I think that it's:
1.) Unfair to expect new players who want to RP to automatically also be willing to pay the $18 to transfer to Balmung or whatever official RP server ends up being designated. I don't think it's unreasonable to assume that a designated RP server would quickly be subject to similar character creation restrictions that Balmung is given the sheer size of Balmung (26k or so players iirc?). I don't think it speaks poorly of RPers' "dedication" to their hobby, either, since... You know.
RP is a hobby, and people who want to RP shouldn't be derided for an unwillingness to transfer to a huge server that is honestly probably really intimidating. Bigger is not always better, and I'd argue that Balmung's size is just as much a deterrent as it is an incentive to transfer. (In the hypothetical world in which the server lock never happens, or in the future-hypothetical world wherein the transfer lock is indeed lifted a month or two after Stormblood launches)
And...
2.) Unfair to dismiss legitimate concerns regarding the toxicity of certain sects of Balmung's greater "community" as being unimportant in the grander scheme or simply not existing at all. Things such as stalkers, flaky RP partners, being invisible in a sea of people, rampant ERP and romance plots masquerading as non-ERP and romance plots that get dropped as soon as it becomes clear that ERP isn't what you're after... It's really easy to argue that these things aren't huge problems, or that these problems don't exist when these things aren't happening to you.
I'll return momentarily to Balmung's size. The community is absolutely massive -- so massive that it's really difficult to be able to get a bearing for all of its demographics, issues, and benefits at a glance. Especially because RPers are very prone to carving out little comfort zones and corners to call their own, which they probably rarely break out of because, well... It's called a comfort zone for a reason.
Just like it's easy to argue that these things don't happen because they haven't happened to you or any of the 30 people in your immediate circle (out of how many players on the server?), someone who gets lost in the crowd at every massive event they attend is probably going to get the impression that the community is a closed circle regardless of whatever individual success stories they hear. Someone who gets into the community only to be stalked by someone probably isn't going to be very comforted by assurances that it's not a problem of the greater community of that it doesn't happen often. Someone who constantly has all their connections and plots fall through probably isn't going to come away with a very positive impression of the greater RP culture on the server.
Given that Balmung's RP community is hardly an organized, monolithic entity even on good days (I've probably seen as many different stances on ERP, romance, RP etiquette, lore interpretations and compliance, FC organization, approaches to plot-planning or lack thereof, dice systems, etc. as I have people on the server), I don't think that even the people already on the server can reasonably be expect to stand in "solidarity" in favor of Balmung's continued health (which imo is in no way in any immediate danger) or in favor of designating an official RP server, let alone the people who would rather stick to a smaller scene for whatever reason, and God forbid the people who actually left Balmung due to personal reasons already in the past.
1.) Unfair to expect new players who want to RP to automatically also be willing to pay the $18 to transfer to Balmung or whatever official RP server ends up being designated. I don't think it's unreasonable to assume that a designated RP server would quickly be subject to similar character creation restrictions that Balmung is given the sheer size of Balmung (26k or so players iirc?). I don't think it speaks poorly of RPers' "dedication" to their hobby, either, since... You know.
RP is a hobby, and people who want to RP shouldn't be derided for an unwillingness to transfer to a huge server that is honestly probably really intimidating. Bigger is not always better, and I'd argue that Balmung's size is just as much a deterrent as it is an incentive to transfer. (In the hypothetical world in which the server lock never happens, or in the future-hypothetical world wherein the transfer lock is indeed lifted a month or two after Stormblood launches)
And...
2.) Unfair to dismiss legitimate concerns regarding the toxicity of certain sects of Balmung's greater "community" as being unimportant in the grander scheme or simply not existing at all. Things such as stalkers, flaky RP partners, being invisible in a sea of people, rampant ERP and romance plots masquerading as non-ERP and romance plots that get dropped as soon as it becomes clear that ERP isn't what you're after... It's really easy to argue that these things aren't huge problems, or that these problems don't exist when these things aren't happening to you.
I'll return momentarily to Balmung's size. The community is absolutely massive -- so massive that it's really difficult to be able to get a bearing for all of its demographics, issues, and benefits at a glance. Especially because RPers are very prone to carving out little comfort zones and corners to call their own, which they probably rarely break out of because, well... It's called a comfort zone for a reason.
Just like it's easy to argue that these things don't happen because they haven't happened to you or any of the 30 people in your immediate circle (out of how many players on the server?), someone who gets lost in the crowd at every massive event they attend is probably going to get the impression that the community is a closed circle regardless of whatever individual success stories they hear. Someone who gets into the community only to be stalked by someone probably isn't going to be very comforted by assurances that it's not a problem of the greater community of that it doesn't happen often. Someone who constantly has all their connections and plots fall through probably isn't going to come away with a very positive impression of the greater RP culture on the server.
Given that Balmung's RP community is hardly an organized, monolithic entity even on good days (I've probably seen as many different stances on ERP, romance, RP etiquette, lore interpretations and compliance, FC organization, approaches to plot-planning or lack thereof, dice systems, etc. as I have people on the server), I don't think that even the people already on the server can reasonably be expect to stand in "solidarity" in favor of Balmung's continued health (which imo is in no way in any immediate danger) or in favor of designating an official RP server, let alone the people who would rather stick to a smaller scene for whatever reason, and God forbid the people who actually left Balmung due to personal reasons already in the past.
