what has happened to the game / servers?

Brigh · 07-19-2008, 03:40 AM

After not playing regularly over a year and half (Venekor and Najena) I have tried out during these months of free play time SOE is offering during the summer.

I have found the formerly populous Najena as active as the formerly fun and populous pvp Venekor (apparently ruined by among other things, the free transfer SOE offered a while back).

I am feeling like my old EQ 1 days where my guild collapsed gradually and I couldn't find pick up groups anymore.

I don't want to subscribe to a game I want to group with people for if it is just going to be a solo game.

Chat channels are all quiet. There is no more chatter on either server like there used to be. LFG goes on for hours if I can even stand to stay on that long without a peep from anyone. The response by people is, "there is plenty to group for 70+". This is not a valid excuse. People don't pay for this game to only play one tier of a game.

My max level on PVE server is 59 (and still holding despite the free play summer), while I am unable to transfer my 70 from PVP that just sits there as well.

Shareana · 07-19-2008, 09:07 AM

I am not very familiar with those servers, but have you tried other servers? Maybe those servers have lost a bit or have an active community at a different time of the day?Keep in mind that if the channels are quiet, it doesn't necessarily mean that there is no one out there *cue twilight zone music*Welcome back!

Ahlana · 07-19-2008, 11:17 AM

Try some other servers to be honest. If you want PVP goto naggy they have a much better population. Also I would suggest Guk or ABayle for blue servers. Some servers are low and honestly will probably never bounce back (Venekor is a great example). So if you are willing to re-roll try a different toon out. Or you could pay the $50 to move /shiver

Amitee · 07-19-2008, 01:48 PM

I found Najena to be more populated than the server I moved to, Unrest. I transferred my main over last week and was kind of sad to do so because NQ on Najena actually had two instances of the zone when I would zone in and I found the chatter to be of alot better quality than the chatter I hear on Unrest. But I am happier on Unrest due to belonging to a wonderful guild I've been playing with the last year and a half in other games. That makes up for the lack of population and having to turn off the chat channels because I find the general chats to be highly offensive.

tikasa · 07-19-2008, 03:24 PM

Poor population due to new games and the normal summer fall off. Sadly though unless SoE fixes alot of issues most will not come back. Right now on alot of servers people are coming back to ghost towns and figuring EQ2 has died. They do not want to pay the 50$ to TRY another server so they spend the money on a new game. SoE will not give free transfers because they make $$$ off of them. They will not even lower the cost to a reasonable amount. I have 2 accounts that when the free time is over I will not play again as there is not enough on WITH the free time. I will not move them to AB with the chars on my other account as I am not willing to fork over 550$ to move them off a dead server.

Oh · 07-19-2008, 03:45 PM

tikasa wrote:

Poor population due to new games and the normal summer fall off. Sadly though unless SoE fixes alot of issues most will not come back. Right now on alot of servers people are coming back to ghost towns and figuring EQ2 has died. They do not want to pay the 50$ to TRY another server so they spend the money on a new game. SoE will not give free transfers because they make $$$ off of them. They will not even lower the cost to a reasonable amount. I have 2 accounts that when the free time is over I will not play again as there is not enough on WITH the free time. I will not move them to AB with the chars on my other account as I am not willing to fork over 550$ to move them off a dead server.

A cynical point of view but still fairly accurate.

The only point of contention I have is the comment it's low because of summer. That is a bunch of bull, every season folks say it's because of the holidays, it's because of school, it's because of . The point is folks aren't playing for whatever reason, mostlikely that reason is they are playing other MMO's.

Cele · 07-19-2008, 04:44 PM

Ohiv wrote:

tikasa wrote:
Poor population due to new games and the normal summer fall off. Sadly though unless SoE fixes alot of issues most will not come back. Right now on alot of servers people are coming back to ghost towns and figuring EQ2 has died. They do not want to pay the 50$ to TRY another server so they spend the money on a new game. SoE will not give free transfers because they make $$$ off of them. They will not even lower the cost to a reasonable amount. I have 2 accounts that when the free time is over I will not play again as there is not enough on WITH the free time. I will not move them to AB with the chars on my other account as I am not willing to fork over 550$ to move them off a dead server.
A cynical point of view but still fairly accurate.
The only point of contention I have is the comment it's low because of summer. That is a bunch of bull, every season folks say it's because of the holidays, it's because of school, it's because of . The point is folks aren't playing for whatever reason, mostlikely that reason is they are playing other MMO's.

Actually, my playing time is cut in half in the summer due to outdoor activities many evenings and weekends.

Kendricke · 07-19-2008, 04:55 PM

Ohiv wrote:

tikasa wrote:
Poor population due to new games and the normal summer fall off. Sadly though unless SoE fixes alot of issues most will not come back. Right now on alot of servers people are coming back to ghost towns and figuring EQ2 has died. They do not want to pay the 50$ to TRY another server so they spend the money on a new game. SoE will not give free transfers because they make $$$ off of them. They will not even lower the cost to a reasonable amount. I have 2 accounts that when the free time is over I will not play again as there is not enough on WITH the free time. I will not move them to AB with the chars on my other account as I am not willing to fork over 550$ to move them off a dead server.
A cynical point of view but still fairly accurate.
The only point of contention I have is the comment it's low because of summer. That is a bunch of bull, every season folks say it's because of the holidays, it's because of school, it's because of . The point is folks aren't playing for whatever reason, mostlikely that reason is they are playing other MMO's.

I've been running a guild for over nine years. Throughout that time, we've held chapters in several games. EVERY Summer, there's a slow down - regardless of the game. Saying it's "a bunch of bull" is simply not in line with my experiences.

DCarnage2 · 07-19-2008, 04:57 PM

Celena wrote:

Ohiv wrote:
tikasa wrote:
Poor population due to new games and the normal summer fall off. Sadly though unless SoE fixes alot of issues most will not come back. Right now on alot of servers people are coming back to ghost towns and figuring EQ2 has died. They do not want to pay the 50$ to TRY another server so they spend the money on a new game. SoE will not give free transfers because they make $$$ off of them. They will not even lower the cost to a reasonable amount. I have 2 accounts that when the free time is over I will not play again as there is not enough on WITH the free time. I will not move them to AB with the chars on my other account as I am not willing to fork over 550$ to move them off a dead server.
A cynical point of view but still fairly accurate.
The only point of contention I have is the comment it's low because of summer. That is a bunch of bull, every season folks say it's because of the holidays, it's because of school, it's because of . The point is folks aren't playing for whatever reason, mostlikely that reason is they are playing other MMO's.
Actually, my playing time is cut in half in the summer due to outdoor activities many evenings and weekends.

Same here. From Fall - Spring I play about 20 - 40 hours a week, raiding, etc... but during the Summer, I'm lucky if I get to play at all. The honey-do list is a mile long but I'm shortening it day by day. =P

bleap · 07-19-2008, 05:28 PM

Shareana wrote:

I am not very familiar with those servers, but have you tried other servers? Maybe those servers have lost a bit or have an active community at a different time of the day?Keep in mind that if the channels are quiet, it doesn't necessarily mean that there is no one out there *cue twilight zone music*Welcome back!

So that is SOEs official response to low server population? Just transfer your account at $50 a character to another server? Guk server is painfully empty. Just last night the average T8 zone population was 22....that's rediculous....My guild lost 54 players to AoC and none (that's zero) appear to have any intentions of returning any time soon....We had already lost over 30 to LoTRO.....none of them came backSo you are telling us that if our server population is so low we have trouble raiding/grouping/questing/selling we should just pack it in and head for another server at our own cost????Um.....no....it will be MUCH cheaper to go play AoC than put up with the low server population...I don't care that it's summer and people don't play as much as they use to...this game is 4 years old....those of us in a tight guild know which of our guildies slow down during the summer...this exodus is only a small percentage summer fall off....AoC took many many players....it might not be a perfect game, but at least there is no shortage of players..

Spyderbite · 07-19-2008, 06:47 PM

bleap wrote:

So that is SOEs official response to low server population? Just transfer your account at $50 a character to another server?

Nope. SOE never said anything officially.But, I am. If you can't wait until the end of Living Legacy for an alternative solution, then yes. $50 is your only option. You can stop posting on the subject now that your question is answered. SMILEY

liveja · 07-19-2008, 08:52 PM

bleap wrote:

it will be MUCH cheaper to go play AoC than put up with the low server population

Well, there's your answer, then.

Kendricke · 07-21-2008, 09:04 AM

Spyderbite@Venekor wrote:

bleap wrote:
So that is SOEs official response to low server population? Just transfer your account at $50 a character to another server?
Nope. SOE never said anything officially.But, I am. If you can't wait until the end of Living Legacy for an alternative solution, then yes. $50 is your only option. You can stop posting on the subject now that your question is answered.

In a choice between paying $50 per character to move servers (and reset any and all date/leaderboard stats) and paying $50 for a new game/MMO, what do you think is the path of lesser resistance for most players? I have over 90 members in my guild. Which of those choices do you think will be easier to convince them to try?

Realize that there are issues. On Guk server, we're suddenly seeing a massive upsurge in applications from currently guilded players. The current number one reason given to us for wanting to join is that guilds - some of which have been around for years - have suddenly grown inactive in the past month or three. People get tired of logging in and seeing only a handful of players where they used to see a dozen or more. People get tired of logging in and having to immediately start looking for pickup groups because there aren't enough guildmates online to even form a group. I just had a raiding paladin join us yesterday, knowing full well he wouldn't have a chance to raid with us, just because we have members who group with him all the time and his current guild is not.

Activity levels ARE down - certainly on Guk server, at least. For my members, finding groups isn't an issue still, mostly because we have 20-30 members online every night. Whatever influx of players the Living Legacy is supposedly bringing in isn't being seen by myself or my members - and we've been looking for it. However, we are seeing applications coming in from existing players who just want to regain that feeling of being in a living, thriving guild again.

That's their personal path of less resistance, I suppose. But what if we don't take them in? What then? Their only option, in your mind, is to shell out $50 to head off to another server - and if it works out, they shell out another $50 per character to move the rest over? The more characters you have, the more money you get to pay SOE. The longer you've played, the more likely you are to have characters you'd want to move. Is that the real "living legacy" that veterans get to enjoy? If so, it just doesn't make much sense to me.

In my mind, a solution would be to open up focused free server transfers. Open up free transfers AWAY from the most heavily populated servers or TO the least populated servers. Allow for full guild transfers in the process. Transferring elsewhere would still cost the standard fees. These type of one-way transfers would open up incentives to players who are looking for a new home without immediately requiring server mergers. If, at the end of the transfer period, there are some servers which do not have enough critical mass to remain viable, then mergers can and should be addressed as a possible option.

Halato · 07-21-2008, 11:23 AM

About 2 weeks ago I started on AB server because I'd heard horror stories that many of the servers were ghost towns. Frankly, it was too crowded and I was even locked out one evening.My fiance randomly chose Mistmoore when I was at work one day, and the population there has been just fine. Chat channels are filled up with good chat, bad chat, flames, and the normal idiots argueing over the war on terror and everything.

Rijacki · 07-21-2008, 11:50 AM

Kendricke wrote:

In my mind, a solution would be to open up focused free server transfers. Open up free transfers AWAY from the most heavily populated servers or TO the least populated servers. Allow for full guild transfers in the process. Transferring elsewhere would still cost the standard fees. These type of one-way transfers would open up incentives to players who are looking for a new home without immediately requiring server mergers. If, at the end of the transfer period, there are some servers which do not have enough critical mass to remain viable, then mergers can and should be addressed as a possible option.

Unless there is an intention to concentrate the majority of the new population and consolidate the old population through costly server transfers on to just a few already higher population servers....I think having Free Transfers, including guild transfers, from the highest population servers to a choice of the lower/lowest population servers would be grand. Right now you can get a "server is so stuffed lag is horrible" or "server pop is too low", there is no in-between.Offering Free Transfers -from- the high pop to the low pop should be something over an extended period of time, at least a month or maybe two, or even permanent (or as long as the population on the high pop servers is at least double that of the lowest.. which servers could be transferred to freely, could be shifted depending on their changes in population).It could even be a way to "solve" the Venekor issue since some of the Naggy PvPers, too, might not be enjoying the overpop but would like more of a medium pop. If enough transferred, it would solve the issue on both sides.New players are entering the game. Cancelled players are returning. Because of the information they're constantly hearing, though, they're only starting on very few servers. Getting the population to spread out to all of the servers, through incentive rather than mandate, would be good for everyone.

Sabatini · 07-21-2008, 11:57 AM

bleap wrote:

Um.....no....it will be MUCH cheaper to go play AoC than put up with the low server population...I don't care that it's summer and people don't play as much as they use to...this game is 4 years old....those of us in a tight guild know which of our guildies slow down during the summer...this exodus is only a small percentage summer fall off....AoC took many many players....it might not be a perfect game, but at least there is no shortage of players..

Until you realize a month after starting AoC you're already level 80 with nothing to do. Thats why I'm currently back here. after 4+ years I still havent run out of things to do.

And in a few months summer will be over and we get a shiny new expansion. People will certainly be logging back in then.

rSpooky · 07-21-2008, 12:44 PM

bleap wrote:

Shareana wrote:
I am not very familiar with those servers, but have you tried other servers? Maybe those servers have lost a bit or have an active community at a different time of the day?Keep in mind that if the channels are quiet, it doesn't necessarily mean that there is no one out there *cue twilight zone music*Welcome back!
So that is SOEs official response to low server population?
No one said that (besides a forum MOD doesnt mean Official PR person.)
The Op wondered about the state of the game/Servers and the point is that by simply checking other servers , the OP might notice that not all servers suffer from the same problem he/she has now. So you are telling us that if our server population is so low we have trouble raiding/grouping/questing/selling we should just pack it in and head for another server at our own cost????
Again this is not what i said...but even if it was...what do you propose? I am sure that if servers are truly in that bad of a shape, SOE would merge them and close some down , rather then waisting money on their upkeep.Um.....no....it will be MUCH cheaper to go play AoC than put up with the low server population{snip}it might not be a perfect game, but at least there is no shortage of players..
For now...
Also I have seen may people personally return to EQ2 ( heck even I returned from LOTRO. )

Oh · 07-21-2008, 04:46 PM

Kendricke wrote:

Ohiv wrote:
tikasa wrote:
Poor population due to new games and the normal summer fall off. Sadly though unless SoE fixes alot of issues most will not come back. Right now on alot of servers people are coming back to ghost towns and figuring EQ2 has died. They do not want to pay the 50$ to TRY another server so they spend the money on a new game. SoE will not give free transfers because they make $$$ off of them. They will not even lower the cost to a reasonable amount. I have 2 accounts that when the free time is over I will not play again as there is not enough on WITH the free time. I will not move them to AB with the chars on my other account as I am not willing to fork over 550$ to move them off a dead server.
A cynical point of view but still fairly accurate.
The only point of contention I have is the comment it's low because of summer. That is a bunch of bull, every season folks say it's because of the holidays, it's because of school, it's because of . The point is folks aren't playing for whatever reason, mostlikely that reason is they are playing other MMO's.
I've been running a guild for over nine years. Throughout that time, we've held chapters in several games. EVERY Summer, there's a slow down - regardless of the game. Saying it's "a bunch of bull" is simply not in line with my experiences.

I understand and respect that some folks do have "busy" summers, When I was playing WoW we never had problems with summers. It might be the crowd there versus the crowd here dunno can't say, just saying that to "ME" this is more of a myth then a reality.

DragonMaster2385 · 07-21-2008, 07:52 PM

Your comment about paying to play the game for only one tier is not valid. With ANY MMO this old, you are going to be very top heavy in terms of population (especially if the MMO is doing well). Most of the lower population are alts, but that isn't always a bad thing since you will run into people that can give tips about playing your class. If you play at peak times, you will find an increased amount of activity. Keep in mind that most people don't solo before level 30 now since there are so many solo quests to offer good loot and xp. Grouping in an older game is generally reserved for the end tier; it has been that way in every MMO that I have played.

07-19-2008, 03:40 AM	#1
Brigh Loremaster Join Date: Nov 2004 Posts: 3,159	After not playing regularly over a year and half (Venekor and Najena) I have tried out during these months of free play time SOE is offering during the summer. I have found the formerly populous Najena as active as the formerly fun and populous pvp Venekor (apparently ruined by among other things, the free transfer SOE offered a while back). I am feeling like my old EQ 1 days where my guild collapsed gradually and I couldn't find pick up groups anymore. I don't want to subscribe to a game I want to group with people for if it is just going to be a solo game. Chat channels are all quiet. There is no more chatter on either server like there used to be. LFG goes on for hours if I can even stand to stay on that long without a peep from anyone. The response by people is, "there is plenty to group for 70+". This is not a valid excuse. People don't pay for this game to only play one tier of a game. My max level on PVE server is 59 (and still holding despite the free play summer), while I am unable to transfer my 70 from PVP that just sits there as well. __________________ Anything you can achieve through hard work, you can also just buy. -Stephen Colbert CoD3 double XP Rank Up promotion lesson for kids

07-19-2008, 09:07 AM	#2
Shareana Lead Volunteer Moderator Join Date: Jun 2008 Posts: 3,921	I am not very familiar with those servers, but have you tried other servers? Maybe those servers have lost a bit or have an active community at a different time of the day?Keep in mind that if the channels are quiet, it doesn't necessarily mean that there is no one out there cue twilight zone musicWelcome back! __________________ \|\| Forum Guidelines \|\| Knowledge Base \|\| Tech Support \|\|

07-19-2008, 11:17 AM	#3
Ahlana Loremaster Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 2,238	Try some other servers to be honest. If you want PVP goto naggy they have a much better population. Also I would suggest Guk or ABayle for blue servers. Some servers are low and honestly will probably never bounce back (Venekor is a great example). So if you are willing to re-roll try a different toon out. Or you could pay the $50 to move /shiver __________________

07-19-2008, 01:48 PM	#4
Amitee Loremaster Join Date: Nov 2004 Posts: 476	I found Najena to be more populated than the server I moved to, Unrest. I transferred my main over last week and was kind of sad to do so because NQ on Najena actually had two instances of the zone when I would zone in and I found the chatter to be of alot better quality than the chatter I hear on Unrest. But I am happier on Unrest due to belonging to a wonderful guild I've been playing with the last year and a half in other games. That makes up for the lack of population and having to turn off the chat channels because I find the general chats to be highly offensive. __________________ I'm going to fill this space soon! (tm) Wait... I just did. lol

07-19-2008, 03:45 PM	#6
Oh General Join Date: Dec 2007 Posts: 2,516	tikasa wrote: Poor population due to new games and the normal summer fall off. Sadly though unless SoE fixes alot of issues most will not come back. Right now on alot of servers people are coming back to ghost towns and figuring EQ2 has died. They do not want to pay the 50$ to TRY another server so they spend the money on a new game. SoE will not give free transfers because they make $$$ off of them. They will not even lower the cost to a reasonable amount. I have 2 accounts that when the free time is over I will not play again as there is not enough on WITH the free time. I will not move them to AB with the chars on my other account as I am not willing to fork over 550$ to move them off a dead server. A cynical point of view but still fairly accurate. The only point of contention I have is the comment it's low because of summer. That is a bunch of bull, every season folks say it's because of the holidays, it's because of school, it's because of . The point is folks aren't playing for whatever reason, mostlikely that reason is they are playing other MMO's. __________________

07-19-2008, 03:24 PM	#5
tikasa Loremaster Join Date: Mar 2005 Posts: 283	Poor population due to new games and the normal summer fall off. Sadly though unless SoE fixes alot of issues most will not come back. Right now on alot of servers people are coming back to ghost towns and figuring EQ2 has died. They do not want to pay the 50$ to TRY another server so they spend the money on a new game. SoE will not give free transfers because they make $$$ off of them. They will not even lower the cost to a reasonable amount. I have 2 accounts that when the free time is over I will not play again as there is not enough on WITH the free time. I will not move them to AB with the chars on my other account as I am not willing to fork over 550$ to move them off a dead server.

07-19-2008, 04:44 PM	#7
Cele General Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 1,002	Ohiv wrote: tikasa wrote: Poor population due to new games and the normal summer fall off. Sadly though unless SoE fixes alot of issues most will not come back. Right now on alot of servers people are coming back to ghost towns and figuring EQ2 has died. They do not want to pay the 50$ to TRY another server so they spend the money on a new game. SoE will not give free transfers because they make $$$ off of them. They will not even lower the cost to a reasonable amount. I have 2 accounts that when the free time is over I will not play again as there is not enough on WITH the free time. I will not move them to AB with the chars on my other account as I am not willing to fork over 550$ to move them off a dead server. A cynical point of view but still fairly accurate. The only point of contention I have is the comment it's low because of summer. That is a bunch of bull, every season folks say it's because of the holidays, it's because of school, it's because of . The point is folks aren't playing for whatever reason, mostlikely that reason is they are playing other MMO's. Actually, my playing time is cut in half in the summer due to outdoor activities many evenings and weekends. __________________

07-19-2008, 04:55 PM	#8
Kendricke Loremaster Join Date: Nov 2004 Posts: 4,032	Ohiv wrote: tikasa wrote: Poor population due to new games and the normal summer fall off. Sadly though unless SoE fixes alot of issues most will not come back. Right now on alot of servers people are coming back to ghost towns and figuring EQ2 has died. They do not want to pay the 50$ to TRY another server so they spend the money on a new game. SoE will not give free transfers because they make $$$ off of them. They will not even lower the cost to a reasonable amount. I have 2 accounts that when the free time is over I will not play again as there is not enough on WITH the free time. I will not move them to AB with the chars on my other account as I am not willing to fork over 550$ to move them off a dead server. A cynical point of view but still fairly accurate. The only point of contention I have is the comment it's low because of summer. That is a bunch of bull, every season folks say it's because of the holidays, it's because of school, it's because of . The point is folks aren't playing for whatever reason, mostlikely that reason is they are playing other MMO's. I've been running a guild for over nine years. Throughout that time, we've held chapters in several games. EVERY Summer, there's a slow down - regardless of the game. Saying it's "a bunch of bull" is simply not in line with my experiences. __________________ * -Opinions expressed in this post do not represent any current or past employers.

07-19-2008, 04:57 PM	#9
DCarnage2 Loremaster Join Date: Aug 2005 Posts: 112	Celena wrote: Ohiv wrote: tikasa wrote: Poor population due to new games and the normal summer fall off. Sadly though unless SoE fixes alot of issues most will not come back. Right now on alot of servers people are coming back to ghost towns and figuring EQ2 has died. They do not want to pay the 50$ to TRY another server so they spend the money on a new game. SoE will not give free transfers because they make $$$ off of them. They will not even lower the cost to a reasonable amount. I have 2 accounts that when the free time is over I will not play again as there is not enough on WITH the free time. I will not move them to AB with the chars on my other account as I am not willing to fork over 550$ to move them off a dead server. A cynical point of view but still fairly accurate. The only point of contention I have is the comment it's low because of summer. That is a bunch of bull, every season folks say it's because of the holidays, it's because of school, it's because of . The point is folks aren't playing for whatever reason, mostlikely that reason is they are playing other MMO's. Actually, my playing time is cut in half in the summer due to outdoor activities many evenings and weekends. Same here. From Fall - Spring I play about 20 - 40 hours a week, raiding, etc... but during the Summer, I'm lucky if I get to play at all. The honey-do list is a mile long but I'm shortening it day by day. =P __________________ Toxxik 80 Defiler Kithicor

07-19-2008, 05:28 PM	#10
bleap Loremaster Join Date: Sep 2006 Posts: 582	Shareana wrote: I am not very familiar with those servers, but have you tried other servers? Maybe those servers have lost a bit or have an active community at a different time of the day?Keep in mind that if the channels are quiet, it doesn't necessarily mean that there is no one out there cue twilight zone musicWelcome back! So that is SOEs official response to low server population? Just transfer your account at $50 a character to another server? Guk server is painfully empty. Just last night the average T8 zone population was 22....that's rediculous....My guild lost 54 players to AoC and none (that's zero) appear to have any intentions of returning any time soon....We had already lost over 30 to LoTRO.....none of them came backSo you are telling us that if our server population is so low we have trouble raiding/grouping/questing/selling we should just pack it in and head for another server at our own cost????Um.....no....it will be MUCH cheaper to go play AoC than put up with the low server population...I don't care that it's summer and people don't play as much as they use to...this game is 4 years old....those of us in a tight guild know which of our guildies slow down during the summer...this exodus is only a small percentage summer fall off....AoC took many many players....it might not be a perfect game, but at least there is no shortage of players..

07-19-2008, 06:47 PM	#11
Spyderbite Server: Venekor Guild: Dark Vengeance Rank: Member Loremaster Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Connecticut Posts: 4,262	bleap wrote: So that is SOEs official response to low server population? Just transfer your account at $50 a character to another server? Nope. SOE never said anything officially.But, I am. If you can't wait until the end of Living Legacy for an alternative solution, then yes. $50 is your only option. You can stop posting on the subject now that your question is answered.

07-19-2008, 08:52 PM	#12
liveja General Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Foster's Home For Imaginary Friends Posts: 4,793	bleap wrote: it will be MUCH cheaper to go play AoC than put up with the low server population Well, there's your answer, then. __________________

07-21-2008, 09:04 AM	#13
Kendricke Loremaster Join Date: Nov 2004 Posts: 4,032	Spyderbite@Venekor wrote: bleap wrote: So that is SOEs official response to low server population? Just transfer your account at $50 a character to another server? Nope. SOE never said anything officially.But, I am. If you can't wait until the end of Living Legacy for an alternative solution, then yes. $50 is your only option. You can stop posting on the subject now that your question is answered. In a choice between paying $50 per character to move servers (and reset any and all date/leaderboard stats) and paying $50 for a new game/MMO, what do you think is the path of lesser resistance for most players? I have over 90 members in my guild. Which of those choices do you think will be easier to convince them to try? Realize that there are issues. On Guk server, we're suddenly seeing a massive upsurge in applications from currently guilded players. The current number one reason given to us for wanting to join is that guilds - some of which have been around for years - have suddenly grown inactive in the past month or three. People get tired of logging in and seeing only a handful of players where they used to see a dozen or more. People get tired of logging in and having to immediately start looking for pickup groups because there aren't enough guildmates online to even form a group. I just had a raiding paladin join us yesterday, knowing full well he wouldn't have a chance to raid with us, just because we have members who group with him all the time and his current guild is not. Activity levels ARE down - certainly on Guk server, at least. For my members, finding groups isn't an issue still, mostly because we have 20-30 members online every night. Whatever influx of players the Living Legacy is supposedly bringing in isn't being seen by myself or my members - and we've been looking for it. However, we are seeing applications coming in from existing players who just want to regain that feeling of being in a living, thriving guild again. That's their personal path of less resistance, I suppose. But what if we don't take them in? What then? Their only option, in your mind, is to shell out $50 to head off to another server - and if it works out, they shell out another $50 per character to move the rest over? The more characters you have, the more money you get to pay SOE. The longer you've played, the more likely you are to have characters you'd want to move. Is that the real "living legacy" that veterans get to enjoy? If so, it just doesn't make much sense to me. In my mind, a solution would be to open up focused free server transfers. Open up free transfers AWAY from the most heavily populated servers or TO the least populated servers. Allow for full guild transfers in the process. Transferring elsewhere would still cost the standard fees. These type of one-way transfers would open up incentives to players who are looking for a new home without immediately requiring server mergers. If, at the end of the transfer period, there are some servers which do not have enough critical mass to remain viable, then mergers can and should be addressed as a possible option. __________________ * -Opinions expressed in this post do not represent any current or past employers.

07-21-2008, 11:23 AM	#14
Halato Loremaster Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 61	About 2 weeks ago I started on AB server because I'd heard horror stories that many of the servers were ghost towns. Frankly, it was too crowded and I was even locked out one evening.My fiance randomly chose Mistmoore when I was at work one day, and the population there has been just fine. Chat channels are filled up with good chat, bad chat, flames, and the normal idiots argueing over the war on terror and everything.

07-21-2008, 11:50 AM	#15
Rijacki Tester Join Date: Nov 2004 Posts: 7,842	Kendricke wrote: In my mind, a solution would be to open up focused free server transfers. Open up free transfers AWAY from the most heavily populated servers or TO the least populated servers. Allow for full guild transfers in the process. Transferring elsewhere would still cost the standard fees. These type of one-way transfers would open up incentives to players who are looking for a new home without immediately requiring server mergers. If, at the end of the transfer period, there are some servers which do not have enough critical mass to remain viable, then mergers can and should be addressed as a possible option. Unless there is an intention to concentrate the majority of the new population and consolidate the old population through costly server transfers on to just a few already higher population servers....I think having Free Transfers, including guild transfers, from the highest population servers to a choice of the lower/lowest population servers would be grand. Right now you can get a "server is so stuffed lag is horrible" or "server pop is too low", there is no in-between.Offering Free Transfers -from- the high pop to the low pop should be something over an extended period of time, at least a month or maybe two, or even permanent (or as long as the population on the high pop servers is at least double that of the lowest.. which servers could be transferred to freely, could be shifted depending on their changes in population).It could even be a way to "solve" the Venekor issue since some of the Naggy PvPers, too, might not be enjoying the overpop but would like more of a medium pop. If enough transferred, it would solve the issue on both sides.New players are entering the game. Cancelled players are returning. Because of the information they're constantly hearing, though, they're only starting on very few servers. Getting the population to spread out to all of the servers, through incentive rather than mandate, would be good for everyone. __________________

07-21-2008, 11:57 AM	#16
Sabatini Loremaster Join Date: Nov 2004 Posts: 172	bleap wrote: Um.....no....it will be MUCH cheaper to go play AoC than put up with the low server population...I don't care that it's summer and people don't play as much as they use to...this game is 4 years old....those of us in a tight guild know which of our guildies slow down during the summer...this exodus is only a small percentage summer fall off....AoC took many many players....it might not be a perfect game, but at least there is no shortage of players.. Until you realize a month after starting AoC you're already level 80 with nothing to do. Thats why I'm currently back here. after 4+ years I still havent run out of things to do. And in a few months summer will be over and we get a shiny new expansion. People will certainly be logging back in then.

07-21-2008, 12:44 PM	#17
rSpooky Loremaster Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 20	bleap wrote: Shareana wrote: I am not very familiar with those servers, but have you tried other servers? Maybe those servers have lost a bit or have an active community at a different time of the day?Keep in mind that if the channels are quiet, it doesn't necessarily mean that there is no one out there cue twilight zone musicWelcome back! So that is SOEs official response to low server population? No one said that (besides a forum MOD doesnt mean Official PR person.) The Op wondered about the state of the game/Servers and the point is that by simply checking other servers , the OP might notice that not all servers suffer from the same problem he/she has now. So you are telling us that if our server population is so low we have trouble raiding/grouping/questing/selling we should just pack it in and head for another server at our own cost???? Again this is not what i said...but even if it was...what do you propose? I am sure that if servers are truly in that bad of a shape, SOE would merge them and close some down , rather then waisting money on their upkeep.Um.....no....it will be MUCH cheaper to go play AoC than put up with the low server population{snip}it might not be a perfect game, but at least there is no shortage of players.. For now... Also I have seen may people personally return to EQ2 ( heck even I returned from LOTRO. )

07-21-2008, 04:46 PM	#18
Oh General Join Date: Dec 2007 Posts: 2,516	Kendricke wrote: Ohiv wrote: tikasa wrote: Poor population due to new games and the normal summer fall off. Sadly though unless SoE fixes alot of issues most will not come back. Right now on alot of servers people are coming back to ghost towns and figuring EQ2 has died. They do not want to pay the 50$ to TRY another server so they spend the money on a new game. SoE will not give free transfers because they make $$$ off of them. They will not even lower the cost to a reasonable amount. I have 2 accounts that when the free time is over I will not play again as there is not enough on WITH the free time. I will not move them to AB with the chars on my other account as I am not willing to fork over 550$ to move them off a dead server. A cynical point of view but still fairly accurate. The only point of contention I have is the comment it's low because of summer. That is a bunch of bull, every season folks say it's because of the holidays, it's because of school, it's because of . The point is folks aren't playing for whatever reason, mostlikely that reason is they are playing other MMO's. I've been running a guild for over nine years. Throughout that time, we've held chapters in several games. EVERY Summer, there's a slow down - regardless of the game. Saying it's "a bunch of bull" is simply not in line with my experiences. I understand and respect that some folks do have "busy" summers, When I was playing WoW we never had problems with summers. It might be the crowd there versus the crowd here dunno can't say, just saying that to "ME" this is more of a myth then a reality. __________________

07-21-2008, 07:52 PM	#19
DragonMaster2385 Loremaster Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 1,063	Your comment about paying to play the game for only one tier is not valid. With ANY MMO this old, you are going to be very top heavy in terms of population (especially if the MMO is doing well). Most of the lower population are alts, but that isn't always a bad thing since you will run into people that can give tips about playing your class. If you play at peak times, you will find an increased amount of activity. Keep in mind that most people don't solo before level 30 now since there are so many solo quests to offer good loot and xp. Grouping in an older game is generally reserved for the end tier; it has been that way in every MMO that I have played.