Consolidated Post: APAC/Oceanic Server Concerns

Well it's good they understand but the big issue was population.. and now it's being fixed so yeah the ping and timezone issue sucks but atleast we get to play with a good heavy population

I was under the impression that whoever had the name the longest got to keep it.

Here is the fundamental problem with the petition: EA has determined that the current population does not warrant continued local investment.

Marshalling said population base to directly request that investment does not actually do anything that would alter the logic that went into the decision.

Now, if you could somehow demonstrate to EA that there is a larger base of potential players they have missed and can easily tap to increase revenue flow you might have something...

In reality, you guys are coming over to the NA servers or unsubbing.

I cannot really see any other viable option at this point as I doubt EA is going to reverse course on this one.

The stupid thing is that Australia would have a better return for EA if they charged us in Australian currency instead of US...
The economist predict that the exchange rate will remain above $1 US for the foreseeable future...
I for one would not mind paying in Australian currency...
I know this next statement will be contentious...
Personally I would pay $5 extra per month on my subscription to keep the server in Australia because I love this game so much... but I PVP 90% of the time and will have to give the game up if the server moves

Actually, when the NA severs merged a number of us lost our long-standing names to native players.

The fact that EA notice the population is low enough for a merge

this.

Neither you nor I nor anyone else in this thread has insider knowledge of the costs of running the APAC servers, nor of the revenue acquired from those customers through subscriptions and sales.

I'd be willing to bet, however, the total revenue from APAC customers exceeds the cost of running the servers, and that the calculus from EA is not "it costs more money to run these servers than we're making from these customers," but rather it's "we can move these customers to the US and save on server costs without any loss of revenue."

Okay, they'd be idiots to think that there wouldn't be some blowback from the move, but they probably think that their most valued customers - the ones who both subscribe and pump money into the market - are dedicated enough to stick with the game no matter what. At least anecdotally, I can say that isn't true. Large swathes of both my imp and pub guilds have announced they're quitting if the move takes place, including some of the most dedicated players. That will have secondary effects, like raid groups dissolving and more players quitting.

If I were to make a prediction, this will go down as another dumb-*** move from a company that has a serious track record of them. Maybe people won't quit in the numbers that it currently seems they will, but EA is taking a gamble here, made by bean counters who don't really get why and how people play the game.

*sigh, yesterday fleet at this time 90 people (outside of peak) today 49... (on Dal)
Good Job BW Good Job

Well, the current line is "They listened to us, and came up with Merges to NA for the best playing experence"

If they think Merges to NA is the best playing experience for us, then they lied about listening to us.

If they actually listened to us then they are lying about it being the best playing experience.

If you're correct about the non-economic viability of the APAC servers ( and I won't argue the point, wouldn't surprise me at all ), then the whole statement is a lie.

You could argue it's merely left out some key information ( they listened, BUT CHOSE TO IGNORE US, and came up with merges to NA for the best playing experience ), but imho the exclusion is tantamount to lying anyway.

If they came out and stated that it's not economically viable to run APAC servers, then so be it. I'd at least respect them for being honest. But as long as they continue with the "We listened" line, we're perfectly justified in pointing out to them that they really really didn't.