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I'll address this point since I've been in the thick of helping create a platform for smaller communities and servers. I will take Mateus as the example, because it is the most popular option at the moment. The RP-C linkshell is growing actively. A secondary linkshell was put into place late last night to help handle the new players that are joining. New Free Companies are forming, players are transferring. Of the players that have reached out to join the community, there are over 200 active players. The Free Company list continues to grow as well, there are 5 stable companies and others are starting up now that there are more active players. This has been within a week of the original threads talking about the crisis and community leaders stepping up to show alternatives. These numbers are only going to grow as we get closer to SB and as the news spreads. There is a very real movement to grow the community on Mateus and the community leaders are doing everything they can to accommodate and give everyone that joins an opportunity to have a voice. The implication that such a movement is fruitless is insulting to the leaders and players putting their time and effort into making their servers a viable alternative. And I'm not just talking about Mateus here, I'm talking about Faerie, I'm talking about Jenova, I'm talking about all the other RP servers out there that have been going weak or strong for years. That's great news that the Mateus RP community is growing and creating a place for new RPers to roleplay. Where we differ is on whether the RP community as a whole should divide itself across multiple servers [thereby creating an artificial barrier that divides the community itself]. I hope many who transfer to Mateus realize the value and importance of having a vibrant, diverse, and active RP hub, and will transfer to Balmung when the server opens. We're all losing something by dividing the community across multiple servers. Ideally, SE will simply designate an official RP server, or simply lift the transfer restrictions soon -- rending all of this moot.

You presuppose the state of FFXIV if Balmung did not exist and there was no centralized RP hub. If there were no such hub, FFXIV roleplay would either be dead, minute in scale, or based entirely around isolated 20-40 person cliques. There are dearths of "lighter stuff" that gets RPed on Balmung every day. The same can't be said for smaller servers. Balmung is already the RP hub, and it should continue being that hub until SE designated an official RP server. Still waiting to hear what the people who need a server now should do in your fantasy world. You keep skirting around the issue of them. Please note that "play on another server now and transfer in 3-6-9-12 months when/if the retriction is ever lifted is not an appropriate answer unless you're going to pay for all of their subs between now and then, as well as refund all the gil they'd lose making the trip in houses, etc. More observations made on short time: (1) I've addressed most counterpoints made in recent replies before. The one thing I haven't seen addressed is how this attempt to designate a second unofficial RP server will result in anything more than a 50-100 person community scattered across 3-5 FCs (all offering their own brand of homogenized RP) that eventually goes the way of the dodo, like all others before it. I really don't want to see that happen to great RPers who decide to RP on the alternative server, and Balmung itself would be at a loss [transfers will open up one day]. (2) Thankfully, Nero made an excellent post on the official forums about designating the RP server, and we should all be doing our part to support it. (3) Some posters who perceive of the views discussed in the OP as crack-pot-esque are so accustomed to the quality and size of the Balmung RP community that they have not given consideration of the consequences of fragmenting the RP community. I don't see how anyone could really dispute the possible detriments that could happen as a result of the server restriction. I hope these concerns are eventually unfounded after SE opens transfers in 1-3 months. (4) For all of the, "what do we do - an alternative unofficial RP is necessary to help new RPers" -- the highest and best use of our time is advocating for either the restrictions end or an official designation. In the meantime, existing small RP communities should open their arms to new RPers until we can transition back to a central RP hub. So yes, "play on another server now and transfer in 3-6-9-12 months when/if the restriction is ever lifted" is an appropriate answer. The reality is most will transfer because most realize the value of a central RP hub, as demonstrated by Balmung's size. We need to be doing whatever we can to convince SE to lift the restrictions sooner than later, or finally designate an RP server. It's very unfortunate that an extremely basic proposition - a small community should remain together to ensure that it remains vibrant, diverse, and active can draw such division. But some are apparently content to live with the chaos SE has created. Unfortunate.

Because I disagree with the presumption that it is unreasonable for us to expect SE will make an RP server, and I haven't heard a valid argument for why SE would not make a dedicated RP server if the community advocated for it enough.

You presuppose the state of FFXIV if Balmung did not exist and there was no centralized RP hub. If there were no such hub, FFXIV roleplay would either be dead, minute in scale, or based entirely around isolated 20-40 person cliques. There are dearths of "lighter stuff" that gets RPed on Balmung every day. The same can't be said for smaller servers. Balmung is already the RP hub, and it should continue being that hub until SE designated an official RP server.

If only time were not scarce, I'd reply to everything, but to hit a few points [apologies for crappy prose - pounding this stuff out]: (1) It is reasonable and ascertainable to expect that SE will designated an official RP server. For this to happen, it will likely take organized community involvement. Requesting an official RP server isn't "whining" or "unreasonable" - it's an extremely basic, simple feature to implement. RPers are customers of SE and have every right to request reasonable revisions to the game. (2) We should not presume that SE is utterly incapable of handling the population size on Balmung. Resources could likely be allocated to handle the increased load, and there are a variety of less intrusive remedies that could have mitigated any over population problem. SE for example could: (1) assess a higher server transfer fee for high-population servers; (2) provide additional in-game incentives to encourage players to transfer from high-population servers; (3) devote additional resources to banning bots and RMT schemes; (4) raise monthly subscription rates to compensate for the cost of maintaining high population servers; (5) designate official roleplay, hardcore raiding, and special interest servers to encourage certain player groups to transfer from over-populated worlds; (6) implement anti-idling features that disconnect players who idle for extended amounts of time. Those are only ideas. The point is that SE implemented an overly broad, ineffective remedy that will do little to actually alleviate the strain on high population servers come SB. To make matters work, the restriction may very well harm the RP community in the aggregate for the reasons stated in the OP. (3) Server demographics have changed so much that drawing analogies between SE's former perception towards an RP server and its current is not persuasive. No one knows whether SE would actually implement an official RP server. That is precisely why we should be taking steps to request that SE designate an official RP server.

Snipped to prevent the quote spam You can request it, sure. But expecting it is something else. Claiming that it's never been done because you personally didn't see it is another something else. Assuming that constant whining/crying about it will get it done faster when there are things far more important than you/RPers(of which I am) that need to be handled is super snowflakey and absurd. Yes, make a post about it. No, don't expect it to get things done. Hope and find an alternate solution. Telling people to hop on Balmung regardless is just going to make things worse for both the community that decides to play on Mateus and the people staying on Balmung thanks to how ridiculously overpopulated it already is. It isn't helping as much as you think it is. Advocating for complete inaction and casting the efforts of people who are actually trying to encourage SE to designate an official server as "whining/crying" is extremely counterproductive. Things will not change unless people advise SE that a substantial number of subscribers desire an official RP server. Putting on blinders and pretending that attempt 232054587 to create a second alternative RP server will result in anything more than 50-100 RPers scattered over 2-5 FC cliques is not ideal.

You under-estimate the ability of angry consumers to demand and receive the changes they request. SE's opinions towards RP have become more reception, as demonstrated by the RP tag. It's this alone that makes gamers into the entitled, pretentious pricks that they are today---to the point that a lot of them have become insufferable. Well, maybe not a lot, but the vocal majority certainly are. Companies don't owe people anything unless they thoroughly screw something up. And even to that note, when a majority of consumers demand something you are likely to see it. RPers in XIV are not the majority. I'd argue they're hardly even a fraction. Requesting for developers to implement changes that will improve the game for a substantial amount of users doesn't make someone a "entitled, pretentious prick." Asking for a RP server -- which will take almost no resources -- isn't unreasonable. RPers are not the majority. But we are a substantial number of players, and it is reasonable for RPers to desire an official, designated server, as shown by the number of MMORPGS that support such a thing.

Precedent is actually not evidence (it's a form of legal authority). You're probably referring to evidence of a past tendency or occurrence, which has questionable evidentiary value -- especially when the times and facts change. And boy are they different now than in 2.0. The fact of the matter is no one knows what SE will do in terms of designated an official RP server. But the more people who request for them to designate an official RP server, the more likely they will be to do such a thing.

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. That's strange. I haven't seen this effort. Outside of Nero and perhaps 15 RPers who made posts in support of his thread, I haven't seen any other type of effort recently to convince SE to designate an official RP server (because it has not been needed). Slapping a tag on a new server that says costs minimal resources, and if enough consumers are asking for it -- SE will likely oblige. That's what happens when consumers "fuss" and "whine" about things [aka: make reasonable requests].

Your information is not evidence. It is as much speculation as the proposition of SE creating RP servers. Times change and circumstances are different, as shown by the size of Balmung's RP population today. You under-estimate the ability of angry consumers to demand and receive the changes they request. SE's opinions towards RP have become more receptive, as demonstrated by the RP tag. I don't think either of us can say with any degree of certainty what SE will ultimately do, but taking steps to convince them to designate an official RP server certainly doesn't hurt our chances.

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.

Overlooking inflammatory language again (try omitting it sometime). The real solution to help new RPers locked out lies in one of the following: (1) Convincing SE to lift the server transfer restriction; or (2) Convincing SE to designate an official RP server. We're not helping new RPers by creating yet another fragmented "unofficial" RP server that will never obtain a population capable of sustaining a diverse community (this has failed countless times before for the reasons stated in the OP). Players on the smaller servers should welcome the newcomers, but migrating to the central RP hub (wherever it will be) should be in the end game.

^^^^^ 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. Those are your personal experiences, and no one can dispute them. However, cliques, stalkers, and other Balmung boogeymen are not systemic problems that pervade every element of this server or impact significant numbers of people. Again, for a real world example, imagine if someone decided to move away from a rural town in Idaho - citing that it had terrible gang violence, a strip club, and too many bars [assume all of these things exist in tiny proportions]. Reasonable people wouldn't suddenly deem that small town America's new vice den; they'd just presume that the person moved for personal reasons.

I'll ignore the personal attacks/inflammatory language and respond to the substance of your post. The crux of this issue is that fragmenting the RP population across multiple servers is detrimental to the long-term health of the RP community. It is something that should be avoided. Mateus RPers and Balmung RPers should have access to a single large, diverse, vibrant, and stable RP community. Server selection should not artificially divide RPers. Trust me - I am thinking about others (specifically what actions will create the best RP community for the most amount of people), and know full well that taking strong stances on these issues is like serving as a reputation punching bag. To address your points in turn: 1. See original post re: effects of dividing the community and detrimental impact to both primary and alternative communities. 2. New players can select among several other servers and engage in RP until Balmung opens back up (or an official server is designated). I would simply hope they understand the importance of consolidating RP on one server and transfer when the time comes. 3. This is a great point. No one knows for certain what SE will do. Hence, instead of trying to do something that has failed dozens of times before (i.e. - creating a second unofficial RP server), we should be putting as much pressure on SE to either lift the transfer restriction or designate an official RP server. 4. It's unfortunate that individuals who would stay on an alleged second alternative RP server cannot see the value of being members of the greater RP community. The RP community as well does not benefit by the segregation of that population. We should stick together. Until the restriction is lifted or an official server is designated, I'm glad RPers are taking steps to help newcomers fill welcome on Maetus and other servers. But crowning any new server as the new "unofficial RP server" is a step in the wrong direction.

My apologies if anything caused offense. The vague allegations about player exclusion, stalkers, and rampant cliques do exist (so they are not purely mythical), but are greatly exaggerated, will exist on /any/ community, and make up a tiny, minute fraction of the server. I suppose it's possible if you have a tiny 20-40 RP FC on a small server that homogenizes all content that you could greatly reduce these elements, but they will still likely exist. Again, it's unfortunate if someone feels so bad that they feel that leaving the community is the only answer, especially considering that the community is enormous, the blacklist function exists, and the fact that this is the internet - where no one is going to punch you from across the screen. You could attribute these type of complaints to any RP server (or place in general) by pointing to a handful of isolated examples of misconduct. For a real world example, imagine if someone decided to move away from a rural town in Idaho - citing that it had terrible gang violence, a strip club, and too many bars [assume all of these things exist in tiny proportions]. Reasonable people wouldn't suddenly deem that small town America's new vice den; they'd just presume that the person moved for personal reasons.

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.

There are two ideal alternatives: (1) RP is consolidated on one hub - Balmung; OR (2) RP is consolidated on one hub - Official RP server. It doesn't matter which alternative happens; what matters is that RP is consolidated on one server (see OP for reasons). Additional unofficial servers will only lead to the issues described in the OP. We all should be screaming at SE right now to either lift the transfer restriction and/or designate an official RP server. Very simple.

There are dozens (if not hundreds) of Balmung RP'ers who will go out of their way to help new players integrate into the community. There are countless FCs (as opposed to the 3-5 TOTAL FCs on small servers) that are seeking new members, and even large FCs that have closed recruitment generally will allow new members through referrals. Smaller RP communities are inherently more cliquish because there is considerably less diversity (see statements made in OP). You were contacted on Mateus because the RP community on that server is doing everything possible right now to grow its member base (timing is great). The housing situation does suck, but having access to a large, diverse, and vibrant RP community is 100x more important than owning in-game real property.

You're correct in that no one knows what SE will do, but our efforts would be better be devoted to supporting this: http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/threads/324942-Transfer-Restrictions-and-Roleplayers (and making similar posts). Either the transfer restriction needs to be revoked, or we need an official RP server designated. I encourage all RPers, their friends, and their mothers (no matter where you roleplay or what type of RP you like) to post in support of the thread listed above.

This raises some questions as well that I'd like to ask. 1) How do you feel about the fact that a very similar situation has come up before in FFXI? Previously, the Odin server was bloated with the highest population. When character creation became locked, server transfers became the trend. Eventually that was locked, and free transfers were offered. The population imbalance continued despite efforts to alleviate strain on Odin and the server was split into two. Even after the split, the servers remained lock. This is a trend that mirrors Balmung's perdicament. Square Enix has reserved the right to split servers and has kept that as part of it's terms of service with the game itself, and with world transfers. 2) If these new RPers are happy with the server they choose and their communities what incentive should they have to pay $18 to transfer their characters away from the server and community? For some, that's a steep price on top of subscriptions. Even if transfers are allowed once again, it is unlikely that every player would be willing to pay that price and friends would be seperated. Do you believe this is a worthy price to pay for unity on Balmung? (1) Neutral? I think it is a stretch to compare something that happened years ago on a different game, with different population loads and servers, and a different community to the present state of things? But you're right. No one knows what SE will do. Hence why we should be screaming bloody murder at them instead of designating alternative servers and rolling alts. (2) They're missing out on the Balmung community, and the Balmung community is missing out on them. See OP re: small communities not being sustainable over time. $18 dollars is not an insurmountable barrier. It's less than the cost of going to the movies, a fifth of any decent booze, a meal out, and about two hours of work time at minimum wage. I'd hope they'd simply consider saving up $18 and spending it on something that will give them hours of entertainment (great return on investment).

(1) You raise an excellent question. I'm not certain. But it is likely that SE will follow its prior pattern of conduct and lift the restriction in 1-2 months. However, you're correct to postulate that SE may take months to lift the restriction. That is precisely why Balmung RPers should be screaming bloody murder at SE right now. If the server is still locked in 6 months, we should scream louder. If twelve months, then (maybe) we should consider other alternatives. (2) There are RP communities on a variety of small servers (Maetus and Farie come to mind). New RPers should join those communities until Balmung opens up. They should select whichever community suits their tastes and preferences best. The new RPer should transfer to Balmung as soon as the restriction is lifted, ideally with his or her friends.

Nero was kind enough to confirm this thread could be created. So, get ready for a party. Gather around the campfire. Pull out your guitars. And get ready to start singing kumbaya. Because splitting the party is never a good idea. This post is about the importance of consolidating FFXIV RP on one server and supporting one centralized hub for roleplay. Until SE designates an official RP server, RPers should support their centralized RP hub – Balmung. Individuals who RP on smaller servers (especially RPers unable to transfer to Balmung presently) should transfer to Balmung once the restriction is lifted. There is no reason to fragment our already small and ostracized community. Please post in support of this thread: http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/threads/324942-Transfer-Restrictions-and-Roleplayers/. The long-term cure to these issues is for SE to designate an official RP server. Dividing the RP community across different servers is detrimental to its long-term health and will reduce the frequency, diversity, and types of roleplay available to everyone. RPers need a centralized RP hub to ensure that roleplay remains diverse, available, and open to newcomers. :cactuar:1. Balmung is an excellent and unique RP community because RP has been consolidated there.:cactuar: The amount of RPers on Balmung speaks for the quality and diversity of its community. You can find virtually any type of roleplay on Balmung at any hour of the day. This is an incredible benefit for all roleplayers. Balmung’s large population supports diverse forms of roleplay and caters to the interests of virtually everyone. On Balmung, you can find everything from Garlean-themed FCs to groups that operate weekly pizzerias. You will not find these same opportunities on smaller servers. Balmung is a very welcoming and positive RP community. Most RPers jump on the opportunity to engage in walk-up RP or start RP after receiving a tell. The size of Balmung’s population allows users to participate in an enormous range of events. At the same time, the population is decentralized enough to allow tight-knit groups to flourish and grow. It is unreasonable to claim that Balmung is “cliqueish” or that RP is difficult to find here. The opposite is true: Balmung is the least cliquish RP community and RP is so plentiful that it is incredibly simple to find. One of the greatest benefits of Balmung’s RP community is that its size keeps opportunities open. This allows RPers to explore new characters, ideas, and meet tons of new friends. These opportunities do not exist on smaller servers. We need new people and to retain thepopulation. We need this to prevent the community from stagnating. We need to stick together. :love:2. RP communities on small servers are not sustainable and could benefit by joining the greater RP community on Balmung when the transfer restriction is lifted. :love: There is no valid reason to RP on a smaller server or break off from the greater community. Most of the time when RPers break off onto a smaller server, it is due to a personal issue (such as social anxiety), feeling stigmatized by the community for some reason, or feeling frustrated towards the community (which is rarely justified considering its size and already loose structure). A decision to leave the community for a personal reason should not cause a snowball effect. Small RP servers are not sustainable because they eventually become nothing more or less than 20-50 person cliques that cater to very specific types of roleplay. As players naturally lose interest over time, these communities become increasingly small and stagnate. This is a result of not having a sufficient population to keep RP diverse, vibrant, and interesting. Small servers are kind of like living in the rural Midwest. You’re stuck conforming to the small community around you, and eventually that community dwindles in size. All attempts to create an alternative server that is greater than a temporary clique have failed spectacularly for these reasons. Dividing the community over several severs will only harm the RP of all parties involved. Communities will be split, cliques will form on the small servers, and newcomers will struggle to integrate into the RP community. RP will become homogenized and structured around generally acceptable themes. Finding participants and growing the alternative community, as opposed to the quality of the IC content itself, will become the focal point of these servers. Roleplayers don't get magically get along. Our styles and preferences vary immensely. On Balmung, you can find groups of full-blown lore Nazis who will explode at the slightest misinterpretation of lore to harems of warrior of light catpeople who couldn’t tell you the difference between a Seeker and a Keeper. Yet, our community can sustain both populations (and benefits from that diversity). But on a small server? You don’t have a choice – conform, get out, or RP with yourself. No one should have to endure that type of environment. Ultimately, the RP community on a small server will inevitably consist of 3-5 FCs (at most) with about 10-30 each, all of which rarely show interest in others and the community at large. The saddest thing is that most of these RPers are likely interesting people and capable of producing great roleplay. But by segregating themselves to a small server, the larger RP community is unable to interact with these RPers, and the threat of stagnation/decline on the small servers increases exponentially. RPers on small servers (new and old alike) will hopefully transfer back to Balmung after the restrictions are lifted. We are all missing out on great RP opportunities by allowing an artificial barrier like server selection to divide us. Everyone stands to benefit if we stick together. :moogle:3. SE will likely lift the transfer restriction in 1-2 months, and the state of the RP community will revert to the status quo. :moogle: The efforts underway to create a second “unofficial” RP server will likely be rendered moot in 1-2 months after SE lifts the server transfer restriction. Most believe SE will revert the server transfer restriction shortly after the SB launch like it did during 2.0 and 3.0. SE has generally lifted the transfer restriction after several weeks following the release of a new expansion. This pattern will likely continue and RPers will resume playing on Balmung because it is a vibrant, diverse, and wonderful community. We need only batten down the hatches until then. In the meantime, RPers should be putting as much pressure on SE as possible to lift the server transfer restriction (or designate an official RP server). Instead of creating another alt on a small server, go post on the SE forums. Reach out to SE anyway you can. Scream out your window if you must. The world is your oyster. Think not of the “alt you’ll make to support the new alternative server” but instead of what you can do to strengthen our central RP hub. Let us all hope that probability will flush out correctly and three months down the road, we’ll be shaking our heads at this uncertainty and enjoying the great RP community we’ve created on a Balmung.

Could we please have this poll revised to reflect: (1) It is not an official decision of the FFXIV RP community, RPC community, EU RP community, and Tumblr RP community? The poll should also reflect that it reflects the procedural rules and voting criteria adopted exclusively by the OP. (2) You know what. Also, for the convenience of all, here are the current results of the Tumblr poll: Mateus - 40 None (Balmung) - 16 Jenova - 6 New world created at SB (EU Only?) - 6 Sargatanas - 4 Other World (Leave a comment!) - 4

The voting poll should be supplemented (like the one on Tumblr) to include an option to not designate another unofficial RP server. The OP of the poll (who apparently now holds the power to determine what procedures will be used to designate a new RP server [where was that vote?]) has refused a request to supplement the poll. Members of the RPC community should have the right to select that option. This should be a sign that the poll itself should not be viewed as a decision of the RPC community and is procedurally defective. Nero, if it is appropriate - please move this post to the voting poll thread. Mod edit: No posting PMs without the express consent of both users.

The solution is to put as much pressure on SE as possible to lift the server restriction or finally give us a official designated RP server. Fragmenting our community is /not/ the solution to this problem.