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The Importance of Consolidating RP on Balmung and Having One RP Hub


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Nero was kind enough to confirm this thread could be created.  So, get ready for a party.  Gather around the campfire.  Pull out your guitars.  And get ready to start singing kumbaya.  Because splitting the party is never a good idea. 

 

This post is about the importance of consolidating FFXIV RP on one server and supporting one centralized hub for roleplay.  Until SE designates an official RP server, RPers should support their centralized RP hub – Balmung.   Individuals who RP on smaller servers (especially RPers unable to transfer to Balmung presently) should transfer to Balmung once the restriction is lifted.  There is no reason to fragment our already small and ostracized community.   

 

Please post in support of this thread: http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/threads/324942-Transfer-Restrictions-and-Roleplayers/. The long-term cure to these issues is for SE to designate an official RP server.

 

Dividing the RP community across different servers is detrimental to its long-term health and will reduce the frequency, diversity, and types of roleplay available to everyone.  RPers need a centralized RP hub to ensure that roleplay remains diverse, available, and open to newcomers.

 

:cactuar:1. Balmung is an excellent and unique RP community because RP has been consolidated there.:cactuar:

 

The amount of RPers on Balmung speaks for the quality and diversity of its community.  You can find virtually any type of roleplay on Balmung at any hour of the day.  This is an incredible benefit for all roleplayers.  Balmung’s large population supports diverse forms of roleplay and caters to the interests of virtually everyone.  On Balmung, you can find everything from Garlean-themed FCs to groups that operate weekly pizzerias.  You will not find these same opportunities on smaller servers.

 

Balmung is a very welcoming and positive RP community.  Most RPers jump on the opportunity to engage in walk-up RP or start RP after receiving a tell.  The size of Balmung’s population allows users to participate in an enormous range of events.  At the same time, the population is decentralized enough to allow tight-knit groups to flourish and grow.  It is unreasonable to claim that Balmung is “cliqueish” or that RP is difficult to find here.  The opposite is true: Balmung is the least cliquish RP community and RP is so plentiful that it is incredibly simple to find.

 

One of the greatest benefits of Balmung’s RP community is that its size keeps opportunities open.  This allows RPers to explore new characters, ideas, and meet tons of new friends.  These opportunities do not exist on smaller servers.  We need new people and to retain thepopulation. We need this to prevent the community from stagnating.  We need to stick together.

 

:love:2.  RP communities on small servers are not sustainable and could benefit by joining the greater RP community on Balmung when the transfer restriction is lifted. :love:

 

There is no valid reason to RP on a smaller server or break off from the greater community.   Most of the time when RPers break off onto a smaller server, it is due to a personal issue (such as social anxiety), feeling stigmatized by the community for some reason, or feeling frustrated towards the community (which is rarely justified considering its size and already loose structure).   A decision to leave the community for a personal reason should not cause a snowball effect. 

 

Small RP servers are not sustainable because they eventually become nothing more or less than 20-50 person cliques that cater to very specific types of roleplay.  As players naturally lose interest over time, these communities become increasingly small and stagnate.  This is a result of not having a sufficient population to keep RP diverse, vibrant, and interesting.  Small servers are kind of like living in the rural Midwest.  You’re stuck conforming to the small community around you, and eventually that community dwindles in size.   All attempts to create an alternative server that is greater than a temporary clique have failed spectacularly for these reasons.

 

Dividing the community over several severs will only harm the RP of all parties involved.  Communities will be split, cliques will form on the small servers, and newcomers will struggle to integrate into the RP community.  RP will become homogenized and structured around generally acceptable themes. Finding participants and growing the alternative community, as opposed to the quality of the IC content itself, will become the focal point of these servers. 

 

Roleplayers don't get magically get along.  Our styles and preferences vary immensely.  On Balmung, you can find groups of full-blown lore Nazis who will explode at the slightest misinterpretation of lore to harems of warrior of light catpeople who couldn’t tell you the difference between a Seeker and a Keeper.  Yet, our community can sustain both populations (and benefits from that diversity).  But on a small server?  You don’t have a choice – conform, get out, or RP with yourself.   No one should have to endure that type of environment.

 

Ultimately, the RP community on a small server will inevitably consist of 3-5 FCs (at most) with about 10-30 each, all of which rarely show interest in others and the community at large.  The saddest thing is that most of these RPers are likely interesting people and capable of producing great roleplay.  But by segregating themselves to a small server, the larger RP community is unable to interact with these RPers, and the threat of stagnation/decline on the small servers increases exponentially.

 

RPers on small servers (new and old alike) will hopefully transfer back to Balmung after the restrictions are lifted.  We are all missing out on great RP opportunities by allowing an artificial barrier like server selection to divide us.  Everyone stands to benefit if we stick together.

 

:moogle:3.  SE will likely lift the transfer restriction in 1-2 months, and the state of the RP community will revert to the status quo.  :moogle:

 

The efforts underway to create a second “unofficial” RP server will likely be rendered moot in 1-2 months after SE lifts the server transfer restriction.   Most believe SE will revert the server transfer restriction shortly after the SB launch like it did during 2.0 and 3.0.  SE has generally lifted the transfer restriction after several weeks following the release of a new expansion. This pattern will likely continue and RPers will resume playing on Balmung because it is a vibrant, diverse, and wonderful community.  We need only batten down the hatches until then.

 

In the meantime, RPers should be putting as much pressure on SE as possible to lift the server transfer restriction (or designate an official RP server).  Instead of creating another alt on a small server, go post on the SE forums.  Reach out to SE anyway you can.  Scream out your window if you must.  The world is your oyster.  Think not of the “alt you’ll make to support the new alternative server” but instead of what you can do to strengthen our central RP hub.

 

Let us all hope that probability will flush out correctly and three months down the road, we’ll be shaking our heads at this uncertainty and enjoying the great RP community we’ve created on a Balmung.

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Here's my questions:

 

What makes you so certain that this transfer limitation - which warranted a lodestone post notifying us that it was essentially until further notice, unlike any prior restriction - will be lifted in 1-2 months?

 

What do you suggest we do if the transfer limit still isn't lifted in 3 months? In 6 months? A year?

 

And what advice would you give to someone who is starting the game today and wants to roleplay?

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Here's my questions:

 

What makes you so certain that this transfer limitation - which warranted a lodestone post notifying us that it was essentially until further notice, unlike any prior restriction - will be lifted in 1-2 months?

 

What do you suggest we do if the transfer limit still isn't lifted in 3 months? In 6 months? A year?

 

And what advice would you give to someone who is starting the game today and wants to roleplay?

 

(1) You raise an excellent question.  I'm not certain.  But it is likely that SE will follow its prior pattern of conduct and lift the restriction in 1-2 months.  However, you're correct to postulate that SE may take months to lift the restriction.  That is precisely why Balmung RPers should be screaming bloody murder at SE right now.  If the server is still locked in 6 months, we should scream louder.  If twelve months, then (maybe) we should consider other alternatives.

 

(2) There are RP communities on a variety of small servers (Maetus and Farie come to mind).  New RPers should join those communities until Balmung opens up.  They should select whichever community suits their tastes and preferences best.  The new RPer should transfer to Balmung as soon as the restriction is lifted, ideally with his or her friends.

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I'm going to quote because this is far too long for that, and I agree with some of these more obvious points...but from a perspective of Balmung RPer who already has RP on Balmung, this is awfully entitled an opinion.

 

As a legacy player and Besaid/Balmung lifer, I understand your points and as I said agree with some of them. Yes, Balmung RP is plentiful and widespread, needs no clique or group to support because of the sheer amount, and that is great. Yes, it needs continued support to exist and thrive, but has the numbers to last for a long while as the restrictions are up.

 

BUT

 

 

While it is our prerogative as the established RP community to push out and support further RP growth, it is NOT our place to deny it of others. We are established, we are many, and we do not hurt yet for further RP growth, and from that standpoint, we have no right to tell others to support us only and shun other attempts to find and establish RP while our hub is not available. It is entirely hypocritical to tell others to wait while you RP as much as you like, and to not establish RP hubs outside ours as you take full advantage of the one established for you by others who came before you, who themselves had to strike out into a new landscape to create a new foundation for the future.

 

One thing I fully support, is a necessity for the community as a whole, to put as much pressure on SE as possible while we move forward. The designation of a new RP server should be a top priority and one that isn't as foreign to SE as many would have us believe. We need a group to message, ask questions, and generally raise awareness in official settings as much as possible and for a prolonged period of time until we are recognized as not only a legitimate minority, but also one of the most dedicated and organized of them.

 

I guess my point is, think of more than yourself when you speak, and think of what was handed to you on a silver platter before discounting the notion of hope for future RPers and RPers of the current moment.

 

I would like to add, as with Kil above, I do not believe that these restrictions which have been threatened for a long period of time, will suddenly be lifted without some real change in the numbers of active and inactive players on the server. It is far too big and far too rooted to not need some very active measures to "fix" and while it may not be our fault, it is our fault if we don't recognize that point, and work to further other ways to continue what we love into other places and work for change.

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(1) You raise an excellent question.  I'm not certain.  But it is likely that SE will follow its prior pattern of conduct and lift the restriction in 1-2 months.  However, you're correct to postulate that SE may take months to lift the restriction.  That is precisely why Balmung RPers should be screaming bloody murder at SE right now.  If the server is still locked in 6 months, we should scream louder.  If twelve months, then (maybe) we should consider other alternatives.

 

(2) There are RP communities on a variety of small servers (Maetus and Farie come to mind).  New RPers should join those communities until Balmung opens up.  They should select whichever community suits their tastes and preferences best.  The new RPer should transfer to Balmung as soon as the restriction is lifted, ideally with his or her friends.

 

This raises some questions as well that I'd like to ask.

 

1) How do you feel about the fact that a very similar situation has come up before in FFXI? Previously, the Odin server was bloated with the highest population. When character creation became locked, server transfers became the trend. Eventually that was locked, and free transfers were offered. The population imbalance continued despite efforts to alleviate strain on Odin and the server was split into two. Even after the split, the servers remained lock.

 

This is a trend that mirrors Balmung's perdicament. Square Enix has reserved the right to split servers and has kept that as part of it's terms of service with the game itself, and with world transfers.

 

2) If these new RPers are happy with the server they choose and their communities what incentive should they have to pay $18 to transfer their characters away from the server and community? For some, that's a steep price on top of subscriptions. Even if transfers are allowed once again, it is unlikely that every player would be willing to pay that price and friends would be seperated. Do you believe this is a worthy price to pay for unity on Balmung?

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(1) You raise an excellent question.  I'm not certain.  But it is likely that SE will follow its prior pattern of conduct and lift the restriction in 1-2 months.  However, you're correct to postulate that SE may take months to lift the restriction.  That is precisely why Balmung RPers should be screaming bloody murder at SE right now.  If the server is still locked in 6 months, we should scream louder.  If twelve months, then (maybe) we should consider other alternatives.

 

(2) There are RP communities on a variety of small servers (Maetus and Farie come to mind).  New RPers should join those communities until Balmung opens up.  They should select whichever community suits their tastes and preferences best.  The new RPer should transfer to Balmung as soon as the restriction is lifted, ideally with his or her friends.

 

This raises some questions as well that I'd like to ask.

 

1) How do you feel about the fact that a very similar situation has come up before in FFXI? Previously, the Odin server was bloated with the highest population. When character creation became locked, server transfers became the trend. Eventually that was locked, and free transfers were offered. The population imbalance continued despite efforts to alleviate strain on Odin and the server was split into two. Even after the split, the servers remained lock.

 

This is a trend that mirrors Balmung's perdicament. Square Enix has reserved the right to split servers and has kept that as part of it's terms of service with the game itself, and with world transfers.

 

2) If these new RPers are happy with the server they choose and their communities what incentive should they have to pay $18 to transfer their characters away from the server and community? For some, that's a steep price on top of subscriptions. Even if transfers are allowed once again, it is unlikely that every player would be willing to pay that price and friends would be seperated. Do you believe this is a worthy price to pay for unity on Balmung?

 

There is hardly denying that the price you pay to enter Balmung, is well worth it for the opportunity of entertainment at every corner with both content and RP being the utmost level. If you aren't willing to pay a bit extra for the level of establishment and numbers that Balmung offers, then you need to question how dedicated to your enjoyment of your chosen avenues of entertainment you are, and while you can want and hope for a similar level of it elsewhere, I don't think you should complain when an easy avenue is placed in front of you.

 

If you can't afford a transfer of $18, I would question whether you can afford the sub in the first place if it is that much a strain on your budget. If you're cheap and have the money but aren't willing to spend it, ignoring you dedication to your own enjoyment, if you want to complain that is fine, but don't point fingers at others.

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(1) You raise an excellent question.  I'm not certain.  But it is likely that SE will follow its prior pattern of conduct and lift the restriction in 1-2 months.  However, you're correct to postulate that SE may take months to lift the restriction.  That is precisely why Balmung RPers should be screaming bloody murder at SE right now.  If the server is still locked in 6 months, we should scream louder.  If twelve months, then (maybe) we should consider other alternatives.

 

(2) There are RP communities on a variety of small servers (Maetus and Farie come to mind).  New RPers should join those communities until Balmung opens up.  They should select whichever community suits their tastes and preferences best.  The new RPer should transfer to Balmung as soon as the restriction is lifted, ideally with his or her friends.

 

This raises some questions as well that I'd like to ask.

 

1) How do you feel about the fact that a very similar situation has come up before in FFXI? Previously, the Odin server was bloated with the highest population. When character creation became locked, server transfers became the trend. Eventually that was locked, and free transfers were offered. The population imbalance continued despite efforts to alleviate strain on Odin and the server was split into two. Even after the split, the servers remained lock.

 

This is a trend that mirrors Balmung's perdicament. Square Enix has reserved the right to split servers and has kept that as part of it's terms of service with the game itself, and with world transfers.

 

2) If these new RPers are happy with the server they choose and their communities what incentive should they have to pay $18 to transfer their characters away from the server and community? For some, that's a steep price on top of subscriptions. Even if transfers are allowed once again, it is unlikely that every player would be willing to pay that price and friends would be seperated. Do you believe this is a worthy price to pay for unity on Balmung?

 

(1) Neutral?  I think it is a stretch to compare something that happened years ago on a different game, with different population loads and servers, and a different community to the present state of things?  But you're right.  No one knows what SE will do.  Hence why we should be screaming bloody murder at them instead of designating alternative servers and rolling alts.

 

(2) They're missing out on the Balmung community, and the Balmung community is missing out on them.  See OP re: small communities not being sustainable over time.  $18 dollars is not an insurmountable barrier.  It's less than the cost of going to the movies, a fifth of any decent booze, a meal out, and about two hours of work time at minimum wage.  I'd hope they'd simply consider saving up $18 and spending it on something that will give them hours of entertainment (great return on investment).

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The reason I present the example for Odin and XI is because it's the closest example we have of a similar situation developing in a Square Enix MMO. No one knows what incentives or punishments they may impose, but we do have an example of what they have done in the past.

 

If server transfers are reopened and if your advice is followed I am concerned that history will repeat. If not a server split, but another server lockdown as the population on Balmung will likely continue it's growth.

 

There are many things up in the air, but as far as the things we do know is that Balmung is far and away the most bloated server in all of XIV by a large margin. The server stands at a pinnacle of social interaction in part of the RP community, there is no denying that. The amount of people that play on Balmung versus the other North American realms is wildly different and Yoshi-P has spoken in the last few Live Letters that the population problems are a concern for him and his staff.

 

It is why I have taken a more proactive approach to the server lockdown. Yoshi-P and Square Enix have made mention of the problems, there are similarities to XI eventual server split and there are people currently unable to RP. The future is very grey for new RPers and I personally prefer creating an answer before there is a larger problem.

 

Thank you Sig and Momo for your responses, I'm eager to see where this thread goes.

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I think a lot of these points are predicated on the idea that Balmung is a great place to be for a new player, but I don't believe this is an easy argument to make.

For one, as far as I can tell, those who are most vociferously against the community fracturing away from a Balmung consolidation are people who already have made connections, friends, and own houses there. As such, I don't think they're qualified to judge how good Balmung is for new players.

 

Secondly, the $18 transfer fee is essentially an additional cost imposed beyond the basic buy in on those new players. That is quite clearly not in their favor, nor is it a one-time fee if a person wishes to play multiple characters.

 

Third, there are ways in which Balmung's size is actually bad for new players. Many established, quality FCs are closed to new recruits or require references from existing members. The Bystander Effect (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bystander_effect) combined with chatspam from overcrowding often leads to people being ignored during events.

 

Finally, I simply disagree that somehow Balmung is less cliquish than other servers. The claim itself is unverified and evidenceless, and it's been my experience generally after playing MMORPGs for nearly 20 years now that smaller communities appreciate each individual player more and are more inviting as a result.

 

Example: I rolled an alt on Mateus yesterday and have already been personally greeted by their roleplaying ambassador, but I've been on Balmung now for 2-3 years and no one welcomed me.

 

EDIT: One big point I forgot to mention: housing. You can't even get an Apartment on Balmung as a new player. That's a big problem.

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The reason I present the example for Odin and XI is because it's the closest example we have of a similar situation developing in a Square Enix MMO. No one knows what incentives or punishments they may impose, but we do have an example of what they have done in the past.

 

If server transfers are reopened and if your advice is followed I am concerned that history will repeat. If not a server split, but another server lockdown as the population on Balmung will likely continue it's growth.

 

There are many things up in the air, but as far as the things we do know is that Balmung is far and away the most bloated server in all of XIV by a large margin. The server stands at a pinnacle of social interaction in part of the RP community, there is no denying that. The amount of people that play on Balmung versus the other North American realms is wildly different and Yoshi-P has spoken in the last few Live Letters that the population problems are a concern for him and his staff.

 

It is why I have taken a more proactive approach to the server lockdown. Yoshi-P and Square Enix have made mention of the problems, there are similarities to XI eventual server split and there are people currently unable to RP. The future is very grey for new RPers and I personally prefer creating an answer before there is a larger problem.

 

Thank you Sig and Momo for your responses, I'm eager to see where this thread goes.

 

You're correct in that no one knows what SE will do, but our efforts would be better be devoted to supporting this:

 

http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/threads/324942-Transfer-Restrictions-and-Roleplayers (and making similar posts).

 

Either the transfer restriction needs to be revoked, or we need an official RP server designated.  I encourage all RPers, their friends, and their mothers (no matter where you roleplay or what type of RP you like) to post in support of the thread listed above. 

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I think a lot of these points are predicated on the idea that Balmung is a great place to be for a new player, but I don't believe this is an easy argument to make.

For one, as far as I can tell, those who are most vociferously against the community fracturing away from a Balmung consolidation are people who already have made connections, friends, and own houses there. As such, I don't think they're qualified to judge how good Balmung is for new players.

 

Secondly, the $18 transfer fee is essentially an additional cost imposed beyond the basic buy in on those new players. That is quite clearly not in their favor, nor is it a one-time fee if a person wishes to play multiple characters.

 

Third, there are ways in which Balmung's size is actually bad for new players. Many established, quality FCs are closed to new recruits or require references from existing members. The Bystander Effect (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bystander_effect) combined with chatspam from overcrowding often leads to people being ignored during events.

 

Finally, I simply disagree that somehow Balmung is less cliquish than other servers. The claim itself is unverified and evidenceless, and it's been my experience generally after playing MMORPGs for nearly 20 years now that smaller communities appreciate each individual player more and are more inviting as a result.

 

Example: I rolled an alt on Mateus yesterday and have already been personally greeted by their roleplaying ambassador, but I've been on Balmung now for 2-3 years and no one welcomed me.

 

EDIT: One big point I forgot to mention: housing. You can't even get an Apartment on Balmung as a new player. That's a big problem.

 

There are dozens (if not hundreds) of Balmung RP'ers who will go out of their way to help new players integrate into the community.  There are countless FCs (as opposed to the 3-5 TOTAL FCs on small servers) that are seeking new members, and even large FCs that have closed recruitment generally will allow new members through referrals. 

 

Smaller RP communities are inherently more cliquish because there is considerably less diversity (see statements made in OP).

 

You were contacted on Mateus because the RP community on that server is doing everything possible right now to grow its member base (timing is great).

 

The housing situation does suck, but having access to a large, diverse, and vibrant RP community is 100x more important than owning in-game real property.

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The reason I present the example for Odin and XI is because it's the closest example we have of a similar situation developing in a Square Enix MMO. No one knows what incentives or punishments they may impose, but we do have an example of what they have done in the past.

 

If server transfers are reopened and if your advice is followed I am concerned that history will repeat. If not a server split, but another server lockdown as the population on Balmung will likely continue it's growth.

 

There are many things up in the air, but as far as the things we do know is that Balmung is far and away the most bloated server in all of XIV by a large margin. The server stands at a pinnacle of social interaction in part of the RP community, there is no denying that. The amount of people that play on Balmung versus the other North American realms is wildly different and Yoshi-P has spoken in the last few Live Letters that the population problems are a concern for him and his staff.

 

It is why I have taken a more proactive approach to the server lockdown. Yoshi-P and Square Enix have made mention of the problems, there are similarities to XI eventual server split and there are people currently unable to RP. The future is very grey for new RPers and I personally prefer creating an answer before there is a larger problem.

 

Thank you Sig and Momo for your responses, I'm eager to see where this thread goes.

 

You're correct in that no one knows what SE will do, but our efforts would be better be devoted to supporting this:

 

http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/threads/324942-Transfer-Restrictions-and-Roleplayers (and making similar posts).

 

Either the transfer restriction needs to be revoked, or we need an official RP server designated.  I encourage all RPers, their friends, and their mothers (no matter where you roleplay or what type of RP you like) to post in support of the thread listed above. 

 

I agree that petitioning SE to have them hear our voice is a good thing. However, I understand the problem with Balmung is not only with RPers but with the population as a whole.

 

Preferably, I'd like to see a smaller server marked as the official RP server and transfers allowed there. But I believe that would cause it's own issues, as Free Companies and Housing would not transfer leaving people less inclined to move. 

 

Given the fact that Balmung would need to shed roughly half of it's current server population to be equatable to other more stable servers, the likely hood of transfers being a legitimate and long term option is small. The fact they are doing the opposite and having people transfer off is a more telling example of their stance currently.

 

Balmung is closed, Square Enix is giving people XP, Gil and money for houses to get off. I have a hard time seeing a situation they would let people back on.

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Finally, I simply disagree that somehow Balmung is less cliquish than other servers. The claim itself is unverified and evidenceless, and it's been my experience generally after playing MMORPGs for nearly 20 years now that smaller communities appreciate each individual player more and are more inviting as a result.

 

Example: I rolled an alt on Mateus yesterday and have already been personally greeted by their roleplaying ambassador, but I've been on Balmung now for 2-3 years and no one welcomed me.

 

I will say one thing: I don't think comments about small communities being inherently cliquey are about what happens when you're starting out. They're about what happens when you fall out.

 

If I get in an argument with one guy on Balmung, then there are still five hundred other guys I can go and roleplay with who haven't even heard of the first guy. (And I'm not exaggerating there - if anything 500 is a lowballed number.) If I get in an argument with one guy in a small community, then everyone has heard about it and everyone has an opinion on it/me before the day is out.

 

To be clear, my stance on the issue is this: I advocate the generation of a second medium+ sized community, with a goal of reaching the critical mass required for community stability (i.e. enough roleplayers doing stuff there that if one guy quits/self-destructs, it doesn't affect the whole of the community, no matter who that guy is).

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I think a lot of these points are predicated on the idea that Balmung is a great place to be for a new player, but I don't believe this is an easy argument to make.

For one, as far as I can tell, those who are most vociferously against the community fracturing away from a Balmung consolidation are people who already have made connections, friends, and own houses there. As such, I don't think they're qualified to judge how good Balmung is for new players.

 

Secondly, the $18 transfer fee is essentially an additional cost imposed beyond the basic buy in on those new players. That is quite clearly not in their favor, nor is it a one-time fee if a person wishes to play multiple characters.

 

Third, there are ways in which Balmung's size is actually bad for new players. Many established, quality FCs are closed to new recruits or require references from existing members. The Bystander Effect (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bystander_effect) combined with chatspam from overcrowding often leads to people being ignored during events.

 

Finally, I simply disagree that somehow Balmung is less cliquish than other servers. The claim itself is unverified and evidenceless, and it's been my experience generally after playing MMORPGs for nearly 20 years now that smaller communities appreciate each individual player more and are more inviting as a result.

 

Example: I rolled an alt on Mateus yesterday and have already been personally greeted by their roleplaying ambassador, but I've been on Balmung now for 2-3 years and no one welcomed me.

 

EDIT: One big point I forgot to mention: housing. You can't even get an Apartment on Balmung as a new player. That's a big problem.

 

I don't agree with this at all. Every time an old player creates a new character which is not part of their given group, that person can struggle like any new player, to find new space in groups and on the server itself. Being an established members can help you reintroduce characters into a given group, but if you are looking for new blood and new ideas, you have to strike out on your own like any other player.

 

I have 4 well played characters. Each of them belongs to a different circle, and some of them aren't known to be my characters from one circle to the next. Each time I created a new character, I had to establish myself again as I mentioned above, and that wasn't easy, but was more rewarding in the end. The difference between me saying it wasn't easy, and you saying it wasn't easy, is perhaps that I fully believe that if you want to make space for yourself and establish yourself for future RP, you have to prove to everyone that you are a skilled and thoughtful RPer, who can present new ideas, and offer something that others maybe can't. I don't think it should be that easy, if it were too easy, then the new players would never understand the level or RP, plot, and experience they can glean from hard work.

 

That isn't to say, that new players don't want that, but being a leader of your own path, and being a follower or an idle player waiting to be snatched up isn't going to be a way of existing that is going to get you far in an established group. 

 

I probably shouldn't add this...but Mateus has literally 2-3 RPFCs at this point, and 2 main RPLS, with few leaders. Of course you will be greeted by the leaders or a main group, it doesn't have a variety of options for groups to pull from yet and for them to focus on until more numbers are had. If you want to make connections and be welcomed by someone, you can start reading through RPC, which doesn't have every RPer but you will quickly come to realize has connections to every group and FC in some way or another. Getting yourself in will never be about being grabbed up, it will be about proving yourself and finding your own way as a brave new RPer in a world with many many possibilities. If you put in the work, you will get there, if you wait for someone to do it for you, you're going to be disappointed.

 

Just to clarify as Kil did above, I support a secondary RP server while also pressuring SE to help us out with either dedicated RP server tag, or otherwise. BUT I will not stand by and have someone say that one community is better than another when both have their pros and cons, and fit different types of people in different ways, because that is narrow and disingenuous.

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That's an excellent point! It's one I hadn't thought of, but from my experience it is definitely true.

 

I think there are some drawbacks to a factionalized approach as well, and in the end what I'd advocate is this: the community should come together to try to start a second unofficial RP server. And, if at the time that Balmung Transfers become available again, people are happy there? Stay there. If they're not, consolidate back into Balmung.

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I'm just going to start by saying: I've enjoyed my time on the 'mung. I mean, obviously, right? I've been here since it was Besaid. I may even transfer my main back, eventually, along with my RL friends who just started playing if the transfer ban is ever lifted. (As I am currently not roleplaying him.) Even so, I think this is an awfully entitled position to hold. Players on other servers, especially those who have never even been on Balmung, are not obligated to provide "support" to Balmung's community on this website or elsewhere, nor should they be expected to cough up $18 on top of their subscription fees to transfer to the 'mung, even supposing SE gets around to actually cleaning house and lifts their travel ban.

 

 

I'M NOT SAYING THEY'RE ALL TERRORISTS BOTS. BUT THERE ARE SOME BAD HOMBRES OUT THERE WITH NAMES LIKE Qdgsdgwqe Opmgljkc

 

 

And honestly, after having explored a few different servers on my own and comparing them to Balmung, I feel that roleplayers who wish to enjoy other aspects of the game (read: want to own a house without paying ungodly sums of gil on the secondhand market) might be better served by going to Mateus, or Faerie, or whatever lower population server they find best suits their needs. And if they end up liking it there - stay, but be proactive and use this website for their benefit and that of their home server. Be a positive force, and don't fall into the trap of forming a rivalry with Balmung or whatever other servers might have RP communities. Fueling a growing community with bitter feelings only serves to attract embittered players, and take it from a certain vocal segment of Gilgamesh: you don't want that.

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Secondly, the $18 transfer fee is essentially an additional cost imposed beyond the basic buy in on those new players. That is quite clearly not in their favor, nor is it a one-time fee if a person wishes to play multiple characters.

 

You can actually transfer up to 8 characters with a single $18 transfer fee, as long as all characters you want to transfer start on the same server and then end on the same server. So assuming that say, a server is agreed upon to be the "Balmung waiting room" and you make 8 characters on it, you could theoretically transfer all 8 to Balmung (or any other server for that matter) for one $18 payment. It's part of what contributed to Balmung getting even fuller.

 

Personally, I don't expect Balmung to open a month or two after 4.0 drops. If anything, this is the point in the game where most populations should be at their lowest. There's no new content coming out. The existing content has been out for months. People are bored. I expect Balmung's active players/connections to spike up higher than now when 4.0 comes out, which will cause further stability issues for the server on whole.

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That's an excellent point! It's one I hadn't thought of, but from my experience it is definitely true.

 

I think there are some drawbacks to a fictionalized approach as well, and in the end what I'd advocate is this: the community should come together to try to start a second unofficial RP server. And, if at the time that Balmung Transfers become available again, people are happy there? Stay there. If they're not, consolidate back into Balmung.

 

There are two ideal alternatives:

 

(1) RP is consolidated on one hub - Balmung; OR

 

(2) RP is consolidated on one hub - Official RP server.

 

It doesn't matter which alternative happens; what matters is that RP is consolidated on one server (see OP for reasons).  Additional unofficial servers will only lead to the issues described in the OP.

 

We all should be screaming at SE right now to either lift the transfer restriction and/or designate an official RP server.  Very simple.

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I think out of the gate I should get it out there that I think that expecting new RPers (or new players at all) to FFXIV to pay $18 to transfer their character to a large server such as Balmung is unfair to new players or new RPers. They already spent $60+ on the game itself and expansions, plus a monthly subscription of roughly $15 per month. The $18 is a one-time fee, sure (assuming people decide in advance that they want to have 8 characters... Just in case I guess?), but even if that $18 is a long-term investment, that might still not be $18 that every new RPer is willing to invest in a video game as opposed to, say... A visit to a restaurant, or a night out with friends IRL, or movie tickets, which while those are all short-term things, might be more valuable to that individual than the opportunity to play on a server that, while humongous, requires a fair amount of effort to actually break into the community of.

 

Not only that, but in my opinion the sheer size of Balmung is not necessarily a good thing. For a new player, it could be pretty intimidating, and there are a lot of unspoken rules and etiquettes on Balmung that differ vastly, in my experience, from other RP communities. I've been on Balmung for almost a year now, and the chat scroll at large events and in areas like the Quicksand still deters me from attending to do more than just peoplewatch. There's an argument to be made for the ability to just go somewhere else if you get snubbed by a clique, but I think a major thing people miss when saying that is that on Balmung, that doesn't mean a whole lot. Worst-case scenario, you get sent all the way back to square one.

 

You get kicked out of an FC, for instance. Sure, you have some friends from other groups still from partaking of whatever tavern RP is all the rage nowadays, but that was still probably the majority of your meaningful RP connections and most of your regular RP partners. But not only that, but depending on how petty the leaders were (or how deserving you are), they might decide to warn other groups about you... Which makes life more difficult for everyone involved.

 

It's a lot of work to go through doing that all again. Getting snubbed by a clique may not be the end of the world on Balmung, but it still severs connections and ends potentially long-term plots with little to no closure. It still sucks, especially if you end up viewing yourself as a minority in the big scary world of Balmung. Maybe your take on the lore is incredibly niche. Maybe your preferred style of RP differs significantly from what you view to be the "majority". Regardless of how diverse the "community" ostensibly is, and I really do hate to call it a real community, it's hard to get a bearing on where to start over because it is impossible to behold all facets of it at the same time. Which is a good thing, but it doesn't make having to start over any less shitty, pardon my French.

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I mean, it's pretty clear by the responses to the numerous threads already discussing this issue that opinions differ on the matter so I don't think anybody should be climbing atop a pedestal and stating with certainty that a particular approach is the 'correct' option.

 

Not everybody is comfortable with Balmung in its current state. There's plenty of valid reasons as to why someone may wish to move elsewhere. Yes, other communities of role-players will be smaller but that suits some people just fine. Others may move due to suffering major response issues thanks to the server move; especially if they live somewhere in Europe.

 

I intend to stay for as long as I have friends here. I have a handful of people I trust and care about. I also think it's deceptive to paint Balmung in a solely positive light because it does have its issues and some aspects of the community are pretty rotten. There's stalkers, there's people with no filter in regards to their ERP shenanigans and then there's the numerous flaky individuals who get people's hopes up in regards to promising them role-play only to never deliver and/or they end up just dropping them the moment they find someone newer and fresher to interact with. It happens fairly often when someone commits to a 'romance plot' and suddenly everything else ends up meaning very little by comparison.

 

Does this happen elsewhere? Of course, but Balmung being so large means there's more good and more bad. Some people are lucky and find some shining gems amongst the muck but others drift about - through no fault of their own - and endure terrible experiences over and over. If it wasn't for the shining gems I found I'd have left this server long ago and I know from what I've heard from other individuals that this is hardly an isolated stance.

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Unlurking just to say I wish I could lovingly embroider Graeham's post and hang it over my fireplace, as it pretty much sums up my feelings perfectly.

 

I understand getting defensive of a place you love when people are saying they don't find it quite as nice, but if someone has reached this point of frustration in their experience, a page of advice or anecdotes about how other people succeeded is too little, too late. The opportunity to help has come and passed, especially for those who have been trying for years. There are loads of great people on Balmung, but for all the positives that come with a large community, the sad fact is that a lot of people are unable to really connect with them and the desire to transfer to a community where they have a shot at not being invisible is very, very relatable.

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Unlurking just to say I wish I could lovingly embroider Graeham's post and hang it over my fireplace, as it pretty much sums up my feelings perfectly.

 

I understand getting defensive of a place you love when people are saying they don't find it quite as nice, but if someone has reached this point of frustration in their experience, a page of advice or anecdotes about how other people succeeded is too little, too late. The opportunity to help has come and passed, especially for those who have been trying for years. There are loads of great people on Balmung, but for all the positives that come with a large community, the sad fact is that a lot of people are unable to really connect with them and the desire to transfer to a community where they have a shot at not being invisible is very, very relatable.

 

Please refer to section of OP regarding leaving server for personal reasons.  Solidarity in the RP community (so that RP remains common, available, and diverse) is more important than misconceptions particular individuals may have about a community that is so large, diverse, and vibrant that it would be disingenuous to impute negative attributes to it as a whole. 

 

Perhaps I'm very lucky, but I've never had an issue with roving bands of stalkers, 'flaky individuals', or other negative stereotypes.  RPers love to jest about the pervasive nature of such things, but in reality they remain largely mythical.  But, as Gaeham said, these issues will exist on any server, and the problem with a smaller server is that you have no alternatives to escape them.  Momo explained in a prior post the problems that happen if you encounter issues on a smaller server, and the OP explains those problems in great detail.

 

Again, we don't need to be wedded to Balmung in particular: what is far more important is that the RP community consolidate on one server [at the present time Balmung].  With any luck, perhaps we'll get an official RP server one day, and then the community can move there.

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