No, because I have been through several server launches when playing WoW, and I have seen enough of what happens to know that creating a server with an RP tag but nothing else to set it apart or give it advanced functionality for RP'ers beyond adding two letters onto the server name does nothing but congest server lists and fracture an already niche base. It sounds great and needed now, but long term it's a pretty bad deal and actually isn't even the bandage that Balmung (and Gilgamesh to an extent) really needs.
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Tsuki got wordy, so it's behind a cut/spoiler!WoW started up with five official and labeled role-play servers upon release. Over the next five years, they added in 12 more - including the niche PvP-RP servers. There were no more servers added past 2009 that were role-play specific, the utter last one being Wyrmrest Accord. Over time, those 17 servers effectively smushed back down to nine servers using cross-realm technology - three of these are standalone servers, with one of them at not quite 200k population (and thus too large to mash into the others without making them too large and thus defeating the point of cross-realm), and the other two at ~560k and ~640k.Â
As someone who started on one of the original five, I remember when each of the new role-play servers opened. I remember the exodus of role-players from the servers, spilling into the new one in hope of a new oasis, I remember the claims of making things better. I remember the 'foundations' that were thunked down onto each new server, and I remember the absolute elitism and 'popular people' battles that went down on each of them, scattering people as wars were waged over who had the prettier princess and who owned the Park tavern.
I also remember the servers filling up with PvE players and PvP players - which helped with actually getting things done on the servers, until new servers opened up again and people once again flooded, sometimes split between two, and the communities would shrink and the cycle would begin again, leaving behind crippled communities that once thrived as best they could in their smaller states. Over and over, time after time, until finally the tide broke against Moon Guard and Wyrmrest Accord and people gathered on those because there was nowhere else to go - and the servers that were left behind suffered, leeching people to larger servers until the cross-realms went into effect.
The server was temporarily closed to help make it easier for the server to survive the launch of Stormblood. It was never announced to be closing permanently, only until the active player population has stabilized. Will I take the temporary server closure over getting through a huge queue only to get dropped right back into it when the server collapses? Uhm, yes. Will I take the temporary closure over having to endure restarts when something bugs because the amount of people in an area somehow make the MSQ line break and no one can get through it, thus putting me right back into that damned queue? Yes.Â
An 'official' tag does nothing, means nothing. It doesn't ban people who don't RP from the server (which is a bad idea anyway), and at what point should a server close? Balmung's only true issue is the lack of housing for the masses, something that seems to be of higher value to players than the community itself (which is very much thriving), or the stability of the game they pay to play. If housing is so important, what happens when an 'official' server grows too big? When it gets locked down during launches? When people have to pay to get on? Does it lock down when there is no available housing any longer? What about people who can't get housing? Does another server open, dividing an already small playerbase niche even tinier?
Does it suck to have people have to wait for a bit to get onto a server? Yeah, sure. There's nothing stopping people from rolling on a small pop world and playing with the friend that wants to transfer in until they can, either - especially with next to nothing to do until launch. You don't need to be in-game to role-play, and you don't need to be on the same server to do dungeons together. If people have no ties to Balmung and want to move off? Then do so, but don't sit there waiting for a tag that will do nothing special. Anyone who wants to come to FFXIV to role-play is going to do a little bit of research and figure things out themselves.
This server closure is temporary so that we can actually play the game at launch. There is not going to be stagnation - a tide of people will come back, play, get burned out, leave. More people will come in, as once the flood abates, the doors will open again. Â Role-players are consistently the niche set in just about any MMO, and are often community driven. Getting ourselves a status tag was barely asking for anything. Asking for an official RP server sounds great now, until there's a bunch of official RP servers where the actual RP community is negligible enough that it's really just a PvE server with some people who like to play pretend.
As someone who started on one of the original five, I remember when each of the new role-play servers opened. I remember the exodus of role-players from the servers, spilling into the new one in hope of a new oasis, I remember the claims of making things better. I remember the 'foundations' that were thunked down onto each new server, and I remember the absolute elitism and 'popular people' battles that went down on each of them, scattering people as wars were waged over who had the prettier princess and who owned the Park tavern.
I also remember the servers filling up with PvE players and PvP players - which helped with actually getting things done on the servers, until new servers opened up again and people once again flooded, sometimes split between two, and the communities would shrink and the cycle would begin again, leaving behind crippled communities that once thrived as best they could in their smaller states. Over and over, time after time, until finally the tide broke against Moon Guard and Wyrmrest Accord and people gathered on those because there was nowhere else to go - and the servers that were left behind suffered, leeching people to larger servers until the cross-realms went into effect.
The server was temporarily closed to help make it easier for the server to survive the launch of Stormblood. It was never announced to be closing permanently, only until the active player population has stabilized. Will I take the temporary server closure over getting through a huge queue only to get dropped right back into it when the server collapses? Uhm, yes. Will I take the temporary closure over having to endure restarts when something bugs because the amount of people in an area somehow make the MSQ line break and no one can get through it, thus putting me right back into that damned queue? Yes.Â
An 'official' tag does nothing, means nothing. It doesn't ban people who don't RP from the server (which is a bad idea anyway), and at what point should a server close? Balmung's only true issue is the lack of housing for the masses, something that seems to be of higher value to players than the community itself (which is very much thriving), or the stability of the game they pay to play. If housing is so important, what happens when an 'official' server grows too big? When it gets locked down during launches? When people have to pay to get on? Does it lock down when there is no available housing any longer? What about people who can't get housing? Does another server open, dividing an already small playerbase niche even tinier?
Does it suck to have people have to wait for a bit to get onto a server? Yeah, sure. There's nothing stopping people from rolling on a small pop world and playing with the friend that wants to transfer in until they can, either - especially with next to nothing to do until launch. You don't need to be in-game to role-play, and you don't need to be on the same server to do dungeons together. If people have no ties to Balmung and want to move off? Then do so, but don't sit there waiting for a tag that will do nothing special. Anyone who wants to come to FFXIV to role-play is going to do a little bit of research and figure things out themselves.
This server closure is temporary so that we can actually play the game at launch. There is not going to be stagnation - a tide of people will come back, play, get burned out, leave. More people will come in, as once the flood abates, the doors will open again. Â Role-players are consistently the niche set in just about any MMO, and are often community driven. Getting ourselves a status tag was barely asking for anything. Asking for an official RP server sounds great now, until there's a bunch of official RP servers where the actual RP community is negligible enough that it's really just a PvE server with some people who like to play pretend.
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