Server population is dropping...

And how would you know what server they were on previously? It would require you to already know the person.

And if both are online at the same time, and you see in chat "Bob", then you would assume that just messaging "Bob" would take you to them.

Infact, it would make more sense in this case to make the "hidden" name VISIBLE, just to avoid this situation.

Also when it comes to petitions about people... if the "hidden" part is well... hidden, it makes it easier for a case of mistaken identity to arise. (Yeah, i just petitioned Bob, because i didn't know their "hidden" name, and I was meant to have petitioned "bob fatman".

That is something else to consider.

Now for cross server LFG, i can understand the appending of a server name to their actual name when grouped up with them, but that is just for cross server occurances (Rift does this when you end up grouping with someone off a different server for dungeons).

TBH, i would love it if "cross server chat channels" came at the same time (as far as i know, even custom chat channels are just server only, please correct me if i am wrong) and we could pick a global name... that would resolve the "tell issue". Hell, you could also more easily identify people as well.

*shrugs*

Everyone has their own opinion of what is the "best" solution. IMHO there isnt a best solution for when there are separate servers at the start (Champions online avoided this because they started off with a single game server (lots of shards to it though), and the xxxxX@global name setup)... and although the global part was possible for the *user* to disable, others could still view it easily if they chose to).

The easiest solution would be to "force rename" all the affected characters (and let the legacy be non unique as it actually doesnt have *ANY* messaging possibilities so far... unless they decide to make THAT the "global identifier".... still problems can arise when they clash in this case).

*shrugs*

Those are just a few ramblings from my viewpoint.

'sup Vader, how's my original server doing?

Did a /who search on my server Jung Ma right now. It's labeled as standard.

Around 500 imps total and 450 pubs. I rounded the value up. Under 1k players online.

thas alot! i did the same search and came up with 83 imps and 121 republic...just over 200 on the whole server is very very sad.

If internally the system can tell the difference from the legacy name from player to player it would be fine.

I agree the most fair thing to do is let ALL the players with duplicate names effected know, and tell them when/where they can do the rename. Then it will be "first come first serve". You never know, maybe the guy with your name was one of the folks that quit playing in the first place (which ironically is the reason they are consolidating the servers in the first place). So if he unsubed, or just doesn't play, then too bad for him, you get the name.

I think that the 1st part and the 2nd part go hand in hand with each other.... of course, without knowing how their database is set up, Standard Code Rant applies.

In a similar situation myself along with a few friends, in addition though we actually have maxed our Legacy level to 50. We've played together these months actively and have several alts as well.

Moving to another server for us is not an option at all, not to mention looking at the EU servers they are extremely low populated over all except the 1 server, which has queue's. But my point is as yours, they need to do something about the populations, we shouldn't have to move.
We've spent countless of hours working on our characters and legacy and now in 1.2 when the legacy actually will mean something, we should just drop everything according to some people? No thanks. We pay to play a game, not to reroll and try every server there is and waste time, not to mention rerolling the same class for a 3rd time isn't fun at all.

So in short, I agree with you. If they don't do anything about the server populations, I can't see myself and my friends staying much longer.

The server pop imbalance came when BW flinched and added way too many new servers at launch in response to all the login queue complaints during early access. If they had stuck to their plan then this would not be an issue right now - because they had it worked out in less than a month. As for consolidation, uh ... not so much. However character transfers are coming soon once they've fully tested the Legacy implications.

James Ohlen's response to the character transfer question from PAX East:
"That is one of our #1 priorities right now. I walk into our programmer’s office and ask them everyday if we can get that feature out faster. So yes, it is coming soon. We need to make sure when you xfer over that it comes with everything like legacy, guild and all that stuff. It is not as easy as it might seem."

Did you check Anturi Reach republic side? At 8:25 PM server time tonight there were 4 players in fleet including me. There were 82 total players on the server with 4 level 50s online. This is no exaggeration and I used /who to make sure I got accurate numbers.

I think it is rather funny how some people continue to say we are exaggerating by saying we are playing on a dead server. What would you have us do, take screen shots to prove it?

Again. People are not saying the game is dead (although one could argue why are the lower populated servers low in population). We continue to say over and over again that many of the listed servers are having trouble during prime time due to low population. More so if you play Republic. There is no economy. Flashpoints are difficult to do. It is difficult to do just about anything that requires more than a single person. And it isn't just tied to the fleets.

Go planet hop and you will see just how bad it is. Single digit subscribers in a zone isn't healthy for any MMO. And if you don't believe us go play on one of the servers and give it a whirl. Let me know how you enjoy it because you won't.

This isn't a subscriber issue nor should "THEY" be forced to move. Argue all you want about how easy it is but maybe other subscribers have a harder time, or less time to devote to it. Maybe they have too many alts. Maybe they don't want to have to collect more money, etc. It is a real pain in the rear to pack up and move...

This is BioWare's issue, not ours.