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HighWatch server activities
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Spacecats told us the statistics and how HW population was fine, so there'd be no way to judge what a decent population is since both views don't add up to begin with.
The only solution I can really brainstorm is to find a person willing to lead a guild that caters for endgame hard mode content. This way you'll be among equally skilled and like minded players and can look for parties within guild, without fear of LFGing. I'm not saying it will be easy, as some recruits may need training.
Maybe a good 'ol Guild Fair!? To bring guilds to the attention of like minded players, who want the same out of the game.
For the past 12 months we've roughed it out in Highwatch when everyone left. We knew server transfers was one of the main reasons: "people are leaving, killing the server even more".
What I'm hoping @Spacecats can look into is: if the "activity" in highwatch is very close to TR / CH, then how does that extend to there being 1 SSHM clear on the server, one crusade after the dungeon was released? Some training runs / teaching runs have happened. If Highwatch "activity" is very close to TR / CH, why are there only 2 "Dakuryon's Nemesis" titles on Highwatch to date? Compare this to other PVE servers. For people who actually care about doing content, Highwatch isn't okay.
Though we don't know the right course of action, I hope you don't find that Highwatch is perfectly fine as is. If you hang out in highwatch endgame PVE, you'll find that no one is really happy about the state of things. Perhaps there could be community events to give incentives to people, pushing them to step up and clear endgame content.
Yet incentives might not be enough. Bear in mind that DSU Season 2 MWA+Feedstock drops were amazing, but despite this, only one static rose up to the challenge and cleared the dungeon fully. No, we weren't just pro players -- we wiped for 6 hours x 5 days until we got Manaya down. It was the same with SSHM for the first crusade season of SSHM. All clears on server involved at least 1 of 5 people. This is a problem. Yes, Highwatch is "newest" but it's been 12 months.
This is difficult to approach, but please don't give up on Highwatch or pretend everything's okay, Spacecats. It really isn't okay here in Highwatch. Ninja patch / summer bringing in more players done with school didn't save the server. What we need is a reason for players to do & clear the hardest dungeons each patch on this server. Or if this would be too much of a bait & switch leaving highwatch still dead in coming months, then Highwatch can't be alone. It's killing TERA for the people who chose to play here then grew attached to friends here.
- Honor / Hentai, Highwatch | Kimochi, Tempest Reach
(btw the quotation marks are not to be [filtered] ish, it is just what they proclaim and I do not play on highwatch to confirm this)
Probably anyone who calls himself a "top player" on Highwatch really isn't a "top player". Just pointing that out.
am average player ;v but #1s!!! on HW
Also I just got this today
i'd run the higher level dungeons. conflate gear tho. besides that... at least in Virtual we are currently trying to do good runs in SSNM before we jump to the higher level hard mode dungeons. the highest dps i've seen in one of our runs is 240k on the ones at least that i paid attention to, and that was me in +12 slaughter / conflate mixed. those two runs were on the 23rd and 26th, we didn't get far.
i've been wanting a more... everybody working together... kind of aspect going on in our server. most of us know who the players are with potential, well, even if they aren't in the same guild, let's work together to gear them for PvE then!
EDIT: might as well add that i never respond to LFG shouts... ever... if u ask me i'll come with.
i'm wayyy newer then you are moon, i respect you a great deal especially after that alliance conflict a week ago.
the strive to get better and be better is the main reason why i've psudo left Virtual multiple times... but they are friends and pull me back in and then actually let me down again... i really don't know what to do about that. i want to let personal feelings aside and form another super guild with PvE and PvP focus with guild leaders in every class who are experts... where we help each other gear up... we answer all questions... we only accept 65s... all the things that sound logical to me, i'd love to implement.
i try to take bits and pieces of advice from everyone i see in game who i feel is better then i am, in order to better myself. i never make it a secret either. i've considered taking a break when i feel everything stagnating and then i just get lonely and come back.
i'm getting off topic. i have the ability, time and passion in order to organize either another guild or whatever it is that could give HW a shot in the arm. hell, i even wouldn't mind being a community manager in game for this issue... i don't lie when i say i have time. i do my own thing, i have no pressing issues. tera is life, i breathe it, i study it... i just spend too much time researching rather then putting it into action.
totally agree. I am pepperstone from HW. attitude tera cm so worst.
So basically, if the theory is that more social interaction while leveling is the key to get people to stick with the game, there needs to be a system and incentive for level 65 players to play alongside leveling players. And, again, this isn't something that's unique to HW at all; all servers see the same thing. However, the reputation that servers like TR and MT have of having a vibrant end-game community may compel some players to stick with it if they expect to find light at the end of the tunnel. So that's the sense that I was saying before that this serves as a self-reinforcing cycle. (Some of the players you noted as having disappeared during the leveling process may indeed have "re-rolled" on a different server, given how little time/effort it takes to get to 30 now.)
The point that was addressed earlier -- and I think is clear in this on-going discussion -- is that this isn't purely a numbers issue. If you go strictly on raw player stats, HW really isn't much smaller than any other PvE server, and that's why -- from EME's perspective -- merging the servers isn't justified. But what you and everyone else are getting at is something more subtle and harder to crystallize. It's about having strong and vibrant communities committed to the server and progressing through end-game, and this issue isn't being borne out by the numbers alone. But of course, as everyone said, it isn't an easy problem to solve. I think the suggestion of a cross-server LFG (Party Finder) system is an interesting idea. Having another Guild Fair seems like a good idea too. But really, BHS needs to implement systems that better-allow end-game players to support and nurture leveling players to help ease them into the game, and the current BuddyUp system just doesn't do that.
The attitude @Spacecats is carrying is arrogance at best, and total denial at worst. I tried to play on Highwatch, but I was so appalled by the fact I didn't meet a single player for a while is what drove me away.
Now I get that some things have to remain a secret, but let me share with you a little story:
When I was in AP Stat class in high school, one of the rules in the classroom was that if I didn't show my work, I had to stay after school until I showed my work. And by work, I mean all the data, all the calculations, and more random crap to the point where I had to fill 10 8.5 x 11 pages (front and back) to show all my work for just one stinking problem. And most of the time, it was more than 10 pages. If I messed up even slightly, I had to go back and do it all over again. My teacher didn't care if you had a club, or a sport, or a hot-headed coach...you messed up, you stay.
Basically, he wouldn't let us get away with not showing the raw data. And that's what EME is doing here...not posting data with actual numbers to back it up.
Basically, En Masse tossing the OP aside like a dirty old shoe is unacceptable. I strongly urge En Masse to reconsider, or at the very least, post raw data to back up what they are saying. When was the last time someone won an argument by being arrogant and hiding facts? I'll give you a hint: It's related to politics.
Rant done.
I see a lot of people just loafing around Highwatch or Velika, so sure ill buy that the population might be similar to other servers, but these people don’t do [filtered]! Whenever me and my friends LFG SSNM or DFHM, its nearly always the same handful of people who apply, and even dare to join.
I transferred from CH because I felt like the server was too casual for my taste at the time (don’t know about now) and I needed a fresh start. Well, right about now, I am getting the same feeling of the people in HW. They come online to meet their friends, IMS a couple dungeons and don’t try to challenge themselves. That or they are super secret static groups, but than I’d expect more logs on crusade board.
The only bandaid I can think of right now, is reviving A Big Guild, like Continuity or Hostile or any of the guilds that disbanded when the core players moved out. Heck, even a private chat channel catering to those who want to improve/start doing Hard modes but don’t have the connections/experience would help. But in the end, if it changes anything, this too would only be a bandaid until a few more of the “top” move on to other servers or even games
Besides, think about what you're saying. Let's say that EME did post the raw data because they don't give a damn about competitive advantage or whatever. They are the only ones that can validate the numbers they provide, since they're the only ones that know. There is no third-party validation of their internal metrics. So if they post numbers that back up their claims, people could just accuse them of lying or fabricating the evidence anyway. So posting the raw data won't actually prove anything if people are going to accuse Spacecats of lying.
I don't think the issue here is raw numbers in the first place, as we've established in the on-going discussion. During the leveling event, I leveled up characters on all the PvE servers, and there really was not a significant difference in player traffic. But the issue that's being discussed here is actually about specific types of player communities, and that's something numbers alone won't tell you.
I think you're misinterpreting what he's saying. The general consensus now seems to be the caliber of the players on the server. Not so much the total number of players. Which is what counterpoint and many others have pointed out. There's not enough players supposedly capable of doing SSHM/other endgame content on the server, which doesn't mean the server is dead. It just means that there is not enough players at that level or drive. In short, the community on Highwatch has a more casual player base it seems. The problem is, there is no easy solution. It's not something that can be fixed overnight or by even putting a proverbial carrot on a stick.
Edit: That being said, I'm definitely not going to deny that there is a problem with the fact that there reportedly isn't enough people to run endgame content on a regular basis.
It's possible Spacecats/counterpoint may indeed be right in the server population being equivalent (if so, I'm very confused confused by EME's software saying TR is "high population" whereas HW is "Recommended"... but whatever). But in my own view, I have also been noticing/perceiving a significant decline in server pop. for example, I was super excited when Spacecat's last event caused a "High" population HW CH1, even if it was only for a few minutes.
Regardless if the metrics are right/not, or the server doomsayers are right/not, perception is king and there is definitely a bad perception out there right now regarding server health (aka this thread even existing is proof of that). I'd bet a pretty penny, that the bad perception is thus further impacting the server population, being the self fulfilling prophecy as so many have pointed out.
To be very blunt/what might be viewed as unfair: What are you going to do about it EME? I'm going to admit, I don't think it's just a "population problem", a lot of external factors are in play, some are even probably outside of this game/EME's control. However, realize, EME is a business. The intent of a business generally is to make money off of us customers. To do that, any and all businesses should be trying to keep customers happy and also maintain the overall "brand"/perception of their product, otherwise you reduce your customer base (aka the spiral effect). Just throwing out statements that "metrics show that its okay" is not going to solve that. Trying to also shift blame on being a young server is also just an excuse, not a solution. What really matters is the end result. Is the server growing regardless of "starting new and struggling"? My guess is no, which means... there is still a problem and it needs to be solved. That's what matters.
I'm not saying take our solutions and run with them, cause they may not fix/make things worse. All I know is, my guild has been dying slowly. My friend-list of active players has been shrinking. I have been seeing less LFGs than a few months in the past. I see more and more friends whisper me asking if i want to server transfer. I see less MWAs on the Broker, giving indications of less supply. While Metrics may show everything is okay, at least from a perception standpoint please try to understand at least from our standpoint it definitely seems like things are NOT okay. I don't normally speak up often/complain but I'm getting demoralized logging in and seeing what I believe to be an empty server.
On a lighter note: for those in HW, going to try to do my best to help the situation. Anyone that needs a healer for SSHM/learning runs, don't hesitate to reach out me, I don't mind helping out. I've cleared several times on my priest (feel like the agency folks carried me most of the time though.. so don't expect a carry). Mystic I'll help as well, but I r still noob on mystic for SSHM
Mr. Flufflyboots/Alielada