Hey everyone,

 

To clarify a bit more about this decision. We did previously ask what folks on the forums would like to do as an APAC solution and some, but not all, offered up the solution of merging all APAC into one. The other option on the table was to merge APAC into the NA servers. When we discussed the options internally we looked to address everyone’s primary issues with APAC, low populations were creating a less than optimal game experience.

 

We went and looked at what current server populations looked like across all of APAC and to put it simply, even merging all of APAC together into one server would not solve the population problems. Even with that solution you would still see long queue times for things like Warzones and Group Finder. It was because of this that we decided that moving APAC into the NA servers was the best option.

 

One thing to note is that there is no catchall solution here. If we move APAC to NA some folks will see increased latency, but they will have healthy server populations and can remain on their chosen server types. If we merge everyone into one APAC server, latency will remain in place but the current population issues will exist and players will lose their preferred server type. Leaving things as they are leaves all of the current issues in place without a solution at all. This is one of the reasons getting the plan out to you folks took so long, we had to think long and hard about all of the implications of our decision.

 

-eric

 

you dont know anything about high ping do you? I quite AION cause of the ping (200ms++), quit TERA online cause of the same reason, did not try GW2 cause i know its gonna be the same problem, choose SWTOR cause they have low ping and now, you are taking their footstep.

Well I guess if we all starting having worse lag than we do now and decide to unsub because our gameplay experience is less than acceptable they may get the hint. Pity by that time we may have moved on to other games....Personally I've not had a problem with GF popping

Why not just keep 1 APAC server online (doesn't matter if it's PvE/PvP/RP) as an option for people who prefer latency to high population?

 

In that way surely everybody wins?

For those worried that the population will get no better because we play at different times to the US, I have been on the Bastion the last few weeks on and off in Aus prime time and the population is better there than on MND. Might be worth taking a look before you worry about this particular issue.

Why not just keep 1 APAC server online (doesn't matter if it's PvE/PvP/RP) as an option for people who prefer latency to high population?

 

In that way surely everybody wins?

 

Lol, that would be too sensible

A lot of the early morning U.S players will be happy the aussies are coming back.

Why not just keep 1 APAC server online (doesn't matter if it's PvE/PvP/RP) as an option for people who prefer latency to high population?

 

In that way surely everybody wins?

Except the bottom line probably looks much better closing shop on the Oceanic servers.

Why can't BW also open transfers to Dalborra from anywhere as well? It would not be hard!

 

The answer is that they just don't want to. They don't care about us, only what is easier and more profitable for themselves!

On behalf of myself and anyone I have ever spoken to who currently plays on APAC servers, this is the wrong decision. Lets be totally clear, I would prefer you did nothing than do this.

My ideal scenario is still to merge all 3 APAC servers.

 

For me, and I'm sure many others, the most crucial elements to this issue and the reasons we continue to play this game are in the following order of importance:

1. Ping

2. Population

3. Legacy

4. Server Type

 

Lets break it down:

• If you remove my choice of Server Type, I will still play, because I have my own Legacy, high Population and low Ping.
  
• If you remove my Legacy, thats alright. I will start over willingly if I have a high Population and low Ping.
  
• If the population dies, its not ideal, but I will still play because I have low Ping (this is the situation right now).
  

 

Instead of attempting to solve issue number 2 (the biggest issue in-game currently), even if it means sacrificing issues 3 and 4, you have instead totally eroded the biggest reason I am still playing. Without element 1, it doesn't matter how good 2, 3 & 4 are, its no longer worth playing this game.

 

It'd be awesome to know you have read and comprehend the point I'm trying to make, even if you do not change your course of action. But just knowing that you understand why I believe this is a terrible outcome would bring me some small vestige of satisfaction.

 

TL;DR Any solution that even slightly improves populations and still lets us keep our low ping is good enough. Any solution that increases our ping, regardless of population increases is a terrible one.

 

This nails it. PING IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN POPULATION. And i'm sorry but I don't see how merging all 3 wouldn't give us a satisfactory population... no it wouldn't be the highest population server but it would be more than sufficient for most... and transfers for those who disagree or don't like the playstyle.

 

I'm sure you people know this so lets be honest - we are not worth the money for the local servers. Correct?

 

One key thing you guys need to understand is that for APAC players, the low latency is probably one of (if not the) biggest drawcard SWTOR has over WoW, GW2 etc etc. Without it you lose a huge advantage over your competitors.

 

I hope that there is a chance that you people will reconsider but i know this probably wont happen. A dark day for APAC and SWTOR...

 

Oh and i forgot to mention... as a bonus we get to lose all our names! Seriously not one of mine is available on Harbringer. Yeh **** this noise - im heading back to wow if this goes ahead

Edited March 25, 2013 by laz_AU

 

The move to North American servers better delivers on our ultimate goal of providing the best play experience, with the most possible players, long term.

 

-eric

 

Yay, not being able to pvp melee classes because of the horrible latency is "providing the best play experience". GG.

So I am going to loose all my character names for a 3rd time....just checked on Begeren Colony and all my names are taken...

 

And if by some miracle you eventually come out with a paid character transfers I would loose them all again....might be time to move on to another MMO.

 

I have played MMO's since they existed and have never in all the games I have played lost my character names once let alone multiple times....

I don't play on Dalborra for the population size. I play to raid with my friends. So if the population is 300 or 8 it does not matter. What I do care about is ping times. I cannot go from raiding with 60ms to 400-500ms. And it's not just me. If my entire raid group has that same connection speeds it will make the game unplayable - regardless of server population.

 

Not once have i noticed a major reduction of population sizes. APAC is small yes, but not at the expense of user experience. If you turn off APAC servers, people will not move to The Harbinger. They will unsubscribe.

 

BW/EA - If you guys need more money to fund the servers in APAC then go ask Disney.

i have 2 out of 6 names reserved on Bastion. The rest are taken. You are not alone

how do you check names without actually creating a character?

Unsubed Screw you Bio/Ea Fail

im in the same boat, i say let people decide where they want to go as im sure alot of people want to chage server types.

 

I was at least looking forward to getting my old abandoned Dalborra characters on the same server as my Gav Daragon characters; at *least* give us a server choice and allow us to consolidate!

/Unsubbed

Well, it's not what I wanted. Goodbye, lovely ping.

 

And it's not what I spoke up for.

 

But at least we know where we stand now. Thanks, Eric, for letting us know, at last, at least.

 

I've made placeholders for my names on Bergeren Colony, or reasonable facsimiles of them. For anyone else doing similar, remember diacrits are your friends; insert accented characters into a Word doc, cut-and-paste from Word to get a name that at least looks like the one you have been playing for a year.

Well, I suppose my latency will drop as I play from the U.S., but I chose an Aussie/Kiwi server for a very simple reason: I don't like playing with other Americans much. Too high a proportion of jerks, trash-talkers and geeks who take themselves waaaaay to seriously. Bioware is confiscating a cultural difference I valued, and I'm not sure I'll keep my subscription after this.

I'm shocked by how unsurprised I am that they chose my least favourite option.

This is exactly what I'm saying.

 

1. My ping will be around 280. Can you play on this? Yes. Will your performance always be impaired by this? Yes. I don't just want to play to an acceptable standard, I want to play to the best of my abilities. That's what I enjoy.

2. I don't play other MMOs for this reason, so chew on that. I will simply not be playing another MMO when I leave this game.

3. This won't solve population issues anyway (y'know, those ones that we weren't experiencing on the Dalborra), because my primetime is at a completely different time from the Harbingers'.

 

The attempts at spinning this are really quite pathetic. They're trying to trumpet "Population > All" when the Dalborra was quite bearable to begin with, when the majority of the people in this thread wanted an APAC merger, and when their solution is to move us to a server that's on another timezone. Say what?

 

Also, where was the importance of playstyle when the EU RP-PvPers got nuked out of existence?

 

Ves hitting the nail on the head yet again.

The fact that this is being disguised as a solution is what confounds me even further. I think what happened was this

"APAC players are getting pissed about pop's they want a server merge"

"How much money do we make from them"

"We don't know"

"Tell them to wait for F2P, see how much they spend in the cash shop and if we get more sub's"

Queue forum post telling us they are looking into it and want our opinions

Fast forward a few months

"So the APAC server's, what should we do"

"How much money do we make from them and how much is server CAPEX/OPEX?"

"Income from APAC plays is less than or equal to OPEX/CAPEX of the servers"

"Can we afford to lose 50% of our APAC server sub base?"

"Yes"

"Tell them we are solving there problems by moving them to a US server and shut down the servers."

 

All of this is spin, sorry guys but we are not economically viable.

I don't play on Dalborra for the population size. I play to raid with my friends. So if the population is 300 or 8 it does not matter. What I do care about is ping times. I cannot go from raiding with 60ms to 400-500ms. And it's not just me. If my entire raid group has that same connection speeds it will make the game unplayable - regardless of server population.

 

Not once have i noticed a major reduction of population sizes. APAC is small yes, but not at the expense of user experience. If you turn off APAC servers, people will not move to The Harbinger. They will unsubscribe.

 

BW/EA - If you guys need more money to fund the servers in APAC then go ask Disney.

 

I know the closure is a bitter pill to swallow, especially for PvPers (I consider myself one) but I'd say to try it before jumping to the 'it will be unplayable' conclusion. I created a character on Begeren and tried some WZs once I hit level 10 .... it was surprisingly playable and my latency from East Coast Australia was a lot better than I expected (hovering around 150ms on average).

how do you check names without actually creating a character?

 

Make a placeholder character for now, and then delete it when (or a few hours before) they do the transfers.

Are you F'n kidding me EAware? it took you like 7 months to come up with this **** solution thats not even a solution but a good reason for all APAC players to quit playing your game?

 

Whats the point in having a higher population if we cant even play the game properly because of high latency? HOW IN THE HELL IS THIS A SOLUTION!!! i think most would agree that we'd rather have you merge the APAC servers together than go along with what you have set to implicate...

 

With the changes you have announced i doubt i will be able to regularly do operations and go crazy in PVP without lag! and this will definately force me to quit the game, so frekin change your minds aye!!!

Well, I suppose my latency will drop as I play from the U.S., but I chose an Aussie/Kiwi server for a very simple reason: I don't like playing with other Americans much. Too high a proportion of jerks, trash-talkers and geeks who take themselves waaaaay to seriously. Bioware is confiscating a cultural difference I valued, and I'm not sure I'll keep my subscription after this.

This is my biggest problem too. I live in Australia but Americans are my kin. By blood no less.

 

In fact I loved the almost complete absence of trash-talk on Dalborra, Republic side at least, which is one of the reasons I stuck with this game.