(05-19-2017, 03:38 PM)Kage Wrote: Would it be more likely to see a designated-by-SE RP server? Will that mean by and large Balmung's RP community leaves? Will my friends by and large leave?
Balmung is locked and another community must now be the one to point to. Will people join there cause it's freer? How does this community do? What are pros and cons of everything being considered?
Will people decide on another unofficial server and move en-masse with the incentives?
On the first, I don't think we'll see SE stick their fingers in and flag something other then Balmung as the 'RP' server without also flagging Balmung the same. Â It would also mean that SE is throwing an official hat into supporting RP, which while it would be awesome, I'm not sure I see happening.
I really don't know on the second and third. Â
New players, if we have a unified "go here" will pending the health of the new community. Existing players, some might but many others won't uproot or deal with the disruption. Â That said, Balmung's community is probably healthy enough to survive a sizable portion moving away and maintain it's post-critical mass state.Â
The target to look for is about six months from now after the expansion's newess has worn off and people go wander off to 'game of the moment'. If the new community isn't over over a certain total mass (I'm just throwing a number out here) 100-200 players or so with at least five or six different distinct groups producing content for the community, it will have problems and need a lot of hand-holding to continue on. Â If it goes decently above that, it'll probably hit a critical mass and become self sustaining.
The pro: Choice. Â More choice is always awesome. Â
The con: Choice? Â You get different communities competing for incoming players. This sort of thing breeds community rivalries. Â It's up for debate if this is 'good' or 'bad'.
The only real risk is that the community splits down into pieces below a viable self sustaining point. Â At that point it is just a matter of time before fragments 'pillars' burn out and the community collapses.
I am really interested in how they structure the XP and Gil incentives. Â This could be both an interesting and troubling thing depending on implementation. Â I'll hold off on a real opinion until we know more?
