Halt! Help Required! Thank you!

[Marzietal]

Hello. I have JUST set up an account here, bracing myself to finally open up the game after all those years of actually having it installed. The seemingly deathly task of actually starting my way after having created an actual character(s?) is absolutely mine to face, but I need to ask for advice from all you seniors about a different topic: what server should I pick? I don't have any friends playing and everything I've read about the specific rp servers contradicts itself. I would like to know what server would be:
1. Friendly for a COMPLETE newcomer to the game and the FF in general
2. Fairly accesible for an english-speaker living in Central EU
3. Filled with spontaneous rp and equally spontaneous roleplayers.
ALL ADVICE WELCOME
I AM GRATEFUL FOR ANY ATTENTION I CAN GET
EXCUSE ME FOR SOUNDING LIVID I HAVE JUST RETURNED FROM A THIRD NIGHTSHIFT AT WORK IN A ROW
NIGHTSHIFT LIFE AINT FOR ME

BUT I BELIEVE ADVENTURIN' IS
 

[Mermaid]

1. The community in general tends to be pretty friendly. Once you pick a server shout in the first main city or ask someone with a crown next to their name for an invite to the Novice Network. It's a channel specifically for newbies to ask experienced players questions. (Having to get invited to it sucks but it'd be flooded with gold farming bot if that system wasn't in place.)

 

2. Any of the servers on the European data center should suit your time but since you're here I'm assuming you also want RP. Omega is the unofficial European data center but...

 

3. Mateus is the biggest open RP server.

 

I can't speak for how big Omega is and how prone it is to walk up RP. Hopefully someone over there can come in and sell you on it's merits. It would also have better ping for you. Mateus very likely has the most lively walk up scene at the moment and it does have EU players. I can't say if it's more active than Omega would be during your times though and once again the ping might be an issue if you don't use a VPN.

[Nebbs]

My brutal view..

 

If you ant to PvE Raid then you have to go for an EU server as ping to US is 180ms+ and in my experience you will fail too much. I used to be less (110ms) and I could cope but now I have resigned myself to not raid the extreme end game..

 

That leaves you with Omega.

 

If you want RP then the choice is

Balmung (US) - the original and full (I expect this is locked at this time, so not an option)

Mateus (US) - the current best open RP server, they use discord quite a bit and I understand RP is flourishing. 

Omega (EU) - I don't know much about this and have heard good and bad.

 

For myself I am still on Balmung and have not moved off. That probably says a lot about which I think is best.

 

What will be best for you is any of these and putting yourself out there for RP. The game has an RP flag you can show on your character's nameplate, it really does support RP better than many other MMOs.

[sersi]

If you are working nights then the US servers probably wouldn't be too bad for you, being active when you are used to being awake. Also as someone that works nights in the US, I can say at least Mateus is still fairly active during the wee hours of the US time zones.

[Marzietal]

Thanks a lot Mermaid, Nebbs and sersi! I was not expecting such a quick response and from so many lovely people too! It really makes me hopefull for the things to come here and in-game.

From all the things that you folks have said and what the general rumor has on the internet Mateus and Omega really are my best picks for what I'd like to do. That does bring up some follow-up questions though.
Omega is the default pick at the moment, due to obvious reasons.
Mateus is very tempting, so if you have any advice of being an european on an american server and the technicalities of such a thing, I'm all ears.
I have also heard some good things about Louisioux being a chill, welcoming community but I am somewhat sceptical towards that.

Once again thank you and have a nice day.

[sersi]

I'm not sure what kind of advice you would be looking for on Mateus. There is usually roleplay going on in Ul'dah, especially the quicksand, even during the late/early morning period. working over nights I usually hang around areas where I will see roleplay and then look for what FC's are active. then I can find a good RP group that works for my schedule.

 

aside from that, if you are planning on hitting content I would say try palace of the dead or heaven on high first to gauge your latency and see how viable that is.

[Marzietal]

Golly, those sure were wild two weeks, I AM BACK.
Thanks again sersi. I think I know everything I need to actually make a character and begin adventurin'. Great practical advice, too, although I think I should try the european servers first, for convenience. Omega it is then. Anyway, once again, bless everyone who wrote or lurked in this thread. That's all for now!

[sersi]

good luck!