Question regarding EU RP

[Saradain]

Hello!

 

Now that EU data centers are a reality and EU players can finally enjoy lag-free gameplay, are there any plans of EU roleplayers moving onto Chaos data center servers?

 

I would assume it's bit impractical to play on Balmung/Gilgamesh as myself I barely could even play the game before this!

 

I understand if it is undesired to abandon a server with years of established RP, I merely seek to migrate to a proper EU realm with hopefully noticeable RP community, or at least inquire if there's a movement to transfer somewhere.

[Naoto]

I can vouch for Cerberus server, I'm in a RP linkshell on there. If you come to Cerberus I can try inviting you to it, if you want. I think it is decently active. People are always talking whenever I'm online.

[Kahnopy]

I have no knowledge whatsoever on the RP landscape of the Chaos Datacenter, however I can share my two-year experience playing the game on Balmung from Europe.

 

The problem one is exposed to when playing from such a long distance is twofold. First, the connection to Aether is a distant one. This implies that routing failures and network maintenances are more likely to affect it. Then, there is latency. Using skills, moving around, dodging enemy casts, basically anything done in the game that requires a server response will take more time on Aether than on Chaos.

 

However...

 

I have been playing on Balmung from Europe since I started XIV. Leveling, crafting, gathering, raiding...are all fine to me. I have never felt that the latency gap there is between me (~150ms or more) and locals (~50ms or less) was big enough to justify a transfer. For a slow-paced game like FFXIV, that discrepency means virtually nothing.

And then, adding the social aspect of the game, I am not willing to give up the contacts I have made over those two years for a slightly smoother experience.

 

The choice is ultimately yours.

[Virella]

Been both on Cerberus and Balmung, and I can safely say if your focus is roleplay, Balmung probably will feel like your home over Cerberus. Do not get me wrong, Cerberus is lovely, just not so much for roleplay as Balmung is; Balmung simply flourishes with roleplay whereas Cerberus is very lack luster. That said, I never had issues with finding roleplay here. I do admit though that finding roleplay in the mornings and early midday is a bit hard, but besides that? Plenty around!

[Lekka Meyren]

...

 

I have been playing on Balmung from Europe since I started XIV. Leveling, crafting, gathering, raiding...are all fine to me. I have never felt that the latency gap there is between me (~150ms or more) and locals (~50ms or less) was big enough to justify a transfer. For a slow-paced game like FFXIV, that discrepency means virtually nothing.

And then, adding the social aspect of the game, I am not willing to give up the contacts I have made over those two years for a slightly smoother experience.

 

The choice is ultimately yours.

 

Adding my thoughts here;

 

I've been on the server for over a year, year and a half probably; and I actually noticed a slight improvement in my lag when Heavensward arrived. I've no clue why, but since then it's been perfectly playable even with the lag. Suspect you eventually just get better at dodging things when you have half a second less time to do it.

 

So I'm staying put! I like that most people I see around are RP'ers and I've made some strong ties here.

[Rusty Knight]

I too come from cerebrus and can say hand on heart I wouldnt go back for a slightly better connection, despite my internet being terrible the 300ms delay seems to be big enough to negate most of its effects and the level of support for the roleplay community and amount of roleplaying avaliable here is vastly different then Cereberus.

 

If your main intention is roleplaying I think Balmung is the place to be. If your connection is making it completely unplayable try looking into how to improve it, I know updating my ancient router ect made all the difference (plus the 20ft internet cable running through my house now).

 

All depends on what you prioritise, personally I'm happy to deal with occasional lag for whats on offer here.

[Saradain]

Thanks for all the replies!

 

I should have probably mentioned that the lag that was present/is still obviously present on US servers for EU players, was pretty much the dealbreaker, considering I could not DPS at all on the move (I play melee jobs), so it was either a choice of not playing at all...and well, until this point, not playable for me

 

I was originally planning to migrate to Phoenix, due it's large community - any idea of the availability of RP in that server? I'll keep Cerberus in mind though (girlfriend keeps tugging my sleeves to go there), as already told in a reply!

[Nebbs]

I am in the UK and have been on Balmung since beta and also played other games in EU and NA. This is what I have found.

 

Latency/Connection for normal play it is fine, especially since they fixed some of the encounters that really punished you for high latency. For raid stuff then use something like WTFast which worked for me and I end game raided through Coil. (you can now run keep running this for free as I understand).

 

Role Play Community. Over time numbers fall and the EU side becomes very thin. However, if you can still transfer back then this should not be an issue in the long term. (I know in SWTOR this was/is an issue as it does not support server transfers from EU and NA).  You may also suffer from a low population server, in terms of the market board for example.

 

edit - I can also see Balmung loosing more players from the EU timeslot, which means that for EU players it becomes a very empty place indeed.

[Blue]

I'm in Italy, but 99% of the people I RP with on at least a weekly basis are in the US, sooo... I think I'll stick to Balmung. We've been together for seven years now, we're basically family.

[DeletedUser]

I'm in the UK and never really had any problems with latency. NIN is my main and I can count on one hand the number of times I thought "wtf I totally dodged that!" after getting hit by aoe. As for RP, as I've said many times before, the spread of NA and EU players on Balmung means you can find RP almost any time of the day or night. So no, I don't have plans to transfer elsewhere.

 

That's just me, of course. If you're really struggling with latency then by all means, go where you need to go to enjoy the game!

[Dravus]

From what I can tell anybody in the UK - myself included - is very likely to be able to play on Balmung with minimal issues. The further away from the UK someone is in Europe, however, the greater the chance that they're going to have connection issues and/or lag. That's the impression I'm getting at least.

 

One's ISP will also play a part in it all I'd wager - but I'm not very good with technical stuff so I don't know a whole lot about that sort of thing. It does seem like Cerberus is your best choice though - and for what it's worth if you're in a position where you can't operate on an American schedule whilst on Balmung then you'd end up being unable to attend most events anyway.

 

Balmung itself isn't particularly friendly for EU role-players who operate on an EU schedule. I actually don't meet a whole lot of EU role-players in the first place. We exist - but we're all very spread out across various FC's and Linkshells.

 

I think there's a definite niche for an unofficial EU server - and if Cerberus ends up fitting that bill? Awesome! I wouldn't transfer over there myself due to the connections I've forged on Balmung already but...more options is always a good thing.

[Saradain]

My connection is pretty fast, can't tell what causes the US latency to be so intolerable for me yet suitable for some others...My location in Finland?

 

Myself I have little to no connections so far, mainly due the inability to enjoy the gameplay to fullest due previously mentioned reasons, so it indeed seems I have nothing to lose at least by trying Cerberus for example. The time of day doesn't matter to me so much, but then I wouldn't be seeking active RP all day long, as I am a relatively new player to FFXIV and thus I'll be spending a lot of time learning more and more about the game and focusing on getting some classes levelled!

 

So I'll give Cerberus a try, starting from today, not like I can't change later if I deem it needed

[Maril]

I play from Denmark, and I have noticed latency issues a little bit - paticularily with AoE's. I don't do any endgame on a high level in HW, but I did do a bit in pre-HW and I was able to do fine. Mostly I have heard of Eu raiders moving to the Eu datacenter because they want the best conditions for their raiding. So latency doesn't really affect me. I haven't known any other players from Finland that have big latency issues, but it could be that your location just makes it a bit worse.

 

I've not heard of any fc's or players that are making the move to RP on a server in the European datacenter, nor do I or my FC have any plans for that. Ultimately my focus is on RP, and Balmung is in my opinion the best place for that. I haven't quite known anywhere else where you can get RP at most any hour because the playerbase is so diverse and I absolutely am in love with that.

[Otte]

I'm from Finland as well, and haven't had any problems running dungeons, raids etc on Balmung at all, though it might just be me being used to the slight latency and moving out of the AoEs in time or something.

 

In any case, I'm in the same group as most of the others, that I'm not planning to transfer out of Balmung, because of my friends being here, and the server has been my home since the launch!

[-no longer matters-]

As a US playerr I can not begin to tell you how thrilled I am by the replies here! I was worried I may lose my EU friends! I'm so happy this isn't the case and most of you are sticking around!!

 

<3

[LadyCleriseaux]

I'm in the UK and have been playing on Balmung for a good while now. I haven't realy noticed any lag or latency issues, and my internet is absolute crap.

 

At this point I haven't really made many connections on Balmung, but I don't think I would entertain an EU realm again. For me it's the language barriers with people, because you're going to get an ecclectic mix of English, French, German etc. It makes dungeons and raiding a wee bit difficult when you cant communicate about mechanics.