So the minority of dalborra are the people losing their ping when they go to harbinger, in fact the majority of dalborra are americans and other people who would benefit from being on an american because they get better ping.

Just exactly how thick are you?

What a load of complete crap... we have a guild with 100+ members on Dalbora... that isn't including Alt's... I know that there are NO American's in our Guild

Most of the people I PVP with and on the Dalbora server aren't American... so I don't know where you get your information from... my guess is you are American yourself and are looking forward to the move so YOU get a better PING...

I'm sure it has been said already, but am not going to go through over 380 pages of the thread to check.

I'm not sure how this helps Australian players. Our evenings do not coincide with US evenings, so the low population and the resulting long queue times will still occur, regardless of whether we're on an ASPAC server, or on a US server.

Transferring us over to US-based servers will merely transplant the problem. Sure, The Harbinger (using it as an example, as I play on Dalborra) will have a higher native population, but the expected improvement to queue times would be small, I would suspect.

At least, this was my experience from playing on Proudmoore for many years in World of Warcraft. As an Aus player on a US server, we ended up playing with other people in the same time zone, and some US night owls. There were "a few more" people around, but not enough to really make an impact on queue times.

Throwing all of us on to The Harbinger will likely mean actual queues to get on to the server during weekends for Australian players, as we'd be trying to connect during the US Friday and Saturday evenings.

I have to admit that I'm saddened by this decision. I play this game because I like Star Wars, and enjoy the low latency due to having a "local" server. Being able to play a game without a ~200ms time penalty was refreshing and fantastic.

This decision to decommission the ASPAC servers is not one that I can continue to support, unfortunately. If I want to play a game on a US server with heaps of people, I can always go back to my old WoW guild, right? I hear there's Pokemon now.

Yeah, it makes absolute sense that EA is closing down a profitable marketplace in the midst of a transition to maximize profitability in this title...

 

Out of what? Avarice? An unmentioned hatred of APAC players? Pure evilness because EA?

 

...we live in a real world in which companies make decisions, not out of the goodness of their hearts, but based on the stolid and rather un-emotive dictates of ROI and investor pressure.

Brand image isn't a factor? Medium and long term profit projections in an MMO aren't a factor?

Btw, feel free to actually engage in a real discussion over here, where it currently looks like you left with your tail between your legs.

And to further examine some of your other arguments:

What is the opportunity cost of continuing to use some (read: required for said 'mega' server) of the infrastructure in place?

What is the alternative use of the infrastructure, given it is likely the property of EA Australia (and housed in their office/server space)?

What are the projections for this game overall in the next 6 months, given the paltry investment that has occurred in it since 12 months ago when it was deemed a failure by EA, 4 months after launch?

What were the population statistics for AU players 12 months ago? What were they 9 months ago and what were they 6 months ago?

Why do EA and BW feel people left the game?

What do EA and BW believe to be the long-term strategy for this game, with the F2P model in mind?

The last few questions are more or less rhetorical, given how much the proverbial pooch has been screwed. Get back to me when you have real answers that show not only an understanding of the basic (alleged) financials, but of solid business, planning and brand management skills. Until then, kindly **** off with your paltry analysis.

What a load of complete crap... we have a guild with 100+ members on Dalbora... that isn't including Alt's... I know that there are NO American's in our Guild

Most of the people I PVP with and on the Dalbora server aren't American... so I don't know where you get your information from... my guess is you are American yourself and are looking forward to the move so YOU get a better PING...

Ah, my post was a sarcastic response to how that person implied Australians where the minority on this server merge...

cant wait for the servers to be closed down so my level 50 bounty hunter can join the rest of my other characters on the Harbinger

Another American... who mainly plays on the NA servers... wanting to move his one and only lvl 50 there....

Ah, my post was a sarcastic response to how that person implied Australians where the minority on this server merge...

My apologies then

Really. Strange it had 110+ on Monday night at 730pm Sydney time, plus about another 70 in zone on Ilum when I was doing my Dailies.

 

Compared to when I was last on Harbinger it had 10 ppl on at the same time 3-4 months ago.

Proof?, Evidence? or IMO just wild speculation because what you are sayin seems very VERY unlikely

Proof?, Evidence? or IMO just wild speculation because what you are sayin seems very VERY unlikely

I see those numbers regularly on dalborra and I play on dalborra, and its better anecdotal evidence then crap you have come with.

Damn, everyone is unsubbing. I just cant imagine pvping with that big a disadvantage. I guess Neverwinter looks alright.

Oh, and dont feed the trolls.

Another American... who mainly plays on the NA servers... wanting to move his one and only lvl 50 there....

i aint no god darn yank, im an AUSSIE mate

and yeah its my only lvl50, im slight addicted to making alts

dont know why yous are all sooking bout the ping, i ping around 170 and are able to play fine

though i dont pvp though

and theres heaps of people to play with all day/night long

Having played on a US server since launch, the latency increase from APAC to NA is one big concern. One of the biggest issues that has come about since the migration of everyone to super sized servers has been latency. The latency is a massive issue. Now granted, I am used to about 200ms ping times but I can understand perfectly that having never played the game with anything less than 162ms I can say, that it is playable, even in PVP and Operations. I have to be better at my management of rotations than everyone else, and utilise the queing mechanism to help offset the latency.

But I do see massive server side latency where commands are missed or don't go through, unsure where it is happening to be exact, but adding more people to a server where there are issues with latency will only exacerbate the problem further.

Is there any real solution for this. Well is the nature of this kind of game. Client side must tell server what is happening, server agrees, replies to the client, client plays the animation. Server also sends anyone within a range (if that is how they do it) that this has been updated for this user. One person performing this one task may have to go to a lot of people to show what needs to be shown.

I have pondering on this solution for a while and the only real solution would be moving the servers into neutral territory so everyone has the same latency across the board. Then any spikes aren't increased because of physical location.

Proof?, Evidence? or IMO just wild speculation because what you are sayin seems very VERY unlikely

What he's saying is likely valid, given people will sign on for organised events. You can't honestly think there's enough content to engross people for extended periods.

Go and look at the original release schedule of content, and you'll notice that stuff we're only getting on live servers next month, was originally slated for June last year. Some of that hasn't even made it's way through the pipeline. Had we got even 33% of what was originally scheduled in a timely fashion, this game would have been in fantastic shape about now, in all regions.

Budgetary and planning mismanagement are the real mistakes here, and we're getting punished for it instead of developers and executives formally apologising and reaching out to the wider public to reboot this game (and not just in the APAC region). Costs too much money to do that they say, because our risk projections are dismal, they say.

What it takes is people with a clue about what they're doing holistically, prepared to dig themselves out of a hole in a timely fashion. They answered failure with failure, and saw more failure. No surprises there.

QUICK QUESTION FOR EVERYONE

WHO WILL CONTINUE TO SUPPORT EA IN THE FUTURE WITH NEW GAMES??

Personally I will never buy another EA game if this goes ahead... They have ruined their brand in this country...

I propose someone set up another Petition or Survey to see just how many people will support EA in their future games... I'm guess not many who have had this experience

POST NO (you won't support) or YES (you will support)

I see those numbers regularly on dalborra and I play on dalborra, and its better anecdotal evidence then crap you have come with.

Very Doubtful...

But again this whole thread/arguement is a invalid anyway because we're finally getting moved to Servers with A HEALTHY POPULATION!

I completely sympathize. As someone who plays on the NA servers, I'm finding myself less inclined to play anymore, because the populations in all areas are so thick. Have to wait for mobs and items to respawn.

But here's a little secret: 499,999.

If membership numbers fall below that, the game gets scrubbed.

Speak with your wallet.

Brand image isn't a factor? Medium and long term profit projections in an MMO aren't a factor?

Electronic Arts has one of the worst brand-images in the entirety of the gaming community, in fact I have difficulty thinking of another company that is as equally reviled by its own customers as EA.

And to put it bluntly; why would EA care about brand image in a marketplace they have just left?

The APAC decision will have little to no bearing on its NA or European marketplaces.

Btw, feel free to actually engage in a real discussion over here, where it currently looks like you left with your tail between your legs.

Are you referring to the post in which you referred to EA as a failing company and described the lack of content as indicative of a refusal on EA's part to go further into investment for development?

Yeah, I felt you fundamentally described the financial fear of EA investors to convince them not to continue low-ROI investment sufficiently enough that I need not add to it.

I mean, you do realize that arguing EA is a failing company that just put itself through a financial panic over a failing AAA title that was not living up to expectations of ROI is actually a logical extension of the reasoning behind closing low ROI-marketplaces like APAC...

You fundamentally agreed with me in a poor attempt to invalidate my argument, so I let it stand.

And to further examine some of your other arguments:

 

What is the opportunity cost of continuing to use some (read: required for said 'mega' server) of the infrastructure in place?

What is the alternative use of the infrastructure, given it is likely the property of EA Australia (and housed in their office/server space)?

What are the projections for this game overall in the next 6 months, given the paltry investment that has occurred in it since 12 months ago when it was deemed a failure by EA, 4 months after launch?

What were the population statistics for AU players 12 months ago? What were they 9 months ago and what were they 6 months ago?

Why do EA and BW feel people left the game?

What do EA and BW believe to be the long-term strategy for this game, with the F2P model in mind?

All very good questions I would assume EA has taken into consideration.

And considering that after all of these concerns, and the obvious consequences this move would have on the APAC subscription base, that EA is still shutting down the servers and leaving the marketplace should tell you all you need to know about the in-house answers...

The last few questions are more or less rhetorical, given how much the proverbial pooch has been screwed. Get back to me when you have real answers that show not only an understanding of the basic (alleged) financials, but of solid business, planning and brand management skills. Until then, kindly **** off with your paltry analysis.

So in short, your argument is that EA has badly mismanaged its own financial planning, failed to properly invest in the APAC marketplace, and despite the obvious issues with the tact they have chosen have decided this makes internal (ie: financial) sense for the company as it clearly is not prioritizing the best interests of the APAC players themselves.

Yeah, you totally disagree with me and disproved my analysis.

Good work.

Very Doubtful...

 

But again this whole thread/arguement is a invalid anyway because we're finally getting moved to Servers with A HEALTHY POPULATION!

Dalborra is healthy, just not as big as harbinger.

I completely sympathize. As someone who plays on the NA servers, I'm finding myself less inclined to play anymore, because the populations in all areas are so thick. Have to wait for mobs and items to respawn.

 

But here's a little secret: 499,999.

 

If membership numbers fall below that, the game gets scrubbed.

 

Speak with your wallet.

Uh yeah there's something called the Cartel Market that makes them more money than subs ever will. GG

Very Doubtful...

 

But again this whole thread/arguement is a invalid anyway because we're finally getting moved to Servers with A HEALTHY POPULATION!

Apparently APAC has had said population this entire time.

Not so sure what all those APAC threads were about now...

Dalborra is healthy, just not as big as harbinger.

And now the Harbinger is going to be even bigger

i aint no god darn yank, im an AUSSIE mate

and yeah its my only lvl50, im slight addicted to making alts

 

dont know why yous are all sooking bout the ping, i ping around 170 and are able to play fine

though i dont pvp though

 

and theres heaps of people to play with all day/night long

Sorry if you really are an Aussie...

BUT... you said it... YOU DON'T PLAY PVP... so we are not "sooking"... come back when you know how to high lvl PVP and tell us we are sooking... because at the moment you have no idea what you are talking about

So how can you say wether a PING of 170 is acceptable to those who play PVP...

Also I prefer not to play on American servers... I did with WoW when it was released and the Trolls there are magnified by 100 compared to how Aussies or NZ's act... I couldn't wait to get off the American server onto the Australian one

And now the Harbinger is going to be even bigger

It is almost like EA is attempting to localize its entire player base on either NA or European servers...

...now why would a company that is not experiencing high-level officer turn-over in the aftermath of an investor panic over a failing multi-million dollar venture want to do that?

Impossible even to guess, really.

This would tend to be my argument; EA seriously mishandled the expansion into this marketplace, likely failed to achieve sustainable and significant enough ROI to rationalize continued investment in personnel, benefits, utilities, maintenance, et al, and are now retreating from the marketplace in an effort to cut their losses.

IceHawk you are trying to bring "rationale" to a raw and emotional argument right now, what kind of sense of entitlement and purpose do you feel by agitating and already disheartened community? Your assumptions that APAC players should of seen this coming and should get over it because that's just what corporations do still doesn't make it right....how about you show some compassion and let people vent?

Another issue:

The players who are downplaying the latency/ping issue clearly don't PvP or PvE to any serious extent. There is a major difference in the performance and quality of the game on the NA server than on the APAC servers. Ability activation, response time and glittery performance are a common occurrence. This makes us subpar at the game because an equally skilled player in PvP can react better, same with a PvE player so the quality of our gaming experience is going to drop. That's not to mention players who aren't on the east coast whose pings will go through the roof.

Those of us on the Harbinger or swiftsure already know that it felt like Christmas when we got placed into APAC servers and our character was responding the way it should! /tear

It is almost like EA is attempting to localize its entire player base on either NA or European servers...

 

...now why would a company that is not experiencing high-level officer turn-over in the aftermath of an investor panic over a failing multi-million dollar venture want to do that?

 

Impossible even to guess, really.

LOGIC!

Something the majority of these posters are short of nor understand either.