding, is the fact that the transfer and merger process is such a half-arsed "solution" at this point for those specific reasons mentioned. It could very well be that had BioWare put in a concerted effort to ensure that a transfer or merger actually does transfer all necessary data to another server, that mergers would not be necessary except for the case of cost savings by closing unneeded servers.

 

I'm not trying to sound like transfers are a perfect solution. I do not think they are, with the way transfers currently work.

 

I do happen to think transfers are the BEST solution, given the way that transfers currently work, and the way that the two previous serer merges worked.

 

Transfers leave the CHOICE up to the individual player. Which is more important to Johnny--playing on a higher population server or not having to redecorate his stronghold? Transfers do not force everyone to suffer the losses of guild ships and strongholds, guild decorations,

 

Transfers also do not require BW to make infrastructure changes to accommodate those players who may have multiple legacies spread across multiple servers. What happens if Johnny has 50 characters on each of three servers, or even 20 characters on each of three servers, but has only unlocked enough extra character slots for those 20 characters? What happens if Johnny has fully expanded his legacy storage on those three servers and each of those legacy storage units is full? How does BW merge three fully expanded legacy storage units when they are all already filled to capacity?

 

Again, the QQ contingent notwithstanding, this is a real issue for people who are just looking for the MMO experience that one would expect from this game which still is, at the core, an MMO. It's not good for the long term health of the game to leave things as is and expect these people to have to go through the headaches of the half-arsed implemented transfer process just to get that experience. Nor is it really fair to ask them to do so, regardless of the cost of the actual transfer.

 

 

 

In all reality, what everyone should be pestering BioWare to do is fix the damn process so all the stuff that needs to transfer over does get transferred over. However, in all reality I doubt that the issue can be resolved by BioWare, like many other simpler things that have been requested and cannot be done due to "technical" reasons.

 

On this we agree. Even if BW were able to solve all the roadblocks that surround server merges, I still think transfers are the best solution, but I think the transfer process should be smoothed out and improved upon, IF it is even possible to do so.

 

I don't see the lack of any movement or comment about mergers as BioWare seeing the current transfer process being the alternative. I see it as BioWare acting in their "business as usual" manner and turning a blind eye to problems with the game that they cannot actually solve easily, if at all. Therefore they take a page from the EA handbook and maintain radio silence on the issue to avoid any controversy that they can.

 

I personally don't think that mergers are needed right this minute, but I think the time is coming that regardless of the issues, they will be needed and will have to be done in order to extend the life of this game. Unfortunately, I only see that extension being another year or two from that point onwards. It's quite clear to me that BioWare put all their eggs in the 4.0 and 5.0 basket in the hopes of turning the tide in the dwindling population, but have failed miserably in that aspect. It's unfortunate because there were some very good ideas and systems that came with both expansions but were just implemented extremely poorly.

 

BioWare keeps looking for panaceas and miracles to help them "right the ship" and I fear that at this point, thanks to their lack of ability to manage and maintain an MMO over the course of the last 5 years, that only a miracle will see us here to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the game. One way or another, unless 6.0 or 7.0 is the second coming of the Jesus Patch, I think mergers are inevitable and will be necessary in order for this game to reach 8.0.

 

It's not just the silence that leads me to believe that BW may see the transfer process as being the alternative or the "solution". It's the entire picture.

 

BW says late last year that they had no plans to merge servers at that time, but would re-evaluate after the first of the year, and in the meantime would lower the price of server transfers to 90 CC temporarily. They never said that we would be directly or definitively advised of the results of that re-evaluation, though.

 

Unless I am mistaken on the timing, sometime in later part of January or possibly early part of February, BW advises us that the 90 CC server transfer sale has been extended indefinitely. Coincidentally, this announcement comes after the first of the year, which is when we were told that they would be re-evaluating the "server merges". There has been no official word from any BW source as to what the actual results of that re-evaluation were, though.

 

Even one poster's third party, second hand "source" says that BW is aware of server population concerns but that there are a "ton of roadblocks" to merging servers and IF they merge servers, they want to do so in such a manner that no one has a bad time--strongholds would not need to be redecorated, guilds and guild assets are not affected, etc.

 

If you add up the "not merging servers now, but here is a temporary sale on server transfers" + "re-evaluation after the first of the year" + indefinite extension of said server transfer sale after the first of the year + no official word from any BW source regarding impending server merges + "tons of roadblocks to merging servers" + "if we merge servers, we want to do it in a way that no one has a 'bad time' " + the way the previous two server merges worked + server transfers leave the choice of server and server population up to the individual player + server transfers do not require any infrastructure changes or upgrades, what answer would you take from that equation?

[Icykill_]

I see some new issues and hurdles to over come for when Bio decide to consolidate the population sometime in the future or what ever solution they come up with to fix the population issue.

I'm also seeing some more tweaks and ideas to the current ideas pool to start making steps towards fixing some of the population issues.

I'm sure "most of the reasonable" people here care about the health and future of the game and would like to see Bio take some steps in addressing the issue, even if they are baby steps.

 

I'd love to see more of these positive parts of this discussion and less abuse by certain people. Can I ask the more reasonable people to start posting some lists of the ideas they have for Bioware to start those baby step.

Obviously these will not fix this issue straight away. But it could be somewhere Bioware could start before attempting any mergers and work from there.

It would be great to see some positive support for these ideas from both sides instead of tearing them down with why they can't do it or repeating the same mantra of "we need mergers" and "we don't need mergers".

 

I posted some a few pages back, but all this arguing and abuse by a certain person(s) drowns out most ideas before people even get a chance to see them.

I'll start to add them to the list as they come in and post updates with them all together.

Edited March 11, 2017 by Icykill_

[Icykill_]

West Coast:

The Harbinger - main server

Begeren Colony - RP server

 

East Coast:

The Shadowlands OR Jedi Covenant - main server (whichever is more populated will be the main server)

The Ebon Hawk - RP server

I agree for server american.

EU:

The Red Eclipse - main server

The Progenitor - RP server

No for them.

 

EU

The Red Eclipse- English server

T3-M4-German server

Mantle of the Force- French server

Is better for European community.

 

Sorry for my bad english

 

I think at some point Bioware will consider doing mergers. Hopefully after they have taken all other possible steps to address the population problem.

But if they do go down that path, this would seem the better option for a lot of the community. Once again it certainly isnt perfect. But I think it's a comprise better than having only one server per region.

[Icykill_]

According to Bad Feeling podcast #147 Charles and/or Eric said merges are not an "if" but a "when" at this point. BW is working on the new programming issues including outfit and stronghold resets, guild asset transfers and naming conflicts. I don't know why they won't say something formally but they said a lot about merges informally at the pseudo event the podcast had earlier this year.

 

Where can I find a link to the podcast so I can have a listen or do they only do them live. I tried to google but I couldn't find it.

[Icykill_]

OR make every thing solo, OR increase companion group number !

 

That certainly isn't something any of the MMO people would want and obviously wouldn't work for pvp.

[Savej]

Where can I find a link to the podcast so I can have a listen or do they only do them live. I tried to google but I couldn't find it.

 

http://badfeelingpodcast.com/audio/podcasts/episode_147_final.mp3

 

http://badfeelingpodcast.com/

 

Both these guys were on BW's official Twitch stream a couple months ago demo-ing the new Uprisings.

Edited March 11, 2017 by Savej

[Icykill_]

But yeah, if transfers were to be free, should be free both ways. If playing the system is a concern, place a limit on how many transfers can be done at once..or to keep people from hopping back and forth in short succession, or and even better suggestion compared to those two that could be ironed out in discussion.

 

This is certainly something that could be discussed and polished up to make it a working system.

I'd like to add/expand on your already good points about placing a limit and transferring in short succession.

(I've mentioned some of them before)

 

*** disclaimer. This isn't my suggestion for fixing population issues. This is a seperate idea to just add value to the subscription and also allow people to socialise on other servers, allowing them to see how the other side live and so they can play the way they choose***

 

*Make it free for the subscriber based only

*Add 2 free transfers per month linked on top of the current CC allotment.

(Two transfers would place a limit and they could expire at the end of the month if they aren't used so they aren't accumulated)

*Once transferred, that particular character could not be transferred back in that same month.

[Icykill_]

http://badfeelingpodcast.com/audio/podcasts/episode_147_final.mp3

 

http://badfeelingpodcast.com/

 

Both these guys were on BW's official Twitch stream a couple months ago demo-ing the new Uprisings.

 

Thanks heaps. I'll have a look later when I get off my 4g and back on my network

[forestguard]

This is certainly something that could be discussed and polished up to make it a working system.

I'd like to add/expand on your already good points about placing a limit and transferring in short succession.

(I've mentioned some of them before)

 

*** disclaimer. This isn't my suggestion for fixing population issues. This is a seperate idea to just add value to the subscription and also allow people to socialise on other servers, allowing them to see how the other side live and so they can play the way they choose***

 

*Make it free for the subscriber based only

*Add 2 free transfers per month linked on top of the current CC allotment.

(Two transfers would place a limit and they could expire at the end of the month if they aren't used so they aren't accumulated)

*Once transferred, that particular character could not be transferred back in that same month.

 

Some good suggestions. Especially the last one, making it harder for people to potentially abuse it. Would make most people think more carefully about when and how they want to use them. Some might still complain saying 2 isn't enough for all their alts, but gotta draw the line somewhere for the free portion.

 

While not exactly transfer specific, as others have said, the server labels would help people know what they are getting themselves into (like, pvp won't be nearly as prevalent on a server like Ebon Hawk), which could help make the transferring a little more smooth, plus make it clear to players so they might not need to use a transfer more than once, if at all.

 

I'll keep brainstorming. Ideas don't always come the quickest to me.

 

 

...btw, I appreciate the civility. After reading a lot of the arguing in these threads, it's refreshing, and we the players can do more if we're willing to be calm and work together. Because, I'm sure most of us want this game to turn back to a true MMORPG and thrive, not just survive. We just have to come together and not blindly bicker.

[kvandertulip]

I don't know what has happened with the idea of cross-faction PVP queues. That seems like the most logical temporary fix. The last I remember hearing about that is Musco's second interview with Snave. The reason Musco gave back then why they haven't implemented it yet is "RP reasons". To me that sounded like bull**** and a cop-out.

[Icykill_]

please stop posting the refer link in threads you are breaking the ToS and this can get you banned.

 

Just report.

[Icykill_]

I don't know what has happened with the idea of cross-faction PVP queues. That seems like the most logical temporary fix. The last I remember hearing about that is Musco's second interview with Snave. The reason Musco gave back then why they haven't implemented it yet is "RP reasons". To me that sounded like bull**** and a cop-out.

 

They've said it's not technically possible because of the game engine. So we know this will never be an option. It's why we are on this topic.