low population servers

Okay, I have been playing the game for a long time now, many years, and this question finally started bugging the hell out of me. Why are some servers populated more than others? I mean, the missions are the same, the enemies, environments, NPCs, etc are all the same, so why the vast gap in players? I have toons on both Guardian and Pinnacle, Pinnacle is not too bad, but Guardian should be re-named "the abandoned server". There is never anyone on Guardian it seems, at least on Pinnacle my SG is on there, so there are people I can team with. Also why is it that Freedom seems to be the most populated/poular server?

When a player first enters the game logon screen the servers are shown in order of population (although I'm not sure if that's total population, or population at the time) so new players are likely to end up on one of the busier servers and once they are established they are likely to stay there for a while.

I'm afraid I'm one of the people that left Guardian... Granted I did it years ago when all of my SG there left to play CoV when it launched and they never came back. Last time I checked, I am one of three people still playing from that SG out of the 25 or so players.

Group dynamics in social environments.

People are social animals. The default behavior of most humans it to group together, even in virtual environments. Very old instinctual safety response. The more people in your group, the smaller the chance that you would be the one eaten when a predator attacked.

So the larger the group, the more attractive it is to most people. Servers with heavy populations therefore attract more people by default, because of the herding instinct.

Some people shun socialization, even in virtual environments. This may be due the brain's logic center overriding the more basic instincts, telling the person that he/she is better off alone than with a group, for logical reasons (groups move more slowly, groups leave more easily detected trails for predators, groups involve more communal work for less individual reward, etc.). These people will tend to seek out servers with smaller populations, where they can avoid becoming part of a group.

Some people need more close knit socialization than large groups provide. I can't theorize on the reasoning behind that, due to my mental disorders. But I would expect that these people would play on lower population servers, but specifically seek to join established and relatively stable communities within those "smaller" servers, provided that they are not "ZOMG TOP NUMBAR ON SG" groups. These people want extended virtual families and dear friends, not fame/glory/to be part of something larger.

In regards to the specific server populations, it's similar to a hunter-gatherer social network. If one tribe has a larger population, it will inevitably be more desirable to loners and members of other tribes because it represents easier access to resources and increased safety, whereas other tribes will shift in population, some remaining relatively stable, some growing slowly and some gradually diminishing to nothing, and there will always be the lone wanderers, merchants and traders who travel from tribe to tribe or avoid the tribes altogether.

One additional factor is that each server has a niche, or a reputation for being special in some way, such as Virtue being "the RP server" or Pinnacle being "the drunk server". Players will seek out one or more of these niches in addition to, and sometimes to the exclusion of, population. Players join lower population servers specifically because they would rather immerse themselves in a more specialized aspect or approach to the game, despite having a lower than maximum population.

Basically, it's the same reason some people live in New York, New York and some live in Umatilla, Florida-- because that's just how people are.

So there you go.

You asked why, and got complete, accurate answers.

This is all good, and as it should be.
It gives people who like busier servers a choice,
and those that like quieter servers a choice.

Everyone can be happy.

.

What gets me is why is it always "So-and-So server is abandoned/dead/empty/etc" when
what they usually mean is "I'm mentally incapable of solo'ing or running with anything less than a full 8 man team AND I'm too lazy to start my own teams AND I'd rather sit around for several hours waiting for some other team to pick me up AND whine about how the server's empty"

Just why is it that the only thing these folks seem to consider as acceptable population is the result of massive levels of lag, server queues, and tons of folks you wouldn't want to hang out with anyway? Are the other MMO's out there so bad that that's considered normal?

Guardian is my primary server, Pinnacle is my secondary, Protector is my tertiary, etc (I have toons on most of the servers) and I NEVER have any issues with getting on a team or forming my own teams when I want one. (OK, maybe at 3 AM on a Tuesday, but that's it).

So either I'm some super awesome player that everyone on the server knows and wants on thier team (unlikely), or I have some magic team-finding power (also unlikely), or maybe you're just doing something wrong (hmm.....).

If I decide on the challenge of a 100% solo toon, I'll do it on Guardian then.

Or do you think I'd get more blind invites? All the natives would be going "OMG! A Person!"

Guardian is my primary server; always has been and always will be. I only started playing blue side about six months ago; prior to that I was exclusively red-side (which is even more quiet than blue). Additionally, I'm in the UK so my hours don't necessarily coincide with the primarily American player base there. (Although, I have come across some other British players and New Zealanders and some Europeans.)

So .. given the above 'problems', you think I solo much? Not if I can avoid it. Only character I really solo'd was a thugs/dark MM (I enjoyed playing her solo). The rest of the time I will team or TF.

Use the global Guardian channel. There are shout outs for teams/TFs in it. Once people know you, you'll start getting /tells even before the shout outs.

There are other channels on the server; some you will need an invite to. So speak to people who will introduce you to the channels.

Use that global friends list. There's a lot of altitus about so globals are your friend. No I'm not suggesting you team with someone for three minutes and global them but if you're teaming with someone for a while then offer. Don't assume because someone on your global is on a certain char that they won't swap to an alt for a team or TF. They could be checking the market, playing with a costume, or be mucking with the base and the character they're on is the only one that has editing rights.

You can pick up teams and future team mates in unlikely places. I responded to a call for help in Guardian global earlier this year and started chatting to someone who also responded to that call for help. We team regularly; all from chatting in Pocket D and both of us helping someone else. I don't recruit to my SG or VG but I've offered coalitions to people after a great teaming experience, a nice chat and discovering they're just building their own base.

I admit to some lean times during AE, but TFs were still there. There's always badgers who want TFs.

I'm a little star-shy myself, but teams are there. Really.

I'm one of the people that moved to Freedom. I had my reasons though.

It isn't really that I love crowds.

It's that I sometimes love crowds.

I have this odd playstyle. I do something different every day. I'll go on a boring badge hunt, work on the base, shop, buff lowbies in Atlas, find a Pug, or join a TF. It's really tough for me to develop a lot of friends or be a part of an active SG. I'm all over the frigging place. My mood blows like the wind. I'll often play 4 or 5 toons in one play session.

So I'm a fan of options. A place like Freedom gives me options. Being on a crowded server doesn't mean I have to be around a lot of people....it means I can be around a lot of people if I want to be.

Hope that makes sense.

Thanks to all of you who replied...as i said, it was just a curiousity thing. I guess I just have to step up and use "lft" instead of "looking to join a team". Again, thanks gang.