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Parth Makeo · **11-18-2017, 01:29 PM**

DISCLAIMER!

I am by no means trying to start a war of servers or anything to ignite a feud. This is a topic i've been asking myself and friends and felt like getting off my chest. KEEP THIS CIVIL!

Stormblood has been out for nearly six months or so and in that time i've seen people on Balmung and met move to other servers in the first few days (who now are regretting their choice for some reason) and overtime the effect of a server effectively contained with no way to transfer back on nor make a new character brought a slowly growing issue....

No new blood.

"WELL NO SHIT PARTH! OF COURSE NO NEW BLOOD WOULD COME TO THE SERVER!"

But this is a problem in of itself. Without new blood we might face an incoming drought of RP contacts and friends. Now i am sure majority of Balmung won't care and personally i don't mind RPing with my pals on the server since i came. My problem is when people get either tired of a character but cannot really RP on the server if they have no alt characters, or people who want to make a fresh start for some reason but find that people will most likely know who they are.

New RPers are all heading to Mateus and good on them, but i feel as if without any chance to 'return' to Balmung for anyone who left or want to try the server, there's no real growth that can come from Balmung less we all suddenly hit the reset button on our RP characters and start fresh. While of course we all are caring and loving of our characters, the fact that Balmung does not seem to be opening it's gate will wane.

I was lucky to get six characters on Balmung before the lockdown. I have six potential characters to RP as with varying levels of personality. Though some have exclusive items or are much more tended to. For others? Not so much...

People i have talked to on my discord who transferred their characters to mateus are kicking themselves in the ass for not keeping at least one person on Balmung for sake of talking with pals or casual RP.Â

So i ask you all...What are your thoughts as a balmung player about the Lockdown? Do you feel like at some point you might just drop RP activity until they open the gates? Do you think Square should just update their server capacity already to accommodate more than 50k characters? (tbh i'm just joshing on the number Tongue

)Â

I'd like to hear your concerns.Â

Wemrys · **11-18-2017, 01:56 PM**

As I've stated on other threads like this...the most efficient thing to do is to make the most of the situation. We're in a gated community right now and those of us who have no intention of transferring off either stayed up super late a number of nights in a row or paid the money to get our character(s) on the server. If we keep to ourselves and not make the most of being here, then what was the point?

Attend community events, open yourself up to new experiences with other RPers, meet new people, start new stories, build new RPs. On a server with 15k+ people on it, it's impossible to have met them all, no matter how long you've been around.

If we're a gated community, it's time to get to know our neighbors and have as much fun as we can...then when the floodgates open once again we're all well-equipped and prepared to meet and greet even MORE new people. If you're staying around here, you can't lose with that formula. You just need to get out there and RP more, take more risks, be less shy. It's hard I know because I can be pretty shy at times, but it really is awesome getting to know new folks and getting RPs started.

Parth Makeo · **11-18-2017, 02:02 PM**

(11-18-2017, 01:56 PM)Wemrys Wrote: Â You just need to get out there and RP more, take more risks, be less shy. It's hard I know because I can be pretty shy at times, but it really is awesome getting to know new folks and getting RPs started.

i have no problem with RP. I just am wondering about others. Its kind of why i am not posting actively on the fourms because of some people im rping with lately as a group

Roen · **11-18-2017, 02:11 PM**

I am in agreement with Wemrys.

Since the lockdown, I have found myself being more proactive about reaching out to people, looking through the Looking For Connections posts here and on tumblr (and recently, thanks to Zhavi, also looked through recent changes in the wiki area). I've always sort of kept an eye out for new folks and poked some for RP over the years, but lately I've definitely taken more of an initiative in doing so.

I am still finding plenty of people I've never met or RPed with. And I come across lots of names that I've never seen on either tumblr or RPC either that are RPing out in the world. Balmung is locked down because it is overpopulated. Surely there are plenty of RPers in that crowd that most of us haven't ran into!

I do hope that Balmung will open up again sometime in the distant future, but until then, I think we still have plenty of avenues to meet new people here. New to us, not the server. We just gotta put aside our apprehensions (I know, I myself sometimes have a hard time doing this) and just poke people.

Wemrys · **11-18-2017, 02:13 PM**

(11-18-2017, 02:02 PM)Parth Makeo Wrote: i have no problem with RP. I just am wondering about others. Its kind of why i am not posting actively on the fourms because of some people im rping with lately as a group

Oh no I'm sorry! I didn't mean that toward you specifically. I was speaking more in general terms, I should have been more clear about that.

**Unnamed Mercenary** · **11-18-2017, 02:20 PM**

I'm of the mind that the Balmung lock is still a good thing. We shouldn't be sacrificing the stability of our server (which does have actual hard limits) and possibly that of the datacenter simply to keep all the people with a common interest on a single space.

As said in other threads, SE deems a server "large enough" to start restricting new characters when it hits about 7500 active connections at any given time. That's a LOT of people. When we look at the unofficial census to see how many active people are on balmung, that number breaks 10,000, which is an extremely large amount of people. And that doesn't include people who took a break from content to RP or anything else, which is why the numbers likely underestimate the total amount of people active on the server.

Given that the server lock has stayed despite incentives to move off, I'm under the assumption that there is still a staggering amount of people playing on our server. I still see new/sprout characters on a regular basis as well.

I suppose my bigger issue is "why does someone have to be 'new' to have new experiences?" I see talk about how everything is going stale because there are new people, but are they really a requirement for a server that has so many people it's been locked? If the server caps were lower like "classical" MMOs where the cap was maybe 1000-3000 characters, I could justify someone knowing all the other characters on the server. But we're nowhere like that.

I would also like remind that we do have cross-world functionality. People who transferred from Balmung to Mateus, or any other Aether world for that matter, aren't "gone." You can still party, chat, and do content with them. They even persist on the friendslist. While it is probably wise to keep a character on Balmung to be able to access the actual zones, we are in a state where people moving servers can continue to stay in contact with the friends from afar. ...hopefully done even easier once those mobile app and cross-world group chat features are implemented.

So to the people who are frustrated about the server being closed, what is the appeal of "new blood" over new experiences with the people already on the server? We're certainly not hurting for diversity or lack of participation.

ArmachiA · **11-18-2017, 03:02 PM**

"New Blood" is basically how things don't stagnant in general, in video games or in real life. Countries grow and change based on the younger generation becoming the older generation and lots of countries are worried over their low birth rates that will eventually lead to a stagnation and a dead end stop on growth unless they do something.

Same is true for MMO servers really. It's not bad now, we're only seeing a little bit of stopping due to the server being shut down for six months, but Balmung is 100% relying on people to never quit the game, never stop doing content on the server and never stop RPing. For arguments sake, a lot of RPers could just, I dunno, get bored of RPing one day and there would be no "New Blood" to come in from behind with their eagerness for RP to fill in the hole left by ex-RPers. As people quit (And people will quit, the game is on it's 4th year) there's no new people to take their place, to keep the communities alive and vibrant. Right now, we're all comfortable. One wouldn't notice a change at all if they aren't looking or, more likely, their circle hasn't really gotten any smaller.

But 100% relying on the old guard to stick around because the new guard aren't allowed to play has already had an impact on the server. Not a terrible one, mind. It's small things. FC recruitment has slowed, people have to make more of an effort to combine already established circles (Which could be a good thing in the end), there's this weird ouroboros of rumors of the same people because no one new is coming in to make people stop caring about them.

Not that I disagree with the idea of locking the server. I thought, and still think, it was necessary. However, I do think at this point, 6 months in, that SE needs to be looking at other options. Everyone who wanted to leave has left, and the server is still locked. It's time to split the server imo.

For me personally, it's actually frustrated people from outside the server can't come to play yet. My guild had to roll an alt guild on a different server for people who want to play with us but can't. Luckily people had no problem rolling an alt to hang with those people but it's still annoying.

S'imba · **11-18-2017, 03:18 PM**

Personally I don't see the server getting unlocked for a good while. If the server is stable enough they won't have any reason to take further action. Though I think I heard they're going to add more incentive.Â

Hopefully they don't split the server. I really think that would be something that would cause major problems. Groups getting split up type things.

As far as lack of new blood goes I feel both ways. We've got a lot of people and contacts to make. Though that can sometimes be easier said than done. On the other hand there is a chance that things will die off. Especially when Mateus becomes more and more active. More and more people will continue to jump ship looking for greener pastures.

Kismet · **11-18-2017, 03:25 PM**

Unnamed Merc said most of what I could've offered on this subject.

I have not RPed with a large majority of people on this forum, let alone this server. This is mainly due to a combination of selectiveness, scheduling clashes, my mood, and laziness. However, none of these factors are dependent on other people. They're all based on ME. If I was the sort of person who was hurting for more RP, I wouldn't be able to say that I've exhausted most of my potential options. And I believe that's a claim that most people cannot truly make.

Can anyone who believes that a lack of "new blood" on Balmung is "the" issue really say they've RPed with a thousand people? Thousands? Everyone I've met doesn't even know 500 people on this server, let alone RPed with that amount. To clarify, I'm not saying there's no one like that out there... It's just extremely naive to think it describes the average RPer.

If you're the sort of person who feels RP is scarce now, chances are you felt the same prior to the lockdown. That, or if you weren't going out of your way to meet new folks before (like I wasn't, because I've always been comfortable in my respective groups, like the OP)? Chances are you aren't doing that now, either.

But even if none of that describes your particular situation... I feel that people should take a good, long look at themselves first before pointing fingers at other things.

Faye · **11-18-2017, 03:38 PM**

While I have my share of complaints about the lockdown, a lack of fresh blood is at the bottom of that list right now for me, personally. Considering this lockdown is indefinite, it may become an issue later on, but it hasn't felt like a problem yet. As someone who I feel is social, puts myself out there and meets a lot of people, I am still regularly meeting new people on Balmung, some I've really enjoyed role-playing and chatting with. Who knows if I would have met them if the Quicksand had been full of newbies and people's fresh alts who might have snagged a walk-up with my character or theirs first? My FC is even still getting new recruits; we just picked up someone who's played on Balmung a while but is just now venturing into FFXIV RP! I try to look at the bright side of things, and this is a good opportunity to branch out and meet more people who are already established on Balmung and more likely to stick around than someone who picked up the game a month ago and transferred to Balmung for RP and may not end up enjoying the game/community and disappear within another month.

**Unnamed Mercenary** · **11-18-2017, 03:59 PM**

(11-18-2017, 03:02 PM)ArmachiA Wrote: snip

Wouldn't people quitting Balmung be exactly what SE wants to happen before they open up the server again? It seems awfully unlikely that the vast majority of RPers would quit RPing on Balmung, but continue logging into it in such high numbers doing other activities that the server would remain locked. Or we could assume that if the case is that non-RPers on Balmung have a large enough population to keep the server locked, that people would then transfer to other RP servers.

I don't think we're in any danger of FFXIV losing some large amount of RPers. They may shuffle around on different servers, but that was already happening. And the same would happen if they were all on the same server as well.

--
[Responding to entire thread down here]

So again, I'd ask whether this is a fear of not being able to find new experiences or new people to RP with, or a fear of lacking newbies on the server who aren't already part of someone else's RP? Like the feeling I get from these types of threads is that there's a bigger concern about no new people to indoctrinate or "get into RP" than there is about not being able to find new RP connections.

People namechange and buy fantasias all the time. Balmung isn't going to just suddenly run out of character ideas. And if/when the population has subsided, it would be opened again to replenish and population shortages, which do seem pretty unlikely to happen when the active population still doubles the soft cap.

Syranelle Ironleaf · **11-18-2017, 05:31 PM**

My only beef with the lockdown is that I finallyÂ got my husband playing FFXIV and I was totally willing to pay to transfer him here so he could play and RP with me and my friends.Â We've rolled a pair of characters to level together on Mateus in the meantime, but I'm still hoping that at least paid transfers open up eventually so we can go where my friends, my main, our FC, and all the things I've spent years building are.Â XP

Akeno Asukai · **11-18-2017, 07:10 PM**

What are your thoughts as a balmung player about the Lockdown?Â
In truth, the lock-down is probably far more problematic for people who have taken a more prominent/active roll in the community as a whole -- people who, unlike me, are well known within the communities of Balmung as their role-play is likely to be centered around the same group of people day-in and day-out. I've actually had this conversation with friends repeatedly and I don't find myself too restricted -- in truth, I don't see it as a problem; but of course, I am not a well-known member of the Balmung server.Â
Â Â Â While yes, when frequenting to the "regular" hot-spots of Balmung I do tend to see the same people day-in and day-out, but I chalk that up to the fact that these are the same people who've hung out there for years -- I'm only just beginning to "notice" this due to the distinct lack of "new blood".Â

To put it bluntly: I don't feel very affected by the lock-down as a whole.

Do you feel like at some point you might just drop RP activity until they open the gates?
Absolutely not and for several reasons; the largest of these reasons is that I've finally begun to put my name (and my character) out there in the world. As the Magister of the Invitational (a weekly role-play event) and the Kingpin of a Syndicate Free Company, I've committed to Balmung for better or worse.Â
Â Â Â As state above, there are a plethora of people I've never interacted with and I've been on the server for three years.Â

Do you think Square should just update their server capacity already to accommodate more than 50k characters?
I don't. While it would be nice to have "fresh meat" hanging around, I don't personally feel like it's absolutely necessary for my characters growth. The upside to the servers opening would be Free Company recruitment being a whole lot easier however, I am still able to put together events with the few (and when I say few I mean four) members I do have.Â
Â Â Â There are selfish reasons for me quite enjoying the server being closed off. They are petty and small.Â

I know there are lots of people who have new friends and as Syranelle said, their significant others have joined the game and they are unable to have them here on Balmung -- in this regard, the lock-down is a detriment. However, I don't foresee Square opening the gates anytime soon.Â

Nebbs · **11-18-2017, 09:55 PM**

Locks are bad, with no new blood or worse, no new alts all that can happen is total numbers will fall. The only hope is to get more RP from those that remain just to keep things at the same level.

I suppose it is also double trouble for me being from EU, and I find raiding is not viable given the increased lag. So I have two reasons to go.

Yet i am still here, and that is for two very simple reasons...

1. People I we RPing with at the time stayed
2. I setup an EU FC and we are active and they are great

However, for one reason or another (I think maybe RL, for good reasons not bad) I am not as active in RP at the moment. But maybe when things calm down I will come back to seeking out RP and not looking at walls.

The housing mess always gets me down, more than I like to think. The Lock does not bother me as numbers are high enough.

ArmachiA · **11-19-2017, 04:37 AM**

(11-18-2017, 03:59 PM)Unnamed Mercenary Wrote:
(11-18-2017, 03:02 PM)ArmachiA Wrote: snip

Wouldn't people quitting Balmung be exactly what SE wants to happen before they open up the server again? It seems awfully unlikely that the vast majority of RPers would quit RPing on Balmung, but continue logging into it in such high numbers doing other activities that the server would remain locked. Or we could assume that if the case is that non-RPers on Balmung have a large enough population to keep the server locked, that people would then transfer to other RP servers.

I don't think we're in any danger of FFXIV losing some large amount of RPers. They may shuffle around on different servers, but that was already happening. And the same would happen if they were all on the same server as well.

---

I think that's dependent on a few factors. A bunch of RPers could quit but PVE wouldn't and the server would stay locked, or visa versa. It's not just an RPer problem, as much as reddit likes to think it is. If, for arguments sake I'm not saying this will happen, a bunch of RPers decided to quit/transfer to Mateus/stop rping/whatever while the PvE community never moved - the server would stay locked and RP would die. So I think context is super important for that discussion and we don't have context yet because Balmung isn't in dire straights right now. My what-ifs are just as valid as your what-ifs which makes that hard to gauge.

I'm not saying it's a problem -right now-, but I also understand the people who are worried about the future. Both arguments are valid, some try to live in the present and make the most of it, some think of the future and what they can do to fix a problem that hasn't happened yet. Both is fine.

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[Discussion] The State of Balmung's Lockdown

RPC has moved! These pages have been kept for historical purposes