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Flickering Ember · **09-08-2015, 02:44 PM**

TL;DR: I have no intentions of leaving Balmung nor am I encouraging or suggesting that current Balmung/Gilgamesh residents leave for a new RP server. I am also not planning on organizing this. I am opening discussion to see what the community thinks about a server for non-Balmung/non-Gilgamesh folks to organize on.

By now everyone is aware of howÂ hard it is to get into Balmung. Balmung is currently the most populated server, not just in the NA groupings but in the entire game. It's extremely common for RP servers to end up being the most populated servers in any given game though. Our community is often forced to being organized to continue to exist.Â

Most games really only need one RP server, really. However, if it becomes popular enough, the demand for a new RP server becomes increasingly necessary. There is one in the form of Gilgamesh, or it would be if it wasn't nearly as full as Balmung is. As much as I would like to promote the sister RP server here, it's hard to direct RPers there when it is also always closed.

At this point, I think it's worth at least opening discussion aboutÂ possiblyÂ maybe thinking about organizing a tertiary RP server. There's not going to be a point where Balmung opens again, at least not during a time when FFXIV is thriving. Server transfers are a good suggestion but also gates out many more potential RPers than it allows in.Â

As of now, we have had a few people attempt to advertise for the building of RP communities on their servers, but nothing unified:

Quote:Coeurl

Faerie

Jenova

Lamia

Sargatanas

The problem is the more spread out people are, the less a RP community can be organized.
These small RP communities are great if you're looking for a linkshell or maybe a few FCs. But if people are hoping for more visible RP like what we see on Balmung, more organization is going to be required.

I am glad others are taking initiative to create these but if a full, visible RP server that is comparable to Balmung is the goal here, there needs to be 1. Unified effort and 2. RPC's support to make it happen.

Warren Castille · **09-08-2015, 02:48 PM**

While the intent is noble, I don't think anyone in particular is open to uprooting and attempting to colonize a new world. Be it splitting time, having to deal with an entire potential world of griefers, or at worst leaving the current community to bet on a new one, I don't know how feasible this is. You'd need hundreds of people to mass-exodus in order to make an impact.

Godspeed, you brave bastards, but I can only send my well wishes.

Melphina · **09-08-2015, 02:57 PM**

What you need to do is organize currently existing members on these servers to give RP a try, then once people start to notice it on the server and if people aren't griefed out of it, they'll give it a chance. That's the only reason Balmung has flourished is because it's a like-minded community where everyone is ok with everyone RP'ing. Unfortunately this is not the case on other servers (Especially some of the legacy servers, I've noticed that some of them have really nasty people just looking at their forum posts on the official forums.)

The problem is getting around that, if someone can get into a long-lasting RP group and also make it a positive experience, others will imitate this.Â

Start by holding RP events, encourage it, make it rewarding. It only takes one person to really make it worth imitating. If people go "I don't know how to RP" Tell them it's ok, we all begin somewhere, and a lot of people who have never RP'd, could contribute so much just by how good they could become. It's really amazing how someone who has never RP'd can fool people into thinking otherwise. It truly is.Â

Hell people never thought of RP'ing on Halo PC, but by god thanks to clans who made it a happy experience and kept a watchful eye for griefers, along with people who were producing content such as my friend OpsY who made the best RPG maps, it became a possible thing. So for someone to turn a game that was never intended for role playing purposes, and turn it into that, that's saying something.

Do I think that people should leave to join the servers? Not at all, each server has a healthy population, they just sit in the endgame places. Getting them to move around will help out everybody, as while you're roleplaying, you're breaking up the monotony of grinding. I think that'll help with the lack of current endgame content I keep reading about. Just break it up with roleplaying, that'll help so much.

Berrod Armstrong · **09-08-2015, 03:00 PM**

Er...don't you mean a tertiary RP server?Â

/SIDE EYES GILGAMESH NERVOUSLY

Good luck with this endeavour though -- wherever you end up, expect it to be flooded with more Berrod alts.

Faye · **09-08-2015, 03:01 PM**

(09-08-2015, 02:57 PM)Melphina Wrote: What you need to do is organize currently existing members on these servers to give RP a try, then once people start to notice it on the server and if people aren't griefed out of it, they'll give it a chance. That's the only reason Balmung has flourished is because it's a like-minded community where everyone is ok with everyone RP'ing. Unfortunately this is not the case on other servers (Especially some of the legacy servers, I've noticed that some of them have really nasty people just looking at their forum posts on the official forums.)

The problem is getting around that, if someone can get into a long-lasting RP group and also make it a positive experience, others will imitate this.Â

Start by holding RP events, encourage it, make it rewarding. It only takes one person to really make it worth imitating. If people go "I don't know how to RP" Tell them it's ok, we all begin somewhere, and a lot of people who have never RP'd, could contribute so much just by how good they could become. It's really amazing how someone who has never RP'd can fool people into thinking otherwise. It truly is.Â

Hell people never thought of RP'ing on Halo PC, but by god thanks to clans who made it a happy experience and kept a watchful eye for griefers, along with people who were producing content such as my friend OpsY who made the best RPG maps, it became a possible thing. So for someone to turn a game that was never intended for role playing purposes, and turn it into that, that's saying something.

Do I think that people should leave to join the servers? Not at all, each server has a healthy population, they just sit in the endgame places. Getting them to move around will help out everybody, as while you're roleplaying, you're breaking up the monotony of grinding. I think that'll help with the lack of current endgame content I keep reading about. Just break it up with roleplaying, that'll help so much.

^^^^^^^^^ You'll have better luck making new RPers than moving existing RPers.

Gegenji · **09-08-2015, 03:07 PM**

Getting the people spread across those five servers all onto this tertiary RP server would likely be the best first step. The simplest (and cheapest, monetarily) method would to have those on those five servers figure out which one of them is... "friendliest" to RPers, I suppose... and then coalesce on it to form a more sizable RP presence. Then it's just a matter of drumming up some attention with events and such, and firmly solidifying its place as the "new RP server."

It will definitely take some doing, and some real money spent for those who don't want to make alts to move their character to whichever server is chosen. However, it would definitely be a boon to have one solid option if someone is upset about Balmung and Gilgamesh being forever closed... as opposed to having to pick between five and further diluting the collecting RP "pool" as it were.

Ignacius · **09-08-2015, 03:10 PM**

Yeah, Gilgamesh is the other RP server. Â It's a bit harder to get into than other servers, but there's quite a community here and it's easier to get onto than Balmung. Â Get in touch with Adolar Stone over here.

Run an alt over here if you're looking to see what it's like. Â It's a little different than the Balmung crew.

Melphina · **09-08-2015, 03:10 PM**

So far from what I am reading, a lot of the people that don't RP grief RP'er's because it gives them a satisfaction for making fun of people that get a retreat from reality. People in particular are those that spam holy or AoE's in the Quicksand, which I've seen once or twice when I first started playing. This kind of bullying and shaming is what hinders the advancement of roleplay on other servers, and if people could just accept and forget, they would be able to grow substantially on their own without having to move at all.

Flickering Ember · **09-08-2015, 03:12 PM**

I don't have any intention of leaving Balmung. I am quite happy where I am. I definitely would not suggest that folks from the existing RP servers pack up their bags and move. That would be a train wreck.
What I do mean is that FFXIV has a growing playerbase. I definitely feel that there has been some migration from WoW to this game over the past little while. However, only being on the first expansion with Balmung and Gilgamesh having very little room for new RPers, there is very little room to grow.

The number of newcomers to FFXIV who have not had a chance to get into Balmung is not a small number of people. What if that sizable portion of RPers entering the game could unify onto one server instead of being spread out over a bunch?

Warren Castille · **09-08-2015, 03:16 PM**

(09-08-2015, 03:10 PM)Melphina Wrote: So far from what I am reading, a lot of the people that don't RP grief RP'er's because it gives them a satisfaction for making fun of people that get a retreat from reality. People in particular are those that spam holy or AoE's in the Quicksand, which I've seen once or twice when I first started playing. This kind of bullying and shaming is what hinders the advancement of roleplay on other servers, and if people could just accept and forget, they would be able to grow substantially on their own without having to move at all.

It's both more and less complex than that. We're the dorkiest dorks paying money to play a game so we can not play it and instead play make believe in it. There's a strong point to be made that we're playing the game incorrectly.

A lot of non-roleplayers just assume the bulk of us are ERPers. Some of them just think we're all awful at PVE because we RP. Some people will troll and grief out of boredom, and not anything truly malevolent.

I mean, think about it. We've put a giant "Kick Me" sign on our backs just by being here; There's a public calendar with all of the listed events on it, with dates and times, and it's only because there's so many roleplayers here that we're not all behemoth-trained into nonexistence. I think it's worth mentioning that the social structure of these servers are all very unique, and suddenly trying to rally roleplayers in numbers could very likely be seen as some sort of takeover attempt (which it sort of is - insisting we should be allowed to upset their server because we're a minority is begging for trouble).

A community takes time and effort to cultivate. Balmung had griefers for a long while after ARR launched and that was despite it being one of the designated RP beacons. Trying to make a foothold somewhere else now is going to be no easy task.

Melphina · **09-08-2015, 03:21 PM**

In truth it takes persistence for people to take you seriously, as anything would really jeopardize your progress in establishing a community. But no server has the right to demonize RP'er's just because they want to unwind from the mind numbing grind.

While I used to grind all the time on FFXI, I had no real opportunities to RP, it was horrible on Ragnarok, and a lot of people were shamed out of roleplay because even though the content was severely easy when we just had to stun lock bosses and shift damage over here and there, we were always made fun of because of our lack of interest in content. Now that FFXI's final update is coming in November, I wonder if it'd be a better place now to RP, because I was trying to hold an RP night at the Marble Bridge in Upper Jeuno, and a group of players from a single linkshell came in and started spamming our chats until we just gave up and left since they kept coming on alts and we kept blacklisting them.

Either way none of them play now probably, I may go and give it a chance depending on how November looks

Ignacius · **09-08-2015, 03:23 PM**

(09-08-2015, 03:10 PM)Melphina Wrote: So far from what I am reading, a lot of the people that don't RP grief RP'er's because it gives them a satisfaction for making fun of people that get a retreat from reality. People in particular are those that spam holy or AoE's in the Quicksand, which I've seen once or twice when I first started playing. This kind of bullying and shaming is what hinders the advancement of roleplay on other servers, and if people could just accept and forget, they would be able to grow substantially on their own without having to move at all.

In a way, it's Square's fault that it becomes a piece of the puzzle. Â Since we don't have an official RP server, we have to coexist with people who not only don't like RP, but don't have a way to avoid our chat scroll without blisting us.

I mean, if you're on an RP server and trolling, that's one thing. Â If you're a non-RPer who, for whatever reason, dislikes having it around, you're surrounded by targets and you can't really escape it.

Honestly, it's always worth having an RP server, or an RP phase mechanic, in every game. Â Yes, there will be people reporting trolls, but trolls get reported for annoying everyone, not just RPers. Â You just get a lot more trolls without one because there are so many people for whom RP was not a part of the package they signed up for on that server.

No excuses for ruining people's fun, but it's not like a chunk of it isn't avoidable if Square would just designate an RP server (or, more realistically, just do away with servers and institute an RP phase mechanic on a universal phased server).

Warren Castille · **09-08-2015, 03:25 PM**

When was stunlocking ever a viable strategy for anything except DL zerging?

If the plan isn't to exodus elsewhere and instead just start alts, I have to wonder if that's a much different situation. You'd still need to be sinking hours and hours into a different location. I think the biggest challenge would be trying to make new roleplayers aware there's RP to be had on Beacon Target #3. They couldn't know until they got into the game and started looking, and even if they find this website with some directions, that'll only help them start over.

Gegenji · **09-08-2015, 03:30 PM**

(09-08-2015, 03:25 PM)Warren Castille Wrote: I think the biggest challenge would be trying to make new roleplayers aware there's RP to be had on Beacon Target #3.

I still think the first step would be collectively designating that Beacon Target #3, though. That way we can say the "Big Three" RP servers are Balmung, Gilgamesh, and... let's say, for the sake of argument, Faerie. It's not much improvement, but it'd centralize the new RPers (and possibly attract some migrants from other servers) a lot more than just having the Big Two and then some possible RP scattered across the four winds.

Flickering Ember · **09-08-2015, 03:37 PM**

(09-08-2015, 03:25 PM)Warren Castille Wrote: When was stunlocking ever a viable strategy for anything except DL zerging?

If the plan isn't to exodus elsewhere and instead just start alts, I have to wonder if that's a much different situation. You'd still need to be sinking hours and hours into a different location. I think the biggest challenge would be trying to make new roleplayers aware there's RP to be had on Beacon Target #3. They couldn't know until they got into the game and started looking, and even if they find this website with some directions, that'll only help them start over.

There's no "plan" currently. I just wanted to open discussion on this. I'm not planning on organizing anything. This is basically a continuation of a discussion from another thread:Â http://www.ffxiv-roleplayers.com/showthr...737&page=4
The OP asked I move it to another thread and I finally got around to doing so.

I guess I don't imagine such an event as being a mass-exodus of alts, but rather, a gathering of non-Balmung/non-Gilgamesh that are spread out, combined to make one, more consistently active server with the benefit of their total numbers.

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