Over the course of the past few weeks, I have noticed a low server population. Today, 70 regs on Satele Shan is spamming 4v4s indicating that the amount of people queing is low. I spoke to some good friends on Star Forge and they're experiencing the same thing. I'm respectfully requesting that you merge the NA servers.

 

Regards,

Thrak

1. This is the wrong forum, this forum is for the discussion of the wider Star Wars universe, not SWTOR. This should be over in General Discussion. Better yet, find one of the many other threads on the topic.

2. Please no, SF is plenty busy. Too busy for my liking to be honest and I'm fine with the worst of the Harbinger trolls staying over in SS. What you are conflating is the number of people queuing with the actual population. If you want to get people queuing, start lobbying BW to give people a reason to queue. It has already been demonstrated (repeatedly) that server merges are only a temporary fix at best that only benefits a portion of the player base.

2. Please no, SF is plenty busy. Too busy for my liking to be honest and I'm fine with the worst of the Harbinger trolls staying over in SS. What you are conflating is the number of people queuing with the actual population. If you want to get people queuing, start lobbying BW to give people a reason to queue. It has already been demonstrated (repeatedly) that server merges are only a temporary fix at best that only benefits a portion of the player base.

 

Agreed, as almost anytime I'm on Star Forge, the population is crazy, especially on the respective Fleets. Get lag sometimes because of it, but yes, we don't need another server merge.

I imagine that things are well on SF. People are leaving SS all the time to relocate there. However, group content is why most people subscribe to this game. If one of the two NA servers doesn't have a que short enough to wait for, BW is going to continue to hemorrhage subscribers. How long do you expect that SWTOR will be online if the profit margin isn't high enough? There haven't been any launches of decent MMOs in a few years and SWTOR is, imo, the best one currently out there. As soon as a new MMO launches, most of the current population will try it. If it's decent, the players will continue to play on that new game and not SWTOR. To lessen the blow, BW needs to put a lot of work (e.g. shorter que times) into the retention of its current players so that it will have a higher population when the next game releases. The more members it has, the more likely it will survive.

 

This is why we need the merge.

Edited March 25, 2019 by Clownsmasher

No. Just NO.

 

How many threads will get started over this. SS population is fine! We still get Q pops fine. I've been on a dead server, this is nowhere near it.

 

Also just for info, the Devs have already stated they won't/cant merge to one server. So deal with your "low pop" issues as most the rest of us are quite fine here. Or server merge to SF.

 

The SF RPers don't want the ilk of SS over there either.

Respectfully, NO. A server Merge is a ridiculous idea that is not the solution to any of the problems you have stated. People don't PVP in large amounts during Pacific time work hours on a workday in all games. Operation groups are being set up regularly in Fleet chat and endgame channels even in the non-peak hours.

 

Players largely queue for the activities that will earn them weekly Masterwork Crystal for the 252/258 gear. If Bioware made PVP warzones a frequent weekly Masterwork Crystal objective, I am sure you would be getting regular 8v8 pops even in non-peak hours. All Group Finder activities have a somewhat healthy pop time at any hour of the day,

 

Guilds like mine have regular events and activities going, and we have about 120-140 members online for events in The Eternal Order. I would suggest you join a quality guild, that does content other than Conquest, and see the difference. Satele Shan is thriving and far from being dead. A ludicrous server merge will only make more people leave the game due to severe lag issues. I agree with CaptRogue, either "deal with your "low pop" issues as most of us are quite fine here. Or server merge to SF."

 

All thriving guilds and communities have no issues on Satele Shan running activities regularly, so we DO NOT need a server merge with Star Forge.

Edited March 25, 2019 by mazharthegreat

However, group content is why most people subscribe to this game.

 

Where on earth did you get this idea from?

 

At best we have anecdotal evidence, which is going to be inherently tainted by the type of content you like to play (if you are here for group content, logically the majority of the players you interact with are going to be there for the same reason).

 

The simple fact that this thread exists is evidence to the contrary in fact. Ex. there were over 400 people on Coruscant this afternoon on SF. That is a significant number, and I see large populations on many of the other planets as well. If you are not seeing similar significant numbers in group content, then logically, a significant portion of the player base does not engage in significant group content.

 

Hence my earlier recommendation, start making suggestions to BW for practical ways to encourage people to engage in the group content you want (by practical i mean, technically feasible and does not alienate the solo player who does not want to do group content). In the meantime, you can join/start a guild, advertise in chat, try to constructively encourage new players to get into group content (hint, power running flashpoints is NOT a good way to start) and otherwise try to break out of the toxic rut that group content in this game seems to be stuck in (especially on SS)

Edited March 25, 2019 by MadDutchman

No thank you.

Respectfully, NO.Guilds like mine have regular events and activities going, and we have about 120-140 members online for events in The Eternal Order. I would suggest you join a quality guild, that does content other than Conquest, and see the difference. Satele Shan is thriving and far from being dead. A ludicrous server merge will only make more people leave the game due to severe lag issues. I agree with CaptRogue, either "deal with your "low pop" issues as most of us are quite fine here. Or server merge to SF." [/b]

 

So, I literally just shot coffee through my nose when I read this.

 

I find this funny since your guild has the biggest turn over on the server. We get a LOT of people from your guild who bring horror stories about how you run your guild with them.

So, I literally just shot coffee through my nose when I read this.

 

I find this funny since your guild has the biggest turn over on the server. We get a LOT of people from your guild who bring horror stories about how you run your guild with them.

 

And we wonder why SS is thought of as the toxic server

SS ques for 70 regs are in excess of 30 minutes. 4v4 spam again but "no... we don't need a merge"

The server merge is a must. The benefits outweigh the cons by far. Faster queue times, more groups being formed in general chat is overall a good thing. It would also lead to more competition in conquest with more guilds competing. The argument of it becoming too crowded in places and causing lag is a poor argument, as the game has an inbuilt system to alleviate that called instances. When it comes to the argument of Star Forge being busy thus Satele Shan must be busy, just because one server is busy doesn't necessarily mean all of them are busy, so if Satele Shan is not busy like Star Forge is, then a sever merge would be a good way to address said problem. When it comes to the argument of "we don't want your kind here" that is just toxic in itself. There are more than enough good people on these servers that the few bad eggs are easily dealt with after the merge, given there is this wonderful button called the ignore button. And the argument dealing with the RPers not wanting us/we not wanting the RPers can easily be fixed by if one doesn't want to do said content in the game, just don't do it. And finally, to the argument of it being a temporary solution, yes it is a temporary solution to a larger problem, but it is a way to alleviate some of the negatives while Bioware works to drum up interest in the game again and work to increase their player base.

 

Also just for info, the Devs have already stated they won't/cant merge to one server. So deal with your "low pop" issues as most the rest of us are quite fine here. Or server merge to SF.

 

 

Even if that were the case, there's nothing preventing them from transferring everyone and every guild from SS to SF free of charge then deleting the unpopulated server.

 

The only reason why they wouldn't do this is because character transfers are a good revenue stream for them.

No thank you.

 

^ x1000

Agreed, as almost anytime I'm on Star Forge, the population is crazy, especially on the respective Fleets. Get lag sometimes because of it, but yes, we don't need another server merge.

 

Agreed ! Not everyone has high speed internet or in some cases other "connection issues" that can cause unexpected difficulties.

...When it comes to the argument of "we don't want your kind here" that is just toxic in itself.

 

...And the argument dealing with the RPers not wanting us/we not wanting the RPers can easily be fixed by if one doesn't want to do said content in the game, just don't do it. And finally, to the argument of it being a temporary solution, yes it is a temporary solution to a larger problem, but it is a way to alleviate some of the negatives while Bioware works to drum up interest in the game again and work to increase their player base.

 

First off, you can't blame rpers for being reluctant to welcome people with a toxic rep. The last server merge, had those from the toxic server screaming at rpers and soloers 'to get the hell off THEIR server'. What's funny is that the new server was comprised mostly by the largest server, which was an rp server and the two east coast servers that were mostly were into solo and story. The nasty people tried to put RPers and soloers off their own server.

 

You're also not addressing the fact, that you can't RP when there are trolls dancing around in the middle of your play with idiotic names and mocking them and telling them to get lost.

 

Instead of demanding a merge try pretending the merge has already happened and demanding the next thing to help yourselves because there is nothing left to merge.

Edited March 29, 2019 by Lunafox

First off, you can't blame rpers for being reluctant to welcome people with a toxic rep. The last server merge, had those from the toxic server screaming at rpers and soloers 'to get the hell off THEIR server'.

 

You're also not addressing the fact, that you can't RP when there are trolls dancing around in the middle of your play with idiotic names and mocking them and telling them to get lost.

 

Again, you have decided that because some people are toxic on a server, they all must be which is flawed logic in itself. Those who are negative tend to be the most vocal, not representative of the overall community, they just get heard more. If people are being rude/abusive, one can report players, one can ignore players, and I guarantee you if someone is being abusive towards a community and that community decides to report the player with multiple players reporting, that player will get an account-wide squelch. When it comes to trolls disrupting RP with dancing and emoting and such, there are strongholds now one can RP in, Guild Ships, can go to less populated instances to help to mitigate the chances of someone being disruptive. Furthermore, if someone wants to be cruel to the RP community all it takes is them to make a character on another server, get to 10, go to the fleet and be disruptive as the fleet is where most of the disruption occurs. It takes all of an hour or less to get a character to 10 these days so those determined to be disruptive and troll will do it regardless of which server they main. The point being that there are ways to mitigate this. The toxic few can be avoided and reported leading to the pros far outweighing the cons.

Sometimes what people ask for is exactly what they get, and then they regret it.

 

So. Let's give the PVPr's what they want. Let all the servers merge into one big server.

 

Watch the PVPr's who constantly scream for mergers realize the queue pops aren't improving and leave.

Watch the RPr's now absolutely inundated by trolls and jerks give up in disgust and leave.

Watch the small-scale conquest guilds give up because conquest planets only accommodate the big boys and leave.

 

If you want to kill the game just merge the remaining servers.

Edited March 29, 2019 by xordevoreaux

Again, you have decided that because some people are toxic on a server, they all must be which is flawed logic in itself. Those who are negative tend to be the most vocal, not representative of the overall community, they just get heard more. If people are being rude/abusive, one can report players, one can ignore players, and I guarantee you if someone is being abusive towards a community and that community decides to report the player with multiple players reporting, that player will get an account-wide squelch. When it comes to trolls disrupting RP with dancing and emoting and such, there are strongholds now one can RP in, Guild Ships, can go to less populated instances to help to mitigate the chances of someone being disruptive. Furthermore, if someone wants to be cruel to the RP community all it takes is them to make a character on another server, get to 10, go to the fleet and be disruptive as the fleet is where most of the disruption occurs. It takes all of an hour or less to get a character to 10 these days so those determined to be disruptive and troll will do it regardless of which server they main. The point being that there are ways to mitigate this. The toxic few can be avoided and reported leading to the pros far outweighing the cons.

 

Reporting could take weeks or months to see any result. Ignoring only means you don't see their messages; you can still see their characters in giant vehicles jumping up and down on your head. Even with a squelch you can still see the character in their giant vehicle jumping up and down on your head.

 

So, your solution is ... if they don't like trolls go somewhere else? You realise that people meet up on Fleet because it's a convenient place to go to see if anyone wants to RP as not every RPer knows all of the other RPers.

 

Most trolls won't go out of their way to make characters on another server and level them up but if they're already on the same server they're going to go at it.

 

In every MMO I've played that has PVP, the PVP community in general has been the abusive and toxic community. You can't blame people for not wanting to be around that.

 

However, nothing posted in this thread means we need a merge which, in my opinion (because opinions are all this thread has in it), we don't.

So, your solution is ... if they don't like trolls go somewhere else? You realise that people meet up on Fleet because it's a convenient place to go to see if anyone wants to RP as not every RPer knows all of the other RPers.

 

Yes, it is not fair to the RP community that they would have to work around these toxic and disruptive people, but if a merge happens it will be a reality that they will have to face. All communities have people who seek to damage it, and the people of that community must learn how to deal with them. We can't control others, only ourselves. In PvP there are players who will stand in a corner and jump everyone in awhile to avoid AFKing out. In PvE you have players who will intentionally attempt to sandbag and get everyone else killed seeking to upset and anger people. There will always be members of a community seeking to tear the rest of it down. Those toxic members only define the overall community if we let them, if we continue to give them the reactions they desire. If the upcoming expansion fails to bring life back to the game, and the servers continue to dwindle, a server merge will become more and more of a necessity. Eventually in this games lifespan, a merge will have to happen because the resources it will cost to upkeep multiple servers of few vs the resources it will cost to upkeep one server of many, eventually the one server of many will be cheaper. The company isn't going to decide to lose money for the benefit of the players, they will do what they can to ensure they continue to make a profit rather than a loss, so these issues are going to arise anyways when we get to that point in time. No game lasts forever meaning in the future of this game before it eventually dies like all things do, a merge will have to happen. The question is do we address this problem now or keep kicking it down the road. We have to look at the big picture of the game. If a server continues to have longer and longer queue times people wont have the time to wait an hour or more for just one match or flashpoint. Eventually players who enjoy said content will find another game that can provide better queue times so they can continue to enjoy the content they desire in a reasonable timetable. Now before you make the "good riddance argument" think about this. Less players means less revenue for the company, less revenue means they can't keep releasing content, can't keep all the servers up, and they will have to cut staff. Even though the company brings in money from other games, that doesn't mean they will be willing to run this game at a loss. This will cause the game to die all that much faster. I don't want any community to get screwed over by another, but at the same time, I am thinking about the long term health of the game and sheltering one community from the rest of the player base at the cost of losing the other communities is a surefire way to kill the game. It is on us to learn to get along, not on the developers. So in conclusion, it is a necessary evil for the overall well being of the game. We will all have to learn to get along and have to adapt to the new situation we will find ourselves in when this inevitably happens whether it is soon, or years from now.

Those toxic members only define the overall community if we let them

 

Had players the means to prevent them, we wouldn't be complaining so much now, would we?

Edited March 29, 2019 by xordevoreaux

i would think the question of a server merge comes down to this:

 

Can the undoubtedly larger server handle the increased population resulting from the merge without resulting in a queue? Furthermore, if we ever do see 6.0, there will be an (at least temporary) influx of players. Could SF handle this on its own, without a queue to log in?

 

These are questions that, due to the glaring opaqueness with which BW operates, only they know. Anything else, frankly, is irrelevant. From what I have seen, toxicity is ubiquitous, and is hardly endemic to SS. To merge or not merge is a question of server health and the relative populations of the affected servers. It's that simple.

 

I only play on odd occasions now, because I am far too turned off by their 5.10 changes and reply to me personally, but I moved a toon to SF to get my legacy stuff there, and have been levelling toons over there because I'm too cheap to move everything and it's something to do that's not the gear grind I refuse to be a part of.

It is very interesting how it is the pvp players (not all of them because I know some that don't do this) that demand that Roleplayers, pve and story players need to learn to get along with others but yet they are the ones that are normally the ones that cause the problems but yet roleplayers, pve and story people need to learn how to deal with people that want to interrupt their game play or their style just for them. Edited March 30, 2019 by casirabit

Sometimes what people ask for is exactly what they get, and then they regret it.

 

So. Let's give the PVPr's what they want. Let all the servers merge into one big server.

 

Watch the PVPr's who constantly scream for mergers realize the queue pops aren't improving and leave.

Watch the RPr's now absolutely inundated by trolls and jerks give up in disgust and leave.

Watch the small-scale conquest guilds give up because conquest planets only accommodate the big boys and leave.

 

If you want to kill the game just merge the remaining servers.

 

This +1000000

Sometimes what people ask for is exactly what they get, and then they regret it.

 

So. Let's give the PVPr's what they want. Let all the servers merge into one big server.

 

Watch the PVPr's who constantly scream for mergers realize the queue pops aren't improving and leave.

Watch the RPr's now absolutely inundated by trolls and jerks give up in disgust and leave.

Watch the small-scale conquest guilds give up because conquest planets only accommodate the big boys and leave.

 

If you want to kill the game just merge the remaining servers.

 

It is very interesting how it is the pvp players (not all of them because I know some that don't do this) that demand that Roleplayers, pve and story players need to learn to get along with others but yet they are the ones that are normally the ones that cause the problems but yet roleplayers and story people need to learn how to deal with people that want to interrupt their game play or their style just for them.

 

 

I believe that the two of you have summed this up as well as anyone possibly could !

 

Nailed it !! Big time !