Solution to the population problem?

[The_Gio]

I was just thinking about it,and I see theres at least one star in each universe,and if theres a star then that means theres at least 1 person in the universe(the star thats not filled in with white). So If they were to reduce the number of universes,I'm sure we would see more party's pop up in random places. Which would lead to more people staying,since theres more variety than White Beast. What I'm thinking they can do is let new universes appear only when we fill one universe,like lets say were getting one universe to 4 stars so then another universe pops up. I dont know >.> it just popped into my mind,I'm mostly doing this out of impulse...

I know everyone is sick of white beast,I know i'm not the only one complaining, people go to other universes to get away, get away from what? everything is empty cept white beast. Besides,you dont have to socialize if you dont want to. Also whats the point to play online if your just gonna play alone,might as well play offline. It may lead to more locked parties but at least people would see there are parties. We would have at least one universe full if everyone on every universe went to 2. Like I said tho this is mostly impulse...

[ljkkjlcm9]

everyone is sick of white beast, yet everyone plays white beast. Everyone is there because everyone else is there. Go make a party at white beast and go somewhere else.

Some people like going to "empty" universes and getting away from people. You shouldn't force them to play on a populated server... it'd just end up with more parties, but more locked.

THE JACKEL

[amtalx]

I, for one, like going to unpopulated universes. There's is no one to deal with. If I feel like joining the horde, I want to due so by choice.

[stukasa]

Some people like going to "empty" universes and getting away from people. You shouldn't force them to play on a populated server... it'd just end up with more parties, but more locked.

THE JACKEL
I'm one of those people. You will never see me in Uni 2 unless I started there. :lol:

I like being able to go to an unpopulated server if I want to, though I think 18 is a bit too many for our current population. 12 or even 9 universes would be plenty.

[panzer_unit]

ST should log everyone into the most populated universe. That puts you in with all the people to start... adding all the "don't care what uni" people to the same uni as people who really want to group. If you WANT to be alone go change universes.

[Gen2000]

Yeah, some people just like to get away from all the uni2 chat spammers/annoying nub players. Putting everyone in one spot would just mean you'll see more lock games which sends off a worse impression than not seeing parties there at all (i.e. "you're not cool enough to play in this party, go away").

[Kanore]

but being a loner in an online game makes it feel better than being alone irl

[Kylie]

People like having their own universe without (or with a smaller chance) of running into people they don't like or spammers. Personally, I play in 02 every time it's up to me because I like seeing people. :lol: But I don't think taking away universes will help the population because we'd still have the same amount of people, and the people that play in seclusion would remain in seclusion with locked parties anyways. The best and only way to improve the community's population is to improve the game and, primarily, SEGA's customer support.

EDIT: And by changes to the games, I mean like rebalancing, events, etc.

[Para]

Too many empty universes is just too many. Definitely need to scale back down to like 10 universes.

[Ahkaskar]

It'd be more practical to reduce the number of universes so that they all fit on one page... More than anything I just don't like scrolling through that list.

[Seority]

I agree that there arn't many people playing anymore, but that's not the universes fault. I also kinda agree both ways with wanting to escape the stupidity that Uni2 has, but also in the question of people who play an online game by themselves. I understand playing with close friends on different universes, but by yourself on Uni10?

[SonicTMP]

We have far too many univerese. We could stand to drop down some but still have extra for people who want to get away from it all.

Really though, I blame the lobby system. Each lobby connects to 1-2 missions. If you could see everything on the planet, or event he freaking universe, it make finding a party easier. May not remove the hotspot issue but at least it let you see if somsone else is open to do something different.

[Shinko]

i actually agree with this. If u don't want to deal with people go to your room, lock ur party or go to an area in the uni that not that many people are at. All the other uni's are unnecessarily unless one fulls up

[Atomic646]

Some people like going to "empty" universes and getting away from people. You shouldn't force them to play on a populated server... it'd just end up with more parties, but more locked.

THE JACKEL
Yeah I like going to empty universes for the spamming and in the hope I will find something rare because no ones here. lol

[Dragwind]

They need to nerf a few uni's, keep it to 10 and under or something. Also, I won't stop saying this- they need more advertisement.

[HienkyakuX]

think about this ppl that are in thous uni are there cuz they don't want random parties or don't like spam. Other than that I have seen ppl from Germany gather in a specific uni all the time. Don't know what their talking tho.

[Garnet_Moon]

Face it: The game is dead. Why in the hell you would want people to waste money on a one-night-stand in PSU is beyond me. I wouldn't even want people I hate to spend money on this game.

[Neith]

As one of the people who very, very rarely plays in Uni 2, let me point out something.

I don't go to Uni 2 because:
- I like playing with a small group of friends
- I'd rather not have to put up with all the spam in Uni2
- On a quieter Universe, if I want to just sit and talk with friends for a bit, I can. Trying to do that in Uni2 (especially in a hotspot) is horrible because of all the spam.

I'm not necessarily opposed to cutting down the number of Universes, but say if it was reduced to 10, I'd just find the least populated server and do the same- as will most people who play the game like I do. You can't just force everyone into the same Universe and expect them all to party up. Hell, look at MAG- how many locked parties were there, even on Uni 2? What about Firebreak?

If you cut down the number of Universes, nothing will change except the people who want to be more secluded will have less Universes to do it on. You wouldn't actually solve anything.

[Akaimizu]

It's almost a shame that the prolific booters, and other unsavory types, have really cut people down from partying with randoms. Then again, a similar thing happened in PSO, but worse. PSO had the chance to lose your character data, entirely, from a malicious random player.

[Shinko]

Face it: The game is dead. Why in the hell you would want people to waste money on a one-night-stand in PSU is beyond me. I wouldn't even want people I hate to spend money on this game.

then why do you still play..... why are you even here on this site then if you feel that way?
I'm just confused as to why would u be here if you think its a waste......

[AlphaDragoon]

I personally don't understand the concept of always wanting to be alone in an MMORPG. Wouldn't it make better sense to, you know, play an offline game?

[MSAksion]

The only universes that are alive in my eyes are uni 02 and 15. now go to others and you'll see people but only if there's an event like MAG. in MAG every of the 18 5th floors had at least SOMEONE or a small group.

personally i like it like that - lets me chat with my peeps all alone in my preferred uni. We share it with another group and we always chat about our adventures and successes. Theres no way to carry a real conversation in 02 and in 15 ehhehe well say the wrong thing and it may be screencaptured and posted in the monthly screenshot threads =P.

If you reduce the number of servers its a good idea - but a lot of us like our privacy amongst our small group.

Instead - there should be an option to choose a prefferred server set so you appear there every time you log in. I'd set mine to my favorite number. If you set yours to 02 you appear in spam land. Set it to 15 you appear amongst your fellow forum buddies.

[Astarin]

I agree that we could stand to lose a few Universes. Didn't the JP servers get their numbers reduced a while ago? I mean, there'd still be plenty of room for those who want to be alone, myself included.

Alternatively, they could implement the system I saw on JP servers. From what I've seen, their universes are named according to a sort of "theme". Like, the first 3 Universes might be "G. Colony", then 3 for "Parum", then "New Players", then "GBR"... those are just examples, but ones I recall seeing. It's a brilliant system. If you wanna find parties in those particular areas, you can go to those Universes. You can still solo without interuption, simply by playing on a "wrong" Universe.

Thoughts?

[ThePendragon]

Simple solution for all platforms. Three Universes, each hold 5,000 People. Problem Solved.

[Manticore]

I think there are way to many universes to. maybe if they shut a few down, they can spend that extra money fixing up psu?

[The_Gio]

heh,the people that go on their on universe to get away from the spam,uhm what spam? only places that have spammers are white beast and 4th floor in the colonies,otherwise,everything is empty.They should put a tumbleweed rolling animation so we can at least laugh at our problems...also you do have the ability to black list >.>,if you dont want to hear the spammers,BL them. And if you want a conversation, why not just you know,use party chat...or PM....I really don't see a problem with having only one universe with all of us in it. ST gave us all the options to avoid people. They even have an auto decline in case you dont want to party at all. And if its really that big of a problem,then just blacklist everyone lol

[Ken_Silver]

The population problem is a big one indeed, but shrinking the number of universes is not going to help.

But it should be done for other reasons. We should have at least 12 Universes. 18 is too much and even though the PSOWorld server would go too, we can just take 12 and make it our own.

The game needs to keep more players and to get more players. Best way to do that is to work on that Customer Support and avoid things like the 65 debacle and the MAG rollback-to-be in June. Then do things like improve gameplay and what not.

Then advertise. A game is "dead" only if you allow it to die. Look at Red Steel for the Wii. Horrible game according to most critics, but the advertising for that game was done so well, it sold like Hot Cakes. Sadly, you don't need a "good" product for it to sell like a good product.

Some people say that the fans should advertise... and most would love to do so... if it wasn't for all of the problems that the game has. Like others have said: they wouldn't even recommend this to their enemies, let alone a paying friend. Give us some more to work with and we could solve this problem...

Well, that's how I see it at least.

[February]

so how is the population these days? I haven't played in like 5 months. Is it about the same, or worse?

[The_Gio]

down to 2 stars and a half...

[Ffuzzy-Logik]

The only real solution to the population problem (number of universes has nothing to do with it) is advertisement, and that isn't going to happen.

[AC9breaker]

The real solution to solving the server population is for someone to build me a new PC. My ego alone fills up 4 stars. Now just imagine my pants!

[Ffuzzy-Logik]

I'd prefer not to.

[RadHaz]

People like having their own universe without (or with a smaller chance) of running into people they don't like or spammers. Personally, I play in 02 every time it's up to me because I like seeing people. :lol: But I don't think taking away universes will help the population because we'd still have the same amount of people, and the people that play in seclusion would remain in seclusion with locked parties anyways. The best and only way to improve the community's population is to improve the game and, primarily, SEGA's customer support.

EDIT: And by changes to the games, I mean like rebalancing, events, etc.

quoted for truth~

[Elley]

The best solution would be to merge all the servers from xbox and pc/ps2 in to one and have total crossplatform play. I'd love to be able to play with you guys ^^

[ROK099]

ive only really played the xbox demo, but theoretically it wont increse the population but concentrate it. i can understand wanting to be in private with your friends. i would like to see several small rooms that it like 10 people for groups to get toghether in and chat.

[-Chilly]

Always play in uni2 PC, but very rarely join a party unless its with friends or event. I dont get why people run off to another universe and say "Oh I'm getting away from the masses" Thats why theres a password for your parties. I'm sure 15sec of running through a lobby of nubs isnt gonna hurt your play time... >.>

[-Chilly]

The best solution would be to merge all the servers from xbox and pc/ps2 in to one and have total crossplatform play. I'd love to be able to play with you guys ^^

NO bad Idea, I wouldnt want this after experiencing the xbox server.
Glad PC/ps2 is seperate now. (No console war plz)

[Kanore]

The best solution would be to merge all the servers from xbox and pc/ps2 in to one and have total crossplatform play. I'd love to be able to play with you guys ^^

I'd enjoy this, but then I realized how many more complaints there are from 360 players about horrible, annoying players than from PC/PS2

[ROK099]

most are probally refering to the demo

[Sylpheed]

I'd enjoy this, but then I realized how many more complaints there are from 360 players about horrible, annoying players than from PC/PS2

The reason you hear more complaints from the 360 server is because it has a bigger population, i'm sure if the PS2/PC servers had a similar sized population you would hear just as many if not more complaints about bad players.

[Akaimizu]

Lord knows I could have as many complaints about the online PC games I've played and play; however just like the 360, I get with groups or clans to filter out the mess. PC users are just used to forming tighter groups when lobbies are filled with typical annoying internet personalities.

Maybe why I was ready to simply jump into the tools of friends-lists and such with Xbox Live. It was just normal for me to do so. More console players haven't been through the early PC internet initiation to be quick to go through that stuff and would complain about randoms until they learn to form friend-groups and the such.

Do people random a lot in WoW or Guildwars? They can, or they take the often-used route of joining a clan with decent members to have a community of people they can better depend on. Or, at least, not get on their nerves.

Even for xbox360, I'm a part of a clan or two, so I can always get with reasonable people to play various games. They do have websites, just like they do for PC.

[SuperChoco]

Does anyone even go to the PSOW universe(15) anymore? Every time I go to that universe, it's empty

[Kanore]

The reason you hear more complaints from the 360 server is because it has a bigger population, i'm sure if the PS2/PC servers had a similar sized population you would hear just as many if not more complaints about bad players.

Good job Sherlock. Except that in reality it DOESN'T have a bigger population and in reality we don't have as much 'bad players.'

[Zael]

Nerf White Beast.

That mission is practically the ONLY place newcomers can go to level up, and they'll get bored of being only able to run the same mission over and over again, and eventually quit. It's a huge reason this game is newbie-unfriendly. New players usually don't have a static group or friends they can run other mission with, nor can they solo the other missions.

[_K1_]

Nerf White Beast.People will probably just go to the next hot spot, just like they went to Mother Brain, or True Darkness, or HSM, or Labs, or Crimson Beast, or Bruce, or De Ragan before that. This seems like the unfortunate result of PSU being as co-op heavy as it is.

The best way around (from what I can see), is to get a party together at WB, then ask if they want to go run something else. Pretty much everyone is sick of WB, so it's not much of a problem... someone just needs to take initiative.

Re: population, Sega needs to get the client software to as many people as possible. AOTI should be a free download (considering the speed with which it was pirated, it may as well have been). I still see the PS2 version on shelves, which is good, but they really need to push it more. With this free time, I logged onto my PC chars for the first time in over a year, and everything was still in place. Maybe some people will return/give their accounts to others?

[PrinceBrightstar]

Personally I find there's a little less lag, not to mention less likely of a universe crash (if those even happen anymore) on the empty universes. As to increasing the population, sega really needs to get a PC/PS2 World Premiere version up to encourage new players to join.

[ThaiSoup]

White beast is dead to me.

[Mystil]

Does anyone even go to the PSOW universe(15) anymore? Every time I go to that universe, it's empty

That's been dead for over a year now.