Which server is best for GSF, and why? Which faction, and why? Is your server the best because pilots are friendly, or skilled, or only run in premades, or all of the above?

Let's rank servers based on different criteria, for those who LOVE GSF and might consider switching servers just for it. I'll start:

My server:

Begeren Colony

My faction:

Mainly Imperial, occasionally Republic

Any GSF-focused guilds? Level of activity? With website?:

Doesn't seem like it.

Queue times, AM/PM:

AM queues are rare. PM queues are slowing down these days. Pub side gets more queues, more pub vs pub matches.

Queue quality:

I almost never get a match without 2-3 people on each team with only the starter ships (ie. newbie GSF pilots).

Friendliness:

Generally friendly if you get some ops chat going, which is difficult in GSF.

Skill:

There are maybe 15-20 aces total, but only a few are on together at any given time. (Think Drake's equation.)

Premades:

Almost non-existent.

Comments and conclusion:

Begeren Colony would be great for new pilots who want to experience GSF among other new pilots.

(I wont pretend to know which server is best, that is subjective. But I do find value in listing the below attributes for people considering a switch.)

My server:

The Bastion

My faction:

Imperial (only)

Queue times, AM/PM:

AM: Less than 5 mins // PM: Less than 5 mins (queue pops vary but are pretty consistent most days)

Queue quality:

Good mix of ships, decent stock of aces (a bit huddled to the imp side atm) - Matches vary from stomps to furrballs

Friendliness:

Most people seem to be very nice, there are ego's on both sides so things might be said in the heat of a match but most of this is left on the battlefield

Skill:

There are aces on both sides but also many new pilots, some willing to learn it seems, and some not. In this area id have to say we are typical.

Premades:

Pretty Frequent - See them in maybe half my matches

GSF Centered Guilds:

Red Mister Fighter Wing - IMP - Active

Swift and Absolute - IMP - Active

Im sure there's more, these are the ones I see the most

Comments and conclusion:

GSF is alive and kicking here, and for a change the Imperials are on the winning side more often than not (which is the opposite of most servers) - id honestly love to see some of the hot shot pubs from other servers come in to test their skills. I thrive on competition and have mostly gotten to know the usual suspects on Bastion, more is always better. At the moment people I know are playing both sides to even things out, but pubs could still use some more aces in the mix.

My server:

The Bastion

(snipped the rest)

I'd say this is a very accurate representation of The Bastion. Games are going all day, and there's lots of people on in the evening (PST). I know a handful of aces on both sides that would be willing to help, teach and group with (or fight against) newer pilots if they wanted to try out the server.

My server

Jedi Covenant(east coast PvE)

My Faction (only 2 GSF characters atm)

Main: Imperial

Alt: Republic

Ques:

AM: Frequent, moderate wait about equal to one GSF match length.

PM: Same as AM

Prime Time: Bountiful, wait time less then half of average GSF match length

GSF population by faction.

About 2-3 republic players for every Imperial

Que types(JC republic player please feel free to dispute you perspective is likely more accurate)

Imp v Republic about 50-60%

Republic v Republic 40-50%

Imperial v Imperial 1-3%

Friendliness

Needs improvement

Skill

The good players are highly proficient and plentiful. There are of course n00b players on both sides who like crashing into everything and not avoiding getting shot at.

Players

About 65% of players in que have 4 or more ships in their ready hanger.

Premades (Edited)

Republic: about a 65% chance there will be a republic premade in any match in Imp vs Repub not always 4 man groups though. One of our aces feels it's closer to 35% for any Repub match.

Imperial: Lets just say we really need to step up and get organized.

Comments

A healthy place to come find some GSF especially if you hate same faction matches and also like Imperial, I'd say if you are looking for a challenge as an imperial premade this is the server to come to.

I'd say this is a very accurate representation of The Bastion. Games are going all day, and there's lots of people on in the evening (PST). I know a handful of aces on both sides that would be willing to help, teach and group with (or fight against) newer pilots if they wanted to try out the server.

as Stasie says, the aces are all very nice on Bastion, though people who like to go "lone wolf" who hate premades with a passion may not like it there.

My server:

Red Eclipse

My faction:

i play both equally now in gsf.

Queue times, AM/PM:

None peak times - maxed i waited was around 3-5 minutes at 7am on a sat morning.

Peak times - most of the time they pop one after another if not max i wait is around 1-3mins.

Queue quality:

mixed bag really, sometimes every member will have 5 ships, and other games youll get say 7 two ships and rest 3-5 ships but its same on both sides normally so balences it self out.

Friendliness:

more often than not its friendly, i fine empire side are more chatty though but abusive behaviour is rare. also some like myself will go extra mile to help new people in gsf.

Skill:

i find theres aleways a few noobs in the group on both teams but theres also some very skilled pilots on the server youll get to know quickly.

Premades:

rare to be honest, i play both factions and all i do is GSF and as a pug and find most matches quite enjoyable.

Comments and conclusion:

Also the groups normally fiarly balenced with class types, rare to ever see more than 4 gunships max most games i would say main class in order is: Scouts and fighters with a couple of bombers and couple of gunships.

Good server for regular GSF pops, friendly server on the whole, helpful etc. and to top it off lots of well established guilds to suit most peoples needs.

Hope this helps

My server:

The Ebon Hawk

My faction:

Republic with the occasional Imp login

Queue times, AM/PM:

Early morning they can be somehwat slow, between 10-20 minutes. Around 11 AM it picks up to 5 minutes or less and stays that way until about 1 am at which point it begins to slow down to 10 minutes, then a bit longer. Very late you could wait 30-40 minutes but what do you expect at 3 am?

Queue quality:

There are a lot of both new players and veterans queueing all the time.

Friendliness:

TEH pilots are all friendly and willing to discuss ship builds, strategy, and tips and tricks with both new and old players alike. Our best aces are also some of our nicest people.

Skill:

Republic edges out Empire skill-wise, but also has a greater pool of pilots. The Imperials have been picking up some pretty good talent though, and it's starting to show. Overall, the games on TEH are either knuckle-whitening in how close they are, or are a landslide win for one side or the other.

Premades:

There are several premades you might see on any given day, as The Ebon Hawk is home to a few guilds who have GSF as a main focus. However, Ebon Hawk pilots are, for the most part, willing to take non-guildies and new players into their groups, with the option of voice chat - not a requirement. Often times in our premades, at least one of us is not in voice chat anyway. Ebon Hawk players also tend to be sporting about crushing wins and try to let the other side get a bit of requisition.

Comments and conclusion:

The Ebon Hawk is a great server for GSF, and we welcome any and all new pilots into the fold. If you're thinking of moving servers, come on over and send a tell to Highjinks (Republic side) if you want to chat about GSF - or, I am sure you can talk to Shayd on Imperial side (though he might get mad at me for throwing his name out here, we'll see!)

My server:

 

The Ebon Hawk

 

<snip>

 

The Ebon Hawk is a great server for GSF, and we welcome any and all new pilots into the fold. If you're thinking of moving servers, come on over and send a tell to Highjinks (Republic side) if you want to chat about GSF - or, I am sure you can talk to Shayd on Imperial side (though he might get mad at me for throwing his name out here, we'll see!)

I'd echo everything Highjinks said about The Ebon Hawk. And I definitely don't mind if I am approached Imp-side for help or a guild invite to <Eclipse Squadron>. You should also keep an eye out for Callem and Cynfor from our guild--they are always happy to help new pilots (and are actively recruiting).

Awesome thread....

I am on Bastion as well and have been enjoying GSF a lot. I play pretty equally rep/imp and have found that it is mostly balanced. Sometimes you will get some imp/rep premades but not often, though when it happens it can get ugly for the pug obviously, But more often than not, it is really close. The other day I was in a satellite match that ended i think 995/1000 and we barely squeaked out the win! Fun stuff.

I am still terrible and usually not good enough to read the ops chat as I am trying not to die, but no one ever seems to be hostile.

As far as que times, I have never waited longer than 5 mins though it is usually around 2-5 mins on the republic side. My main guys are imperial and since I often que for Warzones and GSF at the same time, not sure on the exact que times but GSF sometimes does beat the WZ que.

Also on Bastion. Our wait times can be extreme at off times, forcing us to the forums!

But overall both factions have friendly and cool people. There's a mix of players who play SWTOR for realsies (ops and/or pvp) and those of us that are just on for GSF. I dunno what the other servers are like, however, but this one is fun!

Our guild (The Thirteenth Legion) doesn't focus on GSF (we don't focus on anything) but we have quite a few pilots and some serious Aces (cough Irialle cough), we had 8 people queueing up for our weekly event and we have people that queue everyday including myself. Anyway this is a great thread, I've really enjoyed reading it. I'll just echo what Highjinks and Shayd said about Ebon Hawk. It is a really great server for GSF (and just in general).

In some ways it is too bad you can't see guild tags because I wouldn't mind seeing who is in what guild. In other ways maybe it is for the best.

-Mystogyn

My server

Jedi Covenant(east coast PvE)

 

My Faction (only 2 GSF characters atm)

Main: Imperial

Alt: Republic

 

Ques:

AM: Frequent, moderate wait about equal to one GSF match length.

PM: Same as AM

Prime Time: Bountiful, wait time less then half of average GSF match length

 

GSF population by faction.

About 2-3 republic players for every Imperial

 

Que types(JC republic player please feel free to dispute you perspective is likely more accurate)

Imp v Republic about 50-60%

Republic v Republic 40-50%

Imperial v Imperial 1-3%

 

Friendliness

Needs improvement

 

Skill

The good players are highly proficient and plentiful. There are of course n00b players on both sides who like crashing into everything and not avoiding getting shot at.

 

Players

About 65% of players in que have 4 or more ships in their ready hanger.

 

Premades

Republic: about a 65% chance there will be a republic premade in any match

Imperial: Lets just say we really need to step up and get organized.

 

Comments

A healthy place to come find some GSF especially if you hate same faction matches and also like Imperial, I'd say if you are looking for a challenge as an imperial premade this is the server to come to.

It needs A LOT of improvement

It needs A LOT of improvement

AH there's a JC Repuber, Opinions on my ratios. 80% of my matches are on my Sniper and I actually seem more pub v pub when I que on my Sage but that's a small sample size for my perspective. Also most of my pub v pub are 8 v 8 not 12 v 12 so I try to factor that in.

For Imperial players the more vocal ones are usually blaming the rest of the team for failure. Hell I was in match with this one guy a month and a half back, we were facing Grunty and probably yourself in an 8 v 8. We lost horribly I found myself flying into multiple attackers well before the node. Naturally my score and everyones scores were horrible at the end. This one guy chooses to attempt to bully me simply because I drew a little attention from the crowd when i said which node I would go after. I had to just laugh at the guy afterward. I tried to explain to him that his expectations were hilarious in /wisper afterwards. He laughably told me the only number that mattered was damage dealt. I replied that i was happy to divert his bullying from other players and promptly /ignored the guy.

For repub there is one guy whose name looks a bit like "_ ' _ _ _" I think you know who I mean. I've only seen him in premades and It seem like he's not interested in challenging gameplay. Yet I've seen him verbally trash the entire Imperial faction even though every match he ques he stacks the odds enough that he is insulated from actually being able to havve an accurate perspective of individual players or their skill. I also noticed his name absent from the Aces thread and I'm perfectly happy to see it stay absent. His attitude is atrocious and not an asset to GSF on our server. He is the only player on my bail list, regardless of what faction I'm flying on at the moment.

I think players need to start more encouragement. A Big problem is GSF /ops chat means you have to take your hands of the controls. JC certainly has extremely dynamic gameplay which is awsome but leave nearly no time for /ops.

I've added a line for GSF-centric guilds. If you're in one or know of any, please let the community know (as some of you have already done), as well as level of activity.

My server:

The Bastion

My faction:

Empire

Any GSF-focused guilds? Level of activity? With website?:

<Swift and Absolute> Active with a vent server, no website. Message or mail Graventhel for the interested.

Queue times, AM/PM:

Fairly short in the pm, long in the am.

Queue quality:

Quality can vary from grudge match to blowout.

Friendliness:

Not a whole lot of chatter going on in the channels.

Skill:

About a dozen or so hot shots between the two factions.

Premades:

Regular.

Comments and conclusion:

There is a healthy GSF community here that could use a bit more enthusiasm.

<Swift and Absolute> on The Bastion Imperial side accepts pilots of all levels and skill levels. Message or mail Graventhel for anyone interested.

Nice name

<Swift and Absolute> on The Bastion Imperial side accepts pilots of all levels and skill levels. Message or mail Graventhel for anyone interested.

oh, graventhal and friends made a guild? Cool.

On pub side if you see a <Freaks of Legend> member, feel free to ask for advice or a friendly grouping. (though the guild is split between pvp and space, so they may not know what you're talking about)

oh, graventhal and friends made a guild? Cool.

 

On pub side if you see a <Freaks of Legend> member, feel free to ask for advice or a friendly grouping. (though the guild is split between pvp and space, so they may not know what you're talking about)

I market <Swift and Absolute> as a PvP guild that has an emphasis on GSF so you will see at least me personally on the ground too, as well as the occasional world pvp on Oricon.

Well, since nobody has bothered to mention Prophecy of the Five, I guess I will:

My server: Pot5

My faction: I typically split evenly between Imp and Pubbie, but that's not the case server-wide

Any GSF-focused guilds? Level of activity? With website?: Not entirely sure. I'd hesitate to guess.

Queue times, AM/PM: AM queues are extremely rare. PM queues are slowing down these days. Pub side gets more queues, more pub vs pub matches.

Queue quality:

I almost always get matches with 1-2 people on each team with only the starter ships (ie. newbie GSF pilots).

Friendliness: Generally friendly, but there is often somebody that just has to take the time in Ops chat to berate other players.

Skill: There are many skilled players in both factions. It's a good balance.

Premades: Seldom, from what I can tell

AH there's a JC Repuber, Opinions on my ratios.

Your estimate are pretty good except for the pre-mades. 65%? i wouldn't go that far. Maybe 33%? But then again its all in perspective (Time of day, RNG team make-up)

On a side note, i encourage EVERYONE to practice, take ur licks (God knows i had my *** handed to me all the time at the start ) and start forming ur own pre-mades. Thats how i got in mine (Noticed a few pilots giving me flying lessons, the type of lesson you blow up when the exam is done ), whispered to them, put them on my friends list and it all snowballed from there. Luke had a pre-made and voice when he went up against the Death Star, so why not us too?

Edit: I still get my *** handed to me sometimes, there are pilots out there on a different level

Your estimate are pretty good except for the pre-mades. 65%? i wouldn't go that far. Maybe 33%? But then again its all in perspective (Time of day, RNG team make-up)

 

On a side note, i encourage EVERYONE to practice, take ur licks (God knows i had my *** handed to me all the time at the start ) and start forming ur own pre-mades. Thats how i got in mine (Noticed a few pilots giving me flying lessons, the type of lesson you blow up when the exam is done ), whispered to them, put them on my friends list and it all snowballed from there. Luke had a pre-made and voice when he went up against the Death Star, so why not us too?

My mistake. I meant 65% chance there is a premade in a match not that 65% of players fly premade. I'll edit that.

Hundred percent in agreement with Highjinks' post. Ebon Hawk is a GREAT place for GSF.

I just wish, as we are an RP server, we could integrate more of our performance in GSF into our RP without it looking like we're just a bunch of RP blowhards, but, ehh...

The Shadowlands have pretty good matches.

From what I've been reading. Shadowlands has some of the worst que times, and possibly the smallest GSF community.