Don't merge servers, I have copies of my mains on 3 of them and I want to have 3 english or english-as-the-main-communication-method servers to grind cc during GS

Servers will honestly merge naturally. SS is becoming less and less populated by the day. I left two years ago for SF, and every week I see a few ppl I recognize from SS that are making their way over to the more populated server. 

 

However I'd love there to be a nice population on both servers it's just healthy for the game. Cross server queues for groupfinder activities would be the best solution, is it possible?

Edited September 29, 2022 by Samcuu

On 9/22/2022 at 8:25 PM, Darev said:

I seem to remember the hardcap of toons is 100 per server (the max you can unlock anyway).

 

I'd have to manually delete about 20 toons, before hand, between the two servers to get down to that amount.

When the last merges happened with the United Forces update back in 2017 (Game Update 5.5.1), active subscribers were allowed to keep the "overflow" of characters that resulted from characters from multiple servers being rolled into one legacy. I took full advantage of this when T3-M4, Vanjervalis Chain and Jar'Kai Sword got rolled into Tulak Hord, and I still have 156 active characters to this day, as 52 characters per server was the maximum back then.

I vote no, every time. Maybe they can find some way to merge the PVP instances across servers, but I actually like when there are more servers to choose from, in case I want to go somewhere less populated for a while. Please do not assume that everyone wants the same things.

52 minutes ago, WHTJunior said:

I vote no, every time. Maybe they can find some way to merge the PVP instances across servers, but I actually like when there are more servers to choose from, in case I want to go somewhere less populated for a while. Please do not assume that everyone wants the same things.

If map is too crowed (some missions, respawn of objectives to long) I just go to (if there is one) the PvP map . . Very quiet, and no one else there 

On 9/30/2022 at 10:21 AM, Achnaattwo said:

If map is too crowed (some missions, respawn of objectives to long) I just go to (if there is one) the PvP map . . Very quiet, and no one else there 

and the devs are shortening the timers on a lot of objectives and mob spawns + the more people in an area the faster the respawn timers for mobs. There are a few more Heroic missions I notice that still need a bit of work and functionality when you are grouped.

The people who do not want the merger because "I don't want my server to be busy" aren't factoring in they can go to the least busy instance or even the PvP instance (which is what I use) when it is available. No matter what server you are on, you will rarely run into large groups in a PvP instance. On Star Forge I still only see 1-2 instance of most worlds, usually that second instance is depopulating.

WIth a greater population more instances will open up allowing people to spread out more Having only one instance available without a PvP instance available  leaves players with one choice, join the one busy instance. Having multiple instances gives players a choice and possible a nearly empty instance.

The only other concern I have seen is "Satele Shan people will ruin my roleplaying!". I can't say anything about that. I don't RP on either server.

The benefits of having a greater population far out weigh the negatives. More PvP, more GTN sales, more trades, more flash point queues, more people for ops, more people to join your guild. Even Bioware would benefit because people on SS to think the game is dying may stick around and subscribe a bit longer if they aren't waiting around 30 plus minutes for a group.

Edited October 7, 2022 by illgot

At present time if I ended my sub I can still play all my characters as I have now 90-character slots. This is because I had to buy 45 more after the last merge. Now if these were merge now and I ended my sub I would have to buy 80 more. just to be able to play the characters I have already paid for and for 45 of them it be paying yet again for a third time. Oh wait 100 is the max you can have. So would permanently lose 70. Unless I sub forever which is just wrong for BW to make players do that.

How about you just pay to move your characters, why should I have to continue to pay for you.

 

Edited October 7, 2022 by DreadtechSavant
Grammer errors, still some, but better than it was.

@BenKatarn

 

Only if they continue to sub, I lost 45 characters when I ended my sub after last merge. Had to rebuy slots.  So basically, you are not giving out all the relevant information. 

Edited October 7, 2022 by DreadtechSavant
The person I quoted, post was not shown. So added an @

I started on a west coast server at launch and eventually wound up on SS via server merges. While I don't mind the idea of playing on a higher population server, I do NOT want another merge unless they change something drastically about the way names work. Sorry, but allowing a last name that doesn't even get capitalized in chat doesn't cut it for me. I lost many great names that I really liked in the multiple server merges I've been through, and as a solo player that is actually more important to me than being able to queue up for stuff quickly.

6 hours ago, DreadtechSavant said:

At present time if I ended my sub I can still play all my characters as I have now 90-character slots. This is because I had to buy 45 more after the last merge. Now if these were merge now and I ended my sub I would have to buy 80 more. just to be able to play the characters I have already paid for and for 45 of them it be paying yet again for a third time. Oh wait 100 is the max you can have. So would permanently lose 70. Unless I sub forever which is just wrong for BW to make players do that.

How about you just pay to move your characters, why should I have to continue to pay for you.

 

players have already reported they have more than 100 characters after the merges because... your characters do not get deleted after the merge. All the characters can be found on the new merged server even if you have more than 100 characters.

Same thing happens with Strongholds. I had over 20 strongholds on Star Forge, most were just duplicates of the ones I unlocked on all the US servers while I was server hopping.

I'm not entirely sure about unlocking characters as a Preferred player, if it is based on the server or the character themselves. One thing the SWTOR devs have always done is add the unlocks from different servers for people instead of deleting them. The number of characters and strongholds stack beyond what is normally allowed because they add all the unlocks to the new server, not delete any, They may just stack the slot unlocks (?) you bought as preferred instead of just deleting them (?), but again, I have no knowledge how this works in the code or the process you go through once you stop your subscription.

My guess, as good as your guess that the devs will just lock your characters, is that the characters themselves are permanently unlocked. If the servers are merged the unlocked characters will stay unlocked no matter where they are moved. Why do I guess this? Because if you were to manually transfer those unlocked characters to another server now as preferred, I bet those character would stay unlocked.

Edited October 8, 2022 by illgot

I can see pro's and cons.

Pros:

1. A more populated server would mean more than one instance of planets, which is good if mob generation is too slow (looking at you Coruscant Heroic in Black Sun territory) and there is no pvp instance (capital world republic), or that certain mobs don't show up at all on the main instance and you have to hop instances to get the codex listing (looking at you Imperial Balmorra Calocoids behind Balmorra factory)

2. More pops for MM Flashpoints and Pvp with a larger population

3. More options for "alts" Stronghold decoration (I have all SHs on Star Forge, but I have duplicate SHs on Satele Shan because of previous server mergers). So I can create different "themes" for decoration.

Cons:

1. Lack of ability to switch back and forth during Galactic Seasons to get more character customization options. I like some of the old decorations too, so have more than one. (I.e. HK  Meatbag poster is cute!)

 

 

On 9/22/2022 at 8:54 AM, illgot said:

I primary on Satele Shan server but have recently started playing more on Star Forge due to Satele Shan being less populated. I seem to be able to play PvP almost any time on Star Forge while on Satele Shan it seems to die out a few hours after prime time.

 

Is the population on Star Forge too great to accommodate Satele Shan being merged?

You should be banned for even suggesting it. This game started with over 20  servers and has been destroyed by idiots requesting server merges because their friends left. Bioware would be complete morons to merge the final two U.S. servers because it would cost them the majority of what's left of the community. I started out as a full time tester for this game and have watched people leave because of merges because they cause chaos due to character limitations per server and then having to rename characters. The reason Satele Shan isn't as active is because everyone is leaving due to EA's actions and Bioware doing less development on the game due to other Star Wars games in development by competitors because they dropped the ball, SWTOR had potential but didn't live up to it.  Star Wars Galaxies got it's revenge.

13 minutes ago, starbuckone said:

You should be banned for even suggesting it. This game started with over 20  servers and has been destroyed by idiots requesting server merges because their friends left. Bioware would be complete morons to merge the final two U.S. servers because it would cost them the majority of what's left of the community. I started out as a full time tester for this game and have watched people leave because of merges because they cause chaos due to character limitations per server and then having to rename characters. The reason Satele Shan isn't as active is because everyone is leaving due to EA's actions and Bioware doing less development on the game due to other Star Wars games in development by competitors because they dropped the ball, SWTOR had potential but didn't live up to it.  Star Wars Galaxies got it's revenge.

so you honestly think that the reason the game dropped to two US servers is because players asked for merges and not because the game lost so many players over the course of 10 years that it could not sustain 20 US servers? Imagine how boring the game would be with zero server merges over the last 10 years. Every server would be like The Leviathan server.

Edited October 8, 2022 by illgot

26 minutes ago, illgot said:

so you honestly think that the reason the game dropped to two US servers is because players asked for merges and not because the game lost so many players over the course of 10 years that it could not sustain 20 US servers? Imagine how boring the game would be with zero server merges over the last 10 years. Every server would be like The Leviathan server.

No learn to comprehend. I said that merges helped kill the game but the real issue was Bioware dropped the ball by not listening to the testers except a core few that were payed. People wanted space combat like SWG had but the devs didn't listen. People didn't want walk down the hall type planets they didn't listen. They were warned the game wouldn't last a year as sub only. They fact is what is killing the game is improper development. The server merges just sped up the process. Just like 7.1 all cinematic story no actual content. EA doesn't want the game any more because they spent too much money on voice talent and not enough on actual game play. Muzyka and Zeschuk sabotaged the game before they left Bioware. James Ohlen did even more damage when he left in 2018. The fact is Bioware was better under the Atari flag then they have been under EA's grip. Think of how they must feel about Knights of the Old Republic being remade by Aspyr. 

51 minutes ago, starbuckone said:

No learn to comprehend. I said that merges helped kill the game but the real issue was Bioware dropped the ball by not listening to the testers except a core few that were payed. People wanted space combat like SWG had but the devs didn't listen. People didn't want walk down the hall type planets they didn't listen. They were warned the game wouldn't last a year as sub only. They fact is what is killing the game is improper development. The server merges just sped up the process. Just like 7.1 all cinematic story no actual content. EA doesn't want the game any more because they spent too much money on voice talent and not enough on actual game play. Muzyka and Zeschuk sabotaged the game before they left Bioware. James Ohlen did even more damage when he left in 2018. The fact is Bioware was better under the Atari flag then they have been under EA's grip. Think of how they must feel about Knights of the Old Republic being remade by Aspyr. 

you are jumping topics constantly, I'm not sure how I should comprehend what you are saying when the topic is about merging servers because Satele Shans population is dropping so much we can't even fill up 1 fleet during prime time on the weekends.

Edited October 8, 2022 by illgot

12 hours ago, illgot said:

and the devs are shortening the timers on a lot of objectives and mob spawns + the more people in an area the faster the respawn timers for mobs. There are a few more Heroic missions I notice that still need a bit of work and functionality when you are grouped.

The people who do not want the merger because "I don't want my server to be busy" aren't factoring in they can go to the least busy instance or even the PvP instance (which is what I use) when it is available. No matter what server you are on, you will rarely run into large groups in a PvP instance. On Star Forge I still only see 1-2 instance of most worlds, usually that second instance is depopulating.

WIth a greater population more instances will open up allowing people to spread out more Having only one instance available without a PvP instance available  leaves players with one choice, join the one busy instance. Having multiple instances gives players a choice and possible a nearly empty instance.

The only other concern I have seen is "Satele Shan people will ruin my roleplaying!". I can't say anything about that. I don't RP on either server.

The benefits of having a greater population far out weigh the negatives. More PvP, more GTN sales, more trades, more flash point queues, more people for ops, more people to join your guild. Even Bioware would benefit because people on SS to think the game is dying may stick around and subscribe a bit longer if they aren't waiting around 30 plus minutes for a group.

I'll be forward about my personal resistance to this, I enjoy maintaining different server 'identities' and subcultures. Many of the more toxic people I knew when the last set of merges happened went off to SS, including annoying pvpers (being specific as I don't have an issue with pvpers in general, but we ALL know the reputation the populous tends to retain and why), and more PvE minded folk who acted as if roleplay was unnatural, weird or immoral. Its of course no surprise to me that the server that once stood as the height of population in the game fell into shambles after all the entire game's been through, but more so because some of the elements that retained that crowd fell by the wayside while RP, something not subject to constant content drops or balancing issues, continued along. RP, whether it be headcanon with a love of the game's story or active roleplay with other players, is seen as a draw and defining part of Star Forge, and the late, great Ebon Hawk. That part of the server's culture NEVER died out, and I love it. I recall friends from Shadowlands and Harb coming over to try out TEH only to be stunned at the cantina steps fashion line up when it was at its peak. The draw toward cosmetics took such precedent on TEH that we had higher prices for premium sets on the GTN and Op teams made good coin off of the 'lazy, but wealthy' RPers who paid for carries. It was its own distinct experience, and we had a legit reason for being bad at playing (lol). You get my point.

But I just want nothing to do with it, regardless of the assumed pros. More PvP pops mean little to me, SF has them plenty at times I play. More Ops means nothing to me because I personally don't care to partake in them as of now and Ops groups have no issue forming when I am on. More alts is something I already can do as I'm pretty far from cap still after a decade. The GTN isn't running dry any time soon on my server. Flashpoints queues are healthy. I am already in guilds that are at their caps (for CQ) and have no issue filling up, or in my private smaller guilds for RP. So far, the presented pros seem meager and offer nothing to enhance my experience. Also, I have copies of my toons and their names on SS from back during the DvL event and would not enjoy needing to rename them and having them on the same legacy. 

The hope of the stragglers staying for a game that has seen better days is rather cruel to me, I'd prefer people go where they get their money's worth truth be told. There are times where I have to take a break, and it isn't on me. Its a result of disagreements with direction, sluggish content output, poor balancing, unfun 'fixes' while a metric ton of bugs exist, and so on. Same reasons a lot of other people have left, and the thing is, a merge will not fix those issues, or the ones we currently have. Its buying time. Maybe I'd be supportive of it if BW took griefing more serious, fixed ignore not blocking emotes, actually ramped up content production, were positively reactive to qualms with content balance and rewards, and made an effort to advertise so old players and new would return but in the mean time SS players needed the infusion, but I doubt we'll see that for some time considering our current situation. (I don't know, I'm open to pleasant surprises Bioware! ❤)

I know this is all selfish, but these are meant to be my personal issues with the idea. On the more practical side... Nah, I really just don't want it. 

16 hours ago, Gwena said:

I started on a west coast server at launch and eventually wound up on SS via server merges. While I don't mind the idea of playing on a higher population server, I do NOT want another merge unless they change something drastically about the way names work. Sorry, but allowing a last name that doesn't even get capitalized in chat doesn't cut it for me. I lost many great names that I really liked in the multiple server merges I've been through, and as a solo player that is actually more important to me than being able to queue up for stuff quickly.

Yeah the lazy bums didn't even allow the use of numbers. Just last my name on here should have been Starbuck1771 which is what it was when they were with Atari and what it is with EA but they shafted me when this game was in alpha and beta after selling out to the Dark Side.

10 hours ago, illgot said:

you are jumping topics constantly, I'm not sure how I should comprehend what you are saying when the topic is about merging servers because Satele Shans population is dropping so much we can't even fill up 1 fleet during prime time on the weekends.

How many do you think will quit if they can't keep their name or characters son? Do the math it isn't hard. There are only 2 U.S. servers left to play on because of these idiotic merges to begin with. Merging will not solve the problem of lazy developers which is why players are leaving. Also maybe the issue is you're not playing at the peak hours. None of the servers are booming 24 hours a day I should know. I have characters on both U.S, servers and the English and German Euro servers.

I just did a test by counting people on fleets for three of the five servers.

Satele Shan 168 on the fleets

Star Forge 231 on the fleets

Darth Malgus 232 on the fleets.

This shows that Illgot is full of it. there is no huge disparity between the servers.

31 minutes ago, starbuckone said:

I just did a test by counting people on fleets for three of the five servers.

Satele Shan 168 on the fleets

Star Forge 231 on the fleets

Darth Malgus 232 on the fleets.

This shows that Illgot is full of it. there is no huge disparity between the servers.

You forgot to include the number of instances on each server. 😇

4 hours ago, JediQuaker said:

You forgot to include the number of instances on each server. 😇

yes however the point is the op is just being a drama queen. Maybe people just don't like playing with him.

20 hours ago, illgot said:

players have already reported they have more than 100 characters after the merges because... your characters do not get deleted after the merge. All the characters can be found on the new merged server even if you have more than 100 characters.

Same thing happens with Strongholds. I had over 20 strongholds on Star Forge, most were just duplicates of the ones I unlocked on all the US servers while I was server hopping.

I'm not entirely sure about unlocking characters as a Preferred player, if it is based on the server or the character themselves. One thing the SWTOR devs have always done is add the unlocks from different servers for people instead of deleting them. The number of characters and strongholds stack beyond what is normally allowed because they add all the unlocks to the new server, not delete any, They may just stack the slot unlocks (?) you bought as preferred instead of just deleting them (?), but again, I have no knowledge how this works in the code or the process you go through once you stop your subscription.

My guess, as good as your guess that the devs will just lock your characters, is that the characters themselves are permanently unlocked. If the servers are merged the unlocked characters will stay unlocked no matter where they are moved. Why do I guess this? Because if you were to manually transfer those unlocked characters to another server now as preferred, I bet those character would stay unlocked.

Characters are there yes, you however can only access them if you continue to sub, if you end your sub you can only access the number of characters you have character slots for. As such YOU ARE WRONG.  I know as I had to rebuy 45-character slots after the last merge. You are giving out incorrect information. BW certainly did not just give you the extra character slots after last merge as you suggest is what they would do. You could only access any surplus after the merge only if you continued to sub or regain access once you start to resub if you leave. Not only did I have to buy extra for this account but had to for all my accounts as this is now the only one, I now sub for.

Edited October 8, 2022 by DreadtechSavant
add last line of text to clarify prvious staement

17 hours ago, illgot said:

so you honestly think that the reason the game dropped to two US servers is because players asked for merges and not because the game lost so many players over the course of 10 years that it could not sustain 20 US servers? Imagine how boring the game would be with zero server merges over the last 10 years. Every server would be like The Leviathan server.

Yes, as a matter of fact, not sure if the person you quoted thinks the same.

 

You had one player (who cannot be named and shame unfortunately) who started not one but more than half a dozen threads on mergers, while at the same time telling other off for doing just that on other topics, I believe used the term "don't be that guy".  The amount of people actually asking for Mergers was small. Same people posted in every thread stating look how many posts are on this, but when you looked at individual accounts posting on it, it was very small number asking for it. The players who actually post here on the forums is only a very small faction of the overall players. 

 

BTW, I play on Leviathan server as I play on every server. It is not an issue. 

5 hours ago, starbuckone said:

I just did a test by counting people on fleets for three of the five servers.

Satele Shan 168 on the fleets

Star Forge 231 on the fleets

Darth Malgus 232 on the fleets.

This shows that Illgot is full of it. there is no huge disparity between the servers.

Not only that, but the number on fleet does not in any way count for the amount online at that time. The other two servers do have less, but not insufficient numbers to even warrant these two to merge.

Edited October 8, 2022 by DreadtechSavant
grammar

5 hours ago, starbuckone said:

I just did a test by counting people on fleets for three of the five servers.

Satele Shan 168 on the fleets

Star Forge 231 on the fleets

Darth Malgus 232 on the fleets.

This shows that Illgot is full of it. there is no huge disparity between the servers.

If /who only shows 100 people max, how are you getting solid numbers past 100? The only solid information I can get are which instance the first 100 people are located in, the number of instances of Fleet based on the map, their status of depopulating, available, or full.

Satele Shan we have two instances of Fleet, neither are full.

Star Forge we have four instances of Fleet, one instance is full, two instances are not full, the fourth instance is depopulating.

where are you getting solid numbers of 168 on Satele Shan, 231 on Star Froge, and 232 on Darth maglus?

someone showed me how to look it up in game, on the counter where it notifies you of mail and log in rewards. So I see how you were able to count it.

Star Forge at 8PM EST Saturday 304 players; 126 in instance 1,  118 in instance 2, 60 in instance 3, depopulating instance 4

Satele Shan at 8PM EST Saturday 116 players; 116 in instance 2, depopulating instance 1

Darth Malgus at the same time but at 1AM Sunday Morning their time has a 83 players. I'll include that but I don't think it fair to judge Darth Malgus based on the time zone difference.

Edited October 9, 2022 by illgot