Thread Closed
A few observations before work (I wish I could respond to things in detail but just don't have the time):
(1) The OP should have paid $18 and joined Balmung months ago. It is unreasonable for people to cast an $18 transfer fee as an insurmountable or objectionable barrier. Eighteen dollars is a paltry sum of money (a couple pints of beers; two hours worth of work at minimum wage; a night at the movies; a birthday gift from a distant friend, etc.), and the return on that tiny investment [at least 4 hours of entertainment; likely /hundreds/ of hours of entertainment] is enormous.
(2) I cringe every time I read vague allegations about how RP is impossible to find on Balmung or how someone needs connections to find RP on Balmung. That isn't the case. It is extremely easy to find RP on Balmung because it is everywhere, and RPers are generally extremely supportive of new comers. If you can't find RP on Balmung, you're actually less likely to find it elsewhere - especially the style/content you enjoy - and should consider trying a little harder.
(3) RP should be consolidated on one server. It doesn't matter where that server is. We're a small community and need to stick together to make sure RP remains frequent and diverse.Â
(4) The hyperbole about Maetus being the new promised land of RP is colored with so much self-interest that it makes me sad. Maetus likely began as a tiny enclave of RPers who deliberately chose to break off from Balmung for purely person reasons. Perhaps they thought there were too many futas in the Quicksand. Maybe they wanted housing. Who knows. But they made a decision not to participate in the greater RP community where 80%+ of RPers roleplay.Â
When SE locked server transfers, 5-10 Maetus RPers did a terrific job of orchestrating an effort to promote their server -- not just as a place where people can RP if they can't access the greater community on Balmung, but as the next "unofficial" RP server. Some of those users cite erroneous statistics purporting that Balmung is completely unsustainable, or failed to see that there are many ways to preserve a central RP hub and deal with a population problem. They did this out of a desire to grow their small RP community. What they do not understand or value is that RPers /need/ to be consolidated in one central community to ensure the long-term viability of the RP community as a whole, and that their efforts would naturally fragment multiple RP communities.
Now, there are three camps of people on Maetus: (1) people who left Balmung for personal reasons; (2) the "let me make an alt and show support" crowd; and (3) new players who cannot access Balmung. This isn't a mass exodus. At most there are 100-200 active RPers (many who can't access the centralized RP hub and will likely do so when they can), and a legion of alts of people who do value RPing on a centralized RP hub who are there to show support. Most RPers have no intention of leaving Balmung, even to play around on alts. They know the value of a large centralized RP hub, and believe that the transfer restrictions will be lifted. When this happens, most will gravitate towards the central RP hub again.
(5) The best thing that could happen would be for Maetus (or another small server) to be designated as an official RP server by SE, and for all RPers to transfer to that server. RPers should be working towards this goal. But, most are very comfortable on Balmung (for good reason), and others labor under the misbelief that an alternative unofficial server designation would work. Splintering the community never works.
(6) Servers are dumb artificial barriers that only divide people and serve no purpose.
(1) The OP should have paid $18 and joined Balmung months ago. It is unreasonable for people to cast an $18 transfer fee as an insurmountable or objectionable barrier. Eighteen dollars is a paltry sum of money (a couple pints of beers; two hours worth of work at minimum wage; a night at the movies; a birthday gift from a distant friend, etc.), and the return on that tiny investment [at least 4 hours of entertainment; likely /hundreds/ of hours of entertainment] is enormous.
(2) I cringe every time I read vague allegations about how RP is impossible to find on Balmung or how someone needs connections to find RP on Balmung. That isn't the case. It is extremely easy to find RP on Balmung because it is everywhere, and RPers are generally extremely supportive of new comers. If you can't find RP on Balmung, you're actually less likely to find it elsewhere - especially the style/content you enjoy - and should consider trying a little harder.
(3) RP should be consolidated on one server. It doesn't matter where that server is. We're a small community and need to stick together to make sure RP remains frequent and diverse.Â
(4) The hyperbole about Maetus being the new promised land of RP is colored with so much self-interest that it makes me sad. Maetus likely began as a tiny enclave of RPers who deliberately chose to break off from Balmung for purely person reasons. Perhaps they thought there were too many futas in the Quicksand. Maybe they wanted housing. Who knows. But they made a decision not to participate in the greater RP community where 80%+ of RPers roleplay.Â
When SE locked server transfers, 5-10 Maetus RPers did a terrific job of orchestrating an effort to promote their server -- not just as a place where people can RP if they can't access the greater community on Balmung, but as the next "unofficial" RP server. Some of those users cite erroneous statistics purporting that Balmung is completely unsustainable, or failed to see that there are many ways to preserve a central RP hub and deal with a population problem. They did this out of a desire to grow their small RP community. What they do not understand or value is that RPers /need/ to be consolidated in one central community to ensure the long-term viability of the RP community as a whole, and that their efforts would naturally fragment multiple RP communities.
Now, there are three camps of people on Maetus: (1) people who left Balmung for personal reasons; (2) the "let me make an alt and show support" crowd; and (3) new players who cannot access Balmung. This isn't a mass exodus. At most there are 100-200 active RPers (many who can't access the centralized RP hub and will likely do so when they can), and a legion of alts of people who do value RPing on a centralized RP hub who are there to show support. Most RPers have no intention of leaving Balmung, even to play around on alts. They know the value of a large centralized RP hub, and believe that the transfer restrictions will be lifted. When this happens, most will gravitate towards the central RP hub again.
(5) The best thing that could happen would be for Maetus (or another small server) to be designated as an official RP server by SE, and for all RPers to transfer to that server. RPers should be working towards this goal. But, most are very comfortable on Balmung (for good reason), and others labor under the misbelief that an alternative unofficial server designation would work. Splintering the community never works.
(6) Servers are dumb artificial barriers that only divide people and serve no purpose.