I for one don't want a list posted in advance, because then I feel players will need to create level 1 characters on the destination server in order to save names. That would not be good.

Why not? What harm does it cause? A little extra data?!

I have already moved to another server to play started a new toon leveled it and joined a guild I like because my old server is all but dead and guild has almost diappered. Why since I can only play one toon at a time wouldn't you let me transfer toon to my current server . Yes i play on a high populated server but I can play but one at a time. I understand if I wanted to move here and didn't have toons here already. Please think about this type situation and allowing transfers to high population server based on the above criteria. Thank You

Here is some info that I am now scared to post:

 

Before server transfers:

200 dead servers.

2 semi-full servers.

 

After server transfers:

180 completely dead servers.

20 mostly dead servers.

2 semi-full servers.

.

 

they will close all of those dead servers...and the rest will be filled as much as they can

Why not? What harm does it cause? A little extra data?!

 

From what I understand, there will only be ONE destination server for you to choose from (assuming your server is one targeted for transfer). Why would you need the name of the destination server in advance? All that causes is people scrambling to create level 1's in order to save character names. This in turn bumps server population and activity in the interim, giving BW false data concerning destination server activity.

How is moving toons from 10 servers to 1 new server going to make that 1 new server "mostly dead?" Which, by the way, are numbers without evidence to support them.

 

i agree..people will complain just to complain. i believe the servers that will be left will be quite full

It's OK guys, just use your in-game guild communication tools to co-ordinate moves. Or the official forums here for your server.

 

Oh, wait.

 

I can't wait to play Russian roulette with my legacy & character names as I move off the now-dead server BioWare initially placed me & my guild on during day 1 of early access while lacking any tools to manage populations once we got there. Maybe I'll just stay un-subscribed and put the money aside for a proper, paid. transfer.

Edited June 6, 2012 by noodlenoodle
typo

Why not? What harm does it cause? A little extra data?!

 

Some people won't be able to continue playing Anikin Skiewalker or Mastter Yodaa if someone else gets to the server to swipe the cheese before they can. (I know its more likely Tyrion or Bran or Katniss or some other literary rip-off name.)

So what the hell am i supposed to do if i have characters on several servers??? i wont be able to bring them all together on one???

 

lol re-rolling wasnt such a good idea now ,was it?

Right now, I am just waiting to see if BW looks at this thread and say, okay **** it. We are taking each character and sending them to a random server. I mean there are some legitimate concerns but at the same time there are some really petty ones as well.

lol re-rolling wasnt such a good idea now ,was it?

 

Ironically, if the hundreds of people from Mandalore the Indomitable had stayed put instead of re-rolling on The Fatman, queues would have been fine. I'm sure the same can be said for other servers as well.

Thank you sincerely for this information. It is very much appreciated.

I can't help but feel like this is being made way more complicated than it needs to be.

 

Instead of trying to figure out metrics and forecast the number of transfers to a server in order to make it viable - and then watching, adjusting the number of origin servers, etc.,... why don't you just open a group of five or six servers and allow open transfers to the community as a whole?

 

This would allow people to make their decisions about what type of server they want to move to, what region, etc., and will allow them to put all their characters on one server, put them on all servers - or whatever else the player wants to do. Upside? Bioware doesn't need to do lots of extra work tracking trends and trying to make predictive analyses. The players get to move to the server types/locations/amounts that they wish. Hell, charge 5 dollars a character for this initial phase as a way of saying "Thanks for sticking around while we try to fix some huge issues!", and then raise the price to $10, $15, whatever.

 

Cons? Less work for the community relations department to do, which leads to layoffs due to overstaffing? Iunno. They could figure out other projects, though. :-D

They can't tell you all the servers that will be transfer TO servers yet because they're going to be TRYING to equalize populations. If they move 6 servers to one, but only half the characters move, they may need to add a 7th or 8th to that list. I understand the variables they're trying to work with, but I think the top 3 servers (PvE and PvP) are pretty much set. THAT list I'd like to calm some nerves.

 

Yes, but that still has very little if anything at all to do with the community. That's raw numbers output that is solved with mathematics. People crying on the forums will give them very little data beyond "most people think this sucks" or "most people agree," which is only slightly useful.

 

They could have announced server transfers for three weeks from now and provided a list a week ahead of time, but chose rather to immediately scramble everything. If you consider the logic behind this, it makes little sense to a game that is bleeding subscriptions already unless they are also considering opening completely new servers for transfer and just taking ALL of the old characters off old servers to put on the new servers, therefore becoming a salvation to people that are worried about guild names, legacy names and character names (while allowing people that are on vacation or gone to be on the server as well) while using a generally simplistic approach. Anything less than that is a very risky business move that could cost them more money than they would like. Judging by the lack of information they are releasing, I would think that this is an option they are heavily weighing.

Edited June 6, 2012 by Bluesnacks

Does this mean that some "origin" servers will also be "destination" servers? Or are completely new servers being opened in order to accommodate the character transfers?

Ironically, if the hundreds of people from Mandalore the Indomitable had stayed put instead of re-rolling on The Fatman, queues would have been fine. I'm sure the same can be said for other servers as well.

 

That may be so but something kick started the interest of leaving the underpopulated server. My vote goes to the bracketed 50 pvp. I know that is what started the decline in my first server (now on my third, awesome -.-).

Like many others I'm deeply concerned about whether old friends who have quit the game and might not come back straight away, or people on summer holiday for that matter, can play with me if I do decide to transfer. That's the only thing that's holding me back from taking the plunge right away.

 

I understand that you need to reserve any and all rights to change your mind, charge money in the future, or even do a tiered approach where you only open up certain origin servers in the first week, and another bunch the week after. But once you've opened up a link between an origin and destination server, please please please keep that link open for a LONG time. And please give us some estimate of how long in advance you expect to announce the takedown of a link, so we know how much we have hurry to prevent getting split up from our non-subscription friends or guildmates.

 

Please address this major concern over your reserved right to split up communities...

Edited June 6, 2012 by AefaFreesky

Roughly half of all accounts ever created are now unsubbed. That's a lot of dead names on the destination servers.

Ironically, if the hundreds of people from Mandalore the Indomitable had stayed put instead of re-rolling on The Fatman, queues would have been fine. I'm sure the same can be said for other servers as well.

 

exactly...im glad i stayed put

i agree..people will complain just to complain. i believe the servers that will be left will be quite full

 

So why not just merge servers, then they could control faction and population balance without giving us the "Illusion" of choice that actually doesn't exists,

you have NO choice at all, change to the server they choose or stay on a dead server that will close in the future anyway since it will be empty.

This is not correct. We'll be providing a list of origin servers and destination servers. Each origin server will have one destination server, and players can elect to transfer their characters from the origin server to the destination. Our goal is to have destination servers with a much higher active player population, so we'll be monitoring the process and adding new origin and destination pairs as necessary to reach that goal.

 

Am i mistaken are are you saying that the server transfer ratio is one to one where no other origin server will transfer to the destination sever of another origin server?

Edited June 6, 2012 by Valtrise

Not to sound like a cynic but after some thought, I really wouldn't be suprised if they just sent us every which way so we would all be alone, that way we would pay to transfer to Fatman or Jedi Covenent. I really wouldn't. The fact that they are saying that future transfers may not be free and how they won't let us bring our characters from different servers together (unless we luck out and get a destination server that our originals were on) makes it seem to me that they are just trying to milk us for our money. They know that most people have rerolled on a different server because of population issues, maybe they just had this planned the whole time

Does this mean that some "origin" servers will also be "destination" servers? Or are completely new servers being opened in order to accommodate the character transfers?

 

ummm,no to all of this

This makes me incredibly happy. I'm looking forward to transferring with my guild Tuesday.

Am i mistaken are are you saying that the server transfer ratio is one to one where no other origin server will transfer to the destination sever or another origin server?

 

That would just make the population numbers worse and is a terrible idea if that is what they are doing.

That would just make the population numbers worse and is a terrible idea if that is what they are doing.

 

I agree that's why id like clarification.