Balmung Restriction Discussion

[Y'lani]

If you want to talk about the restrictions of Balmung, whether it's asking what are the best ways to approach it, confiding in others because it's fairly difficult to get in, or just talking about it, post here instead of here!

 

Why make this thread? It ensures that new players are not discouraged when they see somebody posting in the "Balmung is open!" thread only to see that Balmung is not open.

 

Feel free to discuss!

[WolfyRipper]

Good thread to have. I think the character restriction is just total garbage, to be honest. I understand trying to halt the masses...but in reality. If I have a character -on- Balmung already and I just want to make a new one...I should be able to without restriction.

[Telluride]

As long as the restriction fails to keep out the bots - and it is failing at this quite thoroughly - I find it to be a poor solution to whatever SE thinks the problem actually is.

[FreelanceWizard]

As I've said before, they really need to fix this before the expansion, with all the Au Ra alts that people are going to want to make (and the player pickup on an expansion release).

 

Frankly, at this point, I don't really see what their code is actually doing. Lobby server issues aside, at one point the devs noted that they didn't want to stress the newbie zones. That's fine -- but the newbie zones are almost entirely empty these days. If their logic is "look at number of level 1 characters on the server/in this zone" and isn't accounting for logged in characters, then that's a bug they need to fix. Beyond all that, though, they desperately need to upgrade their server infrastructure.

[Khivva]

The things I do for RP lol. 

 

I've spent the past 2-3 days trying to sign up my character but there hasn't been a single opening. I thought ok, Saturday, everyone and their mother is on. Try Sunday people will have to go back to work. Nothing opened up last night/ this morning. I've read threads of people saying Tue-Thur is the best time but lol I don't know if I'm down to not sleep another night. I've really been considering just rolling my char in the server I have my main and that way be able to provide for her clothes or other small needs/ get her as high enough a level in three days and then transfer her over but 18 USD burns me along with the subscription. 

 

I might just bite the bullet though because it's not worth how I'm feeling right now from not sleeping lol.

[Warren Castille]

The things I do for RP lol. 

 

I've spent the past 2-3 days trying to sign up my character but there hasn't been a single opening. I thought ok, Saturday, everyone and their mother is on. Try Sunday people will have to go back to work. Nothing opened up last night/ this morning. I've read threads of people saying Tue-Thur is the best time but lol I don't know if I'm down to not sleep another night. I've really been considering just rolling my char in the server I have my main and that way be able to provide for her clothes or other small needs/ get her as high enough a level in three days and then transfer her over but 18 USD burns me along with the subscription. 

 

I might just bite the bullet thought because it's not worth how I'm feeling right now from not sleeping lol.

 

Never spend money when tired. That's how you end up missing a million gil and log in to new glamours.

[Khivva]

 

Never spend money when tired. That's how you end up missing a million gil and log in to new glamours.

 

skdlfjslk You speak from experience?

[Aris]

The things I do for RP lol. 

 

I've spent the past 2-3 days trying to sign up my character but there hasn't been a single opening. I thought ok, Saturday, everyone and their mother is on. Try Sunday people will have to go back to work. Nothing opened up last night/ this morning. I've read threads of people saying Tue-Thur is the best time but lol I don't know if I'm down to not sleep another night. I've really been considering just rolling my char in the server I have my main and that way be able to provide for her clothes or other small needs/ get her as high enough a level in three days and then transfer her over but 18 USD burns me along with the subscription. 

 

I might just bite the bullet thought because it's not worth how I'm feeling right now from not sleeping lol.

 

Never spend money when tired. That's how you end up missing a million gil and log in to new glamours.

 

Can confirm. Did this over the weekend.

[Enzo]

I am a bit contested on how SE does their servers. On one hand, I have played a LOT of MMORPGs. And while I have fairly nice internet and a fairly nice computer, I have always encountered some problems or a slight lag when playing the game at times. But with FFXIV? I encounter flawless servers that would probably keep me on the game even if my internet went out or something. I don't know how they keep such good connection while other even bigger games fail to. On the other hand, I think possibly the reason their servers run so well for me is because of them brutally hammering down on these server restrictions when they really don't need to. Their servers seem beyond perfect to me from what I have seen and moving from "Beyond perfect" to "Perfect" seems like a pretty nice trade off if it allows us to actually make new characters with who we want.

 

I agree with freelance in that starter zones are no longer an issue. And people rather quickly migrate away from them even now so that should not be their excuse. I think the kick off after a certain amount of time should be reinstated. Like 15 or 30 minutes if they are totally idle. I feel like I heard some complaints that servers were not as good when that was implemented before. But I think it was more server infrastructure that was lacking than it was the feature itself. I really don't see why they shouldn't have this feature when it works fine for every other MMORPG out there. It would really get rid of people just taking of space. Then the second problem is that of Bots. I have encountered games with varying levels of bot control. And admittedly I do not see bots very often on FFXIV. But I have heard lots of stories regarding bots to the point where I can imagine they are an issue. So that is something SE needs to solve.

 

Lastly I think they just need to upgrade their servers generally. I don't really know why they can't do this. Yeah it would cost money but they have a lot of players and wouldn't the gain in profits from allowing people to play with their friends make it all worth it in the end? I am no accountant. And I am sure there is a lot more in play here. But it is still making somewhat of a miserable situation for me as I don't have the money to transfer but want to make my new character on balmung. I am not getting up crazy early to meet ques or anything. But I naturally wake up at 6 am every day CST and have checked to see every server open except for Balmung. I have not been trying for very long (Since saturday) But I don't want to imagine becoming one of the horror stories of weeks and weeks without being able to get onto the server I want to play

 

I still don't really understand why Gilgamesh can be open, with a population 9/8ths bigger than Balmung and Balmung remain closed...

[Enla]

The cynical part of me wonders if it's money related honestly, as in the past I've noted that roleplayers have a tendency to fork over cash a much steadier rate if it helps enable their hobby. I already put money down for the transfer fee to get Cylin over to Balmung, and would have put money down on Zahir'ra as well if my common sense hadn't kicked in and prevented me from porting a level one character over simply because I don't know when Balmung will ever be open. Or, honestly, if I'll ever be awake enough to see it happen.

However that just doesn't make sense in my mind at the end of the day, as not everyone who comes to Balmung is a roleplayer. So as a newbie looking in, I'm just as stumped as everyone else.

Frankly if it were server issues one big thing they could do is shorten the time it takes before you're kicked from the game from being AFK. I'm not even sure this IS a feature as while on Gilgamesh I once went questing in Thanalan and over the course of three to five hours went back and forth past a single player who neither moved or did anything, I'm assuming they were afk this whole time, and they weren't booted. The same happened today while in Ul'dah. Seems like the first way to alleviate server congestion is to kick off people who are AFK for more than an hour, I think even SWTOR has a thirty minute limit to move the camera at the very least before you're booted.

[Kellach Woods]

Roleplayers are also not a significant marketshare enough to even warrant such thought.

 

I'm thinking that Balmung's Legacy Server status also limits the new character creation much more harshly than Gilgamesh, if the population numbers are to be believed.

 

I wouldn't be surprised if, assuming the Legacy Server status actually does something to the lock, that it also introduced a bug that doesn't clear character creations from the queue, or does it abnormally, making it believe there's more than is actually created.

[Delilah Scythewood]

I've converted about four or five people to this game in the last month or two. I probably would have been able to get more (and thus more money for SE) if the server restriction didn't make it nearly impossible for some people due to their personal and/or work schedules.

 

I wish they brought back an afk timed kick. Maybe after half an hour or so. I have an FC member who will forget to log out when he goes to work and will be in the same spot for 6-8 hours undisturbed.

[allgivenover]

As I've said before, they really need to fix this before the expansion, with all the Au Ra alts that people are going to want to make (and the player pickup on an expansion release).

 

I... hadn't thought of how the Balmung restriction might will still be in effect come Heavensward and severely limit AuRa creation. 

 

Best possibility I've read about AuRa and Heavensward in regard to RP in days, not even being sarcastic, I hope it stays locked.

[Reforged]

As I've said before, they really need to fix this before the expansion, with all the Au Ra alts that people are going to want to make (and the player pickup on an expansion release).

 

I... hadn't thought of how the Balmung restriction might will still be in effect come Heavensward and severely limit AuRa creation. 

 

Best possibility I've read about AuRa and Heavensward in regard to RP in days, not even being sarcastic, I hope it stays locked.

So...you're hoping new character creation stays locked throughout the release of the expansion...?

[Unnamed Mercenary]

In regards to the expansion, hopefully they'll increase the limit of players allowed to login/be created if only because all the progression-based players will likely flock to Ishgard and any other new maps. (Think Wineport, Fallgourd and Ceruleum Processing Plant for people who did Coil with lockouts). 

 

With the large increase in maps. if their servers are actually being taxed by the amount of players logged in, 3.0 would never be able ot make it past QA. They would -need- to upgrade their servers if that were the case.

 

I think their bottleneck (besides the Lobby Server) might actually be the internet connection and its backbone connections. We've seen alarming issues with the USACanada border connections having issues. If they allowed more players in, these would likely get worse. disclaimer: enterprise networking of any kind is not my specialty. But when there's a collection of people who all run a trace route from their various locations and it fails at the same gateway.... it's suspicious. Perhaps the EU datacenter will help out with this. Maybe a decent portion of progression-based EU players will hop off Balmung to go enjoy a less-laggy gaming environment.

[allgivenover]

As I've said before, they really need to fix this before the expansion, with all the Au Ra alts that people are going to want to make (and the player pickup on an expansion release).

 

I... hadn't thought of how the Balmung restriction might will still be in effect come Heavensward and severely limit AuRa creation. 

 

Best possibility I've read about AuRa and Heavensward in regard to RP in days, not even being sarcastic, I hope it stays locked.

So...you're hoping new character creation stays locked throughout the release of the expansion...?

 

Yes, anything to stop people from ruining AuRa the same way they ruined Miqo'te.

 

I know it's a controversial opinion and perhaps a bit mean-spirited, but after a year and a half of polarizing lore, man-hating futa covens, and Hyur characters wearing cat ears and a tail, I'm done. The fewer AuRa the better.

[tektor]

Can one ever get on to Balmung?

 

I tried, but got on to Gilgamesh, I am a returning player wanting to play it for rp more or less.

 

is it worth keep fighting to get onto Balmung or is Gilgamesh supported well for rp?, as far as I can see here on site some cooler events is on Balmung

[Warren Castille]

I bring hope!

 

http://na.finalfantasyxiv.com/lodestone/news/detail/f364272dc7c705f60efe818c78ec8998c41332a0

 

At the following time, in order to accompany patch 2.5 hotfixes, we will be performing maintenance on all Worlds. During this period, FINAL FANTASY XIV: A Realm Reborn will be unavailable.

 

We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and thank you for your understanding.

 

*The World Transfer Service will be suspended 15 minutes before maintenance begins, and will be unavailable until maintenance has ended.

 

*Please be advised that you will be unable to make reservations for Ceremonies of Eternal Bonding from the time maintenance ends until Jan. 30, 2015 1:00 a.m. (PST).

 

[Date & Time]

Jan. 28, 2015 11:00 p.m. to Jan. 29, 2015 2:00 a.m. (PST)

 

* The completion time may be subject to change.

 

[Affected Service]

- FINAL FANTASY XIV: A Realm Reborn

[Ritual]

^ Both servers are active, though from my experiance Gilgamesh is very FC RP based and Balmung is a lot more public and easier to find, Balmung is the harder one to access though the RP is a lot more readily available.

[Ritual]

I bring hope!

 

http://na.finalfantasyxiv.com/lodestone/news/detail/f364272dc7c705f60efe818c78ec8998c41332a0

 

At the following time, in order to accompany patch 2.5 hotfixes, we will be performing maintenance on all Worlds. During this period, FINAL FANTASY XIV: A Realm Reborn will be unavailable.

 

We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and thank you for your understanding.

 

*The World Transfer Service will be suspended 15 minutes before maintenance begins, and will be unavailable until maintenance has ended.

 

*Please be advised that you will be unable to make reservations for Ceremonies of Eternal Bonding from the time maintenance ends until Jan. 30, 2015 1:00 a.m. (PST).

 

[Date & Time]

Jan. 28, 2015 11:00 p.m. to Jan. 29, 2015 2:00 a.m. (PST)

 

* The completion time may be subject to change.

 

[Affected Service]

- FINAL FANTASY XIV: A Realm Reborn

 

 

You're a beautiful man Warren ; ;.

[Kinono]

 

I still don't really understand why Gilgamesh can be open, with a population 9/8ths bigger than Balmung and Balmung remain closed...

 

I can't say for sure, but I imagine Balmungs population, if smaller, is a bit more global and therefor on "around the clock" causing us to fail that "is the server dead enough" check.

 

Off-topic, but I love your avatar. My lala here was named after Kino and her chcocobo is named Hermes and I'm the type of person that is normally really against naming characters after anime too. Absolutely fantastic show.

[Kage]

I thought the Balmung population still is "big" because there was a time when people from 4chan moved over.

 

Combine that with the fact that it is legacy so when the worlds were merged you had an existing population that then got friends and such in.

[Bopdoot]

As I've said before, they really need to fix this before the expansion, with all the Au Ra alts that people are going to want to make (and the player pickup on an expansion release).

 

I... hadn't thought of how the Balmung restriction might will still be in effect come Heavensward and severely limit AuRa creation. 

 

Best possibility I've read about AuRa and Heavensward in regard to RP in days, not even being sarcastic, I hope it stays locked.

So...you're hoping new character creation stays locked throughout the release of the expansion...?

 

Yes, anything to stop people from ruining AuRa the same way they ruined Miqo'te.

 

I know it's a controversial opinion and perhaps a bit mean-spirited, but after a year and a half of polarizing lore, man-hating futa covens, and Hyur characters wearing cat ears and a tail, I'm done. The fewer AuRa the better.

 

Lolwat? Hyurs wearing cat ears?  Is that an actual thing?

[FreelanceWizard]

Lolwat? Hyurs wearing cat ears?  Is that an actual thing?

 

I think that's a reference to the fact that there are a lot of miqo'te characters that aren't informed by (or hew entirely to, depending on who you ask) their racial culture; they're essentially being played as hyur who happen to look like miqo'te. Whether this is bad or incompatible with lore is a topic on which there's some debate.

 

That said, I wouldn't put it past some people to say their miqo'te is actually a hyur wearing cat ears and a tail...

[tektor]

Any Eu players on Gilgamesh?

just want to know If I can just settle down there now I got a toon on it.