discussion The State of Balmung's Lockdown

[Skae]

 As large as the Balmung RP community is, it seems most primarily RP with their FCs and linkshells.   

 

This is the case with pretty much all RP communities everywhere. People primarily RP with their circle of friends.

[ExAtomos]

Yeah, I haven't even met 1% of the active players on the server yet. There are tons of events going on (there were 11 listed on the discord RP calendar bot for last night. This obviously doesn't include any small group RP going on or groups that don't use the calendar bot). I'm constantly updating the RP Themes thread as people move around and create new groups. Plus, people are always bringing in new characters with fantasias.

 

Right now, imo there is no problem. Ask again in two years if we're still locked down.

 

re: the burn out problem. Now, that IS a problem. What we can hope for is that people who weren't content-providers in the past find their courage and start, so they can take over for anyone who needs a break.

 

eta: Ok, I'm kinda wondering if those who are most sore at the prolonged closure are those with friends who can't be with them on Balmung. This is a non-issue for me, so I don't have to endure that specific pain.

[voidVirago]

Honestly, I got lucky that I got into FFXIV when I did. I got in back when you could wait until 4-5AM and get new characters on the server, and also when transfers were still allowed. However, my play schedule is inconsistent at best -- if I had tried to join now, when I've gotten into the game again, I'd be screwed. Several close IRL friends play on Balmung, and I'd lose out on being able to RP with them unless we managed to add one another.

 

To be honest, I think we should split the server, and give people a chance to sign on to other servers to go to. FCs/linkshells/friend groups can stay together. OR, we should open up servers to be fully cross-realm, like WoW does, where you have an account-wide login that lets you see who's playing what character on any realm.

 

It'd be a better system than the current one, IMO.

[Zhavi]

I'm with ExAtomos -- not a problem now, but will become one in the future if this lock goes on for years.

 

I do miss seeing new players (whether they're rpers or not), but I wouldn't say it's affected my rp at all. I still hold firm to the notion that this is good for the overall rp community; by the time the lock comes back off, there will be entrenched and populated rp communities on Mateus and hopefully elsewhere who will not be tempted to transfer to Balmung.

 

I have noticed some attitudes towards Balmung from people who left (of the good riddance it's locked and hopefully it'll stay locked forever variety) that worry me a little bit; Balmung has always had something of a reputation -- for good or ill -- but the lock kinda...I dunno, it feels like it crystallizes it, in some ways. Having a hard time putting words to it, but basically I just never want to see server vs server animosity. I like that different servers have different feels to them! Multiple server rp communities are great to me. Barring the sour grapes who always exist, I just want the overall community to stay supportive of each other, no matter who goes where.

[Unnamed Mercenary]

Off topic:

 

One of the major issues with WoW's "phase" system is that you have no control over which servers are melded in or which zone you'll end up being displayed on. AFAIK, this gets more complicated when parties of people with at different parts of WoW's MSQ group together as their maps are instanced, but instead of having the NPCs generated client-side like FFXIV does, all NPCs in WoW are server-side and a cross-realm group will only get one map, some of which will not be correctly up to date for the players.

 

Basically, it'd be just as messy as when SE turns on FFXIV's zone instances, but then people may not even be able to play the game correctly. A cross-realm setup like WoW's would effectively make events like the Grindstone impossible, where there's a larger amount of players on a zone than typical. Or, knowing SE, we'd have characters from other servers getting phased into RP sections and vice-versa, effectively killing open-world RP.

 

If SE were to split the servers, which could be beneficial, it'd need to be much better planned or they'd need to allow players to decide which of the splits they want to play on. Either way, friend groups would still be separated, even if cross-world friends list could keep them partially together. A setup allowing players to transfer freely (and with in-game interfaces) to any particular server in their datacenter could possibly be a better solution, but that discussion is even further off-topic for this thread.

 

On Topic:

 

Given the current cross-world capabilities, can our friends not already play the game with us? Yes, we cannot help them do FATEs or Levequests, but any instanced content is still viable as well as chatting, hopefully better improved in 4.2 with cross-world chat groups.

[voidVirago]

snip

Well, as far as I'm aware, the servers are only a handful of them anyway. Wyrmrest Accord and Moon Guard, the two big RP servers, are linked together, as well as smaller RP servers, since WoW has servers dedicated specifically to RP/PvP/PvE.

 

The thing about WoW is that it also doesn't have super different NPCs most of the time, so it's less of an issue than one would probably think. At least in more recent quests, I've found. Plus, the WoW quests aren't exactly -mandatory-. They don't gate content behind most things, except raid attunements, for example, so it's less of a problem. If you're partied up, it'll just pull you together in the phase 9 times out of 10, as well.

[ExAtomos]

I have noticed some attitudes towards Balmung from people who left (of the good riddance it's locked and hopefully it'll stay locked forever variety) that worry me a little bit; Balmung has always had something of a reputation -- for good or ill -- but the lock kinda...I dunno, it feels like it crystallizes it, in some ways.  Having a hard time putting words to it, but basically I just never want to see server vs server animosity.  I like that different servers have different feels to them!  Multiple server rp communities are great to me.  Barring the sour grapes who always exist, I just want the overall community to stay supportive of each other, no matter who goes where.

 

Same here. I didn't lose all that many from my friends list or LS, but the ones that did leave were all unhappy with Balmung for one reason or another. In other words, I don't know anyone that chose to leave that was HAPPY being on Balmung. So, some bitterness and gossip mongering is to be expected.

 

I am personally okay with only encountering brand new players in the DF, but this is because I got burnt out on supporting new players (specifically the type who expected everything be handed to them and were vocally outraged when their 'needs' weren't met) and transferred to Balmung in part for the RP and in part because the only ones who could even get into Balmung were those that were willing to put forth effort to do so.

 

I don't see a server split happening. Balmung's population may slough off a few here and there from now on, but I don't see any great reduction happening again. SE's servers can apparently hold up with the numbers we have, so why complicate things by forcing a split? (I agree too that the infrastructure we have with housing makes it impossible anyways.)

[Parth Makeo]

Off topic:

 

One of the major issues with WoW's "phase" system is that you have no control over which servers are melded in or which zone you'll end up being displayed on. AFAIK, this gets more complicated when parties of people with at different parts of WoW's MSQ group together as their maps are instanced, but instead of having the NPCs generated client-side like FFXIV does, all NPCs in WoW are server-side and a cross-realm group will only get one map, some of which will not be correctly up to date for the players.

to clarify from active wow player:

 

the Cross server issue as of this expansion was "MOSTLY" fixed with phasing different versions of a quest. Some people just can't see things like the dead whelps but you can still see your friend doing that quest. But FF14's MSQ is a giant 'attunement quest' compared to most MMO's. 

 

 But yes for 90% of the Phasing, wow's CRZ issue is more problematic with RP communities and even the PVP-RP servers (who you also can get PVP players from other servers)

 

A system like what wow did for ff14 is not going to work and will effectively kill ALL community in the coming years. While yes Battle.net lets you cross faction chat, invite people to their server (yes that's a thing for RPers who advertise in group finder) for the general audience? It's just hell and out of your control less you are with a friend who invited you to join them on Moonguard in a group...even then CRZ does not work for Major capitals on RP servers last i check purely because of RP reasons.

 

anyways back on topic again. Just wanted to clarify the CRZ thing-

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[ArmachiA]

 

 

I don't see a server split happening. Balmung's population may slough off a few here and there from now on, but I don't see any great reduction happening again. SE's servers can apparently hold up with the numbers we have, so why complicate things by forcing a split? (I agree too that the infrastructure we have with housing makes it impossible anyways.)

 

I wouldn't say it -can-, I would say it is because it has too. There wouldn't be a lock in the first place if it could do it comfortably.

[Kieron Lohengrin]

Gilgamesh just got turned back into a standard world so Blemnegg is the only congested world left on Aether

 

Time for the great Gilgy exodus 2.0 \o/

[Valence]

https://jp.finalfantasyxiv.com/lodestone/news/detail/f346081af5012ceaca64e56345cd969f7365827e

 

They might be indeed re opening some servers.

[ArmachiA]

Balmung, the last vestige of no one wanting to leave.

[ExAtomos]

 

 

I don't see a server split happening. Balmung's population may slough off a few here and there from now on, but I don't see any great reduction happening again. SE's servers can apparently hold up with the numbers we have, so why complicate things by forcing a split? (I agree too that the infrastructure we have with housing makes it impossible anyways.)

 

I wouldn't say it -can-, I would say it is because it has too. There wouldn't be a lock in the first place if it could do it comfortably.

 

We aren't having any mass server crashes or even the "can't enter congested area" error messages like we were during SB. Those were signs the ship was too full and ready to tip over.

[Nako Vesh]

I CANNOT for the life of me remember which game it was, it's been to long, but FCs actually got to be made early and FCs got to pick which server they'd be placed on before launch (I think it was TOR? Gonna say TOR), if SE could do something like that, where people who care choose which server to go on ahead of time and people who don't care just get thrown on whatever server it would be pretty feasible

 

That system was an unmitigated disaster though and ended up being one of the contributing factors (among many) to SWOTR's state today. I'm like one of 5 people who still enjoy that game and even I think it's a dumpster fire from top to bottom.

[Skae]

We aren't having any mass server crashes or even the "can't enter congested area" error messages like we were during SB. Those were signs the ship was too full and ready to tip over.

 

We do not have the massive amount of people playing at the start of SB either - on any server.

The first few weeks there were probably twice as many active players as there normally is - and that did indeed cause a lot of problems.

[Erah'sae]

Here's my take on the lock.

 

Yes, it sucks that we can't have new friends join the server.

 

However, Balmung is still large enough to where you can't possibly know everyone.  There's always new groups to explore, no people to meet, even without new players coming into the server.

 

Sometimes it just means taking a plunge into a new group to find new connections, or hitting an event you wouldn't otherwise have gone to.  Bring friends, make new ones, there's still a ton of people out there you haven't met yet.  (10,000 active character is insane.)

 

There are 35 recurring events each week on the calendar.  It is literally impossible to hit all of them every week.  

 

If new blood is needed, one can just do something different.  Maybe even fantasia / rename an alt and go for the all new clean experience?

 

On other bits that have come up:

I don't see there being a server split on FFXIV.  I can't see them doing it without an unmitigated disaster happening.  I don't really see the need either.  The only times we have server issues is on expansion release date.  The only split I see is maybe a datacenter split for Aether since even smaller servers hit the same issues we did on the expansion launch.  (read: balance cluster population between two smaller clusters)

 

 

My one comment on the automatic CRZ function of WoW.  It was single highhandedly the worst thing Blizzard could have done for open world RP that ever happened to that game.  I think it was even worse then the whole zone phasing they started doing before then.

[Gegenji]

However, Balmung is still large enough to where you can't possibly know everyone.  There's always new groups to explore, no people to meet, even without new players coming into the server.

 

Sometimes it just means taking a plunge into a new group to find new connections, or hitting an event you wouldn't otherwise have gone to.  Bring friends, make new ones, there's still a ton of people out there you haven't met yet.  (10,000 active character is insane.)

 

Just by hanging out in the Quicksand yesterday, I met four characters I've never interacted with before! Three Xaela and a Roegadyn. It was good fun, and all it took was seeing them talking and plopping my little dude next to them to join in. And I made a friend at the Grindstone the day before who wants to RP more so I offered hanging out with my little goofball. :thumbsup:

 

I will admit, though, that it's not always easy to just... throw yourself out there. Sometimes you'll not find anything, sometimes you'll make plans that never really come to fruition (I've had a bunch of folks where we've been like WE SHOULD HANG OUT and it never actually happened... :blush: ), and sometimes you'll just find out your characters don't click with theirs. But yeah... the number of RPers on Balmung is sizeable enough that I don't think you'll run out of folks to interact with as long as you're willing to move out of your comfort zone some.

 

Though, that doesn't deal with the problem about wanting to bring already existing friends into the game and to play with you. The only real choice there is to either move off Balmung or start from scratch (or at the start of SB if you're willing to drop the extra money on it) on another server, both options kind of disconnecting you from whatever friends and RP-mates you've made on Balmung...

[maoilmhin]

Though, that doesn't deal with the problem about wanting to bring already existing friends into the game and to play with you. The only real choice there is to either move off Balmung or start from scratch (or at the start of SB if you're willing to drop the extra money on it) on another server, both options kind of disconnecting you from whatever friends and RP-mates you've made on Balmung...

 

^This is the largest issue for me in the prolonged Balmung server lock.  I ended up transferring a character to go play with friends who are new to the game, and help them get off the ground.   Every time I log in I have to chose which friends are getting ignored  (Friends new to the game vs Friends on Balmung).   Although, cross server chat helps mitigate it somewhat, it is not the same as being on the server with them.

[Kieron Lohengrin]

how are the market board prices on mateus these days?

[shinobikaikyo]

The lock can suck but the only real solution I see is increased server capabilities on SE's part. The fact of the matter is that RP communities only really work and prosper when they're on one dedicated server, or we see what happened with the mateus/balmung. There is no way to get people to leave Balmung, and that isn't a bad thing--It's important for the RP community to be away from PvP/PvE majority servers otherwise they'll be bullied and harassed (which is already an occurrence on balmung sometimes.)

 

SE simply has to improve server capabilities as their game grows more popular and more played. Because you aren't going to get people to leave their communities and friends, you aren't going to get them to leave their house plots, and no new RP community will rival what Balmung has already.

[Valence]

What happened with the Mateus/Balmung? Did I miss something?

[Kieron Lohengrin]

The lock can suck but the only real solution I see is increased server capabilities on SE's part. The fact of the matter is that RP communities only really work and prosper when they're on one dedicated server, or we see what happened with the mateus/balmung. There is no way to get people to leave Balmung, and that isn't a bad thing--It's important for the RP community to be away from PvP/PvE majority servers otherwise they'll be bullied and harassed (which is already an occurrence on balmung sometimes.)

 

SE simply has to improve server capabilities as their game grows more popular and more played. Because you aren't going to get people to leave their communities and friends, you aren't going to get them to leave their house plots, and no new RP community will rival what Balmung has already.

 

squeenix already made server and ping improvements with the west coast move. their software isn't magically going to raise its population limits just by adding more processor cores or ram, they'll simply open up new shards and keep incentivizing transfers.

 

besides which, it's pretty myopic and dismissive to claim "no one else can rival what balmung has." people are active with whatever rp environment they move to, ingame or otherwise. pve is a non-issue thanks to df. everyone and their mum is an omnicrafter on balmung so market board prices are delightful. if balmung stays locked forever while other rp server economies similarly mature, then that'd definitely be another good reason to move

[Gegenji]

What happened with the Mateus/Balmung? Did I miss something?

 

I'm not entirely sure. As far as I understand it, Mateus is doing well and - even if Balmung should open up at some point in the future - I think folks are situated enough there that they won't jump ship just to get back to Balmung.

 

Between those already on Balmung, those who started new or migrated to Mateus and/or Omega, and the other smaller RP communities scattered across other servers we seem to have some decently thriving RP populations.

[Zhavi]

how are the market board prices on mateus these days?

 

Pricy, but not imo exorbitantly so in general, some items do run the exception, however, due to lack of competition.

 

If you're a crafter, there are plenty of niches to exploit. Like uhhh, immediate example: one person had 2 5 stacks of void blue dye up for 7k per one, and looking at market history, while they don't sell super fast, that seemed to be the average going price give or take 1k. Glamour items are decently pricy, with cashmere poncho going for like 5mil if I remember right, half high house boots sitting around 150-200k.

 

Meanwhile, I've seen low level mats like lavender sell for around 700-800 per one -- but it moves a little slowly.

 

Higher than balmung, but not so extreme that you can't meet going rates with a little effort.

 

(note that I didn't check endgame stuff though!)

[shinobikaikyo]

The lock can suck but the only real solution I see is increased server capabilities on SE's part. The fact of the matter is that RP communities only really work and prosper when they're on one dedicated server, or we see what happened with the mateus/balmung. There is no way to get people to leave Balmung, and that isn't a bad thing--It's important for the RP community to be away from PvP/PvE majority servers otherwise they'll be bullied and harassed (which is already an occurrence on balmung sometimes.)

 

SE simply has to improve server capabilities as their game grows more popular and more played. Because you aren't going to get people to leave their communities and friends, you aren't going to get them to leave their house plots, and no new RP community will rival what Balmung has already.

 

squeenix already made server and ping improvements with the west coast move. their software isn't magically going to raise its population limits just by adding more processor cores or ram, they'll simply open up new shards and keep incentivizing transfers.

 

besides which, it's pretty myopic and dismissive to claim "no one else can rival what balmung has." people are active with whatever rp environment they move to, ingame or otherwise. pve is a non-issue thanks to df. everyone and their mum is an omnicrafter on balmung so market board prices are delightful. if balmung stays locked forever while other rp server economies similarly mature, then that'd definitely be another good reason to move

 

Mateus had the best chance of rivaling Balmung in population with the huge move and sudden influx of RP'ers, but yet still ended up having many of the people regret their decision. If Mateus couldnt' do it then, with that much radical intervention by Square; it most certainly won't just happen randomly.

 

Balmung is what it is, and always will be; the sooner Square makes decisions with Balmung staying as a concentrated community, the more progress will be made, because it doesn't seem people are satisfied with the exodus that occurred.