They should "lock down" overpopped faction on servers....

I really think they should just simply lock down the overpopulated factions on servers for a while, until populations are even....and now with the continent locks its just dam ******** that the overpopulating faction have numbers AND discounts too...
thoughts about this?

Why not make the certification in underpopped faction cheaper

it would only make 4th faction move to cert stuff and hop back when there's an alert?

Yeah, let's stop people from playing the factions that they want to. Sounds great.
I'm aware that overpop/underpop is a problem, but this would cause more problems than it would solve.

I see two options that would be feasable, and not cause a ginormagantuan poop storm of feedback

1: Free server transfers. Seriously, SOE - it's a database copy, let players sign up for it, take backups, copy, paste, delete original. This shouldnt be that hard. Heck, people that are really irritated about over / underpops would probably pay for it, or so the multi-hundreds of posts about the desire for server transfer tokens claim.

2: Offer a faction transfer for a single character on the same server - refund 100% of all certs spent on ES certs, and grant all equiv vehicle / weapons on a fresh BR1 char. This is just another database query - the player spent 92,570 certs on non NS weapons? Give them that, given cert expenditure totals, even paying a guy to do this manually for a few thousand people wouldnt take more then a week or so. Give new character, give certs, give equiv items, done.

This problem shouldnt exist for as long as it has, not when potential solutions are this simple.

Dam you're right...because there is only ONE server..right, right?

Overpop is not caused solely by people logging in. Equally responsible, perhaps even more so, are people logging out.

The 1st one would probably end in more server merges, because ppl would leave to higher pop factions imo
The 2nd is a good idea.

Instead of bonus XP for being underpopped, they should give bonus XP for attacking the overpopped faction. For instance, if the factions are 28/35/37, you get 5% bonus XP for each percentage point of difference. If you are the 28% faction, so you would get 35% bonus XP for attacking the 35%(a difference of 7%, so 7 x 5 is 35%), or 45% for fighting the 37%.

The XP is given for all front line regions that border enemy territory (or the enemy territory that borders your territory) so that it is not just kill based, but also allows support to rake in something.

This would make the overpopped faction more likely to be double teamed as the other 2 factions will want to get the XP bonus for faster cert gain. If another faction becomes overpopped this will be a fairly effective deterrent for 4th factioners who find that joining the overpopped faction just means you will be double-teamed more often because you are a juicier, fuller XP pinata.

p.s. This is not my idea but something that someone posted on the PS subreddit months ago.

Reduce the continent lock bonus for overpopped factions, proportional to their 'overpoppedness'. So the more 4th faction people move over, the lower the benefit for resources. (they still get a benefit, just not as much)

(the xp idea above is a good one too, xp after all is generally the primary motivator in this game)

I only play VS on ONE server. I don´t like the idea getting locked out and being forced to change faction or server.

Rejected, sir!

Bingo. Hit the nail on the head.

And there are too many factors which are driving people to log out.

Great business model, lets alienate customers who could potentially invest in the game with real money.

People joining overpop factions (and specifically the NC) are typically children, and children have no money.

What an idiotic thing to say.

Business model...WUT..are you okay?
Its not like they CAN CHOSE from OTHER servers...
somehow pops need to be adjusted...dear sir since they weren't smart enough to make 1 char/server

The NC overpop during work hours and late weekday evenings suggests otherwise.

And this is why your idea fails. At the end of the day this is ultimately a business which needs to make money to continue to exist. By locking servers you are preventing people playing with there friends etc. Yes some would be willing to go to other servers, but not all. By locking out these customers, you're alienating a potential income revenue. This is why they haven't done it in the past (when pop balance was vastly worse than it is now) and why they will never do it.

Agreed.

There is one server where my outfit is. There is one server where my ping isn't crap. There is one server where I have a BR 99. There is one server where all of my friends are. I don't get your argument.

Hex based XP boosts for underpopped Factions I think should be in place.