the final decision will depend upon what makes BW the most revenue, not what is best for the player base. Things have been marginally better in working with the player base, but money rules all.

Yup, none of the posturing, hyperbole, personal attacks and baseless claims in here make one iota of a difference no matter how, erm, passionate they may be. Entertaining at times though.

Yup, none of the posturing, hyperbole, personal attacks and baseless claims in here make one iota of a difference no matter how, erm, passionate they may be. Entertaining at times though.

Absolutely true. Yet threads on this topic continue to spout like "Old Faithful".

Sometimes when I check in to see what is being opined over the last day or two... it reminds me of a dog kennel full of barking dogs, each bark different, self centered, and clamoring to be the biggest dog in the kennel.

Yup, none of the posturing, hyperbole, personal attacks and baseless claims in here make one iota of a difference no matter how, erm, passionate they may be. Entertaining at times though.

You are correct, it would be more useful for us to use this space to make bets on the outcome

In the end they are going to choose the least expensive option and I predict one option is much more expensive than the other.

I've done all this on my own, for the guild I have for mine and my hubby's alts. it's taken me years to do it all.

 

If I were to lose all this stuff, it would be devastating and I would quit. No ifs, ands, or buts. The amount of money both credits and real life dollars I've sunk into the game is daunting if I think about it too much. So I really don't think customer service can refund me all that I've put into it. They can be assured of one thing, another pair of reliably paid subs would be out the door. So pardon me, this kind of loss makes it impossible for me to sympathize with someone wanting a faster queue time.

While I respect your position, my sub is going to be out for door at some point if they don't resolve the population issues on my server. I raid log at this point, & I wouldn't be doing that if it wasn't for my guild. Heck, there are nights when we can't even raid because we can't find Pugs if people in guild have IRL things going on. I vacillate a great deal about this game because I can't PvP/GSF without transferring & loosing assets that I've earned in-game.

I have several friends who used to play back at launch, & they do on occasion ask me if they should come back to SWTOR. I always say no primarily due to how EA has handled SWTOR & my server (POT5) over the years. I'm sure I'm not the only one spreading bad word of mouth, & I believe it would be in Bioware & EAs best interest to address this problem. I used to give them the benefit of the doubt, but that ended with "story, story, story".

PS: I won't even pre-order Anthem or Mass Effect 3 because of my distrust of EA as a whole based on my experience with SWTOR. I always advise people to wait for reviews with any EA game, & generally speaking I'm proven right in doing so most times. It doesn't matter how cool there games look...it's their approach towards players, quality, & maintenance that scare me.

I was here at the last merger, wasn't as easy done as you say. My guild empty our guild banks and our officers took the item, we disbanded our guild, restarted it and then contacted them about getting our bank and tabs back and it took them 4 ....months to get our bank and tabs back. We considered just buying another one but decided no that they were supposed to do this quickly and easy. It wasn't and we were not the only ones that had this sort of problems. So no not easily done and I shudder to think of the mess they make now with more assets.

That was your experience, mine was different obviously. We landed on our new server (POT5 from Bondar Crystal), submitted a ticket & were refunded all necessary credits. Granted we had to reform & buy everything back, but I wouldn't mind that if it meant being able to play the whole game again. I'm fine with doing a little bit of work if it means being able to actually play the game. I'm still in favor of three servers: 1 East (mega), 1 West (mega), & 1 RP.

Anything Bioware can to do make this process less painful would be even better.......

PS: To the "you should just transfer crowd". We loose all guild assets, likely loose guild members, loose all command tokens, & we would have to transfer to Harbinger. At current, there is no realistic East Cost option given that both Shadowlands & Jedi Covenant are in decline. Both need to be merged with the lesser East coast servers. I shouldn't be forced to play with poor latency because EA/Bioware won't provide proper server/population maintenance.

A few things to consider about ping:

If they group servers by coast, either via merge or xserver, the ping would in theory be the same because they would probably have the servers in the same location. Because of instancing merge would not necessarily increase ping due to load.

 

Most of ping is not related to the servers, it is each persons own ISP. People with high end cable can run pings coast to coast in the 20s and some claim lower. People with poor connections are used to playing in the mid 200s.

 

If they decide to merge or xserver both coasts then it is somewhat important that they find some central location.

 

There is a lot of room in the ping discussion to mislead, for example comparing merging servers by coast to xserver queues that cover the whole country, apples and oranges.

The theoretical Ping across the pacific from Australia to the US is 167ms (or it was 18months ago when I checked).

But theory and real life are never the same. Some people are lucky and get 168-180ms, even I occasionally get 180-190ms.. but most of the time it's 220ms average to Harbinger with lots of server side spikes,

I know all this because I run Ping plotter to check speeds everytime I play. Sometimes there are issues on our side of the pacific, but 90% of the time they don't start till they hit the US and most of those aren't until you are just before or at the EA server farm.

I can actually watch in live time when the EA IPs spike from 220ms to 330ms and back. Lately they've been spiking over 400ms. While this is happening every hop between me and the EA IPs are fine.

Of course high Ping is a pain for most people, but pve OPs can get away with it. Pvp is where high Ping becomes an issue. Just adding a small amount of base Ping to 220ms can make pvping a joke. When I play on the east coast (300ms) it's for a laugh. 50% of my things don't activate.

With a cross server group queue system, it would solve the low population problems with group content and you would also be able to enjoy your "quiet time questing"

I would take x-server any day of the week over nothing, however, that does not address PUG raiding -- HM/NiM especially. Unless of course Qs are created for those as well.

 

That was your experience, mine was different obviously. We landed on our new server (POT5 from Bondar Crystal), submitted a ticket & were refunded all necessary credits. Granted we had to reform & buy everything back, but I wouldn't mind that if it meant being able to play the whole game again. I'm fine with doing a little bit of work if it means being able to actually play the game. I'm still in favor of three servers: 1 East (mega), 1 West (mega), & 1 RP.

 

Anything Bioware can to do make this process less painful would be even better.......

 

PS: To the "you should just transfer crowd". We loose all guild assets, likely loose guild members, loose all command tokens, & we would have to transfer to Harbinger. At current, there is no realistic East Cost option given that both Shadowlands & Jedi Covenant are in decline. Both need to be merged with the lesser East coast servers. I shouldn't be forced to play with poor latency because EA/Bioware won't provide proper server/population maintenance.

While I understand your position, is is really a good idea just to merge without them making sure things will merge correctly or they will stand to lose more people and that will not help the que's either. Just jumping into merging without fixing the problems they had from the last one and actually figuring out how to transfer guilds , guild assets all in tact would be something I would think it would be best to do first. While I am not on either of those, (Ebon Hawk for me) they need to figure a way to not have guilds or personal assets have to be redone again. this could cause more people to leave therefore not helping que's anyways.

PS: To the "you should just transfer crowd". We loose all guild assets, likely loose guild members, loose all command tokens, & we would have to transfer to Harbinger. At current, there is no realistic East Cost option given that both Shadowlands & Jedi Covenant are in decline. Both need to be merged with the lesser East coast servers. I shouldn't be forced to play with poor latency because EA/Bioware won't provide proper server/population maintenance.

Um... you know Ebon Hawk still exists, right? And that it's the #1 East Coast server in population and the #2 server in population for NA overall? Just wondering...

Um... you know Ebon Hawk still exists, right? And that it's the #1 East Coast server in population and the #2 server in population for NA overall? Just wondering...

Isn't that the RP server? Yes we are aware of it, but does it even come close to the population size of Harb?

I would take x-server any day of the week over nothing, however, that does not address PUG raiding -- HM/NiM especially. Unless of course Qs are created for those as well.

Not just that, but people do need to realize if anything, that we would need our RP servers merged together, and separate from any other Merged servers because Instances don't apply to RP on a World level, and people don't understand them and they get attacked, because they are being mis-understood.

Our Original Names CM stuff and Achievements that we Unlocked need to be saved along with Guild things.

Always Good and Bad with Mergers. If Bioware can do these things without a Huge Hiccup, then that would be different. Also Pvp only Servers to to think about to.

Isn't that the RP server? Yes we are aware of it, but does it even come close to the population size of Harb?

About 2/3rds the size or maybe just under that

Um... you know Ebon Hawk still exists, right? And that it's the #1 East Coast server in population and the #2 server in population for NA overall? Just wondering...

Yep. I love Ebon Hawk. I play solo and don't PvP, and that server works for me very well. I wouldn't want to be elsewhere.

Isn't that the RP server? Yes we are aware of it, but does it even come close to the population size of Harb?

What difference does that really make? Ebon Hawk has a nice population and nice community. I do not understand the need for it to be compared to Harbinger.

What difference does that really make? Ebon Hawk has a nice population and nice community. I do not understand the need for it to be compared to Harbinger.

bc us dirty, filthy RPers. Or they think Harby has instant pops?

About 2/3rds the size or maybe just under that

I think that is an understatement for the population of Ebon Hawk.

Ebon hawk is the second most populated server, after Harbinger.

Yet, the actual screen shots posted by another poster, show that JC generally averages about 80% (far greater than 2/3) of Hrabingers population.

If what is at best the third highest populated server, after Harbinger and Ebon Hawk, runs at an average of 80% of Harbinger, how could Ebon Hawk, the second highest populated server, have opnly 2/3 (or less) of Harbonger's population?

It may be just me, but IMO, there seems to be a pattern developing among those who advocate server merges (or rely upon the LFG tool for their group content) of finding some fault (even if they have to invent or drastically over-exaggerate that fault) with any server that is NOT Harbinger and downplaying (or simply dismissing out of hand) any fault that Harbinger has.

After reading pages of swarm posts I just need to do a little summary of the role player types just so I understand....

RP'ers:

Infrequently participate in Operations, Flashpoints, PVP, GSF, & Events (maybe)

View people LFG on fleet as deplorable spammers

Prefer empty planets or their strongholds/guildships in which to conduct their role playing

Avoid Fleet at all costs

Have a die hard group of best friend guildies who have played faithfully since launch

Seems like this demographic of player is juxtaposed to a successful or healthy MMO in a traditional sense. As I've analogized before nobody wants to eat in an empty restaurant versus a full one and yet they immediately replied and backed each other up that they love empty restaurants. Funny thing is those restaurants that sit empty month after month go out of business.

My theory is that if they boiled 17 servers down to around 5 the game would be healthier & more MMO type players would return to the game because they can do group PVE/PVP and the RP'ers would still be here.

My theory is that if they boiled 17 servers down to around 5 the game would be healthier & more MMO type players would return to the game because they can do group PVE/PVP and the RP'ers would still be here.

After reading pages of swarm posts I just need to do a little summary of the role player types just so I understand....

 

RP'ers:

 

Infrequently participate in Operations, Flashpoints, PVP, GSF, & Events (maybe)

View people LFG on fleet as deplorable spammers

Prefer empty planets or their strongholds/guildships in which to conduct their role playing

Avoid Fleet at all costs

Have a die hard group of best friend guildies who have played faithfully since launch

 

Seems like this demographic of player is juxtaposed to a successful or healthy MMO in a traditional sense. As I've analogized before nobody wants to eat in an empty restaurant versus a full one and yet they immediately replied and backed each other up that they love empty restaurants. Funny thing is those restaurants that sit empty month after month go out of business.

 

My theory is that if they boiled 17 servers down to around 5 the game would be healthier & more MMO type players would return to the game because they can do group PVE/PVP and the RP'ers would still be here.

I don't know where you got most of your 'summary' of RPers, because it certainly wasn't from the comments of the actual RPers in this thread. Sounds more like you're building yourself yet another pro-merger strawman for people to beat in this thread. Please stop. There's enough legitimate points of debate and contention without you inventing some at whim and throwing them into the mix to stir the pot.

As far as whether the RPers would still be here if you do merges? If you take away not only an RPer's character names, but also their expensive outfit selections with rare dyes, their meticulously designed strongholds, and their flagships that took them multiple years to unlock? They won't stay, trust me.

After reading pages of swarm posts I just need to do a little summary of the role player types just so I understand....

 

RP'ers:

 

Infrequently participate in Operations, Flashpoints, PVP, GSF, & Events (maybe)

View people LFG on fleet as deplorable spammers

Prefer empty planets or their strongholds/guildships in which to conduct their role playing

Avoid Fleet at all costs

Have a die hard group of best friend guildies who have played faithfully since launch

 

Seems like this demographic of player is juxtaposed to a successful or healthy MMO in a traditional sense. As I've analogized before nobody wants to eat in an empty restaurant versus a full one and yet they immediately replied and backed each other up that they love empty restaurants. Funny thing is those restaurants that sit empty month after month go out of business.

 

My theory is that if they boiled 17 servers down to around 5 the game would be healthier & more MMO type players would return to the game because they can do group PVE/PVP and the RP'ers would still be here.

Not even a single ONE of your "stereotypes" of RP'ers is anything close to factual. Continuing to portray them as you have thus chosen to portray them is an attack of their play style and could be reported as such, if it has not already been reported.

RP'ers may not rely upon the LFG tool for their group content, but that does not, in any way, mean they do not participate in group content.

RP'ers do not 'avoid fleet at all costs" or "prefer empty planets or their strongholds/guildships in which to conduct their role playing". They will RP almost anywhere. They simply prefer an environment which is at least tolerant of their play style (if not supportive) and in which they do not have to worry about other players try8ing to grief them.

One thing will generally apply everyone, though. Server merges will not magically make a player who chooses not engage in a particular "play style" to suddenly fall in love with that "play style" or even try that "play style". A player who chooses not to PVP will not suddenly become LFG fodder for those who rely upon the LFG tool for their PVP content. The player who chooses to do their group content with friends and guild mates will not suddenly become LFG fodder for those whop rely upon the LFG tool (and/or spamming fleet for random players) for their group content.

After reading pages of swarm posts I just need to do a little summary of the role player types just so I understand....

 

RP'ers:

 

Infrequently participate in Operations, Flashpoints, PVP, GSF, & Events (maybe)

View people LFG on fleet as deplorable spammers

Prefer empty planets or their strongholds/guildships in which to conduct their role playing

Avoid Fleet at all costs

Have a die hard group of best friend guildies who have played faithfully since launch

 

Seems like this demographic of player is juxtaposed to a successful or healthy MMO in a traditional sense. As I've analogized before nobody wants to eat in an empty restaurant versus a full one and yet they immediately replied and backed each other up that they love empty restaurants. Funny thing is those restaurants that sit empty month after month go out of business.

 

My theory is that if they boiled 17 servers down to around 5 the game would be healthier & more MMO type players would return to the game because they can do group PVE/PVP and the RP'ers would still be here.

Way to garbage an otherwise productive discussion.

After reading pages of swarm posts I just need to do a little summary of the role player types just so I understand....

 

RP'ers:

 

Infrequently participate in Operations, Flashpoints, PVP, GSF, & Events (maybe)

View people LFG on fleet as deplorable spammers

Prefer empty planets or their strongholds/guildships in which to conduct their role playing

Avoid Fleet at all costs

Have a die hard group of best friend guildies who have played faithfully since launch

 

Seems like this demographic of player is juxtaposed to a successful or healthy MMO in a traditional sense. As I've analogized before nobody wants to eat in an empty restaurant versus a full one and yet they immediately replied and backed each other up that they love empty restaurants. Funny thing is those restaurants that sit empty month after month go out of business.

^^ Pejorative attack ad against RPers... using innuendo, alternative facts, and bias. In other words, incorrect, and designed to provoke rather then discuss.

If you arent on Harb, you literally do not matter. Barely above F2P.

Comments like this are EXACTLY why so many players refuse to play on Harbinger.

I have an idea. Lets shut down all the west coast servers and create one in Japan, Korea, or Australia for the APAC players. Ping wont be too bad for the true west coast players. The east coast/midwest players on Harbinger will be forced back to the east coast servers swelling their populations. Solves three problems: gets rid of the unstable Harbinger server, gives APAC players an option with reasonable ping, and takes care of the east coast server population problems. No need for mergers.

Why punish the East coast servers by forcing them to accept any of the toxicity of Harbinger?