Will Server Transfers see a sale this summer?

[TrixxieTriss]

Nobody should need to change anymore. One server per geographic region or language in Europe.

 

Nobody “should” need to, but Bioware keep giving people reasons to leave the game. I think my reason for needing to transfer is entirely valid and dare you to prove otherwise

[annabethchase]

Nobody “should” need to, but Bioware keep giving people reasons to leave the game. I think my reason for needing to transfer is entirely valid and dare you to prove otherwise

 

I just did. Everyone had ample time to switch to the proper geographic or language location. There's no longer options.

 

Server hopping to find the easiest PvP or GTN is not a valid reason to lower Transfer cost. In fact, it's an argument to raise it to the point nobody would server hop anymore for these reasons.

[TrixxieTriss]

I just did. Everyone had ample time to switch to the proper geographic or language location. There's no longer options.

 

Server hopping to find the easiest PvP or GTN is not a valid reason to lower Transfer cost. In fact, it's an argument to raise it to the point nobody would server hop anymore for these reasons.

 

You don’t know just how wrong you are and you’ve provided no argument to back up a one line statement.

 

People didn’t know ahead of time that they were moving the west coast server to the east coast. They stopped those transfers a month before they moved the servers.

 

You might not play pvp, but I only pvp, that is what I pay for. Imagine you couldn’t play what ever part of the game you play when you jump online. But you could if you could transfer to another server?

 

It’s not my fault or any players fault that Bioware continue to give people reasons to unsub and anyone like me can no longer get enough people to play the game the way “they like” when they login.

 

Explain to me please how it will help the game or Bioware by not allowing me or others to transfer during a sale? You’ve provided no reason not to do it.

But I’ve provided valid reasons to do it.

 

“If” I can’t play the game the way I want to, I won’t pay money to play it. That hurts the game, which the game can’t afford and keep bleeding players because people can’t play the game the way they want or play it in a way they enjoy. Aka, I can’t play pvp when I get online and for other people it might be because conquest was changed.

 

You might say it doesn’t need it, but I’m telling you from my perspective as someone who can no longer play the game at certain hours of the day, that for me to keep paying I need to be able to play in two regions, not one.

Back when the mergers happened and even until the changes in conquest, we had enough players for me to be able to get online and play pvp on the US servers. But things have changed since then.

 

It’s now 8 months after the mergers and I’m in a similar situation as I was last year before the mergers. I can no longer play when I get online.

 

Now, I could be here demanding mergers again and making a tonne of threads to ask for them. I could be dividing the community with that debate. But I’m not. I realise that at the moment for the majority of players, they can get online and play like the servers are full or healthy. It’s only a few of us in the big scheme of things that can’t. I recognise that and I’m trying to be proactive by playing on a EU server, even with an increase of another 100+ms Ping, now about 330ms. I don’t know if you pvp or not and playing at 230 ms is already bad and 330ms is terrible. But I’m not even here complaining about that, I recognise my predicament and I’ve tried to be proactive about it.

 

All I’m asking for is Bioware to provide a little help in allowing me to keep playing the game I lov without having to keep spending a heap of money to continually get less content and play with worse performance.

I don’t want oermant discounted transfers (at this point), all I’m asking for is a limited time sale that will allow me and some others to transfer regions to keep playing the game.

 

Other have said how easy it is to lvl characters. But I don’t want to lvl 4 of the different classes in the story again, just so I can get the all the class bonuses I need for pvp. Or having to collect all the datacrons again or trying to lvl up characters it 300cxp and then gear them up

 

It costs 9030 Unasembled components to gear to 248 on ever piece.

 

Regular Warzone Win 20 Unassembled Components = 452 wins to get 9030 UC

Or

Regular Warzone Loss 8 Unassembled Components = 1128 loses to get 9030 UC

Or

Even if you averaged it out at 50/50 win lose. 226 wins + 564 losses = 790 win/lose matches to get 9030 UC

 

Considering I’m lucky to get 8 matches a day, which means 98 days to gear one character if I don’t get any RNG drops, which is possible because my Guardian on SF still hasn’t got one drop and she’s nearly Tier 3

 

You obviously don’t need transfers, that’s good for you, but what have you got against other people who need them to continue to play the game the way they want to? No two peoples situation is the same, if it doesn’t affect you then you shouldn’t be telling me that I don’t count, which is basically what you are saying,

Your attitude towards your fellow players is selfish. I’m sure if you were affected the same why I am, you’d be shouting at the roof tops that it was needed.

 

Lastly, in case I have not made it clear enough in the multple posts I’ve made on this topic. I DONT WANT PERMANENT DISCOUNTED TRANSFERS, I WANT A SHORT TERM SALE. This will not adversely affect GTN prices in the long term or server populations, “if” as people have said, “are” healthy. You may get some movement in GTN prices in the short term, but even that will benefit most buys on the GTN.

A SALE WILL NOT HAVE ANY PERMANT AFFECT ON THE SERVERS, unless they aren’t as healthy as people say. If that is the case, it sounds like some against them are panicking that their server may lose too many players to another.

 

And that my dear, is how you present an argument to back up your position

Edited July 16, 2018 by TrixxieTriss

[DWho]

They should allow discounted inter-regional transfers only. From US to EU or EU to US (which should solve Trixie's two-region problem). They should not offer discounted intra-region transfers in general (these are by far the most valuable of transfers and should be kept at full price). They could offer intra-region transfers "sale" for a short time like 1 week before the PVP "update" to 1 week after to allow PVP populations to re-balance themselves.

 

Edit: There should also be a lock-out before the same character can be transferred a second time (might already be one but there definitely should be one if not)

Edited July 16, 2018 by DWho

[Khaleg]

There's no point for them to offer a sale now although I think the current price is a state of the art rip-off by itself.

[TrixxieTriss]

They should allow discounted inter-regional transfers only. From US to EU or EU to US (which should solve Trixie's two-region problem). They should not offer discounted intra-region transfers in general (these are by far the most valuable of transfers and should be kept at full price). They could offer intra-region transfers "sale" for a short time like 1 week before the PVP "update" to 1 week after to allow PVP populations to re-balance themselves.

 

Edit: There should also be a lock-out before the same character can be transferred a second time (might already be one but there definitely should be one if not)

 

There is a lockout for transfers. You can’t transfer a character more than once every 30 days.

[Zerileth]

For those of you that don't want others to have low cost transfers, why? It was not cheating to use it. Whether pvp related or GTN related. Are you just taking the opposite stance for the sake of it? Why do you care? What does it hurt you? Low cost server transfers are the least of this game's problems.

 

Need I remind you (and I'm not going to dig it up, you do it) that Keith himself used them and stated it was a good way to update legacies. And, the game itself still encourages you to play on other servers during loading screens.

 

Again, it is not a form of cheating or getting something on the GTN others can't also do. Whether I'm on one server or several, I'm still looking over the GTN for the best prices. I'm still going to buy things cheap and sell them for a profit. Sometimes I just happened to get into a group on one server that I just happen to acquire an achievement item and I'd like to get it back to my main legacy. That's not cheating or manipulating the game in any way. You like one server. Ok, no biggie. Feels like you're pushing your agenda on others. If Bioware does/wants to drop server costs, they will. If not, they won't.

 

But server hopping isn't good for server stability as far as population is concerned.

 

Source for this? Numbers? Opinion yes.

 

And you call it expensive but in fact the price for a server transfer in SWTOR is quite reasonable and a lot cheaper than other games.

Um... so? What does that have to do with anything? This game isn't like other games in a lot of ways. This is like saying, "Honey, we can't have a pool, cause the neighbor doesn't have one!"

 

I mean, I'm fine if the game dies out but for people who still want SWTOR to last for years, asking for cheap stuff and things that disrupt server populations because they cannot see how other people would use or abuse cheap transfers is frankly naïve.

 

Look, I'm all for having discussions. We're grown-ups. But stuff like this you need to back it up. Even if you tell me to look for it myself tell me it's out there, but let's face it there's no known truth to this. I've yet to see an issue. Use or abuse? So for example, by buying a black dye on one server for 5k and transferring to another server and selling it for 20k? That's abuse? We're naive cause we don't agree with your opinion?

 

No because of legal requirements in those countries. It may be that those countries require language servers or they might subsidize translation work also as part of that deal. These 2 countries are very particular about safe-guarding their languages so they tend to require the game to be translated into their languages and have language servers.

 

It MAY be? What Legal requirements? Other countries play this game on DM... they're fine.

 

As far as looking good, I don't think Americans could stomach having 1 server when there are 3 in the EU. That's all.

 

Again, not trying to fight with you, just trying to make my point, but this is pure speculation. I'm an American, 1 server is fine by me. Cheap transfers are fine by me.

Edited July 16, 2018 by Zerileth

[Zerileth]

There is a lockout for transfers. You can’t transfer a character more than once every 30 days.

 

Is this new since the new price change? Seems like I remember doing this during the 90cc days. I could be wrong.

[Zerileth]

Nobody should need to change anymore. One server per geographic region or language in Europe.

 

Maybe it's not about "change," but just a preferred game play for some. What does it hurt? And if you give me a reason, is that just opinion?

[Zerileth]

Server hopping to find the easiest PvP or GTN is not a valid reason to lower Transfer cost. In fact, it's an argument to raise it to the point nobody would server hop anymore for these reasons.

 

You sure about that? Do we have the numbers? It's as valid as any other reason. Unless you work at Bioware how do you know it's not? Would if Bioware came out tomorrow and said all name changes and server transfers will now be free.... Just saying, would if? You guys think the game would become server imbalanced? I doubt it. Would more people lose out on GTN sales to the savvy, underhanded GTN surfers! (sarcasm) I doubt it.

 

BW's gonna do what they're gonna do. I personal don't think they will change prices at this point. I'd like them to lower them, but it won't be what makes me stay or go.

Edited July 16, 2018 by Zerileth

[IoNonSoEVero]

For those of you that don't want others to have low cost transfers, why? It was not cheating to use it. Whether pvp related or GTN related. Are you just taking the opposite stance for the sake of it? Why do you care? What does it hurt you? Low cost server transfers are the least of this game's problems.

 

Need I remind you (and I'm not going to dig it up, you do it) that Keith himself used them and stated it was a good way to update legacies. And, the game itself still encourages you to play on other servers during loading screens.

 

I agree with all of this. I don't understand, truly, why some seem so opposed to making it easier to play on the servers they wish.

 

In terms of server population, for a lot of people that seems to translate to "available players for groups and PvP." But since not all players PvP or do PUG/group finder activities, I don't think this really matters. Also, if one is unhappy or unsatisfied with their current server, being unable to easily and cheaply transfer elsewhere can mean the difference between their continued participation in the game. That affects population and subscription numbers, too.

 

The cheap server transfers were stopped before the big server merge last year. The server vibes have possibly changed since then, and someone who was content where they were in November last year might not feel that way now.

[TrixxieTriss]

Is this new since the new price change? Seems like I remember doing this during the 90cc days. I could be wrong.

 

I don’t know if it’s chnaged or not. I just known that when I considered transferring recently and started to go through the process (before changing my mind), one of the requirements was the character must have no mail, no GTN sales and mustn’t have been transferred in the last 30 days.

[Zerileth]

I don’t know if it’s chnaged or not. I just known that when I considered transferring recently and started to go through the process (before changing my mind), one of the requirements was the character must have no mail, no GTN sales and mustn’t have been transferred in the last 30 days.

 

Yes I agree with this. I believe I read that too, however I don't think the system stops you. Again, could be wrong. Maybe they just haven't updated the rules.

[TrixxieTriss]

I’m starting to get the feeling that people who oppose this idea, all into one of 4 categories.

 

1. Worried about their server population and think people will bail. (Which begs the question? Why would people bail?)

2. They have the GTN market cornered on their server with high prices and don’t want competition

3. All of the above

4. Trolling for the sake of upsetting people by arguing.

 

If number 1.

Why are they so scared? Aren’t the servers and populations healthy as they are? If they aren’t, then there is something fundamentally wrong and it should probably be exposed sooner rather than later before more people leave. Maybe if people were allowed to transfer at cheaper prices, some of them wouldn’t have already left the game.

 

If number 2.

Maybe they shouldn’t be so greedy by listing things much higher than is reasonable. A bit of competition is always good to fix those problems.

 

If number 3.

Then get over yourselves. You aren’t the only ones who play this game.

 

If number 4.

Trolls, “what are they good for, absolutely nothing”

 

I honestly can’t see any other reasons to oppose it.

Edited July 16, 2018 by TrixxieTriss

[Zerileth]

The following is totally my opinion from observation:

 

The French and German servers aren't looking so good. The French server is getting really bad. Hardly anything on their GTN. Fleet is bare much of the time. I'm not a regular there so somebody please tell me if I'm way off. They both look like the old pvp servers before this last merger. Someone on the forums said many/some are migrating to DM. I don't really bother with those servers anymore myself. DM/SS/SF seem healthy.

 

If number 2.

Maybe they shouldn’t be so greedy by listing things much higher than is reasonable. A bit of competition is always good to fix those problems.

 

This is a good point which also asks the question then, wouldn't GTN surfing through server transfers be healthy? We're evening/leveling out all the servers keeping them aligned together in price and goods available.

Edited July 16, 2018 by Zerileth

[TrixxieTriss]

This is a good point which also asks the question then, wouldn't GTN surfing through server transfers be healthy? We're evening/leveling out all the servers keeping them aligned together in price and goods available.

 

Also to consider, some servers don’t have all items on their GTNs, so if you want a particular item, you can’t get it.

 

I know my wife was missing one piece of an armour set on SS, but it was readily available on SF. So she could not complete the set and open it because it needs to be equiped all on the same toon (which I think is dumb).

[Tsillah]

Or I can just stop paying and go preferred like so many others. Wouldn’t it be better to allow someone who “is” currently paying for a subscription to transfer characters at a discount rate than make them unsubscribe because they can’t play the game at the hours they want to?

I’m not sure if you read my previous posts, but I live in Australia. Since the west coast servers were closed, most of the apac community left the game and the servers in the US are becoming ghost towns when I want to play. (5-11pm Aussie time). So my only recourse is to play on EU servers with 330ms ping.

Already I am paying the same price for a degraded service because my ping is increased, but you think I should have to pay more just to play the game the way it was meant to be played?

I’ve already been forced to pay an extra $15 a mo th for WTFast VPN gaming service since they closed the west coast servers just to play pvp because of the increased ping.

You pay $15(US) sub, I pay $20(AU) sub +$15(AU) for WTFast just to play this game. I’m essentially paying $35 a mo th to play this game, so yeah, paying full price for a character transfer is expensive for me.

If we follow your logic, I should be willing to pay even more money than I am now to play the game the way I want to and when I want.

You don’t have to want cheaper transfers, but you also don’t have the right to lecture me on what is expensive and what’s not. A discounted transfer sale is not going to affect you one bit. Why are you even here telling me that it’s not needed and that I should just pay more to support this game.

SERIOUSLY, what the hell man? I’ve been playing this game for 6 years on 2 accounts (until they moved the servers), I’ve spent $100s on Cartel coins over the years. Bioware and this game have had my financial support and I’ve paid well above the average person. I’ve paid my share and then some.

Personally I think 1 transfer a month should be free as part of your sub, but it’s not and that’s NOT what I’m asking for. I’m not asking for anything free, just a discount like theyve done in the past.

Your post telling me that I should support the game by throwing more money is Highly insulting. What about all the free loaders not paying an dplaying most of the game for free. What about the fact that content has dried up. What about the fact that I have degraded play because there are less people online or that I’ve got to play with 300ms ping?

Honestly, you post was insulting and not welcome. It would have been better is you hadn’t “poked the hornets nest” because now that I’ve written all of this, I’m wonder why the hell im still paying for this game. If anything, you’ve made me question wether I should support it at all.

I guess the game might lose one more paying sub, so I hope you can see how that is more detrimental than allowing a discounted transfer. :mad:

Well, I do like to poke the hornet's nest to make people think about what they're doing. But the reality is exactly there. This game isn't dead but it's also not doing great. Considering what's happening with the game since 5.0, the only logical conclusion that I can see is that they are doing what they can to make the game viable for low population.

 

If you want to play this game for years to come, then the reality is that someone has to pay for it. I gave an example before but I'll repeat it because it's relevant. If the game had 200000 players before 5.0 and they need 2 million a month to keep the game going then each player has to spend 10 bucks a month on average. Since there are also a lot of non-subs this means that this is not reached automatically and that's where the CM comes in.

Now let's say that the game has got 50000 now and that's why we got server merges. So they reduce the cost of maintaining the game to 1 million. Of course at the cost of APAC players (which I do not think was a nice thing to do but sadly necessary to maintain this game). But that means that the 500000 players need to spend 20 bucks on average to keep the game going. So that's double of what it was.

 

Clearly those numbers are fictional as I do not know the actual numbers but it demonstrates why BioWare went the way it did with an increased focus on the CM with direct sales and why they sacrificed the APAC players.

 

So I'm certainly not trying to insult you but that's what the cold harsh reality of it is. I do think though that part of your frustration is that you want things that aren't realistic anymore. So perhaps it stung but then ask yourself why it stung, because you are questioning yourself now.

 

Here's the thing. You've been very angry at the server merges and I understand why. You claimed the game had become unplayable but you are still here. That means this game means a lot to you. But the truth is that with the reduced amount of players the game needs to make more per player than before. So asking for discounts is counterproductive to your own goal of wanting to keep playing this game for a long while yet.

 

So I see two choices realistically. Either you say this game isn't worth spending money on and indeed you go F2P and sail it till the game dies. Or you actively support the game also financially in spite of the server situation and you are part of keeping the game alive. Then it would make more sense to be a bit more objective about the services the CM offers like server transfers because those prices aren't high.

 

It just seems that you want to keep the illusion that the game is doing perfectly well financially and that you are in a position to ask for discounts and expect the game to keep their doors open. For me that's an illusion. My stance is that they have started doing the things they need to, to keep the game going. Either you go along with that or not. Both are fine.

 

The truth is that if they hadn't brought in GC and messed up the reward systems in general together with the SH issues, I would be playing this game still and paying for it. So for me the point is not whether I want to spend money on the game but whether I want to play the game in its current state or not. If I did want to play it then I would have no issue paying for it.

 

Again, I do not like what happened with regards to the APAC players, but I think that considering what was left of the player base after 5.0 pushed a lot of people out, the server merges and basically sacrificing the APAC players was needed to keep this game alive. In the end the cold calculation will have shown that what they could save in costs with this move was greater than the income they were getting from the APAC area. Unfortunate but a harsh reality and I'm sure that they wouldn't have had pleasure in making the decision they needed to make.

 

So I'm sorry if you felt insulted. That was not the idea, but it was meant to make you think about your stance. Apparently that is what happened but whatever you decide to do with that is your choice. I don't necessarily think you need to quit playing or go F2P at all and I think sometimes it might be good also to remember again why you love this game so much and that that may be worth investing in.

 

From where I'm sitting I could be considered a bit jealous of you because you still like this game. I want to, but it just wasn't fun to play anymore because of what they did with the game in the last year and a half. If I could still enjoy it I'd be spending money on it, because if something is fun, then it's worth putting money towards it for me. Is that not logical?

Edited July 16, 2018 by Tsillah

[TrixxieTriss]

snip

I do understand your point about them needing to make money, but I already pay my share and if they want me to pay more, then give me something worth paying for. Me leaving because I can’t play reduces that even more.

I also have to pay more than the average player just to make the game playable because I have to use a 3rd part to get my ping down.

Now if they hadn’t moved the server, then I wouldn’t need to pay the 3rd party and I would have more money to spend in the game. Bioware only have themselves to blame for me not spending more. I cancelled the second sub I had and stopped buying CCs.

If they aren’t going to give me some sort of help to be able to continue playing the game the way I want to at the hours I’m available to play, then I can’t play. They take the decision out of my hands because I can’t afford to spend extra money to transfer.

The only other option for me is I demand they merge all the servers into one and locate it in the US. Which would be selfish of me because I’m only one player and it would negatively affect so many more.

My solution is simple and elegant and doesn’t affect anyone else in a negative way. It’s also extremely easy for them to implement.

I agree the game is declining, if it wasn’t I wouldn’t even be asking for cheap server transfers. I certainly don’t want to play pvp with 330ms lag if I can help it. But if I want to play this game’s pvp at the times I can get on, then I really don’t have a choice.

It comes down to this. Bioware either want my money or they don’t. That means getting my sub each month and having me spend on cheap transfers or them not getting anything. Something is always better than nothing if it’s not going to cost them to do it.

So, I certainly can’t see any real justification for not doing it, I can only see negatives if they don’t,

[Tsillah]

I do understand your point about them needing to make money, but I already pay my share and if they want me to pay more, then give me something worth paying for. Me leaving because I can’t play reduces that even more.

I also have to pay more than the average player just to make the game playable because I have to use a 3rd part to get my ping down.

Now if they hadn’t moved the server, then I wouldn’t need to pay the 3rd party and I would have more money to spend in the game. Bioware only have themselves to blame for me not spending more. I cancelled the second sub I had and stopped buying CCs.

If they aren’t going to give me some sort of help to be able to continue playing the game the way I want to at the hours I’m available to play, then I can’t play. They take the decision out of my hands because I can’t afford to spend extra money to transfer.

The only other option for me is I demand they merge all the servers into one and locate it in the US. Which would be selfish of me because I’m only one player and it would negatively affect so many more.

My solution is simple and elegant and doesn’t affect anyone else in a negative way. It’s also extremely easy for them to implement.

I agree the game is declining, if it wasn’t I wouldn’t even be asking for cheap server transfers. I certainly don’t want to play pvp with 330ms lag if I can help it. But if I want to play this game’s pvp at the times I can get on, then I really don’t have a choice.

It comes down to this. Bioware either want my money or they don’t. That means getting my sub each month and having me spend on cheap transfers or them not getting anything. Something is always better than nothing if it’s not going to cost them to do it.

So, I certainly can’t see any real justification for not doing it, I can only see negatives if they don’t,

 

I can easily agree with the situation not being fair to you personally, but the reality is that they can't just give you a discount without giving that discount to everybody else. And that's where the issue lies. If anything they already wrote you off as a player with the server merge as you are an APAC player.

 

Without wanting to be harsh to you, that does mean that you are an anomaly and not part of their calculations. So even though I'm sure they're willing to take your money, I'm not so sure that you matter as an individual to the point that they can afford to give a player base wide discount that also will negatively affect server population stability. Because let's not forget the downside of cheap transfers either.

 

If it was just about you, I'm sure they'd happily give you a discount there as you already spend money on the game. The problem is that it's not just you. I mean, I do get what you want and why. I just don't think that your situation will make it a good idea for BioWare to reduce those prices for everyone.

 

So I'm sure BioWare wants your money but they can't provide the circumstances you require here for the sake of the game. I think that the moment they believe that the servers are stable enough and populated enough that mass server transfers won't disrupt the populations they'd do it. They were incredibly cheap for a long time as it was.

 

You basically say it's up to BioWare whether they accept your terms or not with regards to you spending money on them. I think it's more realistic to see that it's up to you if you accept their terms or not. They need to do things a certain way to keep this game viable and that will always cost them some players no matter what they decide and these decisions are more critical than ever.

 

However, I'm not trying to convince you either way. I can give arguments for both decisions and you have arguments for your current stance. I'm happy to make people think about things but I don't actually want to tell you which of the options is right for you.

 

I think your criticisms are right, I just question whether you recognize the negative effects could be of what you want. Not because of you personally but because of how it would affect the remaining player base in its entirety. If most people transfers from SS to SF for example then SS will become a ghost town and people will leave because of that. So who would they prefer to keep. You or them? I'm sure you're not on your own with this wish but your wish might push out other players.

 

Not exactly a great choice for BioWare to make I'd say.

[merovejec]

what makes you think EA cares about the French or German players?

 

Well wintraders do need a dead French server to get their initial rating so they will not want 1 EU server

[merovejec]

snip

snip

 

Just buy the CC and make your transfers, you support the game by doing so

[TrixxieTriss]

I can easily agree with the situation not being fair to you personally, but the reality is that they can't just give you a discount without giving that discount to everybody else. And that's where the issue lies. If anything they already wrote you off as a player with the server merge as you are an APAC player.

 

Without wanting to be harsh to you, that does mean that you are an anomaly and not part of their calculations. So even though I'm sure they're willing to take your money, I'm not so sure that you matter as an individual to the point that they can afford to give a player base wide discount that also will negatively affect server population stability. Because let's not forget the downside of cheap transfers either.

 

If it was just about you, I'm sure they'd happily give you a discount there as you already spend money on the game. The problem is that it's not just you. I mean, I do get what you want and why. I just don't think that your situation will make it a good idea for BioWare to reduce those prices for everyone.

 

So I'm sure BioWare wants your money but they can't provide the circumstances you require here for the sake of the game. I think that the moment they believe that the servers are stable enough and populated enough that mass server transfers won't disrupt the populations they'd do it. They were incredibly cheap for a long time as it was.

 

You basically say it's up to BioWare whether they accept your terms or not with regards to you spending money on them. I think it's more realistic to see that it's up to you if you accept their terms or not. They need to do things a certain way to keep this game viable and that will always cost them some players no matter what they decide and these decisions are more critical than ever.

 

However, I'm not trying to convince you either way. I can give arguments for both decisions and you have arguments for your current stance. I'm happy to make people think about things but I don't actually want to tell you which of the options is right for you.

 

I think your criticisms are right, I just question whether you recognize the negative effects could be of what you want. Not because of you personally but because of how it would affect the remaining player base in its entirety. If most people transfers from SS to SF for example then SS will become a ghost town and people will leave because of that. So who would they prefer to keep. You or them? I'm sure you're not on your own with this wish but your wish might push out other players.

 

Not exactly a great choice for BioWare to make I'd say.

 

I’m not totally disagreeing with you. But I’m still stuck at why you have a problem against the discounts? Surely you don’t think there will be a mass migration of people from one server to another?

 

I’m guessing at the current transfer price there aren’t many people transferring. So if it’s just about making more money, having a sale might generate some extra income as people take the opportunity to buy CCS to transfer characters.

 

Like I said, something is always better than nothing, especially when it costs them nothing and extremely easy to do.

The only reason I could see for a mass migration is if there are some underlying problems on a server and I’ve not heard of any.

[TrixxieTriss]

Just buy the CC and make your transfers, you support the game by doing so

 

Nope, I already pay too much.

[Tsillah]

I’m not totally disagreeing with you. But I’m still stuck at why you have a problem against the discounts? Surely you don’t think there will be a mass migration of people from one server to another?

 

I’m guessing at the current transfer price there aren’t many people transferring. So if it’s just about making more money, having a sale might generate some extra income as people take the opportunity to buy CCS to transfer characters.

 

Like I said, something is always better than nothing, especially when it costs them nothing and extremely easy to do.

The only reason I could see for a mass migration is if there are some underlying problems on a server and I’ve not heard of any.

I think you misunderstand me. I personally do not have anything against discounts. For all I care BioWare put the game in full F2P and make everything free. Of course then they'll also announce the servers will close in a few months. The question is whether or not you want this game to survive for a while yet.

 

If you do want the game to survive, then you need to accept that BioWare needs to hit a bottom line in revenue to keep doing this. That means they need people to spend more and not less per person.

 

Now as for your point whether I expect some mass migrations, well, yes I do expect that. I've seen a number of threads saying that the population is already uneven between the two US servers which could be an indication that if transfers were cheap a lot of people will move, leaving the second server a sort of ghost town. I already stated as much I believe. It's not surprise that a lot of people want shorter queues for group content and they will flock to where they can get that. Also the DM sever in the EU is clearly the best populated one.

 

Also the cheap price of transfers was like 90cc with is a pittance and they can't make any money of that. However, it's not just about making money but also about server balance and keeping the price higher allows people to move but stops mass exodi.

 

And here's the thing. You seem to believe that such a thing would not happen or is unlikely. I personally think it's likely to happen. But neither of us can be sure. And I think BioWare cannot afford to take the risk. That's where I'm coming from. I'm not trying to look at this from my personal point of view, but just trying to indicate why for BioWare some things may or may not feel like a good idea.

 

Also with the upcoming changes to warzone queues, I think it's a particularly bad time to risk it. I'd say let them first see the effects of cross faction queues before seeing how well it works if at all. I think BioWare said they wanted to bring the average queue time below 12 minutes or something. That's not a lofty goal.

 

So it's up to you. In its current state I personally don't care whether SWTOR goes on or not as its not enjoyable anymore to me. However, I do hope for the players who still like it that it will. And so for that purpose, in my own particular fashion, I do try to encourage people to think of what consequences are of certain wishes they have which might go contrary to their wish to keep playing this game.

 

Whether you agree or not with what I bring to the table is entirely up to you. I have reasons to believe that I might be right. I do not however have evidence that says that I am right. That difference is very important. I do not own the truth but I might have something to think about. Beyond that, it's up to you how you see it. I just really don't think there is an advantage for BioWare to make server transfers cheap again and there are disadvantages or at least considerable risk that servers might end up disrupted with regards to population.

 

And unless you can guarantee that this won't happen (which I don't think anyone can), it's a big risk for them to take.

 

Again, I don't mind which way you go with regards to SWTOR but complaining about the price of server transfers, in my opinion at least, seems detrimental to the larger picture. And if you feel that I'm wrong about my reasonings here, that's perfectly fine.

Edited July 16, 2018 by Tsillah

[Andryah]

I’m starting to get the feeling that people who oppose this idea, all into one of 4 categories.

 

1. Worried about their server population and think people will bail. (Which begs the question? Why would people bail?)

2. They have the GTN market cornered on their server with high prices and don’t want competition

3. All of the above

4. Trolling for the sake of upsetting people by arguing.

 

If number 1.

Why are they so scared? Aren’t the servers and populations healthy as they are? If they aren’t, then there is something fundamentally wrong and it should probably be exposed sooner rather than later before more people leave. Maybe if people were allowed to transfer at cheaper prices, some of them wouldn’t have already left the game.

 

If number 2.

Maybe they shouldn’t be so greedy by listing things much higher than is reasonable. A bit of competition is always good to fix those problems.

 

If number 3.

Then get over yourselves. You aren’t the only ones who play this game.

 

If number 4.

Trolls, “what are they good for, absolutely nothing”

 

I honestly can’t see any other reasons to oppose it.

 

I'm in favor of keeping transfers open and available.. which they are. Nothing stops you from doing so... except you wanting it for essentially nearly free and balking at the regular price. [Thing is.. in your case, you are on record as wanting to transfer and willing to pay full price, but worried they will then discount it and you will feel cheated by the timing of your choices. So I find it kind of silly for you to make this condemnation post toward anyone that disagrees with you].

 

I personally am not in favor of keeping them open at the old 95% discount. It very definitely created a number of unintended behaviors with player overuse of the discounted feature. Besides.. we really don't have enough servers anymore to really warrant massive transfers (which is where it is appropriate to have steep discounting).