Server Merge Discussion Thread

[Ylliarus]

I think you are missing one important fact. That poster plays on TRE, a European server and therefore has a vested interest in doing everything he can to try to ensure that EU has only ONE server and not a PVE/PVP server and an RP server.

 

Grudgingly "agreeing" to separate RP servers in the US has no real affect on him. Accepting 2 servers in EU WOULD affect him, though. He has already admitted to being afraid that people would choose not be on the "megaserver", even if that meant playing on an RP server.

 

We do not know how selective he was with his "screenshots" of his "conversations". We do know however, that those screenshots notably do not include any from The Progenitor, an RP server.

 

We also know that when others pointed out that their experiences on TRE were diametrically opposite what his "screenshots" show (that the community on TRE seems to be very intolerant and trollish), his response was to attack the communities on the RP servers.

 

Shall I tell you why I am so vested into 1 EU server? Because I want to RP again, as awful as the community could be I miss roleplaying, but I also want to have an active playerbase to be able to PvP and PvE to my heart's content in the meanwhile. Splitting my characters between characters I don't have the time for that IRL, to level up multiple characters on multiple servers. That is why I am invested into Red Eclipse being merged with Progenitor. I know, a selfish reason but we all are in this thread. Don't even try to deny it because we all strive to get what would please us most here.

 

And I happen to also have taken shots from the Progenitor no need to be so self-righteous and spiteful towards me. I made sure to have shots from all 4 servers I went to to ask around. You're trying to prove that the bad people are on other servers, well judging from how you respond to me you should first look into a mirror before pointing fingers.

Edited August 15, 2017 by Ylliarus

[Ylliarus]

By the way I will read your rp later. Just wasn't up to it yesterday due to getting bad news about a friend.

 

Of course I understand, take your time! It's quite a bit already and I need to update it sometime again there's quite a bit more material about that char I have on my PC which I want to upload to the forums!

[IoNonSoEVero]

 

A separate RP server seems reasonable to me, because I have seen how deliberately toxic, disruptive, and abusive non-RPers can be toward RPers on mixed servers.

 

I agree with this. It's important to have spaces where people can be comfortable. Not everyone is a good match for the culture on every server.

 

It's easy to say that people's concerns about trolling are simple fear or paranoia, or that players should just ignore it, but it does get tiresome to deal with it. You're playing a game that is supposed to be relaxing and fun and you have to deal with ******oles.

 

Yes, like everyone else, I turn off whispers and general chat, and I just completely ignore the idiots who decide to do things like run circles around me. But turning off chat also means one misses out on meeting players they might enjoy getting to know and interacting, and it's a shame that has to happen because there is so much toxicity. If we had better moderation and things like Legacy ignore it might not be so much of an issue and IMHO some might be more willing to explore things like mega-servers.

[shalea]

Shall I tell you why I am so vested into 1 EU server? Because I want to RP again, as awful as the community could be I miss roleplaying, but I also want to have an active playerbase to be able to PvP and PvE to my heart's content in the meanwhile. Splitting my characters between characters I don't have the time for that IRL, to level up multiple characters on multiple servers. That is why I am invested into Red Eclipse being merged with Progenitor. I know, a selfish reason but we all are in this thread. Don't even try to deny it because we all strive to get what would please us most here.

 

And I happen to also have taken shots from the Progenitor no need to be so self-righteous and spiteful towards me. I made sure to have shots from all 4 servers I went to to ask around. You're trying to prove that the bad people are on other servers, well judging from how you respond to me you should first look into a mirror before pointing fingers.

 

 

So your idea of compromise is for the US to get an RP server but Europe to just get the one megaserver?

Sorry but fair is fair if one area gets an RP server so should the other

[Ylliarus]

So your idea of compromise is for the US to get an RP server but Europe to just get the one megaserver?

Sorry but fair is fair if one area gets an RP server so should the other

 

Then so be it but have it be merged with Tomb of Freedon Nadd like someone suggested so the playerbase gets more active. If you have to have your own server, if that pleases you, so be it. But don't cry if the game ends up in exactly the same spot as it is in today in a year or two.

 

Besides, if I am to believe the reports from Bioware's devs as well as the Influencers things will end up just fine and the way I hope they'll be.

Edited August 15, 2017 by Ylliarus

[Ratajack]

Then so be it but have it be merged with Tomb of Freedon Nadd like someone suggested so the playerbase gets more active. If you have to have your own server, if that pleases you, so be it. But don't cry if the game ends up in exactly the same spot as it is in today in a year or two.

 

Besides, if I am to believe the reports from Bioware's devs as well as the Influencers things will end up just fine and the way I hope they'll be.

 

What reports from BW devs? I've seen nothing from any BW dev, or even a BW source, to indicate that a "megaserver" or even server merges are a foregone conclusion.

[Ylliarus]

What reports from BW devs? I've seen nothing from any BW dev, or even a BW source, to indicate that a "megaserver" or even server merges are a foregone conclusion.

 

The hints are in the posts, but if you choose to not see them because you're blinded by your own desire then you won't see anything aye.

[TUXs]

A separate RP server seems reasonable to me, because I have seen how deliberately toxic, disruptive, and abusive non-RPers can be toward RPers on mixed servers.

I understand what you're saying, you're 100% right about how toxic people can be...but...there's no reason people shouldn't feel safe RPing on ANY server. Are PvPers shunned on RP servers? Are solo players shunned on PvP servers? We should all be able to coexist on ONE server. The few trolls need to be dealt with by Bioware though...Bioware NEEDS to ensure they can RP without fear - Bioware needs to become active, and tough, in policing harassment.

[Andryah]

What reports from BW devs? I've seen nothing from any BW dev, or even a BW source, to indicate that a "megaserver" or even server merges are a foregone conclusion.

 

-----> Alternate Facts Syndrome is alive and well with some.

 

I think Keith was pretty clear in his most recent interview on the matter.... they want to find a way to make it easier for players that want to aggregate actually aggregate (and that would include whole guilds, which cannot currently be done), while at the same time NOT forcing players to move where they don't want to move to. As to when they declare a server to be beyond population repair and what they would do about it... Keith has really not commented as of yet on that aspect as far as I am aware.

 

But I have no illusions that stubborn positions taken will in any way be influenced by actually objectively listening to what Keith said, and did not say. It is well known that separating a dog from it's bone is not easy, nor wise. Let them just chew and chew.

Edited August 15, 2017 by Andryah

[Ratajack]

The hints are in the posts, but if you choose to not see them because you're blinded by your own desire then you won't see anything aye.

 

Hints are not reports.

 

Your vaunted third party sources can "hint" all they want. You can read whatever you want to read into the dev posts. To the best of my knowledge, nothing has been carved in stone, as of yet.

 

To the best of my knowledge, the last specific statement from any BW source was Keith's interview. That would be the one in which he stated that BW does NOT want to FORCIBLY move anyone--that they want to allow players the CHOICE to remain on their current servers if they CHOOSE to do so.

 

As I said, though, to the best of my knowledge, nothing has been carved in stone. I would expect that all options are being considered and everything is still up in the air, so to speak.

 

I do not expect to see anything happen until/unless they resolve all the issues surrounding guild and personal transfers, including but not limited to: naming conflicts; guilds, guild strongholds and guild ships transferring intact; multiple legacy storage vaults being merged; outfits stamped in the outfit designer not being lost; etc.

 

We may eventually see server merges in some form, whether they are limited in scope, all servers merged into one "megaserver" or somewhere in between.

 

We could just as easily see a new server on each US coast and a new EU server and players desiring a higher population server being encouraged to move to one of those new servers.

[Andryah]

We could just as easily see a new server on each US coast and a new EU server and players desiring a higher population server being encouraged to move to one of those new servers.

 

Honestly... this sounds quite close to Keith's interview comments. And it allows them to avoid a big issue with forcing characters to move and having to deal with the blowback over lost names, guild names, other assets, etc.

 

I can see them taking this approach, and then waiting to see what players actually do with it, before deciding to close any servers. Clearly IF/WHEN they decide to close a server... that would require that any characters on said server be moved to a designated server that will remain active...but until they publicly state such a position... there is no evidence yet that they will close and consolidate any servers (even the essentially abandoned old PvP servers). Keith very much appears to want to take the approach of giving the players the freedom to choose (which of course is anathema to the pro megaserver crowd).

Edited August 15, 2017 by Andryah

[fushnchips]

Bioware already know what they are going to do so it's already a closed case but they must be sitting back laughing at the RP vs Harbinger crowd because it's the same people putting the wall up every time I won't say those names because that is a ToS breech but when will you people learn that Bioware always have the decisions premade look at the past it's a business decision not based on a select group of people that sit on guild ships looking at out fits or trying to ERP with some poor soul that just landed on the fleet.

[DWho]

Honestly... this sounds quite close to Keith's interview comments. And it allows them to avoid a big issue with forcing characters to move and having to deal with the blowback over lost names, guild names, other assets, etc.

 

I can see them taking this approach, and then waiting to see what players actually do with it, before deciding to close any servers. Clearly IF/WHEN they decide to close a server... that would require that any characters on said server be moved to a designated server that will remain active...but until they publicly state such a position... there is no evidence yet that they will close and consolidate any servers (even the essentially abandoned old PvP servers). Keith very much appears to want to take the approach of giving the players the freedom to choose (which of course is anathema to the pro megaserver crowd).

 

This is one possible scenario. Another is to merge the PVP servers into one of the PVE servers and then see how the population adjusts. This is most likely because it is the lowest risk in that it does not require new hardware and with the smaller populations involved the risk of problems in any mergers are less. That unfortunately does not help the people on the PVP servers who want to be there or the people looking for instant group content pops. That would leave the US with 5 servers, down from 8. Most likely that configuration would remain for another year to see how the populations sort out themselves and whether there is any increase in population related to other changes in the game (which would be consistent with comments made by Kieth). At the end of that time Bioware would likely have to decide whether to go down to 3 servers or stay with 5. I think there will be server merges in the future but they will not be the size that some people want (in a way that is a compromise between the mega-server and no merger positions)

[DWho]

Bioware already know what they are going to do so it's already a closed case but they must be sitting back laughing at the RP vs Harbinger crowd because it's the same people putting the wall up every time I won't say those names because that is a ToS breech but when will you people learn that Bioware always have the decisions premade look at the past it's a business decision not based on a select group of people that sit on guild ships looking at out fits or trying to ERP with some poor soul that just landed on the fleet.

 

Then why do all the server merge people get so bent out of shape when anyone suggests Bioware might go in a direction different than they want (not that the other side is immune to getting bent out of shape either). Bioware is likely to take the path of least risk and a massive merger is a huge risk. I would expect any mergers to be smaller and more surgical.

[Ratajack]

Bioware already know what they are going to do so it's already a closed case but they must be sitting back laughing at the RP vs Harbinger crowd because it's the same people putting the wall up every time I won't say those names because that is a ToS breech but when will you people learn that Bioware always have the decisions premade look at the past it's a business decision not based on a select group of people that sit on guild ships looking at out fits or trying to ERP with some poor soul that just landed on the fleet.

 

Nor will the decision be based on a select group of people who rely upon the LFG tool, for whatever reason, for their group content.

 

You are correct that it will be a business decision, based on the business as a whole, not one select group or another wants.

 

What that decision will be (or already is) remains to be seen.

[fushnchips]

Then why do all the server merge people get so bent out of shape when anyone suggests Bioware might go in a direction different than they want (not that the other side is immune to getting bent out of shape either). Bioware is likely to take the path of least risk and a massive merger is a huge risk. I would expect any mergers to be smaller and more surgical.

 

Making mega servers isn't a risk at all it's very common for games that are not healthy to slowly move in this direction and SWTOR isn't healthy if you take away the CM the game wouldn't last 3-6 months and the proof about the game being unhealthy are the servers and once they work out the kinks I hope they push that red button and merge all into 1.

[fushnchips]

Nor will the decision be based on a select group of people who rely upon the LFG tool, for whatever reason, for their group content.

 

You are correct that it will be a business decision, based on the business as a whole, not one select group or another wants.

 

What that decision will be (or already is) remains to be seen.

 

I'm sorry but they will have to look at the LFG tool because that's part of it being a MMO and if that function is failing due to the lack of population then 100% they will make use of it and so they should games like WoW, FFXIV work perfect because of this tool and they have better options like cross realm, cross data center but SWTOR doesn't have these options so they can only make a server and combine all to improve it because that's what this game was designed for mass multiplayer online not stronghold outfits Anonymous.

[DWho]

Making mega servers isn't a risk at all it's very common for games that are not healthy to slowly move in this direction and SWTOR isn't healthy if you take away the CM the game wouldn't last 3-6 months and the proof about the game being unhealthy are the servers and once they work out the kinks I hope they push that red button and merge all into 1.

 

It depends on how you define risk. Short term, mega servers are a risk because you are moving lots of people who may or may not want to move and there are clearly many technical issues to work out (most of which can only be tested in a limited fashion before "going live"). Long term they are less of a risk because your are "future proofing" the game under the assumption that you are going to lose a lot more population. The decision is short term risk vs long term reward. With the current game population there is no reward for server mergers (for Bioware anyway - mergers will at best keep the game population and thus revenues the same). You need to find a way to increase game population not just consolidate a shrinking number of players.

[DWho]

I'm sorry but they will have to look at the LFG tool because that's part of it being a MMO and if that function is failing due to the lack of population then 100% they will make use of it and so they should games like WoW, FFXIV work perfect because of this tool and they have better options like cross realm, cross data center but SWTOR doesn't have these options so they can only make a server and combine all to improve it because that's what this game was designed for mass multiplayer online not stronghold outfits Anonymous.

 

The game was launched as primarily an online RPG with the vast majority of the content being able to be completed solo. MMO elements were added but they have been and continue to be the minority of the gameplay (that doesn't make them less important it is just a fact). I don't have a problem with finding a way to consolidate all those who want group play (like designating one of the servers as the random grouping server) and allowing people who want that play style to move there (free of charge if need be).

 

I, as a primarily story player, still want to be around other people. I just don't see the benefit of having massive numbers of people around me (to the point I can't see vendors or quest givers because there are so many bodies in the way). The only thing the random group crowd will see in a server merge is the decrease in pop times because the majority of them don't do anything else in game, at least that is what a lot of them are saying, so why not have a server dedicated to just those activities (or a server dedicated to just story if you prefer). You wouldn't even need any planets you could just have the fleet and they could stand around there waiting for group content to pop.

[Icykill_]

The game was launched as primarily an online RPG with the vast majority of the content being able to be completed solo. MMO elements were added but they have been and continue to be the minority of the gameplay

 

What a load of codswallop. The game was launched and designed primarily as an MMO. Please link something that says otherwise because every reference I've found says MMO.

Edited August 15, 2017 by Icykill_

[DWho]

What a load of codswallop. The game was launched and designed primarily as an MMO. Please link something that says otherwise because every reference I've found says MMO.

 

While it carried an MMO title from the start, which actually has nothing to do with group play and refers only to the fact that a large group of players are pursuing objectives in the same area, it launched with 8 full 50 level story arcs plus multiple planetary arcs designed for characters to pursue (grouped or not but certainly doable solo). It only had a handful of PVP maps and a couple of Operations. So while it may have carried an MMO designation, the majority of the content was not group oriented. It has increased those elements over time. I should have said group elements instead of MMO elements to be more clear but everyone in the forums seems to use the term MMO as synonymous with group play..

 

I'm not sure what else you would call a game with that much story (and Bioware spent a lot of money on that story portion of the game with the voiceovers). At best you could call it an MMO-RPG.

Edited August 15, 2017 by DWho

[CountZart]

This is my input:

 

US:

1 Pve Server

1 Pvp Server

1 RP Server.

 

Same goes for EU.

 

Would be pretty terrible if PVP, PVE and RP players would mix up to much.

We all know that PVP players are usually the most toxic ones. Let them be in their own server.

 

ONE big server, would just create to much toxicity between different player grps.

 

Thanks.

[IntegrationArch]

Why separate and thin out PVE and RP, why not join for West Coast, East Coast, and EU?

[IntegrationArch]

Original PvP you could kill and strip dead toon's armor and weapons. In 1.x leveling new toons, guild seniors grouped in solo RP chapter end class leveling as noobs could not afford gear so you progressed best with a guild, even on solo. Now there is 70 levels and who knows how many chapters once 5.4 drops so group is best in that.

 

SWTOR is:

MMO

PvP

Ranked

RP and Class

GSF

Operations

Conquest and PC

Shooter Heroics and Solo

Lore/scifi fantacy Crafting

Cartel Market

Stronghold & Deco's

Guild Master, Ships, ST, and underlings RP and decorations

 

Majority of above benefits with more players per server vs less.....

Edited August 15, 2017 by IntegrationArch

[fushnchips]

This is my input:

 

US:

1 Pve Server

1 Pvp Server

1 RP Server.

 

Same goes for EU.

 

Would be pretty terrible if PVP, PVE and RP players would mix up to much.

We all know that PVP players are usually the most toxic ones. Let them be in their own server.

 

ONE big server, would just create to much toxicity between different player grps.

 

Thanks.

 

lol 1 pvp server have you seen the state of all PVP servers in this game ? they are dead