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

[Shofie]

How exactly, does one determine a PVEer from a RPer, by the way?

 

How do they kick out PVEers? This isn't going to happen, but for the sake of curiosity, how on earth would Square Enix determine who is "only" a PVEer, and who is also a roleplayer?

 

You can see why this wouldn't work, or ever happen, yea?

[Y'raya]

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.

 

Before I even get further into this thread... in response to #1 here. 6 months? 12 months? Balmung has been locked down hard almost since ARR launched. You HAD to pay to get in, for most of that. It isn't a matter of how long this absolute lockdown lasts... you've been on lockdown so long that potential roleplayers have been pushed away for years already. That's a problem. Centralizing won't fix it. It'll just get the server locked again because no one will leave to alleviate the incoming players.

[Y'raya]

Having read it all now, the problem is twofold. One, any attempt to set up a new server needs people, and the vast bulk of roleplayers that could help are on Balmung. Having them risk $18 to move to a new server, sacrifice any investments they'd made in Balmung already like FCs, Housing, etc., just to potentially have to pay another $18 to move back or end up locked out like the rest of us is unreasonable.

 

It's just as unreasonable however to ask everyone to wait to maybe spend money on an opportunity that may never come just because "one server is better than two". Two servers can get by just fine. MG and WrA on Wacraft have done well over the years, with no signs of slowing. Both are great communities, and roleplayers move between them often. It's not a problem. It's just healthy expansion, especially considering that both servers have occasionally teetered towards full or queues to get online at peak points through their history.

 

It's not a question of if a second server needs to happen, it's a matter of how and when. It needs to happen, and should happen. Getting it to happen is the tough thing.

[Virella]

Two servers can get by just fine.

EU WoW servers want a word with you. We only had one roleplay server left in the end.

 

Just because it worked on WoW US doesn't mean it will on FFXIV.

[Y'raya]

Two servers can get by just fine.

EU WoW servers want a word with you. We only had one roleplay server left in the end.

 

Just because it worked on WoW US doesn't mean it will on FFXIV.

To be fair, what FFXIV currently has in it's one locked and previously impossible to get onto without paying money server also is not working. There isn't really a middle option in this race.

[Kage]

Before I even get further into this thread... in response to #1 here. 6 months? 12 months? Balmung has been locked down hard almost since ARR launched. You HAD to pay to get in, for most of that.

I would like to clarify/ make a minor correction to this: Balmung was open for character creation since ARR launched. I created a character just fine onto Balmung Nov 30 2013 and did it for friends during peak hours as well.

 

Yes, it did in fact get worse to when you had to be up at 4-5am Pacific to create some characters months later into 2014 but the need for paid transfers was not around yet. That was around end of year 2014 Holidays. THAT is when we started to see the need for paid transfers. It alleviated 3 months later until Heavensward June 2015 hit. After that I have never seen character creation open except for <5 minutes after maintenance.

 

This can be seen in the thread I started in July 2015.

[Y'raya]

Before I even get further into this thread... in response to #1 here. 6 months? 12 months? Balmung has been locked down hard almost since ARR launched. You HAD to pay to get in, for most of that.

I would like to clarify/ make a minor correction to this: Balmung was open for character creation since ARR launched. I created a character just fine onto Balmung Nov 30 2013 and did it for friends during peak hours as well.

 

Yes, it did in fact get worse to when you had to be up at 4-5am Pacific to create some characters months later into 2014 but the need for paid transfers was not around yet. That was around end of year 2014 Holidays. THAT is when we started to see the need for paid transfers. It alleviated 3 months later until Heavensward June 2015 hit. After that I have never seen character creation open except for <5 minutes after maintenance.

 

This can be seen in the thread I started in July 2015.

The above is accurate. However, I stand by my point. For a lot of people, rolling at 4-5am or paying to come over? Not something that should be expected of them. Same goes for getting online right after maintenance. I gotta make money to pay for this in the first place. Which requires me to sleep at those hours, or work at them.

[Virella]

Two servers can get by just fine.

EU WoW servers want a word with you. We only had one roleplay server left in the end.

 

Just because it worked on WoW US doesn't mean it will on FFXIV.

To be fair, what FFXIV currently has in it's one locked and previously impossible to get onto without paying money server also is not working. There isn't really a middle option in this race.

Yeah but a second server isn't magically going to establish itself either.

[Tyndles]

Two servers can get by just fine.

EU WoW servers want a word with you. We only had one roleplay server left in the end.

 

Just because it worked on WoW US doesn't mean it will on FFXIV.

To be fair, what FFXIV currently has in it's one locked and previously impossible to get onto without paying money server also is not working. There isn't really a middle option in this race.

Yeah but a second server isn't magically going to establish itself either.

 

I think it's happening though. It's not and will never be as big as Balmung, but it's slowly growing and if it ends up as a free transfer point I think it will be established. Better? Nah, but good for tthose that just want something smaller where everyone know each other.

[Y'raya]

Two servers can get by just fine.

EU WoW servers want a word with you. We only had one roleplay server left in the end.

 

Just because it worked on WoW US doesn't mean it will on FFXIV.

To be fair, what FFXIV currently has in it's one locked and previously impossible to get onto without paying money server also is not working. There isn't really a middle option in this race.

Yeah but a second server isn't magically going to establish itself either.

 

I think it's happening though.  It's not and will never be as big as Balmung, but it's slowly growing and if it ends up as a free transfer point I think it will be established.  Better?  Nah, but good for tthose that just want something smaller where everyone know each other.

And that's the thing. A lot of people want this, because we CANT join you. It's put me off getting involved in this game multiple times already, and I'm not alone in that. I want to RP here. But it's impossible to get in with Balmung. A second option is necessary, and yes, it does need help from people on Balmung. Desperately. The outsiders can't do this alone... but there's no forseeable future where we get to join you all at this point. They're just going to keep locking the server, if and when they do unlock it, because people keep transferring on.

[Eses Fafa]

It honestly depends on the mindset of the roleplayer. I'm sure someone's probably stated what I'm about to say in the 16 pages of this but I agree with the poster in the long run.

 

I myself am European, and have originally started roleplay in Steamwheedle Cartel EU on WoW. As it was in its higher population and there were more options, people were just thrilled at the IDEA of roleplay. Unfortunately, most of the greater minds who create a stronger community are the ones who either heavily contribute to a primary RP server or wind up joining one. People can RP amongst themselves and I've been doing so on this game since 2013 with a group of 90% US players. There are, however, plenty of EU players on Balmung and if time restraints are that much of a problem, it's better to stay where all of the roleplayers are since those within their preferred area of time will be online anyways.

If people try to create RP servers segregated by region, the night life will be sleepier, more boring and have less potential variety to be tapped into with the community.

 

In regards to paying for transfer, Square Enix won't be keeping Balmung in this state for long, so placing focus towards the more heavily-populated roleplay servers like Gilgamesh as a temporary fix may be necessary. Keeping people apart only dulls the overall experience when there are so many creative minds under one roof.

[Unnamed Mercenary]

Just for the record, there are a number of people who are/were active on Besaid/Balmung working to build up not-Balmung communities. It's kinda insulting to their efforts to continue asking for Balmung when another doesn't need to be Balmung to actually have a functional RP community.

 

Balmung is by no means a homogenous community. Even the RPC's users here don't even qualify for that. (If you disagree, you're proving my point. If you agree, I don't even need to make my point then.) Do I think every single small community has what it takes to become a fully functional, self-sustaining community? No. For some servers, that's perfect. For other servers, they'd probably consider than an insult. The one I've been observing and giving the most input to has a lot of growing and a lot of learning to do because I think its community will actually be sustainable. But if I had to make assumptions about how Balmung rose to its position currently, I'd bet the same happened back when it was Besaid in 1.0.

 

Balmung is likely going to stay closed for a pretty long time as long as Square Enix keeps putting the 7.5-8k active players/connections number around for stability concerns. RPC has more users registered than that. And we're a fraction of the total users. For every inactive user/duplicate account/bot on RPC, there's probably a user unaffiliated with the site who's active on Balmung. And more.

 

Likewise, just being Balmung is considered the biggest server, there's still no guarantee of finding RP. Especially RP that you (the reader) would even find interesting. Nobody's obligated to RP. If it's such a turn off to not be on Balmung specifically, I'd have to consider if this is really the right choice of game to play/RP in to start. The people who on either started super early, worked to wake up at the right time despite having their own lives and commitments, or paid for it knowing that it was still a gamble. If the game is worth playing, there are plenty of servers available.

 

I'll keep recommending the smaller servers to work on their exposure. Posts here aren't going to suddenly become non-Balmung by Balmung players. Non-Balmung events aren't going to post themselves. In-character stories have no reason to be divided by server (unless someone's treating them like an alternate universe and is using the same character base on multiple servers). I'd urge all our users here to show activity, especially the ones trying to bolster their communities. You'll get noticed by being visible.

[Tyndles]

It honestly depends on the mindset of the roleplayer. I'm sure someone's probably stated what I'm about to say in the 16 pages of this but I agree with the poster in the long run.

 

I myself am European, and have originally started roleplay in Steamwheedle Cartel EU on WoW. As it was in its higher population and there were more options, people were just thrilled at the IDEA of roleplay. Unfortunately, most of the greater minds who create a stronger community are the ones who either heavily contribute to a primary RP server or wind up joining one. People can RP amongst themselves and I've been doing so on this game since 2013 with a group of 90% US players. There are, however, plenty of EU players on Balmung and if time restraints are that much of a problem, it's better to stay where all of the roleplayers are since those within their preferred area of time will be online anyways.

If people try to create RP servers segregated by region, the night life will be sleepier, more boring and have less potential variety to be tapped into with the community.

 

In regards to paying for transfer, Square Enix won't be keeping Balmung in this state for long, so placing focus towards the more heavily-populated roleplay servers like Gilgamesh as a temporary fix may be necessary. Keeping people apart only dulls the overall experience when there are so many creative minds under one roof.

 

I'm fairly certain Balmung is going to stay locked for a long while. Months at least. It's THAT overfilled, and Gilgamesh is not a good option unless you're going to create a community from near the ground up. (and it too, is very full and will not unlock for a long time)

[Luna Sona]

Two servers can get by just fine.

EU WoW servers want a word with you. We only had one roleplay server left in the end.

 

Just because it worked on WoW US doesn't mean it will on FFXIV.

To be fair, what FFXIV currently has in it's one locked and previously impossible to get onto without paying money server also is not working. There isn't really a middle option in this race.

Yeah but a second server isn't magically going to establish itself either.

So what do you suggest new people do then? Just sit and wait until Balmung opens? There are people working right now on Mateus and other servers to help support and foster a RP community.

[Askier]

Oh. This thread is still going.

 

In circles too.

[Zelmanov]

Best part is that Balmung will be utterly purged of gil sellers since they can get banned and no one can make a new character on there! 

 

I am partially conflicted as to the establishment of an official roleplay server. It will shatter the community. It does not matter if transfers are free because not everyone will leave. Too many houses and apartments at stake. Likewise some people have established ties outside of RP on Balmung.

 

It is actually why I /love/ the server. Because it is so massive and bloated I can find a raid group, complete PVE content, fight primals. Anyone who goes to Mateus for RP runs the risk of not being in the one of three or so raid groups. For some it does not matter, but for people like me who like to do endgame content on some days and unwind with RP? I am gonna stay here most likely.

[Nodem]

Gilgamesh isn't an option right now. It's closed too.

 

Unnamed hit the nail on the head with a lot of good points. Be sure to read his post.

 

 

Rome wasn't built in a day, and neither was Balmung MAGICALLY a place to RP. People are comfortable on Balmung, and it's understandable, but trying to impede any person's work towards building up another server for RP will fracture the community as a whole. Multiple servers having RP doesn't destroy the unity of RP, it's the people that destroy it when they want to claim exclusive rights to it.

 

 

 

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Problem with a designated RP server. It most likely won't be a legacy server, so legacy players won't want to switch either.

[Tyndles]

Best part is that Balmung will be utterly purged of gil sellers since they can get banned and no one can make a new character on there! 

 

I am partially conflicted as to the establishment of an official roleplay server. It will shatter the community. It does not matter if transfers are free because not everyone will leave. Too many houses and apartments at stake. Likewise some people have established ties outside of RP on Balmung.

 

It is actually why I /love/ the server. Because it is so massive and bloated I can find a raid group, complete PVE content, fight primals. Anyone who goes to Mateus for RP runs the risk of not being in the one of three or so raid groups. For some it does not matter, but for people like me who like to do endgame content on some days and unwind with RP? I am gonna stay here most likely.

 

If people go to Mateus they can still raid with folks from Balmung.

[ArmachiA]

Best part is that Balmung will be utterly purged of gil sellers since they can get banned and no one can make a new character on there! 

 

I am partially conflicted as to the establishment of an official roleplay server. It will shatter the community. It does not matter if transfers are free because not everyone will leave. Too many houses and apartments at stake. Likewise some people have established ties outside of RP on Balmung.

 

It is actually why I /love/ the server. Because it is so massive and bloated I can find a raid group, complete PVE content, fight primals. Anyone who goes to Mateus for RP runs the risk of not being in the one of three or so raid groups. For some it does not matter, but for people like me who like to do endgame content on some days and unwind with RP? I am gonna stay here most likely.

 

If people go to Mateus they can still raid with folks from Balmung.

 

Oh! That's true! I never even considered that. This actually gives me a reason to level my alt on Mateus because I can still raid on her with my team if I feel like it.

[Zelmanov]

Oh right, cross server raid is now a thing.....my bad.

[Eses Fafa]

It honestly depends on the mindset of the roleplayer. I'm sure someone's probably stated what I'm about to say in the 16 pages of this but I agree with the poster in the long run.

 

I myself am European, and have originally started roleplay in Steamwheedle Cartel EU on WoW. As it was in its higher population and there were more options, people were just thrilled at the IDEA of roleplay. Unfortunately, most of the greater minds who create a stronger community are the ones who either heavily contribute to a primary RP server or wind up joining one. People can RP amongst themselves and I've been doing so on this game since 2013 with a group of 90% US players. There are, however, plenty of EU players on Balmung and if time restraints are that much of a problem, it's better to stay where all of the roleplayers are since those within their preferred area of time will be online anyways.

If people try to create RP servers segregated by region, the night life will be sleepier, more boring and have less potential variety to be tapped into with the community.

 

In regards to paying for transfer, Square Enix won't be keeping Balmung in this state for long, so placing focus towards the more heavily-populated roleplay servers like Gilgamesh as a temporary fix may be necessary. Keeping people apart only dulls the overall experience when there are so many creative minds under one roof.

 

I'm fairly certain Balmung is going to stay locked for a long while.  Months at least.  It's THAT overfilled, and Gilgamesh is not a good option unless you're going to create a community from near the ground up.  (and it too, is very full and will not unlock for a long time)

I'm honestly not saying that players SHOULD avoid splintering off and creating other communities, though if Balmung becomes the smaller community, Balmung will die out and most will move to the bigger one. That's the mindset of the overall roleplay community. Once the server swap is available again, Balmung will either be the smaller community by the end of it and the transfers out will commence or this new community will be off splintering again back to Balmung. It's not so much a solution to the situation, more a sorta grim truth. People say FFXIV is going to be different from other games but it really isn't. We're not a different breed of human.

[Luna Sona]

It honestly depends on the mindset of the roleplayer. I'm sure someone's probably stated what I'm about to say in the 16 pages of this but I agree with the poster in the long run.

 

I myself am European, and have originally started roleplay in Steamwheedle Cartel EU on WoW. As it was in its higher population and there were more options, people were just thrilled at the IDEA of roleplay. Unfortunately, most of the greater minds who create a stronger community are the ones who either heavily contribute to a primary RP server or wind up joining one. People can RP amongst themselves and I've been doing so on this game since 2013 with a group of 90% US players. There are, however, plenty of EU players on Balmung and if time restraints are that much of a problem, it's better to stay where all of the roleplayers are since those within their preferred area of time will be online anyways.

If people try to create RP servers segregated by region, the night life will be sleepier, more boring and have less potential variety to be tapped into with the community.

 

In regards to paying for transfer, Square Enix won't be keeping Balmung in this state for long, so placing focus towards the more heavily-populated roleplay servers like Gilgamesh as a temporary fix may be necessary. Keeping people apart only dulls the overall experience when there are so many creative minds under one roof.

 

I'm fairly certain Balmung is going to stay locked for a long while.  Months at least.  It's THAT overfilled, and Gilgamesh is not a good option unless you're going to create a community from near the ground up.  (and it too, is very full and will not unlock for a long time)

I'm honestly not saying that players SHOULD avoid splintering off and creating other communities, though if Balmung becomes the smaller community, Balmung will die out and most will move to the bigger one. That's the mindset of the overall roleplay community. Once the server swap is available again, Balmung will either be the smaller community by the end of it and the transfers out will commence or this new community will be off splintering again back to Balmung. It's not so much a solution to the situation, more a sorta grim truth. People say FFXIV is going to be different from other games but it really isn't. We're not a different breed of human.

Then how do you explain Moon Guard and Wyrmrest Accord on WoW? Those are two healthy RP servers and people can just switch between them. There's no reason for it to be, "Balmung or nothing."

[Eses Fafa]

It honestly depends on the mindset of the roleplayer. I'm sure someone's probably stated what I'm about to say in the 16 pages of this but I agree with the poster in the long run.

 

I myself am European, and have originally started roleplay in Steamwheedle Cartel EU on WoW. As it was in its higher population and there were more options, people were just thrilled at the IDEA of roleplay. Unfortunately, most of the greater minds who create a stronger community are the ones who either heavily contribute to a primary RP server or wind up joining one. People can RP amongst themselves and I've been doing so on this game since 2013 with a group of 90% US players. There are, however, plenty of EU players on Balmung and if time restraints are that much of a problem, it's better to stay where all of the roleplayers are since those within their preferred area of time will be online anyways.

If people try to create RP servers segregated by region, the night life will be sleepier, more boring and have less potential variety to be tapped into with the community.

 

In regards to paying for transfer, Square Enix won't be keeping Balmung in this state for long, so placing focus towards the more heavily-populated roleplay servers like Gilgamesh as a temporary fix may be necessary. Keeping people apart only dulls the overall experience when there are so many creative minds under one roof.

 

I'm fairly certain Balmung is going to stay locked for a long while.  Months at least.  It's THAT overfilled, and Gilgamesh is not a good option unless you're going to create a community from near the ground up.  (and it too, is very full and will not unlock for a long time)

I'm honestly not saying that players SHOULD avoid splintering off and creating other communities, though if Balmung becomes the smaller community, Balmung will die out and most will move to the bigger one. That's the mindset of the overall roleplay community. Once the server swap is available again, Balmung will either be the smaller community by the end of it and the transfers out will commence or this new community will be off splintering again back to Balmung. It's not so much a solution to the situation, more a sorta grim truth. People say FFXIV is going to be different from other games but it really isn't. We're not a different breed of human.

Then how do you explain Moon Guard and Wyrmrest Accord on WoW? Those are two healthy RP servers and people can just switch between them. There's no reason for it to be, "Balmung or nothing."

Two things with that actually:

 

1: I came from a time when there were a total of four healthy roleplay servers, not two, and in the space of a few blissful years when everyone was happy just RPing for the sake of it, it became one server. One of the two will not last.

 

2: It's easier to switch between servers on WoW because character progression isn't as much of a chore on that game as it is this. FFXIV's biggest flaw is how unfriendly it is to make alts because of the story, which can take weeks of tediously running through the exact same content you did years ago, an action that emphasises on how much of an MMO this game is, because developing alts is more SOUL-DRAINING than any other MMO I've played thus far. That's WHY I welcome the upcoming boosts with open arms. There are various reasons why people want this new RP server, be it for the hatred of paying extra for transfer, home regions or even a change of pace, but the moment that the balance tips towards this new side, more people will want to leave Balmung until it becomes 'the old RP server'. If that happens, I'm not going to stand my ground and help Balmung's community remain when there's greener grass on the other side and neither will any other who finds a stronger and more enjoyable community.

[Momo]

A move away from Balmung, either slowly or quickly is fine, BUT what isn't fine, and something I experienced within literally the first few minutes of moving to Mateus is: "Balmung RPers and their community are horrible, and not really welcome here."

 

Literally this and literally within a mere hour of joining the main LSs on Mateus. We don't know what will happen to Balmung, or what people will do now that it is closed, but starting on this note isn't the way to go about things.

[Eses Fafa]

A move away from Balmung, either slowly or quickly is fine, BUT what isn't fine, and something I experienced within literally the first few minutes of moving to Mateus is: "Balmung RPers and their community are horrible, and not really welcome here."

 

Literally this and literally within a mere hour of joining the main LSs on Mateus. We don't know what will happen to Balmung, or what people will do now that it is closed, but starting on this note isn't the way to go about things.

A lot of my friends actually came from Mateus. If this community is going to happen, it's got to purge the absolutely awful community that these people have been running away from.