Bioware Please Merge Servers

[Talon_strikes]

You are on Harbinger, having moved from PoT5, right?

 

So why do you care what the community, activity levels, or desires of players on the other servers are? Worse.. why try to over-ride them with this forced server merge drama over and over again?

 

You are stirring the pot to try to force server merges to Harbinger. Please stop.

Yes. I've been playing since first day of EGA. Started on Vulkar, immediately relocated to The Fatman, and then went to Pot5 when The Fatman surprisingly died, and now I'm on Harb.

 

I care about I care about this game. I care about activity levels because for me an MMO is always being surrounded by other players and being able to consistently and actively get queue pops and have a chance in a market that I otherwise wouldn't have on a dead server.

 

I'm not stirring anything by giving feedback. The passive-aggressiveness is unnecessary.

 

In any case, 2 can play at that game. Why do you have to be contrarian to the people who are very likely in the majority here asking for mass server merges? Are you trying to defend those who like low-pop servers? Why do you care what they want?

[Talon_strikes]

I agree with most what you said, and it is a good thought out idea, but you are missing a few points.

It would be nice to get besides a main PVE server and a RP server also an PVP only server back to the game.

Because what bioware did last year in 2016 in april/may totally disolved all the PVP players in the game who liked world pvp, and it started first in the pvp servers but when they fled to other servers they quited the game there too, because the content they once liked was totally gone from the game also on the more populated servers. And that is all because the seperate instance idea is not working, and failed, it had a good intention to protect some players from ganking, but by letting everyone get the ability to hide on an safe zone, led to that nothing can be an instigator anymore for fun large scale world battles. Me and my friends came to such an server because we liked that exciting idea that someone can always attack you from the back, even in content dry times it always led to that things where never boring, and always there is something going on. It is and was for us content what we enjoyed. To play the hero to help people getting ganked, to be an villian infiltrate a enemy base and just screw around before you get caught, to team up with a large group of your guild and sabotage an enemy guilds plans. Or to take revenge. There was always something to do together or going on planets. I really miss that now. We need such an server to get all the players back who like such content only and allow people to transfer or make a huge sign that a pvp server is for such hardcore players, so people do not choose it by accident who are not into such things. Nowadays I am the only one left of all the 4 massive guilds I was apart of, they transferred but all quit the game because it was not rolling on Harbinger and TRE too, the content what we liked is completely gone. It literally destroyed the game for these kinds of people and made things to boring for them. I feel I must raise a voice for my friends who are not here anymore. I know that I only still play this game because I was officer of all these guilds and we are still all on enjin, almost all of them moved to other games to get the same feeling there. So that is what I would like to add and what the reasons are for it. The PVP servers where considered always not the biggest servers in the game but the entire PVP population what we had before that update was quite decent. In april/may and the months afther that in 2016 we lost almost all of them. It is time to give these kind of people also their own hubs back.

Thanks for your input.

 

Let me start off by saying that you're saying is something I'd love as well. I used to gank A LOT in this game back when this game still had populated daily areas and none of this PvP/PvE instanced crap. Unfortunately what you're asking for is impossible, for several reasons.

 

One reason is that I'm positive that PvP/PvE instances were the studio's solution for their "better than cross-server" statement. They've never come out and openly admitted it, but I'm sure that's the case. PvP/PvE instances are never going to leave. They aren't going to backpedal to try to make PvP servers relevant again. And I highly doubt the thousands and thousands of PvP'ers that left due to sluggish PvP development would even reconsider coming back if they hypothetically decided to do just that. And come back to what? 2½+-year-old content?

 

As an aside, there have been a few PvP servers that have been as big if not bigger than PvE servers like Harbinger. Those days however are long gone.

 

I think you are not looking at the real picture for the EU people speak other languages like French, German Also why does it have to be 2 servers per region why not 1 for US servers they can solve the RP issue by adding an Instance for RP with strict conduct rules for trolls.

 

The real truth is server types are dying PVP servers are a true indication in this game because all PVP servers are dead in SWTOR on every region. So if they can't merge servers with guilds, guildships, strongholds and personal storage 100% we won't see anything solid until Bioware make the final decision to either pull the plug or the community has to take the rotten apple and lose what they have on the servers to make serious Mega Servers that this game does need.

 

Players will argue all day long about trolls on certain servers but at the end of the day if they love the game that will be forgotten as time moves on and players move on and still enjoy the game. Also the forums are a very small part of the player base due to the pure poison on here just like the fleet trolls the only true way to get a real indication on what players want is send out a poll via the email address on the account and see what the real community wants not just some people on the forums and this wouldn't include F2P or prefer players because they have finished supporting the game.

I thought about EU languages, but from my experience all people say here for EU players who want the most populated server is TRE. If they want to RP I'm pretty sure The Progenitor is recommended. I never see any other EU servers mentioned at all. By looking on these forums it seems like the French and German communities are largest on TRE than on their actual regional servers combined.

 

The US needs 2 servers because adding RP instances simply wouldn't be practical. Plus, isn't General Chat global anyway, no matter which instance you're on? I always play on PvP instances and there doesn't seem to be any technical things for there to be an individual Gen Chat for each PvP and PvE instance. Chat seems to be universal, so RP'ers being on Harbinger probably wouldn't be the best thing to do.

 

As for being able to transfer ships, SHs, etc, they should be trying to work on that. It's sad that they haven't commented if that's actually technically feasible, but it should be. If it is then they should work on that and get to consolidating regions into 2 servers each pronto.

 

Agree about EU servers.

Thank you. I have to quote this in order to further reiterate the fact that the only server with a healthy population EU-side is TRE. Not sure about The Progenitor, but I'm sure that's the go-to RP server for EU players like The Ebon Hawk is for NA players.

 

There are no "definitive" solutions for serve merges. There are plenty of player opinions for sure.

 

UNTIL they sort out how to move guilds intact for this MMO... server merges will do more harm then good.

 

Voluntary transfers are currently THE solution to being "trapped" on an "empty server". It works particularly well for unguilded and friendless random PuG queuing players... so if that is you... I advise you do it.

 

Now.. if you are sitting on Harbinger with your characters (which you actually admitted above).... then /ignore_you as you are someone wanting more players forcibly moved to Harbinger against their will so you have more random players to random group with. Not a nice approach to MMO play by you in my view.

Well now you have one. This.

 

I agree that they should at least attempt to sort out how to move guilds, SHs, but if by surprise this happens to be technically infeasible, I'd rather have a few servers and the devs somehow reimbursing those who will lose things--I don't know, but something drastic in order to make server merges work. However, I think the state of almost all the other servers besides Harb and TRE is drastic enough to warrant this change alone.

 

As for voluntary transfers, do you really want to beat the dead horse on that front yet again? This is a far more ethical solution.

 

As for your last point, what I think is not the nice approach for MMO play is allowing dead and low pop servers to continue to run and leaving players stranded and allowing returning and new players to still play on those servers.

 

This would certainly be a good solution at this time...but we honestly don't need 6 freaking servers...we don't need 3, but 3 make sense to me due to the regions.

Tuxxy, we'd only have 4 servers in total for the US and 2 for the EU.

 

We shouldn't have a megaserver due to players who may not be able to play well in other regions due to some examples I listed in my OP. I am sadly forced to play on a DSL-like connection (I hope to one day be able to get super-fast up/down speeds if it's paid for). Thankfully I can play pretty well on Harb unless I have someone leeching the bandwidth or if the usual lag spike occurs, but there are customers who wouldn't find being forced to play on a region that wouldn't support their internet speeds as acceptable.

 

Plus, RP players definitely need their own server for reasons that obviously don't need to reiterated. RP servers can definitely sustain themselves. They would probably be considered low pop if my idea came to fruition anyway, and it would be a win for those who want to continue playing on low pop servers.

Edited March 9, 2017 by Talon_strikes

[BJWyler]

In any case, 2 can play at that game. Why do you have to be contrarian to the people who are very likely in the majority here asking for mass server merges? Are you trying to defend those who like low-pop servers? Why do you care what they want?

 

Because of one very important fact. When BioWare finally got around to implementing server transfers and mergers, they did it in such a way as to make it problematic for guilds and those with Strongholds - a fact that is conveniently left out by people when they say players are free to use the 90 cc transfer option to move to a more populated server.

 

I fully agree with TUX on the matter of this being an MMO, and people accepting that fact and all the stuff that comes with it when they chose to buy the game initially or pay for the ongoing subscription fee. People come here looking for an MMO experience and it is up to BioWare to ensure they can have it without have to pay or do one extra thing to get it.

 

At the end of the day, only BioWare is to blame for the state the game finds itself right now. They have continually shown an inability to manage and maintain an MMO throughout the course of this game's lifespan. I have said it before and will say it again. The time has long since past to have a final server merger for SWTOR. However, the time is also long since past for BioWare to have put in the time and effort to "fix" the issues with guilds, strongholds, and the like to ensure that merging and transferring is as painless a process as possible. Until such a time, transfers are just as undesirable as mergers.

 

And again, for the record. I am happy with the two servers I play on. I have no need nor desire to transfer regardless of the issues. I just realize that for the long term health of the game, mergers are a necessity at this point.

[Icykill_]

I completely understand that. I'm not arguing for one server, I'm just stating that we could all fit on one with our current population. This game doesn't need the number of servers it has.

 

Sorry I miss understood. You are right, the current game population probably could fit on one server.

[americanaussie]

If you're an existing player then you have had AMPLE OPPORTUNITY TO TRANSFER. 600 FREE cc a month x sale time is 2400 cc! This means you could have transferred 26! Yes! 26! Toons. Plus click a referral link even as a sub and get a free transfer so potentially 27 toons!

 

So if you're still stuck on a dead server then you've only yourself to blame/complaining to hear yourself complain.

 

If you're a returning player, then they really should give free transfers.

 

There's no need to merge. Those remaining on dead servers and posting here choose to remain on dead servers. There's ZERO excuse except it's your decision.

 

I mean I want to sympathize but come on! Ample opportunity. Do what everyone else did that left the server dead and transfer. I did. My guild did. We all did.

[WhiteXrystal]

I thought about EU languages, but from my experience all people say here for EU players who want the most populated server is TRE. If they want to RP I'm pretty sure The Progenitor is recommended. I never see any other EU servers mentioned at all.

 

Uhm, why exactly do you expect people to recommend a german or french server to people asking in an english speaking forum?

 

Also there are plenty of people playing this game while not being familiar with the english language. It might be a surprise, but not everyone in the world speaks english, especially not in a sense that you can flawlessly write in character when playing on a RP server.

 

By looking on these forums it seems like the French and German communities are largest on TRE than on their actual regional servers combined.

 

Uh, yes. Because forum activity equals server population, right?

 

The US needs 2 servers because adding RP instances simply wouldn't be practical. [...] Plus, RP players definitely need their own server for reasons that obviously don't need to reiterated.

 

Why are you keep saying this? No, there are no obvious reasons for keeping separated RP servers when at the same time merging PVE and PVP. Why should the RP community be the one getting it's special flavor?

[Icykill_]

It isn't "their mistakes". The fault lies with the studio, not the players. Customers shouldn't have to pay to fix mistakes caused by devs.

 

I have to agree with this post above. Regardless of what's going to happen in the future to improve populations. If a new player starts a character on a low pop server or even returning players find themselves on a low pop server, it is no fault of theirs. The blame sits fairly on Biowares shoulders and it should be their responsibility to rectify it for them.

Paid transfers, no matter how low the costs or even using monthly cc's to pay for the transfers is not the answer. Bioware need to offer a free service to those people.

When I started playing this game at launch and up until expansion 4.0 you could see on the server selection screen just how active a server was. That allowed you to make a choice of wether to play on a high or low population server. When they took that away, it essentially took away people's choice and meant new people were playing server RNG when they started the game.

That was and is detrimental to the game. I've looked at other games over the years and logged into them only to find them dead, so I've just quit. Not many new people who want to try a game out for the first time are invested or patient enough to google which server to choose or look at forums to find out. So I can imagine any new players who roll on low pop servers and saw how quiet they were would probably quit. This is why low population servers are now essentially bad for the game and that is Biowares fault for making that change, not the existing players on the low population servers or the new people.

I think Bioware thought they were being smart by making all servers the same and having a seperate pvp instance and they took away the server type and the means to see the activity on the server, I believe this was an early attempt by Bioware to increase and disperse the population of the low population servers by using the new players drawn to the game because of the SW episode 7 movie.

But it backfired, firstly they didn't take into account that people like a choice of server type and new players like to know activity. People trying the game for the first time usually want the full experience and rolling on one of the quiet servers back then wouldn't give them that and a lot of them would have left soon after they did a few chapters.

Bioware need to be held responsible for that because it was their decision to do it that way. Personally I think it's contributed to a bigger decline of the servers and a failure to hold new players in the game. So my conclusion is Bioware "should" do something to help new players and returning players who find themselves on the wrong servers. Asking people to pay for it out of their own subscription isn't going to earn them any friends and only encourages bad feelings towards them, which leads to new people leaving quickly and returning players to leave again.

A fair solution is to give those people a full free legacy transfer off certain servers, not off all servers and there should only be a select few servers they can transfer to so they don't move to another low pop server. They should also change back the server login screen so you can get the info you like. But there really isn't any point in having dedicated pvp servers anymore because every server has a pvp instance. I would suggest renaming to pve servers and I would suggest renaming the RP servers to Story-RP (or some title that means the same thing). What would also help, but we know they probably wouldn't do, is to offer anyone currently playing free legacy transfers for a period of time (maybe 4-6 weeks) off those low pop servers. By doing all that they could essentially bandaid the population problems and really get a sense of which servers were dead, ie POT5, and then make decisions about mergers.

[Ratajack]

I don't think it's the customers job to follow the crowd while Bioware makes $ off servers dying. I think it's Bioware's job to fill the servers and provide the atmosphere we play in. Some servers are DEAD and need to be closed. What you're suggesting he do is pay additional money, beyond his sub, more than you and I pay, to get the same thing we get.

 

I understand you think he should just pay the money and shut up...in fact, I did that myself...but that's not right and it's not a solution for players like him. He's paying the same thing we are and he's getting shafted. If he were my friend, I'd tell him to just pay the damn money and move on...but he's not...I don't know him at all...but I know he's correct in thinking he shouldn't have to pay more than anyone else does, just to have a similar experience to what everyone else is getting. Bioware doesn't give him a discount to play on a dead server...they take just as much from him as they do anyone else.

 

I really don't care what happens to people like you who want their solitude. You picked this game up knowing damn well it was an MMO, so if you get forced to play with other people, get over it...that's what MMOs are like. You get no say in the matter...Bioware gets to dictate everything. There have been 2 mergers in the past and the same rules applied then that do now.

 

You're right TUXs.

 

You get no say in the matter...Bioware gets to dictate everything.

 

Thus far, they have dictated that they will not be merging servers and have instead chosen to extend the 90 CC transfers indefinitely and leave the choice of server and server population up to the individual player.

 

That obviously has not stopped the "Merge servers NOW!!!! I NEED more LFG fodder!!!!" crowd from continuing to pester the devs because they don't like the answer BW has given them, though.

 

So, while the "Merge servers NOW!!!! I NEED more LFG fodder!!!!" crowd continues to pester the devs for their precious server merges, I, and others, will be here voicing our opinions that server merges are neither needed nor wanted by everyone.

 

Can BW change their minds and merge servers? Sure, they can, but I would not expect that to happen until and unless BW can solve the problems surrounding guilds and guild assets, individual player strongholds, legacy storage, etc. no matter how much or loudly the "Merge servers NOW!!!! I NEED more LFG fodder!!!!" crowd cries.

 

There were 2 previous server merges and they caused nightmares and headaches for guilds and that was before strongholds, guild ships, legacy storage, etc.

Edited March 9, 2017 by Ratajack

[Icykill_]

I've been keeping up with this thread for awhile now and the vast majority in this thread is calling for server merges and it seems like you're about the only person trying to come up with arguments against it.

 

You need to remember that this game is an MMO above anything else. Sure, a lot of people want merges because of queue pops, but there is also the fact that people like to see an abundance of other people on fleet or planets or what have you. It shows that the MMO is thriving. It entices people to continue playing an MMO when you see there is a large population. If you see low numbers on an MMO (which, by the way, means massively multiplayer online game) then you're gonna leave to find a more populated MMO.

 

If Johnny doesn't like being on a highly populated server then he's going to have to suck it up if they do merges. He's one of the few in the majority that wants merges. Johnny needs to understand that this is an MMO and if he wants peace and quiet then poor Johnny can find a single player game...there are plenty out there.

 

But wait, Johnny loves this game and loves Star Wars. He wants to stay here. Well, Johnny, there is such a thing as turning off chat.

 

Sorry, but I have to disagree. This person is not the only person who is against mergers. I've gone back over many of the merge threads that started last year to try and understand the position of people against mergers. Also remember for every person who posts on the forums there are a multitude who don't.

I too used to be a proponent of unilateral server mergers because I too consider this game an MMO. But Bioware have changed the game over the last few years, for better or worse, into more of a solo story game. There are quite a few players now who only play this way, so excluding them entirely is also going to be detrimental to a shrinking game population.

If you go back a few pages you will see I listed the ideas people had put forward to combat a shrinking population and the concerns and problems associated with some of them. Personally I think the last suggestion is the closest to a compromise so far. If anyone can offer an even better idea they eliminates the last of the opposition to how to fix the problem I wish they would. But as it stands we're stuck with a compromise that is not 100% for everyone.

My suggestion is we try and formulate a consensus before Bioware unilaterally make a decision for us that upsets everyone concerned. They've done it in the past with regards to mergers and with the current trust issues most of us have post 5.0, it's hard not to be extremely worried they will do something else fundamentally bad for the game.

[Theeko]

Merge all servers into Mega servers, US, Europe, Asia 3 Mega servers total

[Icykill_]

You're right TUXs.

 

You get no say in the matter...Bioware gets to dictate everything.

 

Thus far, they have dictated that they will not be merging servers and have instead chosen to extend the 90 CC transfers indefinitely and leave the choice of server and server population up to the individual player.

 

That obviously has not stopped the "Merge servers NOW!!!! I NEED more LFG fodder!!!!" crowd from continuing to pester the devs because they don't like the answer BW has given them, though.

 

So, while the "Merge servers NOW!!!! I NEED more LFG fodder!!!!" crowd continues to pester the devs for their precious server merges, I, and others, will be here voicing our opinions that server merges are neither needed nor wanted by everyone.

 

Can BW change their minds and merge servers? Sure, they can, but I would not expect that to happen until and unless BW can solve the problems surrounding guilds and guild assets, individual player strongholds, legacy storage, etc. no matter how much or loudly the "Merge servers NOW!!!! I NEED more LFG fodder!!!!" crowd cries.

 

There were 2 previous server merges and they caused nightmares and headaches for guilds and that was before strongholds, guild ships, legacy storage, etc.

 

Sorry I have to point out that they haven't fully dictated they will not merge servers. They acknowledged the issue last year and said they would revisit it after launch, they just haven't communicated with us if they will or won't do mergers.

With the absolute outrage from most of the players about this new CXP gearing system, mergers are probably a lower priority on their to do list because they are so busy trying to put out this major fire which is killing the game fast.

I'm sure the issue is still on their list and they are either formulating a response or just don't have the hours in the day to work on it. We are now stuck in limbo land waiting for that communication. I don't think we should rule it out until we hear from them. So I don't think we should say they are fully dictating to us about mergers either. The absence of a response is not a definitive answer from them.

What they are really dictating to us is this new CXP gearing system and they are single mindedly going forward with it. That is what we should probably expect when they finally communicate with us about the low population issue if we don't stop arguing backwards and forwards between ourselves. We need to meet more in the middle and not go to the extremes or either side of this discussion. It is not helping and we are giving Bioware permission to treat us anyway they want. (As I if they need it)

They already dictate to us and don't listen, there is little wonder when all we do is squabble between ourselves. Our fellow players arent the enemy, it's Biowares in ability to listen to the player base to provide a service that people want, not one we don't.

[fushnchips]

Merge all servers into Mega servers, US, Europe, Asia 3 Mega servers total

 

Asia mega server nah that ship sailed when the 3 Oceanic servers were closed. But I want to see some action soon and not just " We are looking at stats over the next 10 years before we decide "

[Ratajack]

Sorry, but I have to disagree. This person is not the only person who is against mergers. I've gone back over many of the merge threads that started last year to try and understand the position of people against mergers. Also remember for every person who posts on the forums there are a multitude who don't.

I too used to be a proponent of unilateral server mergers because I too consider this game an MMO. But Bioware have changed the game over the last few years, for better or worse, into more of a solo story game. There are quite a few players now who only play this way, so excluding them entirely is also going to be detrimental to a shrinking game population.

If you go back a few pages you will see I listed the ideas people had put forward to combat a shrinking population and the concerns and problems associated with some of them. Personally I think the last suggestion is the closest to a compromise so far. If anyone can offer an even better idea they eliminates the last of the opposition to how to fix the problem I wish they would. But as it stands we're stuck with a compromise that is not 100% for everyone.

My suggestion is we try and formulate a consensus before Bioware unilaterally make a decision for us that upsets everyone concerned. They've done it in the past with regards to mergers and with the current trust issues most of us have post 5.0, it's hard not to be extremely worried they will do something else fundamentally bad for the game.

 

I'm not sure there is a "compromise" that will "satisfy" everyone, especially the "Merge servers NOW!!!! I NEED more LFG fodder!!!!" crowd.

 

I've seen the "suggestions" that BW offer free transfers off "dead" servers, but no one has objectively defined "dead server".

 

Why should transfers OFF a "dead" server to a higher populated server be free, but transfers off a server full of rude, immature players to a lower population server with a respectful and well behaved community have a cost?

 

Could BW make all server transfers free? Sure, but even free transfers would not address the issues of guilds, guild assets, strongholds, legacy storage, etc., though.

 

Cross server queuing is not feasible. Server merges will simply cause no end of headaches and nightmares for those who are forcibly moved from their current server.

 

You did put forth some good suggestions, and I think number 5 is the best, but even that one is still too open for abuse by players who delight in ruining other players' gaming experience, IMO.

[Icykill_]

Merge all servers into Mega servers, US, Europe, Asia 3 Mega servers total

 

There are no Asian servers anymore. They already merged them with the west coast 3 1/2 years ago. we should stop using the word mega servers. Instead we should say a couple of servers per region.

Which would mean US west coast, US east coast, Europe.

Edited March 9, 2017 by Icykill_

[Ratajack]

Sorry I have to point out that they haven't fully dictated they will not merge servers. They acknowledged the issue last year and said they would revisit it after launch, they just haven't communicated with us if they will or won't do mergers.

With the absolute outrage from most of the players about this new CXP gearing system, mergers are probably a lower priority on their to do list because they are so busy trying to put out this major fire which is killing the game fast.

I'm sure the issue is still on their list and they are either formulating a response or just don't have the hours in the day to work on it. We are now stuck in limbo land waiting for that communication. I don't think we should rule it out until we hear from them. So I don't think we should say they are fully dictating to us about mergers either. The absence of a response is not a definitive answer from them.

What they are really dictating to us is this new CXP gearing system and they are single mindedly going forward with it. That is what we should probably expect when they finally communicate with us about the low population issue if we don't stop arguing backwards and forwards between ourselves. We need to meet more in the middle and not go to the extremes or either side of this discussion. It is not helping and we are giving Bioware permission to treat us anyway they want. (As I if they need it)

They already dictate to us and don't listen, there is little wonder when all we do is squabble between ourselves. Our fellow players arent the enemy, it's Biowares in ability to listen to the player base to provide a service that people want, not one we don't.

 

First, there is a reason I said "thus far".

 

Second, while they did say that they would revisit the server populations after the first of the year, I do not recall them saying they would definitively communicate the results of their re-evaluation to us.

 

Given the fact that the "Merge servers NOW!!!! I NEED more LFG fodder!!!!" crowd will likely not accept any answer except "server merges are imminent", I do not blame them for not making a definitive statement.

 

BW did extend the 90 CC transfer sale indefinitely after the first of the year, which coincidentally is when they said they would re-evaluate the server populations.

 

Is it possible that the lack of a definitive "server merges are imminent" coupled with the BW's decision to extend the 90 CC server transfer sale indefinitely is an indication that BW does not plan to merge servers at this time and instead continue to leave the choice of server and server population up to the individual player?

 

In the lack of any definitive word from BW, we have no way of knowing for sure. Given their silence on this matter and the timing of the indefinite extension of the 90 CC transfer sale, we may have our answer, though, IMO.

Edited March 9, 2017 by Ratajack

[Icykill_]

I'm not sure there is a "compromise" that will "satisfy" everyone, especially the "Merge servers NOW!!!! I NEED more LFG fodder!!!!" crowd.

 

I've seen the "suggestions" that BW offer free transfers off "dead" servers, but no one has objectively defined "dead server".

 

Why should transfers OFF a "dead" server to a higher populated server be free, but transfers off a server full of rude, immature players to a lower population server with a respectful and well behaved community have a cost?

 

Could BW make all server transfers free? Sure, but even free transfers would not address the issues of guilds, guild assets, strongholds, legacy storage, etc., though.

 

Cross server queuing is not feasible. Server merges will simply cause no end of headaches and nightmares for those who are forcibly moved from their current server.

 

You did put forth some good suggestions, and I think number 5 is the best, but even that one is still too open for abuse by players who delight in ruining other players' gaming experience, IMO.

 

You really need to stop using this term as it is detrimental and inflammatory to the discussion

...the "Merge servers NOW!!!! I NEED more LFG fodder!!!!" crowd.

By using it you are only encouraging people on the other side of the discussion to push forward more extreme views on mergers and it is insulting to me because I'm a pvp who under your definition is a LFG fodder player.

 

I'm trying not to define servers as "dead". You will see I am using the words low population servers. I would define those servers as one where you cannot get group content done by queuing and it require co-ordination and planning by the existing population. That means the story-solo players actually wanting to play the opposite content to why they are on the server to start with. Sure some guilds might be able to organise operations, but the solo player who is not social in the sense of wanting to make friends or communicate a lot with people is stuck not being able to do content they may want to. An example is people wanting to queue for pvp and can't get it to pop. This is now more of a problem for some because Bioware have now made pvp a away to gear for other content.

So my definition isn't dead, it's low population where you can't play group content by putting yourself into the in game public queue.

 

The free transfer idea is a bandaid one at best because it doesn't address those issues you brought up. But it could be implimeted to stem the bleeding till a more accomodating solution can be implemented. Doing that and also putting back the ability to see the activity on a server and type of server as I previously suggested, would be a good start.

Then they have time to think more on how to fix the situation.

 

Every part of the game is open to abuse. Wether it's exploiting the system or people griefing others. It's the internet. There will always be those idiots who think it is fun.

There is nothing stopping them from doing that to you right now on your current servers, especially now with accelerated XP where they could be griefing you in end game content, but I'm guessing they don't. Even if they did do as you've suggested, I think it would be short lived when they realise it has no affect on a RP/solo instance where they can't really interact with you. All you would need to do is ignore them. When you don't feed the trolls they going looking for more fun.

Edited March 9, 2017 by Icykill_

[Icykill_]

Asia mega server nah that ship sailed when the 3 Oceanic servers were closed. But I want to see some action soon and not just " We are looking at stats over the next 10 years before we decide "

 

Yes, agreed, stats are pretty much pointless as a spread sheet doesn't delve into the player experience

[Icykill_]

First, there is a reason I said "thus far".

 

Second, while they did say that they would revisit the server populations after the first of the year, I do not recall them saying they would definitively communicate the results of their re-evaluation to us.

 

Given the fact that the "Merge servers NOW!!!! I NEED more LFG fodder!!!!" crowd will likely not accept any answer except "server merges are imminent", I do not blame them for not making a definitive statement.

 

BW did extend the 90 CC transfer sale indefinitely after the first of the year, which coincidentally is when they said they would re-evaluate the server populations.

 

Is it possible that the lack of a definitive "server merges are imminent" coupled with the BW's decision to extend the 90 CC server transfer sale indefinitely is an indication that BW does not plan to merge servers at this time and instead continue to leave the choice of server and server population up to the individual player?

 

In the lack of any definitive word from BW, we have no way of knowing for sure. Given their silence on this matter and the timing of the indefinite extension of the 90 CC transfer sale, we may have our answer, though, IMO.

 

It would help if you didn't respond to everyone in what seems like an attack. I don't know if you mean it to come across that way or that is just your personality or that you do it intentionally. But it's certainly not making the conversation more pleasant for me to listen to and I'm guessing it's the same for others.

Edited March 9, 2017 by Icykill_

[Ratajack]

You really need to stop using this term as it is detrimental and inflammatory to the discussion

 

By using it you are only encouraging people on the other side of the discussion to push forward more extreme views on mergers and it is insulting to me because I'm a pvp who under your definition is a LFG fodder player.

 

Using the LFG tool does not automatically make a person part of the aforementioned crowd. There have been numerous people posting in the various "Merge servers NOW!!!!" threads who are against server merges and have indicated that they use the LFG tool and have no problems getting queue pops.

 

I'm trying not to define servers as "dead". You will see I am using the words low population servers. I would define those servers as one where you cannot get group content done by queuing and it require co-ordination and planning by the existing population. That means the story-solo players actually wanting to play the opposite content to why they are on the server to start with. Sure some guilds might be able to organise operations, but the solo player who is not social in the sense of wanting to make friends or communicate a lot with people is stuck not being able to do content they may want to. An example is people wanting to queue for pvp and can't get it to pop. This is now more of a problem for some because Bioware have now made pvp a away to gear for other content.

So my definition isn't dead, it's low population where you can't play group content by putting yourself into the in game public queue.

 

Your definition might be "low population" server, but that term is obviously not used by many of those advocating server merges.

 

I must say that I am not surprised that PVP pops are not instant and PVP queues are often lengthy. I think that is less an indication of a low population server and more an indication that players are simply choosing to engage in activities other than PVP. The recent nerf to the fractured uprising due to the fact that people were choosing to farm it for CXP over other activities is another indication of the numbers of players who are simply choosing not to engage in PVP. Even the PVP instances are often empty.

 

Queue times are not solely based on server population. I've mentioned this before, but players whose behavior is less than desirable may easily find themselves on numerous ignore lists, contributing to lengthier queue times for them. Server communities can also play a role in LFG queue times. How many players simply choose to do

 

I do not use the LFG tool at all on Harbinger due to the prevalence of rude and immature player behavior, but I do use it occasionally on the lower population servers on which I play. I do all my group content on Harbinger with friends and guild mates whose behavior I can count on to be respectful. So, while I do at times contribute to the LFG fodder on lower population servers with respectful and responsible communities, my presence on Harbinger does nothing for those who rely on the LFG tool.

 

The free transfer idea is a bandaid one at best because it doesn't address those issues you brought up. But it could be implimeted to stem the bleeding till a more accomodating solution can be implemented. Doing that and also putting back the ability to see the activity on a server and type of server as I previously suggested, would be a good start.

Then they have time to think more on how to fix the situation.

 

I agree that BW could make it much easier for new players to have more information when choosing a server.

 

 

Every part of the game is open to abuse. Wether it's exploiting the system or people briefing others. It's the internet. There will always be those idiots who think it is fun.

There is nothing stopping them from doing that to you right now on your current servers, especially now with accelerated XP where they could be griefing you in end game content, but I'm guessing they don't. Even if they did do as you've suggested, I think it would be short lived when they realise it has no affect on a RP/solo instance where they can't really interact with you. All you would need to do is ignore them. When you don't feed the trolls they going looking for more fun.

 

Sure, the "trolls" can create new characters on those lower population servers to ruin the gaming experience of players on those servers, but that would mean sacrificing CXP time on their "mains", something which many have indicated that they are loathe to do. By creating an RP instance on Harbinger, for example, you now allow those same "trolls" to infest that RP instance and ruin the gaming experience of those in that instance, while not sacrificing CXP time for their "mains".

 

It is not always possible to ignore the "trolls". You can put them on your ignore list, but that does mean that you will not have to interact with them.

Edited March 9, 2017 by Ratajack

[Ratajack]

It would help if you didn't respond to everyone in what seems like an attack. I don't know if you mean it to come across that way or that is just your personality or that you do it intentionally. But it's certainly not making the conversation more pleasant for me to listen to and I'm guessing it's the same for others.

 

No attack was intended.

 

I will continue to attempt to clarify if it appears that someone misread one of posts or read into it something what was not there, though.

[mitchsts]

We don't need another one of these threads.

i think they need to keep happening until the problem is fixed. if i was a new player and leveled a character on a dead server, i would probably just quit. yes it is easy to move servers, but i wouldn't want to deal with that. that's the reason i quit playing guild wars 2. i said screw it, i don't have to deal with this. i have other games id rather play. joining a game and finding the server you rolled on is dead doesn't send a good message about the game, it makes it seem like its dieing.

[Rosterius]

There's no need to merge. Those remaining on dead servers and posting here choose to remain on dead servers. There's ZERO excuse except it's your decision.

 

I'm really sorry that I won't give up my 5 fully decorated stronghold, unique names that are occupied elsewhere, fully improved banks and few friends who still remained on my server (for the same reasons as me). Additionally, I do not have enough free CC to transferred ALL my characters.

 

From what you said, it is clear to me that it's all my fault, because I did not recognize which server will be successful when I created my characters 5 years ago. It is not possible that this could be BW fault, because all the players on dead servers obviously having a great time while waiting several hours for endgame activities.

 

Moreover, there is nothing better than to hear similar arguments from a person who is obviously not on a dead server. I think that such people really have the greatest right to speak about this issue because they have the most experience with this problem. Indeed, we should listen to their views, since they have the greatest value.

 

Silly me...

[Ratajack]

i think they need to keep happening until the problem is fixed. if i was a new player and leveled a character on a dead server, i would probably just quit. yes it is easy to move servers, but i wouldn't want to deal with that. that's the reason i quit playing guild wars 2. i said screw it, i don't have to deal with this. i have other games id rather play. joining a game and finding the server you rolled on is dead doesn't send a good message about the game, it makes it seem like its dieing.

 

I will agree that more information about servers and server populations when choosing a server would be a great improvement.

 

I would think that it should not take long for a new player to determine if the server population is to their liking, though.

 

I'd think that most new players would know within a few levels, even if all they did was ask in chat about the server population.

 

At that early stage of the game, creating a new character on a more populated server would not cause any problems for most players, even without the current 250% XP boost.

[Theeko]

Why not just make like 4 Mega servers

 

US West, US East, Europe, Asia

[Icykill_]

No attack was intended.

 

I will continue to attempt to clarify if it appears that someone misread one of posts or read into it something what was not there, though.

 

I'm glad it wasn't meant to be an attack 😊. I think it's the inclusion of all those !!!!! and the capitals to describe certain parts of the community that come across agressively and confrontational. You may not intend to include the whole of the community when you do that, but it does come across that way.

 

You did also say you had yet to see anyone try and properly define what a dead server was. So I tried to give you one. But your response to that still came across as negative 😢

 

It's fine to clarify if someone misread a post, but try not to pick apart posts to make your points because selectively choosing one part of it can change the meaning of the message the person was trying to convey. I don't think that's your intention or I hope it's not and you may not find it aggressive. But it comes across that way to me.

I often put my posts in preview mode and come back and reread after a few mins, especially if I really disagree with someone or it's offended me. If I didn't, the raw responses with out changing the language and syntax as I jot down points would come across as volatile and probably offensive.