Server Selection (Prelude)

[Aveline]

This is not the first time people have voiced concerns over there being a delay in the server selection process...

 

but I don't really understand why. We don't know the names of the servers S-E will have at launch, or what methods will be available to us for selection. What is it exactly that people are worried about delaying? We don't have anything with which to make a decision on.

 

The absolute worst-case scenario is that S-E doesn't release a list of permanent server names until September 22 (CE launch date), in which case we'll have to decide that day and people with CE pre-orders can get started on server homesteading. And I'm sorry but you guys can't tell me that if this were the case, the RPC and all other groups would be scattered to the winds. If no one has server names to pick from in advance, no one has server names to pick from in advance.

 

I'm going to guess, though, that since S-E has outright stated that they are aware of peoples' concerns with sticking together (linkshells from FFXI, friends made in beta, etc.) that they will give us a list of servers in advance, and we'll have plenty of time to pick a server before any serverpocalypse happens.

[ArmachiA]

I'll refrain from commenting on any specific player(s) from the Aion community, but I do think its important to recognize that subversive behaviors can come from anyone, even those with the popular interest at heart, to sway things such as these.

 

Aside from the previously suggested measures, it may also be prudent to discuss what kind of vote we will have well in advance of actually having said vote. As a community site I think ARP was obligated to open the poll to every individual. If this site is specifically devoted to the coalition as an organization and individuals who wish to associate with the coalition, then we have the option of reserving voting rights to representatives of affiliated guilds. Given that the requirements to have a seat on the RPC aren't necessarily subjective, I don't think its unfair to go this route.

 

Those who choose a guild/linkshell/company before launch already have their representation in the coalition. If individual guilds like, they can hold their own private polls on their websites/forums in advance of the coalition poll, and vote for the winner of their individual poll.

 

I'm expecting someone will bring up the ethics involved in not acknowledging the freelancers for such a poll. For the sake of not critting anyone with a wall o'text, I'll just keep off that subject until that time >.>

 

Who were you on ARP?

 

I joined ARP about a week before they voted on servers. It was pretty Toxic, and then got confusing as hell when NCsoft pulled their own poll. It will probably get hairy here since everyone has friends they want to play with.

 

The best solution is to do it as soon as possible, even without server names. Someone mentioned just stating a letter like "We'll go to the server with the Z as the first name" and that would actually work (Unless there's no Z ) or something similar. That way those who are rolling with friends can EASILY go "I'm going to this server, come follow me! :)" Unfortunately it seems like a convoluted situation and this way, while easiest, is the most confusing.

 

The council voting is fine but freelancers should get represented in the vote.

 

Basically the sooner we can pick a server the better. The reason why Aion was so hairy was because it took FOREVER to get the poll up over which server we would go to... even with the beta servers being named exactly the same. The sooner it gets done the less of a problem their will be. People can mobilize friends and everything once it's decided. I HOPE SE has the foresight to give us server names soon (Or that the servers are the same names as Beta)

 

Expect complications, absolutely...

[Aveline]

Wait, if we just pick a random letter then why is there even a need to vote at all? Isn't one random letter just as arbitrary as the next?

[ArmachiA]

Just an idea someone on here came up with. It's a pretty confusing system, but you know, people panic when it's time to pick where to go. Friends are easily split up and all.

 

I'm really just hoping SE puts out the server names soon and everyone can feel more at ease.

[Guest]

Wait' date=' if we just pick a random letter then why is there even a need to vote at all? Isn't one random letter just as arbitrary as the next?[/quote']

 

Bingo, and this is what Soren Miren stated in "Server Selection P2: What Ifs?". We can easily vote on this sort of thing before launch if the need arises.

 

I'm not going to let my group get scattered to the winds due to a delayed response in mobilizing by waiting for the server selection outcome. That is just not an option. The best I can do is cast my vote and hope that's what wins. I mean don't get me wrong' date=' I have no illusions that just because I said I'm going to X server the RPC will go to X server. But I'd like to at least feel like I had some say regardless of the outcome.[/quote']

 

What delay? We have like 3 months to decide this. Also why be part of a vote if you don't care about it and will just do your own thing anyways?

[Zane]

This is not the first time people have voiced concerns over there being a delay in the server selection process...

 

but I don't really understand why. We don't know the names of the servers S-E will have at launch, or what methods will be available to us for selection. What is it exactly that people are worried about delaying? We don't have anything with which to make a decision on.

 

The absolute worst-case scenario is that S-E doesn't release a list of permanent server names until September 22 (CE launch date), in which case we'll have to decide that day and people with CE pre-orders can get started on server homesteading. And I'm sorry but you guys can't tell me that if this were the case, the RPC and all other groups would be scattered to the winds. If no one has server names to pick from in advance, no one has server names to pick from in advance.

 

I'm going to guess, though, that since S-E has outright stated that they are aware of peoples' concerns with sticking together (linkshells from FFXI, friends made in beta, etc.) that they will give us a list of servers in advance, and we'll have plenty of time to pick a server before any serverpocalypse happens.

 

Here is my situation, I briefly explained it in my first post, but I'll go into detail here:

 

I have 9 RL friends that I plan on playing FF XIV with at launch. Convincing those 9 friends to go to a particular server shouldn't be that hard, even up to the moment the game is launched.

 

In addition, I plan on playing with my friends from my current Linkshell in Final Fantasy XI. Coordinating that group to go to the same server as the RPC when none of them have any interest in Role-Playing may take some effort. The longer the RPC takes to pick a server, the harder it will be for the two to wind up on the same server. Even so, it still falls within the realm of possibility.

 

Now, the tricky part. Of the 9:

 

3 currently play on my server and have the same group of friends I have. No issue.

 

1 currently plays on my server, but has a different group of friends they are interested in playing with. If this friend wants to play with his friends in XIV, he's going to need to tell them a server before they decide on a server.

 

3 currently play on a different server in FF XI, and have yet another completely different group of friends, different linkshells, and they too would like to play with their friends. Telling them a server early is key to allow their friends to play.

 

The last two both play WoW. They both play on the same server, but again, two different groups of friends. For one, he may only have one friend coming to play so that's no issue, but the other is a very connected individual who is friends with over a dozen people that plan on migrating to XIV.

 

Not to mention the friends in my Linkshell have friends in other linkshells they would probably like to play with.

 

That's just the first few layers of this migration. I do not know if these friends have their own friends they want to play with, but essentially, it boils down to this: These 9 individuals are looking to me to organize this group and get them all on the same track, which includes selecting a server for them to go to. It's up to me to make sure that as many people in this group can continue to play with their friends in XIV as possible. It's for that reason that I joined the RPC - I have a great many friends here that I enjoy Role-playing with and hanging out with OOC and I want to give it the best shot I can to hang out with them too. It's for this reason that selecting a server at the earliest possible moment is pivotal, so that no one has to hear "Oh, well, Mr. Bob and Gregoroth Smithersworth are going to Y server, so I won't be able to play with you guys on X server."

 

Call it unreal expectations, but I know all too well what it's like to be unable to play with your friends in an MMO you've been anticipating all because of poor server distribution. I won't let it happen because of poor planning. I've already done nearly everything I can until news on a server list comes to light. I've set up forums, and pointed my friends in that direction. I've encouraged them to invite their friends to streamline this process, but I can't say many of my friends are... driven. >.> As soon as a server list is released, most of us will get in vent, discuss our options and decide, probably within an hour.

 

Also, picking a random letter probably wouldn't be a good idea since, as mentioned, the chosen letter may have no servers that start with that letter, or there may be multiple servers that start with that letter. If a method like that would be used, I would turn towards Castiel's suggestion on "The first alphabetically after a specific letter."

 

What delay? We have like 3 months to decide this. Also why be part of a vote if you don't care about it and will just do your own thing anyways?

 

I'll assume the first question was answered from the above, but to answer your second question: I do care about it or I wouldn't be here voting. I enjoy Role-playing, and have many friends here that I Role-Played with in FF XI. I enjoy hanging out with them IC and OOC. Unfortunately, during my time in FF XI I learned that I have always preferred progression over Role-Playing. The same is true for Final Fantasy XIV. I'm going to want to blitz through the story and grind to max level as quickly as possible. I'm going to want to research gear and aim for Best in Slot as soon as I hit max level. But I do enjoy role-playing and would like to have the option of role-playing with my friends when I need a break from the endless grind.

 

If Role-playing was my number one prerogative, I can assure you, I wouldn't care what server the RPC decided on, or how it decided on it and I would be going to that server to Role-Play. Please don't confuse me for some rogue leader of a Role-Playing guild that is intent on doing his own thing. While me and my friends all Role-Play, (Every Monday in fact), almost all of us care about progression over Role-Playing. On the same token, all of us are interested in Role-Playing as something to do casually for fun but we're not willing to risk losing the ability to play with friends for the chance to occasionally Role-play.

[ArmachiA]

Zane, I'm pretty much in the same boat you are, as are a lot of people. That is why people are panicking, word has to spread fast that a server has been decided on.

[Siben]

Everyone calm down and slow your roll.

 

Nothing can be decided UNTIL Square drops the server names. Whipping yourselves up into an anxious frenzy isn't going to get that information released any faster so just sit on your hands and take a deep breath until we get some official press releases.

 

I watched this crap go down for half a year with Aion, all you're going to do is drive yourselves nuts fretting over something you won't have any bearing on until they let the server names be known.

 

Just drop it for the time being.

 

We all want to get the community going, I know, but you just gotta wait. It'll be fine. Trust me.

[ArmachiA]

I'm not worried about it at this point, but I am a little wary because of ARP's HUGE wait for server selection

[Shamadconde]

We just want to thrash out the server selection process before hand to avoid what happened on ARP and all the nastiness involved.

[Smiling River]

Right now, without server names the simplest way to go would be to pick 2nd server on the list. Problem solved.

 

If we all agree on that, everything else simply falls into place. Casual Role-Players like Zane will have their answer right now. Me personally, I play to RP, and I don't care which server to pick. One is as good as the next, so 2nd in the list would work as well as the 1st or the 9th... doesn't matter. I think this simple way to pick it is best. That way we can just all relax for the next few months, and everyone will know where to go.

[Shamadconde]

That works for me.

[Zane]

Right now, without server names the simplest way to go would be to pick 2nd server on the list. Problem solved.

 

If we all agree on that, everything else simply falls into place. Casual Role-Players like Zane will have their answer right now. Me personally, I play to RP, and I don't care which server to pick. One is as good as the next, so 2nd in the list would work as well as the 1st or the 9th... doesn't matter. I think this simple way to pick it is best. That way we can just all relax for the next few months, and everyone will know where to go.

 

Something like that would work as well. The only problem would be that the first few servers on the list, as well as the last 2 - 3 are the most likely to become high population servers. Choosing servers that are off center would give the lowest population (Unless that server's name is Sephiroth!) Which means I should take back what I said about not knowing what would be the most popular servers.

 

My personal suggestion, if we were to go that route would be to pick the first server, chronologically. That is, the server who's name appears first within the Final Fantasy series. A few examples giving a theme and then a name:

 

Villain -> Garland/Chaos

Boss -> Garland

Town -> Coneria

Job Class -> Fighter/Warrior (It's equivalent)

Summon -> Chocobo (Shiva if no Chocobo)

Airship Names -> Uh... I'd have to look and see if the FF I or FF II airships had names. >.>

Hero -> Warrior of Light

Enemy -> Imp (Goblin for the updated versions.)

 

And... I can't think of any other themes.

 

Only problem with that method is those that are unfamiliar with early Final Fantasy games may have trouble deciphering which is first unless they came to the forum to find out the official word from a forum member first. That way there's no guarantee where in the queue the server will fall, and what the population will look like. It's the closest to a randomly selected server demographic wise without randomly selecting one we can get.

[Shamadconde]

Has anyone thought they might name them after the Twelve? I know I just did.

[Zane]

The only thing they've announced regarding launch server names was that it would be a theme familiar to Final Fantasy Fans.

[Shamadconde]

Different ways to not answer a question?

[Kylin]

Wow, too many pages overnight :lol:

 

There really is no need to worry. The reason I started this discussion early was to get all of these worst-case scenarios hammered out in advance so we could prepare a guide. We'll be editing Crystal's P2 thread so it's neat and we have an easy guide to follow if something terrible goes wrong. As soon as SE releases the server lists (likely during open beta), the vote will begin. There won't be any delaying on that part. There will also be various safeguards put in place to avoid abusing the voting system.

 

So I suppose our primary issue should be over whether or not we get server lists during open beta or not. But you guys are already discussing how to handle that situation (picking a certain letter or going down so many numbers on the list). Just keep in mind that servers toward the top of the list are bound to be more populated and that's something we likely want to avoid.

 

Regarding the mention of Aion having multiple polls: SE will certainly not make their own official poll for this. They don't even have any official FF14 forums. We should however be concerned over the premier sites (particularly Core) having their own RP server poll. I actually got into a tiny heated discussion with one individual over on Core who wanted such a poll put up. He's backed down for now but there's no telling if that will remain the case later. I don't think we'll have this issue with Zam or Eorzeapedia. Core is the only major FF14 fan site that thinks everything should happen there and acts like it's the center of the FF14 universe :roll:

[Soren Miren]

/finally finishes catching up on the new posts

 

Yeah, my intention here isn't to spread worry or anything. What I want is to avoid conjecture and provide clear routes towards our goal. Anyway, I'm glad to see people airing out their concerns civilly. I'm not sure that I have anything more to add at this point, so I'll just wait and see what else comes.

[Siben]

The only problem would be that the first few servers on the list, as well as the last 2 - 3 are the most likely to become high population servers. Choosing servers that are off center would give the lowest population (Unless that server's name is Sephiroth!) Which means I should take back what I said about not knowing what would be the most popular servers.

 

Why would you purposefully pick a low population server?

[Seraphine Felstar]

If you have too many people on a server the lag gets really bad. Nothing like not being able to move your character for 10 minutes because there are too many people next to you :roll: Also a lower populated server leaves more room for later growth. If the servers get too populated SE puts a cap on them so new people can't join. Say you have a friend in the future who wants to play with you but oops... server is capped... sorry.

[Zane]

Oh, and to clarify, I don't really care whether a server is high population or low population. I personally prefer mid population servers. I was just pointing out that if we choose a server that is likely to be High population or low population, it might be good to open up the discussion on whether it would be best to go to a high, mid, or low population server.

[Siben]

I would vote staunchly against a low pop server solely on the basis that I actually want to play the game, not wait for hours trying to get a group together because there's 4 tanks and 2 healers on the server.

[Aveline]

Population would really only be a factor in voting if we were voting on servers that already existed and had established populations.

 

We are going to be selecting a server at the latest the day of launch for collector's edition people, and there will be no way to tell what server is going to be the lowest or highest population that early on.

[Boots]

Population would really only be a factor in voting if we were voting on servers that already existed and had established populations.

 

We are going to be selecting a server at the latest the day of launch for collector's edition people, and there will be no way to tell what server is going to be the lowest or highest population that early on.

 

Hopefully, SE will take note of the request for a RP server or servers (in a similar move to Blizzard with WoW). If so, then it will just be a question of what one. The only problem would be people who roll on the server (intentionally or not) and have no intention to RP ("What is teh RP? I want f@t l00tz!").If SE doesn't release RP servers, well, then we get to (as my Directing professor called it) haggle like horse traders over all our options.

 

But I don't believe this is worth getting so worked up over this so early. But we have (checking countdown clock)...78 days and 7 hours (as of my writing this).

Lets relax a bit and keep our heads .

Bonus points to those who get the image reference.

[Shamadconde]

WHAT THE HELL IS THAT!?!?!