I am writing this to all roleplayers out there who are disheartened and considering unsubbing/leaving this game. Because I understand that the prospect of Server Merges is frightening you but please, listen to my call for reason and patience.

 

I get what you are afraid of, you are afraid that when the merges occur trolls will start to ruin and destroy any RP experiences they see in public. I want to ask you to stop for a moment, look upon that line of thought and reflect for a moment; how likely is it someone will be actively going out of their way to target you and troll your RP experience. Those people don't have troll alarms in their rooms telling them whenever there is RP. You will still be able to recruit in the General Chat, you will still be able to RP just like you had before. Because you need to ask yourself this: is my fear blinding me right now as to what the most likely scenario is? I am fairly certain it's more the fear causing you to think this way than reality.

 

People will have no argument by dismissing RP and will not do such as they have to understand that it's multiple servers with different playstyles that will be merged. It's even far more likely that the majority of players simply won't even care whether you roleplay or not because they'll be busy playing the game their own way anyway. You assume it will be hell, you assume it will be bad but how much of that is likely going to happen? You haven't even tried it our or given a chance, test it out first because you may be surprised it won't be that bad as you think it will be. Don't let RP die in SWTOR because you are afraid of some immature baboons, because if you leave it will be no other person than yourself killing off the RP community. It won't be the devs, it won't be the supposed trolls, but only you. Thus I urge you to stay and try out the changes before you unsub or leave the game.

 

Lastly, don't paint a target on your back because with this entire panicked/angered/rage-filled attitude at the server merges and the supposed trolls that will specifically target you and grief you, you are doing exactly that: painting a target on your back. You are currently giving the trolls that are out there the time of their life by letting them know how much power they have over you. Instead of ignoring them and playing the game the way you want to play it as is your right, you have given the trolls all the food and fuel they could never hope to muster.

 

So please, I urge for reason and reflection regarding this and not making any hasty decisions. Try it out first, see for yourself and then decide whether it's as bad as you thought it would be. Because chances are it's more the fear talking than reality. Don't let some immature baboons control you this way, because if you let the fear of them to decide to leave/ubsub, then they win, the trollers will win and have their way. They will have exerted the perfect control over you by not even trolling but using your own fear against you. Please take under consideration that the developers have also considered all your concerns and deemed server merges still as a good path to follow. Think about that, because it is very likely that as an objective party they looked at this issue and deemed it unlikely to happen. That should not grief you but instead it should bring solace, as they have thought it over as an objective party and deduced based on the arguments presented and facts they have nothing bad will happen. Find comfort in this and know that the merges won't cause for the trolls to come out and grief you.

While approaching changes with patience and reason is always a good idea, I think you underestimate just how many douchebags are on the Internet.

 

Hopefully the worst of it is contained in the hot prospect (nope, still can't say that without rolling my eyes...)

 

Wait and see i guess

Well said, I remain optimistic that the trolls will not be a huge problem. If I see one: block, report, move on. Anyone who plays Overwatch or any MOBA knows what real trolling is, and what we see in Star Wars is nothing.

 

Admittedly it's the character name merge that's making me consider leaving, not the trolls. And sadly there's no pep talk that can bring back such an essential part of a character I've loved for years. There's nothing to be done except create alts on all the servers to be merged with mine, and if someone has one of my names on one of them, find and bribe them. It's worked before.

You know, a lot of the RPers and other players who are concerned aren't just fearing some random bogeyman. Many have already had negative experiences. Some have transferred off certain servers because of the surliness. They just want to play the game and be left alone, and being told that their server's population is going to treble or quadruple doesn't inspire confidence there. There's enough documentation about griefing, trolling and harassment in video games out there to make it clear that there unfortunately are a lot of players out there who get their jollies by ruining others' experiences.

 

Add to this that BW COULD do more to prevent trolling and harassment, but they DON'T- for instance, making 'ignore' Legacy-wide, so that a troll can't just change to an alt and come back to continue their harassment. Or giving an auto-decline for duels so people can't be duel spammed. It's easy to tell someone to use ignore and keep going - and that is what *I* do as I play - but it can be upsetting especially when it keeps happening.

 

Add to *this*: the fact that the roadmap is basically telling solo/story players that BW doesn't care about them, and all of this together makes for a lot of worry.

 

As of right now I'm letting my sub run out - not because of the trolling, but because BW's given me no reason, as a solo player, to stay.

Edited October 3, 2017 by IoNonSoEVero

Beregen Colony was one of the RP servers and is being merged with Harbinger on Hot Prospect. Just ewww. Im on Beregen Colony even though I don't RP I know it has to suck for them badly. Im not looking forward to this merge either as it is or that godawful name.

BC is my main account and I'm so sad that were being merge with Harbinger. l wish BC was being merged with Ebon Hawk instead. I don't like playing on Harbinger that much and that without the technical problems that server has. I hope they did some serious upgrade because I always get huge lags on Harbinger but never on BC. Sad thing is I like BC community, I don't feel it was dead at all. I never had trouble finding people. I like RP since SWG but haven't done it much in the past years, as I'm too busy with college but I hope RP community stay strong.

Sadly I do not share this optimistic view. I don't RP but almost every time...no exaggeration, nearly every time..I have seen people engaged in RP, trolls dived in. If they happen to be in "earshot", they go at it. It's a huge thrill for them. Griefers of all sorts live for such moments and rarely (if ever) pass up an opportunity.

 

It won't affect me as I do not RP, but think those who do have a legitimate concern.

I think the biggest concern in regards to roleplayers is how it will impact the large majority of the player base, as in people who are not roleplayers. Thankfully we earlier had RP:ers on separate servers but now they will be in our flashpoints, uprisings and other group content not skipping conversations in Master mode, RP-Walking during fights and not helping the group during combat.

 

I sincerely hope that with this change, the RP community sees that their actions and how they are looked at in the community has a direct impact on if they are able to conduct RP events without interrupts. If RP:ers are able to adjust and make sacrifices of their own in terms of playstyle for other people, I am sure the majority of the player base will leave the RP:ers alone, however if RP:ers do not do this, I am pretty sure you won't have a great time doing events.

Edited October 3, 2017 by RikuvonDrake

I think the biggest concern in regards to roleplayers is how it will impact the large majority of the player base, as in people who are not roleplayers. Thankfully we earlier had RP:ers on separate servers but now they will be in our flashpoints, uprisings and other group content not skipping conversations in Master mode, RP-Walking during fights and not helping the group during combat.

 

I sincerely hope that with this change, the RP community sees that their actions and how they are looked at in the community has a direct impact on if they are able to conduct RP events without interrupts. If RP:ers are able to adjust and make sacrifices of their own in terms of playstyle for other people, I am sure the majority of the player base will leave the RP:ers alone, however if RP:ers do not do this, I am pretty sure you won't have a great time doing events.

 

You confuse 2 forms of RP, the roleplay you are talking about is the one where someone creates a headcanon for their class in their mind and play the class story and such with a specific personality in mind. I am talking about the Roleplay where people create characters outside of the game's story, that actually write out their actions and deeds in the Say chat with other players who roleplay. I am talking about the entire guilds that are focused on this kind of roleplay, organising events in the form of tabletop RP like Dungeons and Dragons does only using the game environment for it instead.

Some of your concerns are valid sure, but I don't think the sky is falling. Many on Harbinger are good people. Even on EH I've encountered idiots and trolls. Many times I've seen RPers that aren't harassed doing just fine. And, remember you're not going to Harbinger's server. You're being merged with their players sure. And, fyi, Harbinger server hasn't had the problems in the last few years that people make it out to have had. It's actually been very stable. I've seen other servers with their share of problems. This is good for the game and its longevity. The game has to cater to everybody as best it can. My opinions of course.

Sadly I do not share this optimistic view. I don't RP but almost every time...no exaggeration, nearly every time..I have seen people engaged in RP, trolls dived in. If they happen to be in "earshot", they go at it. It's a huge thrill for them. Griefers of all sorts live for such moments and rarely (if ever) pass up an opportunity.

 

It won't affect me as I do not RP, but think those who do have a legitimate concern.

 

But you already prove my point, it's happening now already as well, during my 4 years of activity in the Progenitor RP community have encountered trolls several times as well but the same tactic always worked: simply ignore them and don't acknowledge them. It was even a Guild Rule that we should completely disregard and pretend the trolls weren't there if they were trolling. I am confident that if the RP community is willing they can do exactly the same on the new servers and the trolls will get bored very quickly.

 

But that is the key point in this, the RP community has to be willing. They have the choice to play ball and carve out a new place for themselves on the new servers or they will abandon it all but then the death of the RP community will be on them. Not Bioware, not the trolls, but them, because they refused to bring up the will to keep the RP community alive.

 

When the Progenitor is merged with the Red Eclipse into Darth Malgus I will be more than happy to rejoin the RP community and actively do everything in my power to help combat trolls. I'd go beyond and above if the roleplayers will just have the will and the goodwill to at least try the new changes out.

I think the biggest concern in regards to roleplayers is how it will impact the large majority of the player base, as in people who are not roleplayers. Thankfully we earlier had RP:ers on separate servers but now they will be in our flashpoints, uprisings and other group content not skipping conversations in Master mode, RP-Walking during fights and not helping the group during combat.

 

I sincerely hope that with this change, the RP community sees that their actions and how they are looked at in the community has a direct impact on if they are able to conduct RP events without interrupts. If RP:ers are able to adjust and make sacrifices of their own in terms of playstyle for other people, I am sure the majority of the player base will leave the RP:ers alone, however if RP:ers do not do this, I am pretty sure you won't have a great time doing events.

In all my FP runs with people who are in various RP-guilds (I'm in none at the moment) on the Progenitor, none has ever done what you describe upfront, and I can say this: When we do FPs, no one starts to RP-walk and people fight to help the group in combat. When people who are RPers queue for group content, they usually do it unless its an entirely a guild-run -where they might have a story in mind for some part of the FP, e.g a certain boss serving as a final antagonist for guild's big storyline.

Edited October 3, 2017 by Rebamcfan

You acknowledge that trolling is something that happens to RPers sometimes even on RP servers, where one would expect the playerbase to be more sympathetic to RP. Don't you think it's natural to expect the playerbase of non-RP servers to be less sympathetic to RP? Edited October 3, 2017 by Estelindis

Sorry, but I can't share your rose-colored and (in my opinion) hopelessly naive viewpoint of how RP will fare with the server merges. There's already well-known and active trolls and harassers of RPers on Ebon Hawk, players who are reported over and over and nothing is ever done to them. The problem will only get worse with the introduction of the player population from multiple non-RP servers to the same space as the Ebon Hawk RP community. The RP communities on the other RP servers will face the same fate. Trolls and harassers are certainly a small minority of players on TOR, but with more players on one server will come more trolls and harassers. It's simple math.

 

The RP community on my server has been suffering for a while due to people moving on to games which are far better RP pastures (as well as better MMOs overall) for them, run by companies who are better at dealing with trolls and providing quality of life aspects to games that RPers enjoy. Open world RP is already dead outside of fleet cantinas at this point. This server merger is the last nail in the open world RP coffin. Once the RP community has moved entirely to strongholds, it will shrink even faster and die as people continue to bail to other games like ESO and FFXIV with much more active, vibrant RP communities.

 

RP is the only reason I've stayed in the game this long. This move might help keep TOR in maintenance mode for another extra year or so to milk the Cartel Market some more, but there's nothing else in this game that holds my interest anymore (as the story which made TOR so unique and special has gone to pot and actual MMO content has slowed to the faintest trickle over the last 3 years). When the RP in this game disappears, so will I.

Edited October 3, 2017 by AscendingSky

This will end poorly, and even the OP knows it, but the OP is determined to spin it so the fault lies with the players and not the devs, they are of course wrong. Oh well nothing to be done but I would suggest no one purchase much game time past the landing of this update. So you wont be out much when and if you decide to leave.

But trolls will always be there, whether we are being merged or not. We have dealt with them in the past and I see no reason why we couldn't do such on the merged servers. The RP community approaches this with a very cynical and end of the world mentality but we haven't even tried it out. Also, please consider whether the trolls are worth it to abandon the game and community you have been a part of for so long. I beg you to not allow the trolls to have such power over you and how you play the game because even the developers acknowledged the RP community has a place in the game in the United Forces article. It was a brief and short line, but Bioware is aware of the issue.

 

Today is the livestream with Eric Musco and I will do everything in my power to get assurances from the developers that the RP community will have a place amongst the new United Forces servers if the RP community is willing to give it a try. I will send messages to Keith on the forums and tweets to Charles Boyd to put the RP community in their sight and vision. Just please, don't let the RP community die because of some immature baboons that should not have the amount of emotional control over you the way they have now and what's even worse they haven't done anything yet...

Edited October 3, 2017 by Ylliarus

But you already prove my point, it's happening now already as well, during my 4 years of activity in the Progenitor RP community have encountered trolls several times as well but the same tactic always worked: simply ignore them and don't acknowledge them.

 

I'll put a little story into a spoiler tag. It relates to this post only to illustrate a point about how Bioware deals with trolls, and why "ignoring someone" doesn't always work.

 

 

 

 

This post shows that even "ignoring" someone doesn't work if A: The developer cannot come up with a system that makes simply making alts redundant, B: doesn't react quickly and thoroughly on reports and C: even circumventing the bans is as easy as making a new mail-address and adding a new SWTOR account. While Bioware can't work on C, they could have easily worked on A and B. Working on A would have enabled them to kill two birds with one stone: They could have come up with a "legacy ignore list", and at the same time come up with a way to introduce a Battle.Tag system in SWTOR that solves the naming issue. Every legacy, even if it has a duplicate name, receives a number that is displayed either in the social window or the legacy window.

 

The dislike for the server merge from roleplayers such as myself stems from multiple factors, and some of them can't really be reasoned away. I admire your urge for calm and patience, but server merges haven't been on the table for only a week. They have been excessively discussed over the years. The consensus seemed to be that they are applicable if names are protected, strongholds carry over, RP is considered (instances), the possibility to play on a smaller server remains and some other things are taken into account.

 

The current proposal doesn't seem to take everything we gave as feedback into account, but rather seems to be a way to shove us together as quickly as possible so we have the "privilege" to experience the new MMO content in six minutes of queue instead of ten.

 

Let's be honest for a moment: If you enabled people to transfer characters with outfit slots and decorated strongholds, you'd have what you need to take care of the most grieving issue. You could retain two servers per region, where one is for people who want "small communities" and RP, whereas the other one is the PvE/PvP server.

 

And some honesty here: I always hear that "not everyone on Harbinger/Red Eclipse" is bad. Of course. The issue isn't that roleplayers and people who want small communities think that everyone there is a barbarian who wants to steal from others. The issue is the relative quantity. On a server with ~500 active people, of which maybe a hundred RP every night and that was an RP server until a few months ago, the chances of running into "trolls" is smaller than on bigger hubs. If we now have hub servers with 1,500 active players on them, and still only a hundred RP, you have a much bigger "margin of errors" for trolls.

 

It's a simple matter of how high the chances are to run into trolls, and not the idea that the entire community on Harbinger is a mess. If we could avoid it, we'd much rather not take the chances.

 

That said, I do admire your call for patience and reason, but the simple matter of the fact is that many people are upset because their familiar environment will be ripped apart. They might lose names for "convenience" they didn't ask for, will be shoved into big communities they stayed out of on purpose, and guilds might be ripped apart because some people leave and the whole house of cards collapses under it's own weight.

 

And for what convenience are people supposed to take it, exactly? To run the release of MMO content, which comes once every winter solstice in form of a flashpoint, with five minutes of queue instead of ten to fifteen? So that three or four people on what was a small server can do ranked PvP, which is so widely ignored that most people don't even touch it? To do a single boss in an operation that was said to be done by the end of the year, but which we now know won't be and show that Bioware can't make four boss encounters per year for raiders?

 

Give players the ability to transfer strongholds, outfits and other things for free and make a free transfer week. See if Progenitor/Ebon Hawk and other RP servers/small community servers go empty. If yes, I am in the wrong. If not, that will be the answer to why people are emotional about this.

Edited October 3, 2017 by Alssaran

This will end poorly, and even the OP knows it, but the OP is determined to spin it so the fault lies with the players and not the devs, they are of course wrong. Oh well nothing to be done but I would suggest no one purchase much game time past the landing of this update. So you wont be out much when and if you decide to leave.

 

Yes, the fact the OP is trying to guilt the players for wanting to leave over actions the developers take is particularly insulting to me as well. If people don't like what the game's turning into, they have the right to leave and take their money elsewhere. Trying to put the blame on them for the game failing as a result is illogical and unreasonable. If EA can't provide a product people want to play and suffers monetary losses as a result, it's no one's fault but EA's--not the people who choose not to give them money.

Edited October 3, 2017 by AscendingSky

At a certain point this becomes farcical. To quote from the blog

Communities of players, such as role-players, will have more like-minded players to join and play alongside.

 

This is suggesting that roleplayers were too stupid to select to play on a roleplay server to find like-minded individuals and instead picked the first server they saw or saw an RP server and went nahhh I think I will find more roleplayers on a pvp server. How stupid do devs think the player base is, I want to play with other roleplayers so I picked a PvP server as opposed to an RP server and then was shocked when *insert name I can't get passed the filter* ganked me and t-bagged me till I repsawned and then ganked me again.

 

So how in anything that is holy will the server merger be a good thing for roleplayers who previously had their own servers. At best it will be the same, at worse it will be full of trolls who are waiting for a group finder or pvp match to pop with nothing better to do that grief them. And the real kicker, roleplayers who can't as easily find a replacement name will be required to sub for the merger to keep their name while MFINGGANKER can call himself MFINGGANKERX for all the difference it makes to him.

Yes, the fact the OP is trying to guilt the players for wanting to leave over actions the developers take is particularly insulting to me as well. If people don't like what the game's turning into, they have the right to leave and take their money elsewhere. Trying to put the blame on them for the game failing as a result is illogical and unreasonable. If EA can't provide a product people want to play and suffers monetary losses as a result, it's no one's fault but EA's--not the people who choose not to give them money.

 

Alright, perhaps I went too far in saying that the fault will lie with the players, but you have to understand the developers aren't doing this to grief you. They are concerned about the overall state of the game and do what they think is best for the majority of the playerbase. Sadly, more often than not the approach of "the needs of the many outweigh those of the few" will be taken in many situations. But what I am trying to point out is that the concerns roleplayers have may be more based on fear than on what reality will be. I am trying to show that it might be a big mistake to cancel your sub and leave the game prematurely without trying out if things will indeed be as bad as you think it will be, because things may turn out fine just as well. You can't know if you won't try it out.

Honestly I've never been bothered by peoples watching a roleplay. What bothers me is the «forced» name change, which is a huge deal for roleplayers. You don't change your name like that, same as IRL.

I'll put a little story into a spoiler tag.

Being on the Progenitor myself, naturally I know who you're talking about. That player is the worst. His many returns showcase just how little Bioware is able to do if someone is insistent on harassing other players, even when the consequences of the harassment can reach real life blackmail.

Edited October 3, 2017 by Estelindis

Being on the Progenitor myself, naturally I know who you're talking about. That player is the worst. His many returns showcase just how little Bioware is able to do if someone is insistent on harassing other players, even when the consequences of the harassment can reach real life blackmail.

 

I believe I know who you are talking about. If I am correct about who this is, then I know they have been a roleplayer in the past that indeed has a specific (sick) view on things that is, to put it mildly, indeed sexist, racist, misogynistic and so on. I don't know what to say as to what to do with him, but that shouldn't be the reason the RP community on SWTOR has to end. Sure, annoyances will always be there but no server was ever perfect, as you show not even the Progenitor is.

 

Yet it doesn't mean things will go badly for the roleplaying community, we can make it work if we want to. But as I said many times before therein lies the key, we need to have the will. And I am of the firmest opinion that trolls shouldn't win like this by bleeding the RP community dry by being afraid of them.

Edited October 3, 2017 by Ylliarus

Sure, annoyances will always be there but no server was ever perfect, as you show not even the Progenitor is.

It's cases like this that make me wonder if "RP instances" are the answer or not. That disruptive player who we all know specifically targets RPers, so presumably a RP instance would be like honey to him. But maybe in the majority of cases, where trolling is "just" casual mischief rather than a malicious campaign, RP instances would be helpful?

Edited October 3, 2017 by Estelindis

It's cases like this that make me wonder if "RP instances" are the answer or not. That disruptive player who we all know specifically targets RPers, so presumably a RP instance would be like honey to him. But maybe in the majority of cases, where trolling is "just" casual mischief rather than a malicious campaign, RP instances would be helpful?

 

I would love RP instances especially if they could enable various class story instances to be made accessible there as there are some of the most amazing environments in those instanced areas. Maybe even it could be made as a cosmetic instance where you can't quest or level so that enemies and npcs will be turned mute as well so that you could hold an event in a specific area and not be constantly attacked by mobs.

Sadly in the past the developers have stated that they won't be making RP instances a thing, so I don't know if they'd reconsider their stance. I will try to get an answer regarding it in today's livestream on the subject as I vowed to do everything in my power for the RP community in regards to server merges.

Edited October 3, 2017 by Ylliarus