Guild Wars 2

Hey Anet, as you guys talked in other post about population issue, is there any chance of servers merging? After 3 years I think 24 servers is too much, I understand this on launch but the playerbase is stabilized you probably got more people with HoT and some coming back but I am sure not enough for 24 wvw servers (for PvE it doesnt matter since megaserver).

So can you at least respond us if merging the servers is a possibility? Is this something you guys are thinking about maybe for the next year?

Anet will not merge server…. HoT is a big sucess, look at all those full server.
We have hundred of players in game.
Well, we didn’t see them on the new BL, but they are here, for sure, look, lot of server are full…

I would not be surprised if some merges of some sort, maybe a “mega” server type thing are in the works.

It’s painful for me to say it but just give it some time.

I hope so. Please merge WvW servers Anet.

Sich.7103:

Anet will not merge server…. HoT is a big sucess, look at all those full server.
We have hundred of players in game.
Well, we didn’t see them on the new BL, but they are here, for sure, look, lot of server are full…

I am not sure if you understand the topic clearly!
PvE-wise, yes they are packed. WvW-wise, there is a huge gap between T1 and T2 and the rest.
I know that the solution is not easy, but I hope to see some kinda of solution some time soon.

Anet need to limit the new borderlands so only one is available at a time… not all three.. its quite evident that T1 doesn’t have the player capacity to make this work so what their intentions were with the other servers is beyond reason.

The lower tier servers are actually more enjoyable and probably the best for roaming. There is absolutely no reason to go to the new Borderlands cause even on T1 you can run around for 40 minutes and get one fight…. Where as on lower tier servers such as T3 & T4 EBG is booming and its not filled to the limit with mindless zerglings… So removing the lower tier servers is a bad idea as majority of roamers will considering transferring out of higher tier servers to go roam in lower tier ones.

Merging isn’t going to work for alot of people. There should an alternative.. like EoTM except balanced.

Yes for those that don’t know the EoTM does not use any sort of balancing, its all just random colors and the same imbalance carried over from the servers.

Now I’m not saying balance EoTM. Give it a horrible death, make it walk off a cliff like you did to that hacker. Then make a true !megaserver with a decent map.

As for the servers who cares.. they died a long time ago.. leave them to rot and let the k-trainers PvDoor to their hearts content. But give us skill players something to do please.

Sad story but what else can you do?
It’s either this or some short of megaserver league/alliance system,that
will kill whatever is left of server coherence and pride.

PrinceKhaled.5104:

Sich.7103:

Anet will not merge server…. HoT is a big sucess, look at all those full server.
We have hundred of players in game.
Well, we didn’t see them on the new BL, but they are here, for sure, look, lot of server are full…

I am not sure if you understand the topic clearly!
PvE-wise, yes they are packed. WvW-wise, there is a huge gap between T1 and T2 and the rest.
I know that the solution is not easy, but I hope to see some kinda of solution some time soon.

Additionally,there aren’t even separate PvE servers…we are all in the same
PvE megaserver.
The only reason separate servers exist anymore is for WvW.

If you’re whining about needing a server merge because the game feels too dead in your matchup, transfer, it’s 500 gems to get to a t5 server which is fairly lively or 1k to get to t3 which is very lively. Don’t ask anet to kill a legitimate style of play because you’re too cheap/lazy to improve your experience yourself. That’s downright scummy to do.

If you’re whining about needing a server merge because you’re in t1-2 and think the poor uncivilized heathens in low tiers need your protection, please go away. Your opinion is not wanted and not helpful in any way. Unless you have experience in these tiers, leave the discussion to those who this would actually effect, specifically t6-8.

When will these threads stop popping up? This was getting tiring a year ago.

Arius.7031:

If you’re whining about needing a server merge because the game feels too dead in your matchup, transfer, it’s 500 gems to get to a t5 server which is fairly lively or 1k to get to t3 which is very lively. Don’t ask anet to kill a legitimate style of play because you’re too cheap/lazy to improve your experience yourself. That’s downright scummy to do.

If you’re whining about needing a server merge because you’re in t1-2 and think the poor uncivilized heathens in low tiers need your protection, please go away. Your opinion is not wanted and not helpful in any way. Unless you have experience in these tiers, leave the discussion to those who this would actually effect, specifically t6-8.

When will these threads stop popping up? This was getting tiring a year ago.

Well this may be your opinion and I understand that some people prefer things the way they are today, but I see a lot of lower tier players asking for a merge and a solution for population balance.

I have played in a lot of diffetent tiers I began in Darkhaven, passed through Crystal Desert, Enhry Bay, SoR, and now I am in YB since april 2014, so I know enough about lower tiers and high tiers to say that the majority of people want a merge.

Arius.7031:

If you’re whining about needing a server merge because the game feels too dead in your matchup, transfer, it’s 500 gems to get to a t5 server which is fairly lively or 1k to get to t3 which is very lively. Don’t ask anet to kill a legitimate style of play because you’re too cheap/lazy to improve your experience yourself. That’s downright scummy to do.

If you’re whining about needing a server merge because you’re in t1-2 and think the poor uncivilized heathens in low tiers need your protection, please go away. Your opinion is not wanted and not helpful in any way. Unless you have experience in these tiers, leave the discussion to those who this would actually effect, specifically t6-8.

When will these threads stop popping up? This was getting tiring a year ago.

For the past few months my guild and I on IoJ, have been in t8, we recently managed to push with our server to t6 and we still believe a server merge is necessary. There is almost nothing happening in t8. ET is barely going to break 15k this week. Kaineng has dominated enough to be triple the score of both other servers combined because the other two servers neither have the manpower nor motivation to play. Reset in t6 is the only day that either of the three current servers, IoJ, GoM and BP have any decent sized presence over the week. As someone from a lower tier server, as someone who has been in the lowest tier very recently and as someone who refuses to leave my server – server merge would drastically improve the quality and population of at least the bottom three, if not four servers.

Don’t forget that NA and EU are different things. On EU servers are dead for a few hours each day, no matter the tier. And all servers I’ve been on had a queue to EB at least at reset or every evening. The queue size is even the same for T5 and T1.
I think the problem isn’t the population alone, it’s also not the rewards – a huge problem is whether or not there’s a public. Question is why there often isn’t.

InfernusX.4936:

As someone from a lower tier server, as someone who has been in the lowest tier very recently and as someone who refuses to leave my server – server merge would drastically improve the quality and population of at least the bottom three, if not four servers.

But someone would have to leave their servers for that, right?

albotelho.2931:

Well this may be your opinion and I understand that some people prefer things the way they are today, but I see a lot of lower tier players asking for a merge and a solution for population balance.

I have played in a lot of diffetent tiers I began in Darkhaven, passed through Crystal Desert, Enhry Bay, SoR, and now I am in YB since april 2014, so I know enough about lower tiers and high tiers to say that the majority of people want a merge.

Every time the server merge issue comes up, those who support it either:
1) Can’t afford to transfer to a more populated server.
2) Are already on a more populated server but want more manpower to give them an edge over other servers.

I have never transferred servers, nor do I want to. The server I play on has had players come and go, and even large player exodus doesn’t change the core community feeling that we get. Why should people who have the option of transferring to a server that offers them what they want get to force us to choose between quitting WvW or engaging in a play style we don’t like? The day they introduce server merges for WvW is the day I quit WvW.

The topic of server merges pops up frequently, and I have never, absolutely never, seen a good explanation why a server merge is needed when players still have the ability to transfer servers.

roxybudgy.8205:

albotelho.2931:

Well this may be your opinion and I understand that some people prefer things the way they are today, but I see a lot of lower tier players asking for a merge and a solution for population balance.

I have played in a lot of diffetent tiers I began in Darkhaven, passed through Crystal Desert, Enhry Bay, SoR, and now I am in YB since april 2014, so I know enough about lower tiers and high tiers to say that the majority of people want a merge.

Every time the server merge issue comes up, those who support it either:
1) Can’t afford to transfer to a more populated server.
2) Are already on a more populated server but want more manpower to give them an edge over other servers.

I have never transferred servers, nor do I want to. The server I play on has had players come and go, and even large player exodus doesn’t change the core community feeling that we get. Why should people who have the option of transferring to a server that offers them what they want get to force us to choose between quitting WvW or engaging in a play style we don’t like? The day they introduce server merges for WvW is the day I quit WvW.

The topic of server merges pops up frequently, and I have never, absolutely never, seen a good explanation why a server merge is needed when players still have the ability to transfer servers.

Empty maps and unbalanced matchs are not enough as an explanation? I think that if we had fewer servers those issues would not be completely solved but would be much better than now.

I do not want more man power just to have an edge over other servers, I just want maps that are not dead and you take 30 minutes to find an enemy, I do not like to PvD empty towers and keeps… just that. If t1 is like this I cant imagine lower tiers are any better. So I think transfering will not do any difference right now.

I understand server pride and that communities dislikes the server merge idead but your community would not be affected it would only get more people, guilds would not be separated, I cant see how a merge would destroy it. And I really dont get it how your playstyle would be affected…

albotelho.2931:

Well this may be your opinion and I understand that some people prefer things the way they are today, but I see a lot of lower tier players asking for a merge and a solution for population balance.

I have played in a lot of diffetent tiers I began in Darkhaven, passed through Crystal Desert, Enhry Bay, SoR, and now I am in YB since april 2014, so I know enough about lower tiers and high tiers to say that the majority of people want a merge.

Yeah, and I know enough to say they don’t (having my main account on Darkhaven, and alt account moved to YB, SBI, AR, and BP at various times).

Answer my objection. Why is destroying a valid playstyle preferable to people simply paying 500-1k gems to solve their own problems? You’re pretending server merge is preferable but you’re ignoring the fact that there’s a solution to population problems already in the game. That’s no opinion, that’s not personal preference, that’s hard cold fact.

Jana.6831:

InfernusX.4936:

As someone from a lower tier server, as someone who has been in the lowest tier very recently and as someone who refuses to leave my server – server merge would drastically improve the quality and population of at least the bottom three, if not four servers.

But someone would have to leave their servers for that, right?

The difference between server merges and transferring is that server merges means that I remain playing with all my friends on the server while transferring means i don’t.

InfernusX.4936:

For the past few months my guild and I on IoJ, have been in t8, we recently managed to push with our server to t6 and we still believe a server merge is necessary. There is almost nothing happening in t8. ET is barely going to break 15k this week. Kaineng has dominated enough to be triple the score of both other servers combined because the other two servers neither have the manpower nor motivation to play. Reset in t6 is the only day that either of the three current servers, IoJ, GoM and BP have any decent sized presence over the week. As someone from a lower tier server, as someone who has been in the lowest tier very recently and as someone who refuses to leave my server – server merge would drastically improve the quality and population of at least the bottom three, if not four servers.

Yet again you’ve asserted a server merge is necessary without even listening to the solutions offered.

Why is a merge necessary when you can transfer off of your server? If you don’t like where you’re at, 500 gems is not an insane price to ask (that’s like what right now, 60-70g? idk). You can farm the transfer in one day. Two days if you want to go to a t3 server.

In what way is the server merge necessary when you have an alternative? The facts defeat your claims. If server loyalty is SO important to you, then you’re choosing server over population. That’s YOUR choice. Do not destroy other people’s playstyles because you personally would prefer if you could have server loyalty and more activity. That is so incredibly selfish and self-serving it’s embarrassing. You’re asking ANet to 100% destroy the way other people want to play so that you don’t have to inconvience yourself slightly to improve your own experience. Think about that for a moment.

Also Dh was in t6-7 longer than 90% of the servers in this game (we were a t6 resident for like 1 year straight and only fluctuated between t6-7 for another yeah, we’ve only been in silver for maybe 10-15% of our time as a server). I know full well what bronze is like.

InfernusX.4936:

The difference between server merges and transferring is that server merges means that I remain playing with all my friends on the server while transferring means i don’t.

True.
IoJ has been my first server 2 years ago. My friends left because our community back then was destroyed by people who bandwagoned onto our server. Some more stuff might have gone wrong, but I guess that was the point where many people quit as having that many people not caring for the server/our community was really hard.
Not saying that is bound to happen with merges but it can well be.

Edit: Grammar

hum… guys…. do you know that we have 10+ server close on EU ?
How should I transfer to higher server if they are all close ?
And for what ? There is no one who play at off peak time now… You can have some fun at prime time, but off peak is dead…

Then yeah, at least with server merge we could try to regroup the players at off peak time to maybe have 20 people online and not only 3…

And yes, my server is full…. But only in arenanet head… Except EB we don’t see queue… Imagine at off peak time…

Then please, stop with the “just move to up tier server”..

albotelho.2931:

Empty maps and unbalanced matchs are not enough as an explanation? I think that if we had fewer servers those issues would not be completely solved but would be much better than now.

I do not want more man power just to have an edge over other servers, I just want maps that are not dead and you take 30 minutes to find an enemy, I do not like to PvD empty towers and keeps… just that. If t1 is like this I cant imagine lower tiers are any better. So I think transfering will not do any difference right now.

It’s still not an explanation why the people who want more people to play with can’t just transfer to a server that does have the population that satisfies them.

You want maps that are not “dead”? We already have those, go transfer to them. Same goes for anyone else who doesn’t like “dead” maps. The server I play on has a small, yet dedicated group of players who play WvW pretty much every day regardless of how outnumbered we are, and we still have fun doing it.

The server I had has gone through periods where guilds from other servers join and arrogantly act as if we owe them just for being on our server, they collect new recruits, then transfer them all away to another server again, leaving our server gutted and free-falling down the rankings. We still played on, and while noone likes to lose all the time, day in day out I still saw the same familiar faces defending objectives, flipping camps, running around. Things move at a slower pace, and I like it like that.

Want to continue to play with friends? You all still have the ability to transfer, just costs gems or gold. If the servers were merged, there is no option to “transfer” back to the play-style and community we liked. No amount of gold or gems would bring that back. Better to do nothing at all than to do irreparable damage for no good reason.

I’m still waiting to hear an explanation of why a server merge is needed when transfers are available.

Sich.7103:

hum… guys…. do you know that we have 10+ server close on EU ?
How should I transfer to higher server if they are all close ?
And for what ? There is no one who play at off peak time now… You can have some fun at prime time, but off peak is dead…

Then yeah, at least with server merge we could try to regroup the players at off peak time to maybe have 20 people online and not only 3…

And yes, my server is full…. But only in arenanet head… Except EB we don’t see queue… Imagine at off peak time…

Then please, stop with the “just move to up tier server”..

As long as one map has activity, the matchup has sufficient activity. You don’t need red borderland to be active if you’re playing in EB, stuff happening in red borderland is irrelevant to you.

Folks have an irrational implicit premise that WvW should have multiple maps active at all times or it’s not working properly. Only one map needs to have any level activity for people to play WvW. If you’re claiming your server, that is full apparently, has all maps completely inactive at ANY time of the day, you are just straight up wrong/lying. I play on a “high” ranked NA server (in tier 5), we have at least some activity at all times in EB, usually commander tags with small zergs (SEA/EU/NA generally always have at least small zergs running around, NA turns into blob fests, OCX sometimes has no zergs but always roamers).

Also are you suggesting other servers should be merged into FULL servers? Because servers that aren’t full getting merged won’t help your gameplay 1 bit if you are full, so you’re suggesting something radically different to what others in this thread are suggesting and most of them I’d wager would not support your idea of merging.

I hate EB, even more that the new BL….
HoT just made that EB have more player when the BL are close to dead now…

And my server is not full…. It’s just anet who say that… I don’t see my server as full… He is not full… Really not….

Sich.7103:

I hate EB, even more that the new BL….
HoT just made that EB have more player when the BL are close to dead now…

And my server is not full…. It’s just anet who say that… I don’t see my server as full… He is not full… Really not….

Okay so we should destroy the playstyles of tons of players, going against probably the majority’s wishes, because you dislike EB?

And okay! My server isn’t full either, but it’s usually quite active, in fact it’s only “high”.

Arius.7031:

If you’re whining about needing a server merge because the game feels too dead in your matchup, transfer, it’s 500 gems to get to a t5 server which is fairly lively or 1k to get to t3 which is very lively. Don’t ask anet to kill a legitimate style of play because you’re too cheap/lazy to improve your experience yourself. That’s downright scummy to do.

If you’re whining about needing a server merge because you’re in t1-2 and think the poor uncivilized heathens in low tiers need your protection, please go away. Your opinion is not wanted and not helpful in any way. Unless you have experience in these tiers, leave the discussion to those who this would actually effect, specifically t6-8.

When will these threads stop popping up? This was getting tiring a year ago.

I’m on Darkhaven, “t3”. It’s dead. If this is what you call very lively then I don’t respect your opinion because it is crazy.

And I can’t transfer to a more populated tier because ITS FULL. T1/t2 have players… The rest of us? Yeah I spent 4 hours in BL yesterday to see 1 guy.. OOO EBG lagfest is slightly populated though!!!

roxybudgy.8205:

albotelho.2931:

Well this may be your opinion and I understand that some people prefer things the way they are today, but I see a lot of lower tier players asking for a merge and a solution for population balance.

I have played in a lot of diffetent tiers I began in Darkhaven, passed through Crystal Desert, Enhry Bay, SoR, and now I am in YB since april 2014, so I know enough about lower tiers and high tiers to say that the majority of people want a merge.

Every time the server merge issue comes up, those who support it either:
1) Can’t afford to transfer to a more populated server.
2) Are already on a more populated server but want more manpower to give them an edge over other servers.

I have never transferred servers, nor do I want to. The server I play on has had players come and go, and even large player exodus doesn’t change the core community feeling that we get. Why should people who have the option of transferring to a server that offers them what they want get to force us to choose between quitting WvW or engaging in a play style we don’t like? The day they introduce server merges for WvW is the day I quit WvW.

The topic of server merges pops up frequently, and I have never, absolutely never, seen a good explanation why a server merge is needed when players still have the ability to transfer servers.

I disagree. I am on a “full” WvW server in T2. When I run around during Mid-Late NA Prime, and I see NOBODY on an BLs, and nobody in our EBG, except a group of 10-15 (us) facing 30+, yeah, I see a population issue. Server merges need to happen. Not kitten merge. But the bottom tiers merge and combine into their own set. This would create balance in WvW population. This would create dynamic matchups. Since balance would spread out, the matchups would more frequently change week to week.

dank.3680:

I’m on Darkhaven, “t3”. It’s dead. If this is what you call very lively then I don’t respect your opinion because it is crazy.

And I can’t transfer to a more populated tier because ITS FULL. T1/t2 have players… The rest of us? Yeah I spent 4 hours in BL yesterday to see 1 guy.. OOO EBG lagfest is slightly populated though!!!

Why is EBG a lagfest for t3? Because there’s so many players, or is it bugged? If it’s bugged, ANet needs to fix the bug, not merge servers. If there’s so many players, you’ve defeated your own point. You don’t need the BLs to be populated to have fun, and the BLs do have people in NA prime.

I think most of us can agree the new BLs suck, and are driving people away from WvW. If they old BL’s were added a good few people would come back. It doesn’t help that PvE is so popular right now. Taking such a drastic course of action so soon after a major patch that has shifted the focus of many players is completely and utterly irresponsible.

I also don’t care if you do or don’t respect my opinion, my opinion accurately reflects reality. Respect it or not, but I’m right. Merges don’t solve much of anything, esp if you consider t1-3 to be dead, in which case we’d have to merge all but like 6-9 servers in order to fix this, which would destroy the variety/community aspects of WvW almost entirely. That’s not what people have been proposing in this thread from what I’ve seen.

Darkhaven is T5 – just saying.

Edit: And I think the problem is that people are quitting the game/wvw and the question is why and the solution is to fix this, otherwise we could merge servers until only one is left.

Jana.6831:

Darkhaven is T5 – just saying.

Edit: And I think the problem is that people are quitting the game/wvw and the question is why and the solution is to fix this, otherwise we could merge servers until only one is left.

I think Darkhaven was a typo from him, not sure. That’s what I assumed in my post anyway.

LittleAussieMozzie.7425:

Anet need to limit the new borderlands so only one is available at a time… not all three.. its quite evident that T1 doesn’t have the player capacity to make this work so what their intentions were with the other servers is beyond reason.

The lower tier servers are actually more enjoyable and probably the best for roaming. There is absolutely no reason to go to the new Borderlands cause even on T1 you can run around for 40 minutes and get one fight…. Where as on lower tier servers such as T3 & T4 EBG is booming and its not filled to the limit with mindless zerglings… So removing the lower tier servers is a bad idea as majority of roamers will considering transferring out of higher tier servers to go roam in lower tier ones.

That would probably alleviate some of the problem. Alternate EB with the Desert BL. Bring back the Alpine Home BL’s.

@Arius and @roxybudgy

Do you guys really believe that we have enough WvW players to fill 24 servers?

Transfering will not solve my issue… I am on t1 that should be full of players and WvW is empty, borderlands almost dead… going to a lower server will not solve it… I have no problem with my server, the problem is WvW as a whole… it is empty even roaming sucks on the borderlands, EBG is not so bad but I would not like to have only one viable map…

I would like to understand why you guys think WvW is good as it is now. What exactly is this playstyle you guys are defending so hard that is working on the server you are now? If you dont mind to explain it.

And could someone from Anet at least make a comment here to say… “Yes we can think about it…. or no…. there is no way we are doing this next year”.

Because if you guys say there is no chance this will happen this discussion ends now.

Expectation management: It seems everyone in this thread have different opinion of what is a "healthy population", I think you should agree on that before discussing further. Some examples I’ve seen used here:

A) Activity in EBG

B) Activity on multiple/all maps

If people can’t agree what is a "healthy population", they will never agree on server merges or any other topic regarding this.

The only sign we have of what ANet thinks about this, is their new population caps. Anyone got some rough estimations for how much activity these locks up at ? (my own server is nowhere near the caps to find this out).

joneirikb.7506:

Expectation management: It seems everyone in this thread have different opinion of what is a “healthy population”, I think you should agree on that before discussing further. Some examples I’ve seen used here:

A) Activity in EBG

B) Activity on multiple/all maps

If people can’t agree what is a “healthy population”, they will never agree on server merges or any other topic regarding this.

The only sign we have of what ANet thinks about this, is their new population caps. Anyone got some rough estimations for how much activity these locks up at ? (my own server is nowhere near the caps to find this out).

For me healthy population is when all 3 servers of the match have a good number of players in all maps, I dont care about blobs or zergs, but if you at least have some few small groups and roamers around and it will not take more than 30 minutes for something to happen it is close to good.

For what it’s worth:

No one should be calling for megaserver WvW – we have it already, it’s called Edge of the Mists. Enough said.

I have stayed loyal to my server since I joined at the launch of GW2. That’s my choice and means I’ve put up with the rise and fall of IoJ over the years. I have no intention of transfering to another server if I can avoid it – this one is my home for better and for worse. Life si like this and for me it adds to the game experience. There is no feeling of belonging when I go to EotM and become “Badlands” or “Frostreach” or “Overgrowth”; I get no sense of progression, it’s just a temporary affiliation with no long term aim or purpose.

I enjoy roaming or playing in a small group where I feel I can make a difference to what happens. If I wanted a large blob experience I’d have moved server or would spend my time in EotM. I have no objection to other people enjoying blobbing, it’s just not for me, and I know I’m not the only player who feels this way.

I assume we have 24 servers because they hold the user accounts for all play styles not just WvW. Just because the WvW population is low does not mean the server population is low, even though the servers have little relevance outside WvW. ANET may need to keep 24 servers simply to have the total available account space.

Finally – it’s too many changes. Introducing something new like merging servers in addition to the recent changes already made is not going to bring people back, if anything it may well push more people out of WvW. After all if I’m forced onto a different server to play a style I don’t really want to, in a map I don’t know well with people I don’t know yet… where’s my motivation?!

My vote is don’t merge servers. If you want to change servers then go ahead and do so. I like my server and don’t want it combined with another.

There is already a means to resolve your issue: Pay the transfer fee and move to another server. If your excuse is that you want to stay with your friends, then they can transfer too. If you, or they, can’t afford it then band together to earn some gold to help each other out. If they flat out don’t want to transfer, then it’s probably because they never wanted to transfer and/or merge to begin with. If this is the case, then accept where you are, or make the decision to move elsewhere.

I will agree in that there honestly doesn’t (currently) seem to be enough people to staff all 24 servers. With that being said, MANY of us are currently engaged with a lot of the new content. At some point when we’ve acquired want we want, we’ll begin filtering back into WvW. The new BL’s aren’t honestly that bad but they are unfamiliar and sometimes people just aren’t comfortable with unfamiliar things. I suspect that it is 100% here to stay however (why wouldn’t it be?), and at some point we’ll all be back out there on the battlefield smashing each others heads in.

I was one of the die-hard server loyalists for nearly 3 years. Then I accepted that no one would be able to change my situation but me, so I changed it. Don’t get me wrong, there are a few things I miss, but for the most part it was a huge improvement and the pros far outweigh the cons.

I think I could not explain well what is the issue to me… my point is that no matter what server I could go the problem would be the same… empty maps. As I said before I do not care about zergs… I like small groups and roaming but right now not even that is possible but in EBG, I like EBG but not enough to stay hours and hours there…. I do not hate the new borderland, I just think it needs people playing it. And as I see a lot of people complaining about empty WvW I think merging is a good idea.

I agree that empty maps might change in a few days with people coming back from PvE content, but I am not so sure… I also understand server pride and how it feels when your server dies to be merged in another one… I went through that in other games, but all merges I have been through were better for the game than worse.

Lets see how WvW goes in the next weeks.

Arius.7031:

Jana.6831:

Darkhaven is T5 – just saying.

Edit: And I think the problem is that people are quitting the game/wvw and the question is why and the solution is to fix this, otherwise we could merge servers until only one is left.

I think Darkhaven was a typo from him, not sure. That’s what I assumed in my post anyway.

T3 was the typo, but I just moved from mag a couple days ago, so I have both perspectives anyways. the mag match is dead too btw except some activity in ebg.

albotelho.2931:

joneirikb.7506:

Expectation management: It seems everyone in this thread have different opinion of what is a “healthy population”, I think you should agree on that before discussing further. Some examples I’ve seen used here:

A) Activity in EBG

B) Activity on multiple/all maps

If people can’t agree what is a “healthy population”, they will never agree on server merges or any other topic regarding this.

The only sign we have of what ANet thinks about this, is their new population caps. Anyone got some rough estimations for how much activity these locks up at ? (my own server is nowhere near the caps to find this out).

For me healthy population is when all 3 servers of the match have a good number of players in all maps, I dont care about blobs or zergs, but if you at least have some few small groups and roamers around and it will not take more than 30 minutes for something to happen it is close to good.

Why does it matter what happens in bls other than the one you’re in? If you’re getting action, you’re getting action. Doesn’t matter if while you’re getting action the northeast tower flipped in red bl, and sw camp/sentry flipped in green bl. All that matters is 1 map imo, anything more than that is unreasoned “I just feel like it’s better this way”, and I’m pretty certain that’s not a line of thinking we should be acting on.

dank.3680:

T3 was the typo, but I just moved from mag a couple days ago, so I have both perspectives anyways. the mag match is dead too btw except some activity in ebg.

Then with all due respect, I feel as though your standards are irrationally high for the state of the game. Destroying over a dozen servers to make 6, maybeeeeee 9 servers that would fit your level of preference for activity would be utterly unacceptable and damaging.

albotelho.2931:

For me healthy population is when all 3 servers of the match have a good number of players in all maps, I dont care about blobs or zergs, but if you at least have some few small groups and roamers around and it will not take more than 30 minutes for something to happen it is close to good.

And what exactly is your definition of “a good number of players” ?

In T2, OCX and SEA is quite nicely populated at the moment for me. Especially when I take into account people I know who used to WvW 99% of the time, who I now constantly see in PvE farming stuff for masteries, elite specs or their guild hall. I can even look at my own playtime recently and see the same pattern. Since HoT release I’ve spent more time in fractals than I have in WvW whereas previously I may do 1 or 2 fractals a week and spend the rest of it in WvW.

Also since you mentioned being on YB, you do know that YB deliberately tanked for a while to get their server open so they can get transfers in right? If you were playing during that period then yeah it probably did seem empty.

Edit: Two other things I forgot to mention: Fallout 4 and Legacy of the Void

I know how much chaos itll cause communities and such if there are merges however, guys I looked at some old videos of my server from when it was in the same tier but years ago.. and it suddenly reminded me of what real world vs world was. That sense of heroism and glory came rushing back, I think everyone in this thread has just been watching wvw in its slow decline for so long to the point where they didnt notice how much it changed. Go and look at some videos of your servers from 2 years back and you will realise how big of a difference it is. In the old days even down in the bottom tiers it was swarms of guild groups working with the defense groups to desperately rush between keeps in time to defend them from the big bad map blobs.

People are saying its a different style of play to like to play on lower pop servers but that arguement doesnt hold the same weight as it did before, before it was a difference between blobs and small scale but now.. if you server has such a low pop that you find yourselves back-capping each other’s camps and never meeting the opponent youre ppting against thats pve not wvw, remember the difference.

And seriously, looking at those videos I’m getting the feeling that ‘I want to play that game’ and im realising why im so put off from wvw nowadays and just floating around in spvp.

Zetsumei.4975:

I know how much chaos itll cause communities and such if there are merges however, guys I looked at some old videos of my server from when it was in the same tier but years ago.. and I suddenly reminded me of what real world vs world was. That sense of heroicness and glory came rushing back, I think everyone in this thread has just been watching wvw in its slow decline for so long to the point where they didnt notice how much it changed. Go and look at some videos of your servers from 2 years back and you will realise how big of a difference it is. In the old days even down in the bottom tiers it was swarms of guild groups working with the defense groups to desperately rush between keeps in time to defend them from the big bad map blobs.

People are saying its a different style of play to like to play on lower pop servers but that arguement doesnt hold the same weight as it did before, before it was a difference between blobs and small scale but now.. if you server has such a low pop that you find yourselves back-capping each other’s camps and never meeting the opponent youre ppting against thats pve not wvw, remember the difference.

And seriously, looking at those videos I’m getting the feeling that ‘I want to play that game’ and im realising why im so put off from wvw nowadays and just floating around in spvp.

I felt the same way so I just transfered from a t8 server to a t3 server and wow you are not kidding…i went from 3 fights in a 4 hr session during na prime on reset in t8 to fighting for 2 hrs straight in t3 on a tuesday….i didnt realize how completely dead the low servers were till i switched.
I do however think these people asking for 9 to 12 servers are crazy tho, i think the least you could have and still have decent types of play for everyone’s playstyles is 15 servers…even 18 i think would be better for the differing sizes.
As for server loyalty..if 2 servers were combined into a new server with a new name you couldnt be loyal to your new server? What would a few more ppl around do to hurt things?

Arius.7031:

Why does it matter what happens in bls other than the one you’re in? If you’re getting action, you’re getting action. Doesn’t matter if while you’re getting action the northeast tower flipped in red bl, and sw camp/sentry flipped in green bl. All that matters is 1 map imo, anything more than that is unreasoned “I just feel like it’s better this way”, and I’m pretty certain that’s not a line of thinking we should be acting on.

Because we want a variety in maps available to play on. We’ve had EBG since launch and it’s only had a few gimmicky changes with HoT. The Desert Borderlands aren’t conducive for fights since they funnel players away from each other than towards each other (all the while trying to deal with the environment – PvP map design at its worst), which means that you need an overwhelming amount of players on the map to get any action at all, which the servers can’t deal with.

Yuffi.2430:

Finally – it’s too many changes. Introducing something new like merging servers in addition to the recent changes already made is not going to bring people back, if anything it may well push more people out of WvW. After all if I’m forced onto a different server to play a style I don’t really want to, in a map I don’t know well with people I don’t know yet… where’s my motivation?!

Just picking this last paragraph out since I don’t really have an issue with your opinions above it.

Try server surfing with a F2P account. You’ll find that basically all servers are the same, with similar players and play styles. The only difference in play style between T1 and T5 is in numbers. There are only small cultural differences between servers. Your server being merged with another won’t affect you much at all, especially since you’ll probably still see the same people that run with you now (if server transfers aren’t given and the entire server was picked up and merged). Playing on Blackgate (roaming) and playing on Eredon Terrace (when I can find people to run with there…) is more or less the same experience to me so I take issue with your claim that there’s a different “play style” on other servers.

To be clear, I don’t want high tier players moving down to lower tiers, we don’t need “that kind” in our community. But the whingers in the lower tier should transfer up if they’re not happy in our communities.

albotelho.2931:

@Arius and @roxybudgy

Do you guys really believe that we have enough WvW players to fill 24 servers?

Transfering will not solve my issue… I am on t1 that should be full of players and WvW is empty, borderlands almost dead… going to a lower server will not solve it… I have no problem with my server, the problem is WvW as a whole… it is empty even roaming sucks on the borderlands, EBG is not so bad but I would not like to have only one viable map…

I would like to understand why you guys think WvW is good as it is now. What exactly is this playstyle you guys are defending so hard that is working on the server you are now? If you dont mind to explain it.

1. No, nor do we want or expect all servers to be “full” all the time.

2. Are you referring to the current situation? If yes, then I would say most people are grinding masteries in PvE, which would explain a drop in players in WvW. I don’t play during NA prime-time, nor have I spent any time in T1 WvW, but it seems highly unlikely that T1 would be “dead”.

Everyone is claiming that their server is “dead” and forced to face other servers with much greater numbers. Well, if all servers are “dead”, then which server is everyone referring to that has great numbers? And why don’t you move to that server?

3. It’s a little different for each person, but personally the main appeal of smaller populations is that I feel like my contribution matters more, as opposed to being a drop of water in a vast laggy ocean.

roxybudgy.8205:

To be clear, I don’t want high tier players moving down to lower tiers, we don’t need “that kind” in our community. But the whingers in the lower tier should transfer up if they’re not happy in our communities.

albotelho.2931:

@Arius and @roxybudgy

Do you guys really believe that we have enough WvW players to fill 24 servers?

Transfering will not solve my issue… I am on t1 that should be full of players and WvW is empty, borderlands almost dead… going to a lower server will not solve it… I have no problem with my server, the problem is WvW as a whole… it is empty even roaming sucks on the borderlands, EBG is not so bad but I would not like to have only one viable map…

I would like to understand why you guys think WvW is good as it is now. What exactly is this playstyle you guys are defending so hard that is working on the server you are now? If you dont mind to explain it.

1. No, nor do we want or expect all servers to be “full” all the time.

2. Are you referring to the current situation? If yes, then I would say most people are grinding masteries in PvE, which would explain a drop in players in WvW. I don’t play during NA prime-time, nor have I spent any time in T1 WvW, but it seems highly unlikely that T1 would be “dead”.

Everyone is claiming that their server is “dead” and forced to face other servers with much greater numbers. Well, if all servers are “dead”, then which server is everyone referring to that has great numbers? And why don’t you move to that server?

3. It’s a little different for each person, but personally the main appeal of smaller populations is that I feel like my contribution matters more, as opposed to being a drop of water in a vast laggy ocean.

Dead servers refers to roaming for hours and not meeting another soul, in this case hoping to find an enemy to fight. With this level of low population people are far more concerned with not finding anyone to fight rather than how many there are on their side. People arent complaining about lop-sided matchups here theyre talking about matchups where there isnt any actual player vs player taking place.

roxybudgy.8205:

To be clear, I don’t want high tier players moving down to lower tiers, we don’t need “that kind” in our community. But the whingers in the lower tier should transfer up if they’re not happy in our communities.

1. No, nor do we want or expect all servers to be “full” all the time.

2. Are you referring to the current situation? If yes, then I would say most people are grinding masteries in PvE, which would explain a drop in players in WvW. I don’t play during NA prime-time, nor have I spent any time in T1 WvW, but it seems highly unlikely that T1 would be “dead”.

Everyone is claiming that their server is “dead” and forced to face other servers with much greater numbers. Well, if all servers are “dead”, then which server is everyone referring to that has great numbers? And why don’t you move to that server?

3. It’s a little different for each person, but personally the main appeal of smaller populations is that I feel like my contribution matters more, as opposed to being a drop of water in a vast laggy ocean.

Calling t1 players “that kind” shows me that there is nothing more to discuss with you. But thanks for explaining your thoughts.