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Valence · **11-28-2017, 04:30 AM**

What happened with the Mateus/Balmung? Did I miss something?

Kieron Lohengrin · **11-28-2017, 06:25 AM**

(11-28-2017, 03:58 AM)shinobikaikyo Wrote: The lock can suck but the only real solution I see is increased server capabilities on SE's part. The fact of the matter is that RP communities only really work and prosper when they're on one dedicated server, or we see what happened with the mateus/balmung. There is no way to get people to leave Balmung, and that isn't a bad thing--It's important for the RP community to be away from PvP/PvE majority servers otherwise they'll be bullied and harassed (which is already an occurrence on balmung sometimes.)

SE simply has to improve server capabilities as their game grows more popular and more played. Because you aren't going to get people to leave their communities and friends, you aren't going to get them to leave their house plots, and no new RP community will rival what Balmung has already.

squeenix already made server and ping improvements with the west coast move. their software isn't magically going to raise its population limits just by adding more processor cores or ram, they'll simply open up new shards and keep incentivizing transfers.

besides which, it's pretty myopic and dismissive to claim "no one else can rival what balmung has." people are active with whatever rp environment they move to, ingame or otherwise. pve is a non-issue thanks to df. everyone and their mum is an omnicrafter on balmung so market board prices are delightful. if balmung stays locked forever while other rp server economies similarly mature, then that'd definitely be another good reason to move

Gegenji · **11-28-2017, 10:02 AM**

(11-28-2017, 04:30 AM)Valence Wrote: What happened with the Mateus/Balmung? Did I miss something?

I'm not entirely sure. As far as I understand it, Mateus is doing well and - even if Balmung should open up at some point in the future - I think folks are situated enough there that they won't jump ship just to get back to Balmung.

Between those already on Balmung, those who started new or migrated to Mateus and/or Omega, and the other smaller RP communities scattered across other servers we seem to have some decently thriving RP populations.

Zhavi · **11-28-2017, 01:00 PM**

(11-27-2017, 11:30 PM)Kieron Lohengrin Wrote: how are the market board prices on mateus these days?

Pricy, but not imo exorbitantly so in general, some items do run the exception, however, due to lack of competition.

If you're a crafter, there are plenty of niches to exploit. Like uhhh, immediate example: one person had 2 5 stacks of void blue dye up for 7k per one, and looking at market history, while they don't sell super fast, that seemed to be the average going price give or take 1k. Glamour items are decently pricy, with cashmere poncho going for like 5mil if I remember right, half high house boots sitting around 150-200k.

Meanwhile, I've seen low level mats like lavender sell for around 700-800 per one -- but it moves a little slowly.

Higher than balmung, but not so extreme that you can't meet going rates with a little effort.

(note that I didn't check endgame stuff though!)

shinobikaikyo · **11-29-2017, 03:41 AM**

(11-28-2017, 06:25 AM)Kieron Lohengrin Wrote:
(11-28-2017, 03:58 AM)shinobikaikyo Wrote: The lock can suck but the only real solution I see is increased server capabilities on SE's part. The fact of the matter is that RP communities only really work and prosper when they're on one dedicated server, or we see what happened with the mateus/balmung. There is no way to get people to leave Balmung, and that isn't a bad thing--It's important for the RP community to be away from PvP/PvE majority servers otherwise they'll be bullied and harassed (which is already an occurrence on balmung sometimes.)

SE simply has to improve server capabilities as their game grows more popular and more played. Because you aren't going to get people to leave their communities and friends, you aren't going to get them to leave their house plots, and no new RP community will rival what Balmung has already.

squeenix already made server and ping improvements with the west coast move. their software isn't magically going to raise its population limits just by adding more processor cores or ram, they'll simply open up new shards and keep incentivizing transfers.

besides which, it's pretty myopic and dismissive to claim "no one else can rival what balmung has." people are active with whatever rp environment they move to, ingame or otherwise. pve is a non-issue thanks to df. everyone and their mum is an omnicrafter on balmung so market board prices are delightful. if balmung stays locked forever while other rp server economies similarly mature, then that'd definitely be another good reason to move

Mateus had the best chance of rivaling Balmung in population with the huge move and sudden influx of RP'ers, but yet still ended up having many of the people regret their decision. If Mateus couldnt' do it then, with that much radical intervention by Square; it most certainly won't just happen randomly.

Balmung is what it is, and always will be; the sooner Square makes decisions with Balmung staying as a concentrated community, the more progress will be made, because it doesn't seem people are satisfied with the exodus that occurred.

Kieron Lohengrin · **11-29-2017, 04:40 AM**

(11-29-2017, 03:41 AM)shinobikaikyo Wrote:
(11-28-2017, 06:25 AM)Kieron Lohengrin Wrote:
(11-28-2017, 03:58 AM)shinobikaikyo Wrote: The lock can suck but the only real solution I see is increased server capabilities on SE's part. The fact of the matter is that RP communities only really work and prosper when they're on one dedicated server, or we see what happened with the mateus/balmung. There is no way to get people to leave Balmung, and that isn't a bad thing--It's important for the RP community to be away from PvP/PvE majority servers otherwise they'll be bullied and harassed (which is already an occurrence on balmung sometimes.)

SE simply has to improve server capabilities as their game grows more popular and more played. Because you aren't going to get people to leave their communities and friends, you aren't going to get them to leave their house plots, and no new RP community will rival what Balmung has already.

squeenix already made server and ping improvements with the west coast move. their software isn't magically going to raise its population limits just by adding more processor cores or ram, they'll simply open up new shards and keep incentivizing transfers.

besides which, it's pretty myopic and dismissive to claim "no one else can rival what balmung has." people are active with whatever rp environment they move to, ingame or otherwise. pve is a non-issue thanks to df. everyone and their mum is an omnicrafter on balmung so market board prices are delightful. if balmung stays locked forever while other rp server economies similarly mature, then that'd definitely be another good reason to move

Mateus had the best chance of rivaling Balmung in population with the huge move and sudden influx of RP'ers, but yet still ended up having many of the people regret their decision. If Mateus couldnt' do it then, with that much radical intervention by Square; it most certainly won't just happen randomly.

Balmung is what it is, and always will be; the sooner Square makes decisions with Balmung staying as a concentrated community, the more progress will be made, because it doesn't seem people are satisfied with the exodus that occurred.

squeenix isn't ever going to give preferential treatment to balmung. they'll just continue monitoring logins and unlock the server if the population dips low enough for their metrics, as it did with gilgamesh in the recent patch. and if the next xpac brings another queue-inducing surge of returnees and new players, then they'll likely relock the big servers and give the smallest worlds preferred bonuses once more until enough people move again. it's cheap, easy, and it works.

they don't view fragmentation as an issue because of the cross-server PF/DF. doubly so since they're already working on future cross-server chat features and friendslist. folks in this thread have raised valid concerns over stagnation and the loss of new blood, but frankly other options still exist. you can move to play with newfriends on an open server, you can do more discord/skype/forum rp, you can stay and just research the wiki then reach out to players you've never met before.

expecting square to fix an rper dilemma is like expecting the government to solve your lovelife - sure, they've heard of those things and are tangentially aware that they exist, but they're way down the list of priorities

Kylin · **11-29-2017, 05:55 AM**

(11-28-2017, 03:58 AM)shinobikaikyo Wrote: Mateus had the best chance of rivaling Balmung in population with the huge move and sudden influx of RP'ers, but yet still ended up having many of the people regret their decision. If Mateus couldnt' do it then, with that much radical intervention by Square; it most certainly won't just happen randomly.

Balmung is what it is, and always will be; the sooner Square makes decisions with Balmung staying as a concentrated community, the more progress will be made, because it doesn't seem people are satisfied with the exodus that occurred.

Mateus DOES rival Balmung in RP population. Also, a few people regretting their decision does not equate to "many."

Based on my own independent study between RP activity on both servers, Balmung as a whole still has a slightly larger active RP population than Mateus, but not by much. Based on daily glances at all players utilizing the RP tag, along with activity in hot spots like the Quicksand, RP on Mateus is almost equal (and some days greater than) Balmung. Their biggest problem in showcasing that is not utilizing the RPC to show the myriad of events (or really for anything else either if we're being honest) they constantly have on a weekly basis, opting to use solely their own community discord.

The passive-aggressive attitude of one server being "superior" to the other is the exact root cause to server conflict and partly to blame for why past attempts like Gilgamesh failed as a secondary main RP hub. It needs to stop. Now. Off-hand comments like the one quoted above literally equate to psychological warfare meant to stray people away from the 'competition' or make them regret being part of it. Such comments are partly the reason so few of them even come to the RPC, because seeing/battling that type of response (even if it is from a tiny vocal minority) gets exhausting after awhile.

Zhavi · **11-29-2017, 12:20 PM**

(11-29-2017, 05:55 AM)Kylin Wrote: Mateus DOES rival Balmung in RP population. Also, a few people regretting their decision does not equate to "many."

Based on my own independent study between RP activity on both servers, Balmung as a whole still has a slightly larger active RP population than Mateus, but not by much. Based on daily glances at all players utilizing the RP tag, along with activity in hot spots like the Quicksand, RP on Mateus is almost equal (and some days greater than) Balmung. Their biggest problem in showcasing that is not utilizing the RPC to show the myriad of events (or really for anything else either if we're being honest) they constantly have on a weekly basis, opting to use solely their own community discord.

The passive-aggressive attitude of one server being "superior" to the other is the exact root cause to server conflict and partly to blame for why past attempts like Gilgamesh failed as a secondary main RP hub. It needs to stop. Now. Off-hand comments like the one quoted above literally equate to psychological warfare meant to stray people away from the 'competition' or make them regret being part of it. Such comments are partly the reason so few of them even come to the RPC, because seeing/battling that type of response (even if it is from a tiny vocal minority) gets exhausting after awhile.

This. Even casually dipping into Mateus' community has convinced me that they're happy and proud of their community -- as they should be. They have what they enjoy. Is it exactly like Balmung? No. But then again, if it was, they'd just come right back when Balmung opens again.

The whole point of having sustainable server communities is to have those unique identities and rp styles so that people have options in finding what they want. It's good if someone has a bad time on Balmung, or Gilgamesh, or Mateus, or Siren/Jenova, or whatever other small server, and can go 'this server isn't working for me, I'm going to try a new one.' It allows people a chance to find their people, and sometimes a fresh start can help alleviate burnout.

Valence · **11-29-2017, 03:59 PM**

Out of curiosity, what's different?

Zhavi · **11-29-2017, 04:07 PM**

From my casual experience with open world stuff and seeing recruiting fc spam, there seems to be an outward (because the inner, more insular, less recruity rp could be a lot different) higher focus on slice of life stuff, more daily living, less drama, with occasional bouts of good vs evil. Like a little slower paced but greater depth than the slice of life I've experienced on Balmung, less of the slice-of-life "fronts" you see a lot of FCs doing on Balmung. Maybe it seems (and I'm stressing that word on purpose) a little more inclusive as opposed to more strictly themed/run/focused fcs on Balmung.

But I do want to emphasize that my experiences are as a casual observer, not someone actively trying to find rp. The casually observed rp on Balmung is also sometimes much different (see: reputation as erp capital where everyone erps as main rp focus) then the stuff you have to dig to find.

edit - I will also note that pickup rp on Mateus seemed pretty easy to find/run into. A lot more people use RP tags out and about on Mateus than they do on Balmung.

edit 2 - will also note that if you primarily use the RPC, balmung tumblrs, or your own discord groups, you might think mateus is dying because you don't see their activity. They focus their ooc community around a ton of discord hubs and their own tumblr hubs (though I think, but don't know for sure, that tumblr is just support to post longer text stuff --especially stories -- as opposed to being a place for ooc communication), and don't seem as inclined to mix as previously? There is a lot of activity there, you just have to look for it!

Ryslo Suramlo · **11-29-2017, 05:18 PM**

(11-29-2017, 05:55 AM)Kylin Wrote:
(11-28-2017, 03:58 AM)shinobikaikyo Wrote: Mateus had the best chance of rivaling Balmung in population with the huge move and sudden influx of RP'ers, but yet still ended up having many of the people regret their decision. If Mateus couldnt' do it then, with that much radical intervention by Square; it most certainly won't just happen randomly.

Balmung is what it is, and always will be; the sooner Square makes decisions with Balmung staying as a concentrated community, the more progress will be made, because it doesn't seem people are satisfied with the exodus that occurred.

Mateus DOES rival Balmung in RP population. Also, a few people regretting their decision does not equate to "many."

Based on my own independent study between RP activity on both servers, Balmung as a whole still has a slightly larger active RP population than Mateus, but not by much. Based on daily glances at all players utilizing the RP tag, along with activity in hot spots like the Quicksand, RP on Mateus is almost equal (and some days greater than) Balmung. Their biggest problem in showcasing that is not utilizing the RPC to show the myriad of events (or really for anything else either if we're being honest) they constantly have on a weekly basis, opting to use solely their own community discord.

The passive-aggressive attitude of one server being "superior" to the other is the exact root cause to server conflict and partly to blame for why past attempts like Gilgamesh failed as a secondary main RP hub. It needs to stop. Now. Off-hand comments like the one quoted above literally equate to psychological warfare meant to stray people away from the 'competition' or make them regret being part of it. Such comments are partly the reason so few of them even come to the RPC, because seeing/battling that type of response (even if it is from a tiny vocal minority) gets exhausting after awhile.

Hmn, I've had about three members already who have transferred from Balmung wanting to come back but I know for a fact its not because its Balmung. I think the person you quoted definitely was not on the mark about their commentary. I think people who regret transferring don't regret it so much because of the server choice but because of the people they left behind or groups they've left to do so. So I definitely agree with you Kylin that it has nothing to do with the 'Server', but I can see how the person you quoted would read into it easily and fall into a snared trap.

That said I think the mention of Mateus rivaling Balmung and vise versa for others is also setting a tone whether we 'intend' to or not. I think the majority of people here dont care one way or another as long as the RP is healthy on their server I think that is what really matters most for us. This Argument about Mateus Vs. Balmung is indeed getting old, but in order to address that we all need to stop trying to compare the two. I think that is what it boils down to. We all love the place we are at, we all are RPer's. So overall I agree with your sentiment but I think when we answer each other the way your post does it just creates some sort of division. Though don't get me wrong or feel as if I'm attacking your sentiment, as I know that is what your post was not meant to come across as. Our word choices matter a lot when responding to people who bring up this topic and I think addressing them with the idea that both are equal in measure is the best approach. I understand very well though the pride you take in your home just as the person you quoted does too. I think the Minority is actually the people who compare the two. The Majority here really don't care one way or another as I said. Most people just want to have fun, enjoy the story's and enjoy the interactions.

Heart

Â In the end of the day we are all just here to play a game! I say be proud of your home but lets just say Both Balmung and Mateus are two apple tree's in the same field. People picking apples off each and enjoying both equally.Â Heart

ExAtomos · **11-30-2017, 03:00 PM**

(11-29-2017, 04:07 PM)Zhavi Wrote: higher focus on slice of life stuff, more daily living, less drama, with occasional bouts of good vs evil. Â Like a little slower paced but greater depth than the slice of life I've experienced on Balmung, less of the slice-of-life "fronts" you see a lot of FCs doing on Balmung. Â Maybe it seems (and I'm stressing that word on purpose) a little more inclusive as opposed to more strictly themed/run/focused fcs on Balmung.

I think this is sign of the difference between a mature RP community and one newly established.

I had a similar thing happen on Atomos. At the time, nearly all of the EN speakers on the server were in one FC. The only commonality we had was our language and this kept us together as a relatively functional group because there were no other viable options on the server. If you left that one FC, you were in essence left out in the cold.

On servers outside Balmung, the commonality is just that folks like RP. There aren't enough people (and I know this will change over time) to have self-sufficient groups that can cater to a specific type of RP. Obviously, the RP population on Mateus is growing and developing to where they can start offering specializations, be it lore-strict RP, plot driven RP, performance RP, mature RP, crime... etc.

On Atomos, there were two RPers and a few others casually interested in it. I was one of the two. The other person's RP style did not mesh well with mine, but each other was all we had available, so we found ways to make it work.

I'm not saying one is better than the other, just merely pointing out a potential reason why casual RP is more readily available on other servers.

Zhavi · **11-30-2017, 03:11 PM**

(11-30-2017, 03:00 PM)ExAtomos Wrote: I think this is sign of the difference between a mature RP community and one newly established.

I had a similar thing happen on Atomos. At the time, nearly all of the EN speakers on the server were in one FC. The only commonality we had was our language and this kept us together as a relatively functional group because there were no other viable options on the server. If you left that one FC, you were in essence left out in the cold.

On servers outside Balmung, the commonality is just that folks like RP. There aren't enough people (and I know this will change over time) to have self-sufficient groups that can cater to a specific type of RP. Obviously, the RP population on Mateus is growing and developing to where they can start offering specializations, be it lore-strict RP, plot driven RP, performance RP, mature RP, crime... etc.

On Atomos, there were two RPers and a few others casually interested in it. I was one of the two. The other person's RP style did not mesh well with mine, but each other was all we had available, so we found ways to make it work.

I'm not saying one is better than the other, just merely pointing out a potential reason why casual RP is more readily available on other servers.

Mateus has a lot of rpers, though. I mean, at prime time their hotspots are just as popping as the ones on Balmung (though more non rpers hanging around), and I've seen open world stuff. There are several rp fcs with focus, but I can't comment on the rp they do because I have only been around the open world common area stuff.

Though I do agree that the newer feeling, especially with a higher concentration of new rpers, could be contributing to that. But too, trying to accommodate new rpers could also be why focuses are broader.

**Unnamed Mercenary** · **11-30-2017, 03:47 PM**

If we look at Balmung's history too though, there was a LOT more open-world stuff happening in the 2014-2015 mark, it feels like. The server had just launched Summer 2013 and people were still feeling out the server and getting to know each other. Probably it felt like there was a lot more public stuff going on. FCs and Linkshells hadn't quite been made for everything and there was a lot of shuffling around. ...and at least personally for me, I had more time and the general peak hours of gameplay/RP.

But as people kinda found their usual spots and FCs/LSes/groups of people they liked to hang out with, I had noticed a shift where more plots went FC-driven than say, clustered events/plots on the RPC that were open to anyone. And I feel like that's pretty normal. If a FC has similar-minded people, it's much easier to DM an extended story than to try to get a bunch of people who may or may not know each other. But then it starts to crystallize and may not be as flexible as before, which then leads into difficulty in expanding perspectives or meshing with new people or new people getting involved.

It's possible that because Mateus is still actively growing, their server hasn't been affected by that type of RPer grouping trend yet. It took Balmung a few years, and the lock certainly isn't going to help in that regard. Perhaps it won't happen if the server continues to stay open. Or perhaps it will if Mateus grows to Balmung's size and becomes locked one day. ...at which another RP server will likely be designated as the go-to place and so on.

ExAtomos · **11-30-2017, 03:59 PM**

(11-30-2017, 03:47 PM)Unnamed Mercenary Wrote: If we look at Balmung's history too though, there was a LOT more open-world stuff happening in the 2014-2015 mark, it feels like. The server had just launched Summer 2013 and people were still feeling out the server and getting to know each other. Probably it felt like there was a lot more public stuff going on. FCs and Linkshells hadn't quite been made for everything and there was a lot of shuffling around. ...and at least personally for me, I had more time and the general peak hours of gameplay/RP.

But as people kinda found their usual spots and FCs/LSes/groups of people they liked to hang out with, I had noticed a shift where more plots went FC-driven than say, clustered events/plots on the RPC that were open to anyone. And I feel like that's pretty normal. If a FC has similar-minded people, it's much easier to DM an extended story than to try to get a bunch of people who may or may not know each other. But then it starts to crystallize and may not be as flexible as before, which then leads into difficulty in expanding perspectives or meshing with new people or new people getting involved.

It's possible that because Mateus is still actively growing, their server hasn't been affected by that type of RPer grouping trend yet. It took Balmung a few years, and the lock certainly isn't going to help in that regard. Perhaps it won't happen if the server continues to stay open. Or perhaps it will if Mateus grows to Balmung's size and becomes locked one day. ...at which another RP server will likely be designated as the go-to place and so on.

Yes, very good way of putting it.

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[Discussion] The State of Balmung's Lockdown

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