To go back to the original post and maybe break away a bit from this one city vs. another city... a number of factors come into play here, Ruru. So many, in fact, that I'm liable to miss plenty and also liable to intentionally leave some out for the sake of not writing a book.
Firstly, you mentioned the hot spot being Ul'dah. (I know, I said breaking away, but this is a valid point) Now, many people will gravitate toward that spot simply because it is "known" to be the spot to go to. Now, this may be a conscious or subconscious decision. In fact, this thread could very well feed into this problem. People hop onto the RPC, see this thread, and read that Ul'dah is the place to be. Other points were made throughout this thread that I won't bother repeating as this is already a dead horse.
Secondly, class balance. As of right now, we are forced to create a new character as a fighting class. As such, we are limited to 3 choices in Ul'dah, 2 in Limsa, and 3 in Gridania. So, playing the numbers game there, it makes a little sense as to why at least Limsa does not have as many players. Now, top that with Ul'dah having, arguably, the more iconic classes to choose from (BLM and MNK date back all the way to FF1. PLD -kinda- does in the revamps, though they were originally called knights. However, PLD is a well known class from many other games as well.) Limsa has a fairly generic class in warrior, and a probably less known one in arcanist (granted, it does turn into a slightly more iconic job SMN). Gridania has the very iconic WHM, the slightly less iconic DRG and BRD. Now... the whole "iconic status" is a bit of a stretch, but perhaps someone with better diction and syntax than I can make more sense of the argument.
Thirdly, quest chains. After you hit the lvl 15 mark in the main story line, you get to travel between the cities. You run the dungeons a bit, then who is the first primal you end up fighting? Ifrit. Where is he? Ul'dah (Thanalan). As such, your first impression is going to be Ul'dah... you're going to see the RP and possibly gravitate toward it. It's been a while since I've done the main story line, but as I recall the main quest takes you into the city proper of Ul'dah more than it does the other two cities (possibly even combined). Never mind the fact that the later parts of the main story quest (read: 8 man dungeons) are mostly in Thanalan as well.
Fourthly, we'll take an IC look at this finally. As has been mentioned several times in this thread, not all people RP their characters as adventurers. Many roleplay them as crafters, merchants, street urchins, etc. that have no real reason to leave the safety of their city's walls. Beyond that, you mention places like Coerthas and Mor Dhona. Those places are not all that friendly to live in. Very cold Coerthas and very Garlean infested Mor Dhona. Aside from helping the war effort(s), most people that feel safe and warm in the three major cities would have little to no reason to visit the outer rims of the currently explorable in game world. But, again, a bit of a dead horse here so I'll leave this point as it is.
Fifthly (o.O), the in-game lore as far as Ul'dah being a melting pot. Removing midlanders as they're everywhere... Ul'dah has highlanders (from Ala Mhigo), Dunesfolk, Hellsguard, and Seekers. Limsa has Plainsfolk, Seekers and Sea Wolves. Gridania has Wildwoods and Keepers. Duskwights are technically off on their own.
So, in terms of numbers Uldah: 4, Limsa: 3, Gridania: 2.Â
Sixthly (is not a word), and this is mostly opinion here, Ul'dah seems to have more oars in the lore boat at the moment. Ul'dah appears to be more at the front with the Garlean war, it's where a meeting between the three leaders was held, Cid was hiding in Thanalan... blah blah blah.Â
I'll stop with those as I've lost track of the others.
TL;DR: A lot goes into play in regards to why people RP where they do. It's not all, necessarily, a personal, conscious choice as some game mechanics (and possibly even forum threads) tend to lean heavily toward one place more than others.
Firstly, you mentioned the hot spot being Ul'dah. (I know, I said breaking away, but this is a valid point) Now, many people will gravitate toward that spot simply because it is "known" to be the spot to go to. Now, this may be a conscious or subconscious decision. In fact, this thread could very well feed into this problem. People hop onto the RPC, see this thread, and read that Ul'dah is the place to be. Other points were made throughout this thread that I won't bother repeating as this is already a dead horse.
Secondly, class balance. As of right now, we are forced to create a new character as a fighting class. As such, we are limited to 3 choices in Ul'dah, 2 in Limsa, and 3 in Gridania. So, playing the numbers game there, it makes a little sense as to why at least Limsa does not have as many players. Now, top that with Ul'dah having, arguably, the more iconic classes to choose from (BLM and MNK date back all the way to FF1. PLD -kinda- does in the revamps, though they were originally called knights. However, PLD is a well known class from many other games as well.) Limsa has a fairly generic class in warrior, and a probably less known one in arcanist (granted, it does turn into a slightly more iconic job SMN). Gridania has the very iconic WHM, the slightly less iconic DRG and BRD. Now... the whole "iconic status" is a bit of a stretch, but perhaps someone with better diction and syntax than I can make more sense of the argument.
Thirdly, quest chains. After you hit the lvl 15 mark in the main story line, you get to travel between the cities. You run the dungeons a bit, then who is the first primal you end up fighting? Ifrit. Where is he? Ul'dah (Thanalan). As such, your first impression is going to be Ul'dah... you're going to see the RP and possibly gravitate toward it. It's been a while since I've done the main story line, but as I recall the main quest takes you into the city proper of Ul'dah more than it does the other two cities (possibly even combined). Never mind the fact that the later parts of the main story quest (read: 8 man dungeons) are mostly in Thanalan as well.
Fourthly, we'll take an IC look at this finally. As has been mentioned several times in this thread, not all people RP their characters as adventurers. Many roleplay them as crafters, merchants, street urchins, etc. that have no real reason to leave the safety of their city's walls. Beyond that, you mention places like Coerthas and Mor Dhona. Those places are not all that friendly to live in. Very cold Coerthas and very Garlean infested Mor Dhona. Aside from helping the war effort(s), most people that feel safe and warm in the three major cities would have little to no reason to visit the outer rims of the currently explorable in game world. But, again, a bit of a dead horse here so I'll leave this point as it is.
Fifthly (o.O), the in-game lore as far as Ul'dah being a melting pot. Removing midlanders as they're everywhere... Ul'dah has highlanders (from Ala Mhigo), Dunesfolk, Hellsguard, and Seekers. Limsa has Plainsfolk, Seekers and Sea Wolves. Gridania has Wildwoods and Keepers. Duskwights are technically off on their own.
So, in terms of numbers Uldah: 4, Limsa: 3, Gridania: 2.Â
Sixthly (is not a word), and this is mostly opinion here, Ul'dah seems to have more oars in the lore boat at the moment. Ul'dah appears to be more at the front with the Garlean war, it's where a meeting between the three leaders was held, Cid was hiding in Thanalan... blah blah blah.Â
I'll stop with those as I've lost track of the others.
TL;DR: A lot goes into play in regards to why people RP where they do. It's not all, necessarily, a personal, conscious choice as some game mechanics (and possibly even forum threads) tend to lean heavily toward one place more than others.
Raandal Bennett (Deceased)
