How's the RP on Balmung?

[DuskfireDream]

Hey, everyone. First of all, I'm new to this website. I just registered. I started playing FFXIV on the first day of A Realm Reborn's release, but I haven't been playing for quite a while. My highest level character is my Miqo'te Summoner at 35. I have been playing on the Gilgamesh server with my bf since we started, because it was elected to be one of the two big RP servers, along with Balmung, however we noticed (and this may very well be incorrect) that many of the roleplayers on Balmung who were posting on forums seemed to be rather elitist and standoffish, so we elected to make our characters on Gilgamesh, instead.

 

The last time I logged into FFXIV, I was travelling between the different cities and noticed a large decrease in RP activity. In fact, I hardly saw anyone roleplaying at all. So, now that this new expansion is dropping tomorrow (later today, really) and I have money to spend on a world transfer, I'm about to transfer all my characters to Balmung, because that's what seems to be the one server with a ton of RP activity.

 

So, I'm here to ask all of you who roleplay on Balmung, how is the RP activity there? Are there still a lot of people roleplaying in the cities? Do you guys host multi-guild and/or server-wide RPs? Would any of you be willing to help someone who's still fairly inexperienced with the game's lore learn more? Thanks in advance.

[Ashe]

Hmmmm my experience in Balmung has been great.  I didn't really have problems with the eltist/stand-offish people you saw? I RP in my FC and with people not in my fc.  People RP in the cities and in the world  There's a lot of RP if you want it.  Heavensward is out now so a lot of those RPers are focusing on that.  But in the next few weeks it'll be back to normal and RP will resume as usual.

 

I'd be willing to help you a bit if you want. My character ICly is kinda an arrogant jerk though so I hope you don't get turned away by that.

 

If you're planning on transferring to Balmung, I would wait though.  Log in times are HELL because of HW.

[Griffith!]

People are a little rigid on the lore, but I haven't really seen any elitist or stand-offishness thus far.

 

I agree there is plenty of RP to be had on Balmung. I've played fourteen hour stretches the last few days, and there is pretty much always people on RPing. The servers are also pretty much always full.

[Adolar]

From what I've been told, Balmung is doing well and there's lots of RP around, particularly around the Quicksand. I'm not sure what sort of elitist/stand-offish posts you were seeing but I doubt it makes up their entire community.

 

As for Gilgamesh, there's definitely a community here as well, though much of the activity goes on around the housing districts (Goblet Ward 3 is where a lot of the RP houses are located) and sporadically in other parts of the game world.

 

We don't have a particular RP hub in the cities but there are many friendly and welcoming folks who communicate both ICly and OOCly across different free companies and linkshells. Quite a few RP events goes on every week that are open to any RPers who wish to stop by. Though, things have been kind slow the past week or so, as everyone is currently getting caught up in the Heavensward content.

 

So if you plan on sticking around a bit on Gilgamesh, don't be afraid to seek us out! We've got a server-specific community site as well, if you're interested in that. The website is: http://www.gilgamesh-rp.com

[DuskfireDream]

Good to hear that there's a lot of good RP around on Balmung. But, I don't much want to play on Gilgamesh anymore, so I don't think I'll be waiting to transfer... Are the wait times to log in really so bad, right now? How long does it take to get online? I thought Square Enix got these server issues ironed out a long time ago.

 

Also, that would be great, if you could help when you can. My character, Emi, is rather timid, so she won't be disputing your character's attitude.

 

[Edit:] Thanks for the offer, Adolar, but I've been thinking I'd prefer being on Balmung. I'm really not sure, though... I don't know, I'm incredibly indecisive.

[Aife]

In my honest opinion there's more role players on Balmung. I considered seriously transferring to Gilgamesh after a few bad encounters over the last six months since I started rping heavily but after creating an alt there and wandering about for a week on and off I didn't come across any rpers rping out in the open. Like any community you'll across bad apples. I elect to stick to my close circle of friend and others who I know are "safe" to rp with and won't bring me down with elitist attitudes or unnecessary OTT lore mongering. Surround yourself with positive, fun loving people and you'll be fine.

[Ashe]

Good to hear that there's a lot of good RP around on Balmung. But, I don't much want to play on Gilgamesh anymore, so I don't think I'll be waiting to transfer... Are the wait times to log in really so bad, right now? How long does it take to get online? I thought Square Enix got these server issues ironed out a long time ago.

 

Also, that would be great, if you could help when you can. My character, Emi, is rather timid, so she won't be disputing your character's attitude.

 

[Edit:] Thanks for the offer, Adolar, but I've been thinking I'd prefer being on Balmung. I'm really not sure, though... I don't know, I'm incredibly indecisive.

 

Contact me in-game any time!

The wait time is bad now because of HW.  It will get better once everyone stops playing for 20 hours straight to race to 60....which isn't a race....don't get why people are making it a race /sighhh

[111]

I think RP is pretty great here, but I'm biased since this is the first game I've ever RP'd on.

[DuskfireDream]

Well, last time I tried to get into Balmung just to make a character to get a feel for it, the game wouldn't even let me log onto the server because it was full... and this wasn't even during the beginning or near an expansion, and I don't even think it was near a content patch. I just thought that Balmung was consistently full no matter what, and it would be difficult to get in regardless of when I would try. So, when I tried to make a character on it a little while ago and it let me, I figured things were better. Were there still queues to get in, before this whole Heavensward thing was around? And do you think there'll be bad queues for a while after this expansion releases?

 

Also, can anyone get me an estimate as to what the average wait time is right now?

[Leomoon]

The reason most likly that RP dropped off is most people who own FFXIV right now preordred so they could get in a week early and start doing content. I noticed the same on Balmung in that in Ul'dah there is very little RP  and pretty much everywhere else there is no RP.

 

As for ow Balmung is I have run into a few FC's are that lore critical RP were if you do not keep to the lore and how magic and anything else works then they will not let you RP. However I right now am in a very easy going RP FC and while I haven't done much RP with them we are all joking around in are OOC chat and goofing off. On the randoms I meet are perfectly fine as well, random walk ups are common and will always begin a chat or two and there are RP events going on all the time normally.

[DuskfireDream]

Question: What's the current queue on Balmung, and am I able to transfer my characters there while it says I am unable to create new characters on Balmung?

Side Note: The game also says I can't currently make new characters on Gilgamesh.

[Gegenji]

Question: What's the current queue on Balmung, and am I able to transfer my characters there while it says I am unable to create new characters on Balmung?

Side Note: The game also says I can't currently make new characters on Gilgamesh.

 

Transferring bypasses the character creation process, so yes you can transfer a character to a server that is preventing you from making new characters.

[Spethah]

From what I've heard, if you can get your foot through the door of RP then it's great. I've yet to even manage that and I've been at this for half a year now. Elitist and standoffish folk? I've seen quite a few people that act that way OOCly and is actually the main reason why I'm having trouble finding RP outside of me dragging my FCmates around. But this might just be my pure bad luck, so don't take what I say as absolute.

[Melodia]

RP is what you put into it. I used to complain about lack of rp, not being included, etc. However, I always sat at home at the FC or just remained silent in Limsa or Ul'dah, wondering why rp wasn't coming to me. Well, that tactic just doesn't work. So I had to adapt, step out of my comfort zone and start trying to speak to strangers at random, getting into good Linkshells, being chatty, and even making a role for my character that forces her to talk to people. I may not be some main character in an epic rp storyline, but my collection of little rp has netted me a lot of good friends and people I could rp with again at any time. Balmung is great, you just need to be willing to put yourself out there a bit to engage with others.

[Magellan]

First and foremost... pre-emptive welcome! Yes logging on to Balmung is pretty hard right now, but I imagine it's the same with Gilgamesh, since they share the same data center.

 

The RP community on Balmung is large. I often see lots of rp going on in the world, in random areas, and there are lots of events.

 

That said, not everyone is welcoming to walk up rp, and some may flat out ignore you. It's a Community. Which means while there are a number of prickly folks, there are also a lot of nice ones. Networking through various LS' S is probably the best way to find RP: almost all of my rp in this game is pre-scheduled, which suits me just fine, as I love the games pve content too.

 

Through networking, I can get as much or as little rp as I want (usually) because as stated... the rp community here is really big :0)

 

Also, you should totally rp with Melodia because she's awesome c:

[DuskfireDream]

Can I have some good Linkshells on Balmung to get us started, please?

 

[Edit:] Also, who do I talk to to disband my Free Company? (In Yellow Serpents)

 

[Edit 2:] Nevermind, I figured it out.

[Melodia]

Can I have some good Linkshells on Balmung to get us started, please?

 

[Edit:] Also, who do I talk to to disband my Free Company? (In Yellow Serpents)

 

[Edit 2:] Nevermind, I figured it out.

Hugs and Cake is a good one with a lot of nice open minded people who rp and do progression. Another is Open RP, which is very similar. Look in the Linkshell hall and see about contact information for them

[Hammersmith]

Man. I had the opposite experience from you.

 

The Balmung playerbase was pretty open, up front, and willing to engage in walk-up RP with a player who had no experience with the game as a whole, period.

 

That said: Go fishing in the "Making connections" board, check out the FC listings, and in general post and be part of the community and you'll start finding events, gatherings, and people who gravitate to when you log on, regardless of the amount of time you have to invest in the game (My ability to be online varies wildly depending on my social engagements of the week, ranging from full hermit mode to "Oh god why did I choose to have a whirlwind week")

 

Now here's the flipside of it:

 

Finding that RP IS completely your responsibility.  No one is obligated to bring it to you, in any fashion.  Not here, not on the server.  There are nice people who will help, but you have to ask, you have to engage, and you can't just wait and assume people will reach out.  It's tough, but it's worth it:  Be proactive, go looking for it, get involved, jump in, and understand not everything will work first time. 

 

You'll be fine.

[Magellan]

Can I have some good Linkshells on Balmung to get us started, please?

 

[Edit:] Also, who do I talk to to disband my Free Company? (In Yellow Serpents)

 

[Edit 2:] Nevermind, I figured it out.

Hugs and Cake is a good one with a lot of nice open minded people who rp and do progression. Another is Open RP, which is very similar. Look in the Linkshell hall and see about contact information for them

.... Mel beat me to it..

[DuskfireDream]

Finding that RP IS completely your responsibility.  No one is obligated to bring it to you, in any fashion.  Not here, not on the server.  There are nice people who will help, but you have to ask, you have to engage, and you can't just wait and assume people will reach out.  It's tough, but it's worth it:  Be proactive, go looking for it, get involved, jump in, and understand not everything will work first time. 

 

You'll be fine.

Oh, absolutely. If I find someone else roleplaying in a group or signify that they are a roleplayer, I'll absolutely walk up and say hi to them. And sometimes, I'll just roleplay my character doing what they do around a city, and see if anyone is willing to walk up to me. I just need to know that there are roleplayers around for this to work with, and it seems, from what I'm told, that there are plenty around.

[DuskfireDream]

Finding that RP IS completely your responsibility.  No one is obligated to bring it to you, in any fashion.  Not here, not on the server.  There are nice people who will help, but you have to ask, you have to engage, and you can't just wait and assume people will reach out.  It's tough, but it's worth it:  Be proactive, go looking for it, get involved, jump in, and understand not everything will work first time. 

 

You'll be fine.

Oh, absolutely. If I find someone else roleplaying in a group or signify that they are a roleplayer, I'll absolutely walk up and say hi to them. And sometimes, I'll just roleplay my character doing what they do around a city, and see if anyone is willing to walk up to me. I just need to know that there are roleplayers around for this to work with, and it seems, from what I'm told, that there are plenty around.

 

[Edit:] Hey! Can anyone toss me an invite to that Hugs & Cake Linkshell? I'm currently online as Emi Narluna!

[Magellan]

Try contacting any of the leaders listed here! 

 

http://ffxiv-roleplayers.com/showthread.php?tid=10815

[Aya]

Balmung is the most pleasant, active, and enjoyable RP experience I've had in any MMO!  That's not to say its all Hugs and Cake (outside of Hugs and Cake!) but its pretty amazing, and if you want some Fantasy RP I can't recommend it highly enough :-]

 

I have been out of the loop of RP for a little while though, but I doubt things have changed much! 

 

People do express some of their trouble finding RP on Balmung, and that's just really true anywhere.  Any social group can be hard to get into, and I just encourage you to do your best!

 

Welcome to the RPC!

[Kage]

Character transfers bypass the character creations lock.

 

What you'll have issues with (like everyone in Aether data center and sometimes Primal data center) is getting through the lobby errors because everyone on Gilgamesh and Balmung (two of the largest NA populated servers) are trying to play.

 

Right now everyone is super excited about the expansion when you can play.

 

Otherwise when RP is high...

Grindstone - Weekly Saturday Fighting Tournament RP even has seen near 30 fighters with just as much if not more spectators.

 

Weekly Tavern nights

 

Jancis' Celebration events are great as well!

[DuskfireDream]

Character transfers bypass the character creations lock.

 

What you'll have issues with (like everyone in Aether data center and sometimes Primal data center) is getting through the lobby errors because everyone on Gilgamesh and Balmung (two of the largest NA populated servers) are trying to play.

 

Right now everyone is super excited about the expansion when you can play.

 

Otherwise when RP is high...

Grindstone -  Weekly Saturday Fighting Tournament RP even has seen near 30 fighters with just as much if not more spectators.

 

Weekly Tavern nights

 

Jancis' Celebration events are great as well!

That sounds good! I'm checking out Balmung now, and I'm in that Hugs & Cake linkshell, and everyone seems very friendly. When are those tavern night and Jancis' Celebration events, and where do they take place?