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Almil · **10-24-2010, 02:13 AM**

Hiya guys, I'm new at the game and new on the forums *bows*

I was thinking what others think about the issue that I dislike -most- in the game (atm).
I tried to search if someone already post topic about it but didn't find, so here it goes.

First day when I started to play I thought it was cool that the day changed to night soon, and I could even see thunder (which I think is well done with sounds). But, now that I have got familiar with all the controls and how everything (almost everything) works, I'd like to start roleplaying. This is when I got very frustrated days moving so fast.
One short RP session (short in my taste) took many DAYS in my characters life...?!?! This ain't nice.

I haven't actually stare with second watch how fast the time goes, but it seems something like one second in Earth time, is one minute in Eorzea time? That means one minute has been hour. When you start counting the days when you started to play this game, how old would your character be today? I mean its soon years and hundreds of years, do we need to make new RP characters soon or are all races immortal?

Sure someone can say "I don't watch the time, I RP the way I want to, days don't move so fast."
But it's impossible to come up with time that every RPer agrees with. Someone might use Earth time in their RP, and another Eorzea time, what happens?
One or two days later (earth time) they meet again and this happens:
"Hi, nice to see you again, been a long time!"
"What you mean, we just met yesterday."

Anyways think you get my point already, anyone have opinion to share?

---
PS, I really looked forward to roleplaying in this game. Why is it so hard?

Satisiun · **10-24-2010, 03:00 AM**

One Eorzean minute is somewhere along the lines of 2.5 real life seconds, give or take a few tenths or hundredths of a second. It's supposed to round out to about a full day in Eorzea in one hour of real life time.

The reason, of course, is unlike some other games which tend to divide their player base up by regional or continental servers (I'm looking at you WoW ...), FFXIV's servers are international, and so you wind up with players from all over the world on every server. With that in mind, going with a 1:1 ratio is both impossible and unfair to a certain group of people, since then suddenly the only time you'd ever play is, say, the evening in game. Hope you like being nocturnal. Laugh

In the case of role play, you generally are forced to gloss over time. Perhaps you take stock of the time of the day when you first interact with a character who isn't already interacting with anyone else, since you won't end up saying "good evening!" when that other character might have started interacting in the "morning" with someone else. Or you pick time-neutral greetings. In general, you need to be flexible and work with the situation. A little pre-planning can also help if you're really afraid of stepping on anyone's toes, just by simply asking them before approaching if they have an issue with a certain time of day being recognized.

Zyanya · **10-24-2010, 03:09 AM**

I feel your pain - I felt exactly the same when I started playing. I decided to roll with it and have been in the middle of some pretty interesting interactions as a result. There is a saying where I'm from (not all that uncommon) which is 'If you don't like the weather wait 5 minutes." In Eorzea, you don't even need to wait that long. Laugh

Chveya · **10-24-2010, 03:19 AM**

Every game's time moves too fast. Thus, every game in which RP takes place generally means ignoring the in-world time.

I don't mean to blow off your worries, but this isn't anything new. People have been dealing with this for years. This one is faster than most, yes, but certainly not anything that can't be dealt with the same way it's always been dealt with.

Almil · **10-24-2010, 04:12 AM**

I understand people are in different timezones, but still, does it have to be this fast? Why not like ...hmm., 3 Eorzea days in 24h Earth time? or 4, ...but....24 days? *fumes*

And while your friends RP, you might be in school/work or even just leveling your character OOC professions and classes, and you miss days from your friends character lives..

But seriously, how fast does our characters age?
And does the game have any kind of calendar so I can see how many weeks in Eorzea time I have play my character, so I don't miss her birthday and such, hehe ^^

I don't wanna age fast and be old :<

Jinxsy · **10-24-2010, 06:12 AM**

Welcome to the forums and to the game!

I think you're over thinking it waaaaay too much, playing in Eorzea time is not going to work for RP, when does your character sleep? She's able to stay up for months at a time talking to the same few other characters, rp events would take years to complete and could you really stay standing in one spot fishing for aslong as it takes to catch a fish sometimes?
If one Eorzean minute is 2.5 seconds in reality then the 2 mins it takes you to reply to someone actually takes your character 48mins to reply (I think my math is a little rusty but you get the idea).

DAISHI · **10-24-2010, 02:09 PM**

In practical terms I know this was at least a holdover from FFXI. Certain stores would be open only at certain times of a Vanadiel day, or fish would bite better at certain hours or on certain types of days. From a practical gaming standpoint, it just makes good sense that, if you're going to make a timing system, it's not one in which you have to wait three hours for a store to open or fish to bite.

Ghunzyr · **10-24-2010, 09:37 PM**

Call me old, but I LIKE when stuff isn't always open because time moves in a realistic manner. I have the same complaints about the world's time as Amil (by the way, welcome!), just as I had the same complaint in EVERY world other than Azeroth and Earth itself. I, for one, enjoyed that it was always night time when I was adventuring in Warcraft. I think time sensative stuff is great, and makes sense. Not all animals hunt at the same time, and if you don't see something open, or have a hard time finding something because its naps when you go hunting, tough luck, that's life! Think about how much more immersive the game would be if it was like that? My dream would be fore a roleplayer server that was like that, so we could live and play in a realistic world, and then super quick time on all the "normal" folks' servers.

Satisiun · **10-24-2010, 09:48 PM**

Ghunzyr Wrote:Call me old, but I LIKE when stuff isn't always open because time moves in a realistic manner. I have the same complaints about the world's time as Amil (by the way, welcome!), just as I had the same complaint in EVERY world other than Azeroth and Earth itself. I, for one, enjoyed that it was always night time when I was adventuring in Warcraft. I think time sensative stuff is great, and makes sense. Not all animals hunt at the same time, and if you don't see something open, or have a hard time finding something because its naps when you go hunting, tough luck, that's life! Think about how much more immersive the game would be if it was like that? My dream would be fore a roleplayer server that was like that, so we could live and play in a realistic world, and then super quick time on all the "normal" folks' servers.

But in effect you're damning other people to only playing at X time in game when it might not be in their control. You use Warcraft as an example, but you made a conscious choice to play on a server where the times you played were consistent with evening times in the game.

What about people who, for example, are forced to only play at a certain time because of their job? Or because of where they live in the world? What happens, then, when their optimal time to play happens to also conflict with the time that guild shops, craft shops, or general shops are open or closed? Do we just shrug our shoulders and say that's too bad, and that they should try and revolve their time on a video game better, even if it conflicts with their real life?

You're basically hoisting role playing sensibilities or desires upon a game which, while it is an MMORPG, is still vastly populated by more people who simply want to come on and play a game, without having to fret over whether that shift at work has effectively ruined their chance to buy something until 24 hours later, or even further along depending on their schedule.

SE isn't exactly in the business of role play-specific servers, either. In fact, most MMOs aren't. WoW has been the exception, not the rule, with maybe one or two other MMOs of the mainstream variety showing a little recognition to role players. As such, what is best for the masses is better than what is best for the vocal minority in this case. It's not always that way, but in this case, well ...

If it isn't obvious, I'm not so much demeaning as much as I am trying to play some devil's advocate here. What you may feel is more immersive is, in turn, going to cause more strife for other players. And, I am sorry to say, really sort of has a selfish tinge to it, if you consider other people's real life schedule causing them to miss out on something for an extended period of time "tough luck". Undecided

Edit!: Oof, I know I am turning this entry in to a freaking thesis, but I do want to add one more thing.

Keep in mind there is logic behind the way the game works when it comes to time, too, from a game mechanics standpoint. As people may recall from FFXI, different days of the in-game week could have an effect on things such as combat, magic, and even synthesis. It also had a big part in the changing of region control, and while that may not be something we ever see in FFXIV, we don't quite know what they may have in store for us.

Not only that, but the FFXIV devs have effectively told us that they want to make the time of a character's in-game birthday also have some sort of effect to their skills or stats or what have you when it occurs. I don't know about you, but I'd like a nice little boost once a week myself, not once every literal, real-life year.

So, in short? There's a lot more to it than just "immersion".

Chveya · **10-24-2010, 10:43 PM**

^^^^^^

What he said.

Ghunzyr · **10-24-2010, 11:57 PM**

Well, I know SE isn't known for catering to roleplayers, but that is why I said my dream would be an RP server with different rules. I know it won't happen, but I would like very much if it did. I understand what you are saying completely about damning many players for the sake of the few, but letÃ¢Â€Â™s look at it another way. It shouldn't matter where a server is set physically in the world; the time the game day starts should be able to be set arbitrarily. If it must depend on server time, just offset the server's clock an hour. Each server could be an hour different from the others. 24 servers would yield 24 different "time zones". Half that and it still gives people plenty of options. It could also help to even out the number of people on the servers as people could pick their favourite server based on the day/night cycle that suits them. As for shops that are always closed, well, I had that experience in another MMO, Global Agenda. Some stores were always open, others would only open for a few hours (real world hours) on certain days of the week (an Earth week). Consequently, I played the game for months and never once saw any of those stores open, and some of them sold some of the best stuff as I understood it. It didn't bother me though, that's the thing. I know I am the minority, heck I'm probably the only one who feels this way, but I take immersion over ease of play any day. Only reason I voiced my opinion on this thread was for the sake of voicing it and maybe give a different view from those who opt for the game being fair and just and equal for all instead of being realistic. I think MMORPGS have become far, far, FAR too easy over the recent years. The first time I logged into a game and saw "!" marking who to talk to for quests, I died a little inside. Also, I believe that minimaps were granted to us by the devil. I never got to the end game content in EverQuest 1 because I didn't have 12 hours a day for a solid 6 months to dedicate to getting from 50 to 60 (or whatever it was), but I LIKED that it was hard to level.

As for the Warcraft comment: I didn't pick a server that suited my preferred play times, it was just a happy surprise that it was always night and I played a character that preferred the night. Not to mention the game was beautiful at night. There were some areas I never, or seldom, got to visit or explore because they were dangerous at night, but I enjoyed that.

I donÃ¢Â€Â™t believe that people who play for an hour or two every day, solo, should EVER be able to see the end game content. Heck, I would prefer if it was nearly impossible to solo. Heaven forbid players would have to actually socialize with each other and maybe be polite so as not to earn a bad reputation. I know the perfect game for me will never be made because the world has changed and people want to make games that cater to everyone, especially the casual gamer as that is where the money is. Also, I realize I probably sound like some maniac, but hell, I donÃ¢Â€Â™t care.

Chveya · **10-25-2010, 03:17 AM**

Ghunzyr Wrote:I donÃ¢Â€Â™t believe that people who play for an hour or two every day, solo, should EVER be able to see the end game content. Heck, I would prefer if it was nearly impossible to solo. Heaven forbid players would have to actually socialize with each other and maybe be polite so as not to earn a bad reputation. I know the perfect game for me will never be made because the world has changed and people want to make games that cater to everyone, especially the casual gamer as that is where the money is. Also, I realize I probably sound like some maniac, but hell, I donÃ¢Â€Â™t care.

When you pay their subscription, you can tell them they can't have the ability to access ALL of the game they played for.

And that's all I'll say about that. For a bit there, you sounded like a stubborn, but still sensible person. At the quoted point above you became someone who didn't give a rats backside about other people who didn't play the same way you do, and that puts you into the intolerant jerk category.

I always thought roleplayers were of a more accepting breed, considering their playstyle often doesn't grant them the time to obsess over content the way hardcore, end-game players do. There's always someone gotta prove me wrong.

Almil · **10-25-2010, 03:55 AM**

Now now, I didn't mean to make topic go to arguing and name calling... *soothes everyone*

But still I want to say what I said earlier.
I didn't ask for realistic hours, just bit slower. Like 4-6 Eorzea days in one Earth Day, then it should have everything for every timezone?
----But, I'm from europe, and many other RPers are from america, so ...if I happen to join their RP when they have already started, do I need to pretend its daytime, even that its night in my home? Now wait, I mean if they have started the RP just some minutes earlier and have agree it is day time (sun shining in game) but when I join it's night time in game and they still want to RP day time?? .....see, I go mad XD hahaha.
Maybe I am indeed thinking too much *ruffles her hair*

And I repeat my other question.
How does the characters age? Should I just stick to the age I think her to be, even if I play months-years?

Jinxsy · **10-25-2010, 05:04 AM**

We could all just say "Hello" instead of worrying about what time of day it is Big Grin

Chveya · **10-25-2010, 06:11 AM**

Jinxsy Wrote:We could all just say "Hello" instead of worrying about what time of day it is

+1

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Eorzea world time. Too fast?

RPC has moved! These pages have been kept for historical purposes