Val

How do you know this? None of us know what SE would or would not do. I certainly think our chances would be better if even 10% of FFXIV roleplayers made a concerted effort to request SE to designate an official RP server! Nero did a great job posting this issue to the official forums (see my OP for the link), and we should be working to support the proposal to designate an official RP server. The point is that 10%--and more--of XIV RPers have already made a concerted effort to request them to designate a server. You're assuming your importance is far beyond anything than it actually is. I'm sure they may (and already have) consider it, but with the expansion, server move, and other bugs/game issues making a new server specifically for a very small percentage of the population is not going to be on the top of their list. I doubt it even makes top 10, meaning you can fuss and scream and whine and yell as much as you want but it isn't going to get it done any faster.

^^^^^ The fact of the matter is, on top of other issues, Balmung/the game itself is not designed to have as many people on the server as it does. Community split aside, it's causing issues outside of RP that need to be taken into consideration as well.

Please refer to section of OP regarding leaving server for personal reasons. Solidarity in the RP community (so that RP remains common, available, and diverse) is more important than misconceptions particular individuals may have about a community that is so large, diverse, and vibrant that it would be disingenuous to impute negative attributes to it as a whole. Perhaps I'm very lucky, but I've never had an issue with roving bands of stalkers, 'flaky individuals', or other negative stereotypes. RPers love to jest about the pervasive nature of such things, but in reality they remain largely mythical. But, as Gaeham said, these issues will exist on any server, and the problem with a smaller server is that you have no alternatives to escape them. Momo explained in a prior post the problems that happen if you encounter issues on a smaller server, and the OP explains those problems in great detail. Again, we don't need to be wedded to Balmung in particular: what is far more important is that the RP community consolidate on one server [at the present time Balmung]. With any luck, perhaps we'll get an official RP server one day, and then the community can move there. I take offense to this. To say that the player exclusion, stalkers and cliques are mythical is wholly uncalled for. There are many people that have experienced such behavior and to outright dismiss them is unacceptable. It could be in the minority of the experiences, but there are experiences that happen on a daily occurrence. The fact people have been on that end of the equation is why some of these small communities exist. This. It takes a special kind of person to immediately dismiss anyone's claims of negative experience on the server based on your own experiences. Just because things are going good for you does not mean that it's great for everyone. Just because things seem okay to you does not mean that they're great for everyone. When discussing matters of this nature, people need to take into account the big picture other than "well everything's been great for me so I don't see a problem in _________"

Oh definitely, I don't mean in the past. People have been kind. But the people raging/lashing out right now? Not only to devs, but their own server people that are offering legitimate options and opinions? Definitely not helping as much as they think they are.

It also tends to make an argument look like it's coming from a petulant child rather than a rational adult. As a dev myself, I can attest to this. Things are more likely to happen when you come at someone with genuine concern and a well thought out argument. Keyboard raging only ends with people not taking you seriously, getting annoyed, or you misrepresenting the community you're coming from and giving people horrid stereotypical views. And for all we know, they sincerely are doing their best. It may not be great or ideal, but it is what it is.

End game drama, not to derail the thread, is one of the main reasons I quit end-game PvE in general. I did a lot of end game in WoW with one of the top PvE guilds on the server (Silver Hand ftw), and it was something different every week. Internal fighting. Loot rage. Officer drama. Multiple guilds fighting/sabotaging each other for the claim of "server first." Smh.

Oh, without a doubt. But I've never seen a community thrive on it so much as this one. There's always going to be drama, not just in RP, but in MMOs in general. It's the nature of getting people together. But roleplayers are particularly.. uh. Passionate. About things, and are quick to snap at others (as we've witnessed over the past couple of days). Separating that/its people can only be good for the mental stability of the community itself imo.

This will, without a doubt, happen, but I don't think it's the end of the world. When enough people quit/bail they'll likely open the server back up and the congestion will be solved. Yes, it could take a while, but I wager people will be too busy doing expansion things/playing with friends they already have to really notice.

It's possible, but that's been something that was talked about/wanted for well over a year. It's entirely possible that they may listen, but expecting them to I think is where people's fallacy lies. There should never, ever be an in-all plan. If anything, hope they listen, but plan for a secondary course of action in case they don't. EDIT: And like Nodem just mentioned above, they'd make everyone transfer and I highly doubt they'd transfer housing over. So people would lose/stand to lose their stuff if they don't jump on it immediately. That's the thing though, they need to handle it delicately. If there was an official RP server released? I'd very most likely head there. Especially if Balmung remained locked. Mostly because unlike what we are trying to achieve here by shouting were to go, people will probably, highly likely, still be shattered all over the place and nothing will come of it. I feel if they released a RP server, people would slowly start coming over there. With those tiny self proclaimed servers? Not so much. Ultimately I also feel, while everyone is trying to make Balmung the boogieman, trying to throw the burden onto the roleplayers here, those small communities should step up. And some have! But they also should decide were to redirect people to. Because I feel it would be lot better to redirect people to one server instead of six. But us Balmung people? We aren't on those small communities. How can we tell what's better? I only had experience with one EU one, and I didn't like it. People were friendly, but it wasn't what I wanted. I agree. I don't think they are capable of handling anything delicately (especially if it's in corporate SE's hands), but a great deal of caution does need to be taken. If there were an official RP server, I'd prolly bail too assuming my partner was willing to do the same and the transfers were free. But I also think if Balmung remains locked long enough and people roll alts/go to one of those alt servers (preferably the one with the biggest community), it has a chance to thrive. It'll still be split, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. I say that because with a lot of people comes many personalities, and they tend to clash pretty often. I don't think a week has gone by on Balmung that didn't involve some major drama, and some people could stand to be separated tbh.

It's possible, but that's been something that was talked about/wanted for well over a year. It's entirely possible that they may listen, but expecting them to I think is where people's fallacy lies. There should never, ever be an in-all plan. If anything, hope they listen, but plan for a secondary course of action in case they don't. EDIT: And like Nodem just mentioned above, they'd make everyone transfer and I highly doubt they'd transfer housing over. So people would lose/stand to lose their stuff if they don't jump on it immediately.

And if we keep refusing to balance ourselves out, it will happen. At that point, they probably won't even give incentives, maybe reimbursements on housing, but they'll just dump us all in a server. This is a doom and gloom perspective. They are not going to essentially pick people at random and force them off Balmung. It's practically guaranteed to be a financial loss as a good chunk of those players will quit. If my friends and I were all split apart with no way of transferring to one server in particularly, I'd unsub immediately. All they will do is keep Balmung locked indefinitely. Pretty much. It's a win-win for SE. People will threaten to quit and just not. Their forum posts will be ignored and they'll eventually shut up. The server will stay locked. The ones that do quit? They're solving the issue anyway. Others that willingly transfer also help, so one way or another SE gets what they want and people will just have to accept that.

And if we keep refusing to balance ourselves out, it will happen. At that point, they probably won't even give incentives, maybe reimbursements on housing, but they'll just dump us all in a server. Indeed. I don't want to be on the timeline that happens. I will actively try to make sure it doesn't. Thirded. People can stomp and get mad all they want, but as stated earlier by many great people, RPers are not a majority in the remote slightest and SE needs to think about their game as a whole. They have no reason to consider making special things for us. The fact that they even remotely add some small things is a kindness. Hell, if I remember correctly, Yoshi didn't even know RP was a thing until someone eventually told him "Hey this is what some of the Western players do." While an RP-only server would be great, or at least one labelled as such, I doubt it will happen anytime soon. Instead of arguing/yelling/fighting with each other or assuming that screaming at the company is going to somehow make them bow down to you or your demands, it's best to just work together to make the transition as effortless as possible. I feel like to expect otherwise is a little insular.

I also voted for Mateus. Not to invalidate the hard work of others on other servers, but it already has the most people there so the transition should be minimal and they already have a nice base to build on.

EXACTLY I can understand a first. Or maybe a shot at making a better second. But a third? :cactuar:

I get these concerns too, and they're valid. I would like to explain why I'm tentatively hopeful towards the viability of a new server though. Gilgamesh is full just because it has a lot of people, understandable, not really much you can do about that. However, Balmung is full because it has two full servers' worth comprising of two broad demographics: RPers and non-RPers. I understand that demographics overlap heavily, but they are still meaningful in population. I think the ideal solution would be the creation of a new server, and only limit that server to transfers from Balmung for like, the first week or so, or something. That way, all Balmung assets are preserved, including exact locations of housing plots (ideally). If you're Square Enix, your goal is to stabilise the populations of Balmung and Gilgamesh. Stabilising the population of Balmung in a non-stupid way would require addressing its noticeably different demographic, and I highly doubt that non-RPers would go to the trouble of exploiting such an incentive. And yeah, I guess you can call me a twat for advocating for some form of RPer-favoritism but isn't there a mutual benefit to such a thing? Part of why the Balmung Housing Rush exists is because RPers and non-RPers are competing with one another. Remove that factor, and I'm willing to wager that the housing market would be a bit steadier on both servers. I could see that being pretty ideal, and it would help the economy on both servers as well. But then the problem lies with SE. While I enjoy what Yoshi and his team have been doing with the game and respect them, I don't trust SE to do the right things assuming the option is going to be left up to them. I feel like they would just give it a "first come first serve" basis and let people fend for themselves. Which kind of sucks, but I expect nothing more than that.

The idea of a new server would be great. The idea of them making a new server specifically labelled RP would be absolutely fantastic, but I doubt they would ever facilitate moving servers without losing assets. You'd have to accommodate for all people moving from many servers to one place and hope that none of them have overlapping assets (housing plots, FC names, etc). The name thing is a shot in the dark, but the housing plots is a very large possibility, especially with Balmung being maxed. But the alternative isn't better either. Say they open transfers and day one people transfer over and rush to housing. The only option they'd have (imo) is to open the server, wait a couple of months to open housing at all, then let the people rush to get it. And even then, people aren't guaranteed housing. FCs that have mansions/estates could suddenly be left without. It'd be an awful situation. I do agree that not announcing it is probably one of the worst things about this. Had people had some sort of leeway, they'd have known to transfer before. I actually have friends that were planning on transferring over for Stormblood, but now they can't. Rather than fussing and complaining about it, I recognize that it is A.) for the greater good of the server itself and B.) there is absolutely nothing I can do about it anyway, so bitching and moaning (not saying you are, just some people obviously love to take the opportunity to whine) about it isn't going to change anything. It's best to approach these situations with a calm and collected mind and look at how to improve things over time rather than lashing out in anger at anyone or anything that doesn't agree with you, whether it's for personal reasons or not. Not only does it help the transition, but it further facilitates the change and makes the community look good as a whole.

Do uh. Do you want a hug or something, man? You seem awfully distraught about something. Maybe you should take a step back and take a break and stop being so mad.

Judging by that screenshot, it looks like the lockout may be longer than a couple of months unless there's a mass exodus. And it sucks, but as Zhavi mentioned above, I think it would be a necessary evil. The community on whatever server is chosen (I'd say Mateus looking at the other thread alone) would be shortlived if people go and then just hop right back over when the restrictions are lifted. It needs to be long enough for people to go/roll there, gain some sense of family/home, and feel the desire to stay.

Pretty much this. Forcing people to move never ends well and will cause more problems. People that are tired of the restrictions will inevitably give up and bail, as will others that just want a server to play on that doesn't have the awful pricing of Balmung. And no, having low marketboard prices is not a good thing. It's one of the side effects of how godawfully overcrowded this server has become because SE wasn't intelligent enough to block server transfers ages ago. Honestly, they've been far too good to Balmung players and should have done something about it long before now. I'm not sure what point you're making. If you dislike Balmung why are you on it? Have you considered that SE doesn't have to be the one to step in and incentivize departure - that if some people on the server are genuinely unhappy and would go ahead and transfer off, maybe that alone would resolve the apparent population issue? Have you considered the idea that maybe SE doesn't owe you anything? Speaking of people not reading past the first sentence, it looks like you didn't read past mine. As I mentioned, people that are tired of the restriction will inevitably leave. That will help. People that want to be special snowflaked and complain about quitting? Quit. That'll help solve the issue, too. No one cares and all it's really doing is helping the rest of us, so I appreciate that. As for the split in general? It's a horrible idea. There's no point in doing a split, no point in forcing people off of servers. If you ask them to make two new servers, or even one new server, that's way more OH than just closing one off until people bail (and again, they don't owe you or me or anyone anything). If you force people to be moved to one server then you have to consider people with: housing already in the plots where people are being moved, how it's going to effect the economy of those servers, character names being used, FC names being used, FC houses already in place where others are, etc etc. In short, it's a mess, and that's not even talking about the technical aspects of it.

Pretty much this. Forcing people to move never ends well and will cause more problems. People that are tired of the restrictions will inevitably give up and bail, as will others that just want a server to play on that doesn't have the awful pricing of Balmung. And no, having low marketboard prices is not a good thing. It's one of the side effects of how godawfully overcrowded this server has become because SE wasn't intelligent enough to block server transfers ages ago. Honestly, they've been far too good to Balmung players and should have done something about it long before now.

Hello! Val is a very tribal Seeker (wolf). While he is currently no longer in a tribe, it has (and still does) influenced a lot of his life and the way he acts around others. If you want them to meet up sometime, I'd be happy to! His wiki is in the signature if you'd like to see more about him As for a community, there are people that RP in tribe-based FCs and the like. I've seen them around, but I'm not entirely sure on who you would get in contact with for that.

Val improvises, but he also realizes that no move should be a wasted opportunity, so he's careful not to overextend himself or make any movements that don't have a particular goal in mind. He mainly fights with a spear and his daggers, something he learned both in his time growing up in his tribe and later added on to with his secondary weapons. Over time, the spear became more secondary than the daggers and each had its own purpose. The point of the spear is to test enemies and keep them at bay with pokes, prods, and a bit of defensive maneuvers as well. It acts as a makeshift shield while also helping to serve as a weapon. If he can manage to finish off his opponent with the spear, great. Val's certainly no slouch with the weapon and has managed to do so pretty often! However, once he grows confident in being able to read the enemy's moves or finds a weakness/opening, he'll often drop the spear in light of a swift, finishing blow. An example of this is when an opponent of his overextended with a straight jab with a sword, in which Val dropped the spear and snapped the enemy's arm at the elbow. Another, he parried a high blow and pulled a dagger to counter with a stab to the chest. Another part of his fighting style (as mentioned above) is disabling. If a person can't use their limbs, they can't attack, and it is also something he learned in the Shroud. When they were hunting game, especially of the dangerous variety, they often operated by striking from multiple directions at key points to subsequently weaken their foe and is something that the Seeker relies on in combat, especially when fighting enemies much larger than him. Finally, in a world where almost everyone has some sort of ace up their sleeve when it comes to magical technique, Val has the use of mudra. It is something that grew out of necessity rather than a direct desire to use it, and Val very sparingly employs it thanks to a pact he made when he began learning it and a respect for the individual that taught him. I also like to limit it based on the theory that, since Mudra pulls from the elements around, Val has to have certain elements in his vicinity to be able to use certain things. For example, there has to be open sky/a wind in order to actually use a wind spell to improve his speed. There must be fire, or a source of heat, for him to use fire to mix in with things. There must be an open sky for him to draw on lightning, or a mage using lightning spells for him to extract the aether from, and so on and so forth. It feels more realistic to me, and while it makes him more of a.. mudra-using geomancer, it lets him (and me) get creative in the combat, which is always fun!

Hello Rhysa! I have several characters I'd be happy to RP with you on! One is a Seeker of the Sun that is kind of a douche but may get along well enough with her. There's my intellectual/book guy that was a good guy driven to do bad things and then somewhat struggling to be/remain reformed. And then there's my good character that had a string of horrible, horrid luck and became a bit dark. He wants to help the world, but doesn't feel like he can---much less have a place in it! There are other characters, of course, but these feel like they may better fit what you're looking for in companions/people to meet Rhysa. If you're interested, feel free to drop me a message

I didn't see it stated, but another example being that ninjas use their skill to borrow aether from other living things! While it's not personal aether manipulation, I think something can be said about being able to manipulate the aether of others/objects.

I have a pretty lax job revolving around Middleware/IT at a very well-known, multinational bank. It's pretty great because most of the time I get to chill, churn out services/changes on a timely basis, and manage myself--to the point that I get to work from home virtually whenever I want. It sucks when I have to man company-wide updates. Recently, I was in charge of a certificate update to our production servers and spent a month or so talking to various vendors/clients to get them all ready for the date. If something went wrong, then that entire side of the bank would be down and it'd have been my fault D= So it's not stressful until it is. And then it's very, very stressful. But the pay doesn't suck and I can chill.