Bioware Please Merge Servers

[Tadagyt]

I guess people forget that you don't need to move to a dead server to be alone... try the pvp instances in JC for example

 

Now seriously, if you have 17 servers, and only 7 are kinda alive (kinda)... keeping 10 dead servers running is a waste of money. Think of the content that could be created if at least 7 of those 10 dead servers were closed.

[Khaleg]

It's been suggested, but it comes with its own problems like if guilds want to move or people have their own ships etc. those things arent taken in transfers.

All transfers are is a band aid and what we need is a cure.

 

 

 

This keeps getting thrown around and 90cc isn't free. Sure it's low, but it's not free. For people like myself who have over 30 toons, that would take months to do. It also doesn't address the point I made above about not being able to transfer everything.

 

I think we need a better solution instead of a band aid fix.

 

Thanks for some common sense and basic understanding of vocabulary here in this thread. Sadly this is not the only guy here who has no idea what free actually means and messes it up with much cheaper as usual. It is btw also extremely cheap in a second meaning, a very cheap non effort non solution of this ignorant company EA and its Bioware division (and one they get paid for in addition, so typical for EA/Bioware isn't it?) as long as they can't even, after all these years, offer an actual complete and acceptable server transfer instead of incomplete half - assed copies. And even then, as I already pointed out before, it should be really free in the current situation that is only on Bioware to fix and not be paid by cc customers paid for with their monthly fee, which is so obviously unlike free but still some people have severe problems to understand even these basics.

 

You know guys what the difference is between the white knights for a solo game within a MMORPG environment (laughable and totally absurd by itself already imho) and those advocating for pain free mergers or the hypothetical x server solution?

 

The first batch of people masters ignorance and lacks any sense of reality while being purely selfish, and the second batch of people is selfish and also has the health and the future of the game in mind and accepts the REALITY of the game and its status quo...

Edited March 6, 2017 by Khaleg

[Icykill_]

I guess people forget that you don't need to move to a dead server to be alone... try the pvp instances in JC for example

 

Now seriously, if you have 17 servers, and only 7 are kinda alive (kinda)... keeping 10 dead servers running is a waste of money. Think of the content that could be created if at least 7 of those 10 dead servers were closed.

 

I believe the main issue some of the guys will still have with that is they can still see the chat in the other instance. There also isn't a pvp instance on the fleet or on every planet. So they would still be exposed to the toxic environment they want to avoid.

There is something that Bioware could do to fix that and it would be to make an RP galaxy wide instance as well and limit general chat to seperate instances. There could still be a cross instance gen chat channel but it would be off by default in the RP instance and would require people to activate it.

[DreadtechSavant]

We didn't have that problem of going over the character limit when we merged from Dalbora. Bioware gave us a dispensation and allowed us to have all characters even if they went over the limit. But if we deleted one we lost that character slot. If we wanted more slots we still had to pay for them.

 

Well that kind of answers that if same thing happened. Which would ease some players minds. If it happened? Which is not a certainty. Still I won't be here if mergers happened. I have played on high population server before and just did not like it and would not do so again. Yes there are times when even high population server at present time are lower in numbers. Which is when I play on them. If mergers happen that would no longer be the case. So I would end my 3 subs. Though 1 is only for 2 months anyway. Which I sub for two months per year. I also have F2P accounts. Yes I know I play this game a lot, far to much really.

 

This keeps getting thrown around and 90cc isn't free. Sure it's low, but it's not free. For people like myself who have over 30 toons, that would take months to do. It also doesn't address the point I made above about not being able to transfer everything.

 

I think we need a better solution instead of a band aid fix.

 

Was not here during last mergers. Were guilds transferred across then? Also what if they reduce servers to lets say 10 servers or pick any number you like. What if some guild members want a different server to others? A forced merge you don't get to decide which server you end up on. So would still leave some who do want mergers being on servers they don't want. I sure that happened last time to. So would still leave some having to pay for transfers up to whatever the max characters allowed.

 

BTW, I thought you had put me on ignore? You must have been on about another player.

Edited March 6, 2017 by DreadtechSavant

[DreadtechSavant]

 

Now seriously, if you have 17 servers, and only 7 are kinda alive (kinda)... keeping 10 dead servers running is a waste of money. Think of the content that could be created if at least 7 of those 10 dead servers were closed.

 

This is as far as I am concerned is the only real point players who want merger have. Still that is a decision BW should make based on if it's financially viable to keep all the servers going. If BW think no and merge servers its one thing. If BW closed servers on no other reason except because some players asked for it, it a different matter entirely. If they did that then they are not treating all the players equally and putting the want of one sub above another. Either way I'd still leave. Merging servers for finance reasons at least would not make me leave baring a grudge.

 

Cross Server instancing would be better and everyone wins. Could also allow people to opt out of it if they don't want to play with other servers.

 

Ok not sure how this would work. I have transferred characters and often the character I want to transfer is put in a queue to transfer. Normally this is only a few mins but has been up to 1 hour. Given that would not players wanting to do the same OP/WZ/FP all be put in a waiting transfer queue? Then have to transfer back. you would be doing for each one. Not sure where you are saving time. Also there is no guarantee that the waiting time would be the same for all members of any group as they would all be from different servers. The idea has merit. Is it possible though? Or time effective?

Edited March 6, 2017 by DreadtechSavant

[Lium]

There is no one on Po5. Even during peak hours there'll be like three people on the fleet and MAYBE five or six on Odessen. Queueing for uprisings is pointless. They never pop.

[MaximDestroyer]

I think that POT5 should be merged with another server, or better yet a few servers. Pot5 is almost always dead, most planets gave a maximum of 6 players on a single instance. The Imperial Fleet usually has around 10 to 20 and the republic fleet is usually always dead. The most players ive seen is on Coruscant at 20 during peak times. It's sad. I don't want to pay to transfer but I want to find groups and people to play/discuss with.

[HuaRya]

Was not here during last mergers. Were guilds transferred across then? Also what if they reduce servers to lets say 10 servers or pick any number you like. What if some guild members want a different server to others? A forced merge you don't get to decide which server you end up on. So would still leave some who do want mergers being on servers they don't want. I sure that happened last time to. So would still leave some having to pay for transfers up to whatever the max characters allowed.

 

The last mergers were pre-stronghold and pre-guild flagship. Back then the average player had less than 6 alts. Personally I may have had two or three alts which seemed like a lot at the time. Leveling took a lot longer and was way more expensive. Pretty sure the max level was 50 then.

 

Posters on both sides have gotten way ahead of themselves talking about 1 omni-server for all. Realistically there is a mid-way step to the process and that would be consolidating the near dead servers.

 

Next Logical North American Consolidation:

 

The Bastion --- merges into Harbinger

Begren Colony --- merges into Ebon Hawk

Prophecy of the Five --- merges into Shadowlands

Jung Ma --- merges into Jedi Covenant

[Andryah]

We didn't have that problem of going over the character limit when we merged from Dalbora. Bioware gave us a dispensation and allowed us to have all characters even if they went over the limit. But if we deleted one we lost that character slot. If we wanted more slots we still had to pay for them.

 

Well, back then.... you had a much lower limit on total characters... no ability to expand character slots (yet), and the dispensation you refer to was back when the average player had maybe 8 characters on a server. And.. the studio has slowly and cautiously raised the maximum limit over time, and they stated that their slow walking of this aspect of the game is due to concerns about server database stability.

 

Now days... it is not unheard of for players to have 40 or more characters on more then one server.

 

Different time, different context, different numbers. Note: I not saying they cannot do a similar dispensation, but it also is not clear that their server architecture will support as many as a hundred characters (or more) either, so it is not clear that your assumption based on what happened more then 4 years ago applies here.

Edited March 6, 2017 by Andryah

[Icykill_]

Well, back then.... you had a much lower limit on total characters... no ability to expand character slots (yet), and the dispensation you refer to was back when the average player had maybe 8 characters on a server. And.. the studio has slowly and cautiously raised the maximum limit over time, and they stated that their slow walking of this aspect of the game is due to concerns about server database stability.

 

Now days... it is not unheard of for players to have 40 or more characters on more then one server.

 

Different time, different context, different numbers. Note: I not saying they cannot do a similar dispensation, but it also is not clear that their server architecture will support as many as a hundred characters (or more) either, so it is not clear that your assumption based on what happened more then 4 years ago applies here.

 

We'd have to wait and see what Biowares capabilities are, at the moment it's complete speculation because they like to keep what they can do close to their chest. The character limit is a good question though because it maybe something bioware themselves haven't even thought of.

I was just referring to my own experience when we merged. I ended up with 23 toons.

I guess if people had 40-50 alts per server and they ever did a massive merge of 2-3 server into one, Bioware would need to look at options or a policy on how to impliment that. We could only hope they would allow all alts and that the server could cope.

On a side note, it would be funny to see over a hundred alts in the login screen. I think they'd need to make the menu smaller so you could show 20 per page or you'd be changing pages forever trying to find the right alt. LoL

Edited March 7, 2017 by Icykill_

[Upirlikhyi]

Bioware Please Merge Servers. Group content is dead from lack of population.

 

didnt read the whole thread but 8 servers and you want them merged? seriously

[Icykill_]

didnt read the whole thread but 8 servers and you want them merged? seriously

 

I believe Totem has unsubbed till 5.2.. so I wouldn't expect an answer

Edited March 7, 2017 by Icykill_

[Upirlikhyi]

I believe Totem has unsubbed till 5.2.. so I wouldn't expect an answer

 

 

it was more a gen question for all but thanks for the info he unsubbed

[Icykill_]

The last mergers were pre-stronghold and pre-guild flagship. Back then the average player had less than 6 alts. Personally I may have had two or three alts which seemed like a lot at the time. Leveling took a lot longer and was way more expensive. Pretty sure the max level was 50 then.

 

Posters on both sides have gotten way ahead of themselves talking about 1 omni-server for all. Realistically there is a mid-way step to the process and that would be consolidating the near dead servers.

 

Next Logical North American Consolidation:

 

The Bastion --- merges into Harbinger

Begren Colony --- merges into Ebon Hawk

Prophecy of the Five --- merges into Shadowlands

Jung Ma --- merges into Jedi Covenant

 

Quick question. Why would you merge a west coast server with an east coast. Ie Bergen into Ebon, that would increase Ping for anyone playing in the APAC region between 100-200ms

[Icykill_]

Here are some of the suggestions and compromises I've read through a few of these threads. I'm not championing any of them. I'm just listing some of the ones I can remember that tried to work out a way to meet the issue of low server populations.

** disclaimer - these ideas are based on the premise that Bioware will do something to address server population issues. It is assumed that any merger suggestions would be dependent on an assurance from Bioware that guilds/assets and peoples personal items would be moved with no losses or drama.

 

1. Free legacy server transfers from low population servers. (Addresses some issues, but doesn't help with moving everything a person might have setup for themselves, like a guild ship etc)

1a. Same as above, but fix it so people can move any and everything. Even a guild if they are the GM (that may require special guidelines and restrictions so GMs can't just up and move a guild without the guilds permission)

 

2. Merge into a mega server with multiple instances. (I think most of us wouldn't want that. Especially those of us who play outside of the US)

 

3. Merge into 1 server per region (doesn't address the issues people have with toxic people on certain destination servers (Harbinger) or people wanting to play on a quiet server/RP)

 

4. Merge a couple of servers so that there are a few servers per region (still doesn't fully address the issues from number three)

 

5. Merge servers like number 4, but add a seperate instance for RP and possibly a solo instance. The server could have realm chat, but that would be disabled by default for the RP/solo instance and require it to be activated. Possibly have full realm queues for group or just standard instance queues.

 

6. Cross server queues for group. But we know this is impossible according to Bioware.

 

Ok, so not anyone of those is perfect or addresses everyone's issues. I think number 5 comes close, but it's still not going to be perfect for everyone.

Bioware would also need to make a lot of assurances that what ever they did, people would not lose anything and there would be people on hand to help promptly with any transition problems that might pop up.

They would also need to have the right hardware setup to deal with any merges.

 

I probably missed a few or maybe missed a few issues with each, I'm just going from memory.

Edited March 7, 2017 by Icykill_

[Icykill_]

it was more a gen question for all but thanks for the info he unsubbed

 

I don't think anyone wants just one server. That has been suggested but I think 99% of people in this discussion don't want that.

There have been suggestion of consolidating some servers in different regions.

[Khaleg]

I don't think anyone wants just one server. That has been suggested but I think 99% of people in this discussion don't want that.

There have been suggestion of consolidating some servers in different regions.

 

I agree, that is not a good solution. The by far best solution would have been x server instances if Bioware didn't f... it up royally already during development prior to release...

More intelligent companies CAN implement the obvious, most clever and least harming (also press wise) solution which is x server, Bioware can't. That speaks for itself regarding that company...

Edited March 7, 2017 by Khaleg

[Ratajack]

I agree, that is not a good solution. The by far best solution would have been x server instances if Bioware didn't f... it up royally already during development prior to release...

More intelligent companies CAN implement the obvious, most clever and least harming (also press wise) solution which is x server, Bioware can't. That speaks for itself regarding that company...

 

As someone else asked, why are you still here giving money to a company that you apparently despise with a holy passion?

[Ratajack]

Here are some of the suggestions and compromises I've read through a few of these threads. I'm not championing any of them. I'm just listing some of the ones I can remember that tried to work out a way to meet the issue of low server populations.

** disclaimer - these ideas are based on the premise that Bioware will do something to address server population issues. It is assumed that any merger suggestions would be dependent on an assurance from Bioware that guilds/assets and peoples personal items would be moved with no losses or drama.

 

1. Free legacy server transfers from low population servers. (Addresses some issues, but doesn't help with moving everything a person might have setup for themselves, like a guild ship etc)

1a. Same as above, but fix it so people can move any and everything. Even a guild if they are the GM (that may require special guidelines and restrictions so GMs can't just up and move a guild without the guilds permission)

 

2. Merge into a mega server with multiple instances. (I think most of us wouldn't want that. Especially those of us who play outside of the US)

 

3. Merge into 1 server per region (doesn't address the issues people have with toxic people on certain destination servers (Harbinger) or people wanting to play on a quiet server/RP)

 

4. Merge a couple of servers so that there are a few servers per region (still doesn't fully address the issues from number three)

 

5. Merge servers like number 4, but add a seperate instance for RP and possibly a solo instance. The server could have realm chat, but that would be disabled by default for the RP/solo instance and require it to be activated. Possibly have full realm queues for group or just standard instance queues.

 

6. Cross server queues for group. But we know this is impossible according to Bioware.

 

Ok, so not anyone of those is perfect or addresses everyone's issues. I think number 5 comes close, but it's still not going to be perfect for everyone.

Bioware would also need to make a lot of assurances that what ever they did, people would not lose anything and there would be people on hand to help promptly with any transition problems that might pop up.

They would also need to have the right hardware setup to deal with any merges.

 

I probably missed a few or maybe missed a few issues with each, I'm just going from memory.

 

Number 5 sounds like it might be the best until you stop to think and realize that even separate RP or solo instances will not stop the rolls (especially the Harbinger trolls) from choosing to play in those instances specifically to ruin other players gaming experience.

 

Also, how do they create "solo" instances? If Johnny has chosen to play in the "solo" instance and Billy wants to do the same, do they create a separate "solo" instance so Johnny and Billy each have their own "Solo" instance? That could get quite taxing on server equipment, I would think.

 

Does Johnny's "solo" instance become a "non-solo" instance? That would defeat the purpose of having "solo" instances if anyone and their brother could join, right?

[TUXs]

I don't think anyone wants just one server. That has been suggested but I think 99% of people in this discussion don't want that.

There have been suggestion of consolidating some servers in different regions.

The reality is, we don't even need that though. Our population is so small now that one server would suffice.

[Ratajack]

The reality is, we don't even need that though. Our population is so small now that one server would suffice.

 

That certainly is some people's opinion, although that opinion is not shared by everyone.

 

Even in this thread, there have been plenty of people who have indicated that Ebon Hawk, Jedi Covenant and Shadowlands have sufficient populations and those players have also indicated that their queue times are not excessive.

 

Of course, those players may not be guildless or friendless and may not depend on random strangers for their group content. They may also behave in a respectful and responsible manner and therefore have avoided many people's ignore lists, making it far easier to find groups.

 

I wonder exactly how many of those who "cannot get a pop" have found their way onto many people's ignore lists, for whatever reason?

[SalBasss]

I wonder exactly how many of those who "cannot get a pop" have found their way onto many people's ignore lists, for whatever reason?

 

Haha, I never would have thought of this... an excellent question nonetheless.

[TUXs]

That certainly is some people's opinion, although that opinion is not shared by everyone.

My opinion being that we have so few players that they could all fit onto one server isn't shared? I think it's more of an assumed fact than an opinion. Harbinger could easily double the size of its current population and only be back to where it was 18 months ago...it was "Standard" then. If we were to combine every server into one server, I doubt we'd be over that and I doubt we'd hit "Heavy".

[kodrac]

It's still all pointless bickering unless there's something to do. Fix the reasons behind falling populations first - i.e. content drought. Priorities, man. With as little as I log on anymore which server doesn't matter.

[TUXs]

It's still all pointless bickering unless there's something to do. Fix the reasons behind falling populations first - i.e. content drought. Priorities, man. With as little as I log on anymore which server doesn't matter.

Agreed. Much like cross server ques, merging is just a band-aid.