Should rename the game to Merc fantasy online.

[Stompa]

This is to the OP, and others who feel the same way.

RMT Groups and Merc Services Groups, always target the largest possible source of customers.

This means that those Groups are mainly on Asura, because then those Groups will be close to the biggest number of possible customers.

This means that those Groups are less active on other smaller and quieter servers.

For example, I have not heard a single Merc /shout on my server, Leviathan, for about three years.

We do sometimes get RMT gilseller /shouts, but they don't try very hard, because Leviathan has a small population and most people here don't want to buy gil or pay for Mercs.

So if you want to avoid RMT and Merc activity, and all the Drama and /yells, move to a quieter, smaller server.

You will find that a lot of the original FFXI Veterans And Legends, stayed on the smaller servers, and they refused to move to Asura.

Because they wanted to keep playing FFXI in the old traditional ways. They did not want to change anything.

Many of us felt that FFXI in 2004 was the perfect computergame, the greatest computergame ever created, and we still feel the same way in 2018.

So we do not want to change the game, we want to protect and defend the original FFXI game, and to cherish the culture and values of this beautiful world called Vana'diel.

So if you liked the original FFXI culture and values, you may find there are many likeminded friends waiting for you on the smaller servers.

If you are on a big server, spend less time hanging round Towns. There are no /yells in the wilderness areas, when you are hunting monsters! Except maybe a <Call For Help!> lol.

Network with people. Talk to them about your feelings about RMT and Mercs. Try to find like-minded friends, friends who do not approve of RMT Gilselling and Merc activity.

Form a linkshell with those friends, and do events, without anybody on the LS ever using RMT Gilselling or Mercing services.

People have networked and found friends who wanted to play on capped level 75 characters, levelling mules to level 75 and locking the character on Merits Mode, and never doing the lvl 76 LB.

Then they do events as LS members, all level 75 characters, doing the Original FFXI Content, in the beautiful areas of Vana'diel.

So there are people who have moved away from the mainstream game, and are playing at level 75, and they networked and made linkshells with other likeminded people. So it is possible to also make a LS for people who disapprove of RMT and Mercs.

Vana'diel is a hugely expansive and intricate world, and it is easy to forget how amazing Vana'diel is, when we spend all our time in the Towns, listening to /yells, or doing Ambuscade etc. all the time.

Try exploring Vana'diel again. Be an Adventurer again. Be a Hunter again. Be far away from the /shouts and /yells and the mainstream greed games.

Level a new character, level a mule, or just level a new job, go travel Vana'diel, making new friends, having adventures, and not listening to /yells in the Towns.

[Afania]

Spoiler; it did not.

Would you pay me 100m if I shout for a pt in town and fill it up?

[Isola]

What DID happen and what WILL happen next time. =/=

[Sirmarki]

So it you want to avoid RMT and Merc activity, and all the Drama and /yells, move to a quieter, smaller server.

This is not the answer.

I moved from Fenrir a few years back, and while there were no RMT/Merc related shouts, there wasn't much else in terms of other yells either.
The population levels on Asura are more than likely keeping the game afloat. The future of the game would be in jeopardy/possibly non-existent if it was just a collection of small servers.

[Elexia]

Since we're talking about FFXI in particular, "mercing" has always been a thing since I've played this game.

I started with the JP beta. Mercing picked up dramatically around CoP days because of the difficulty of the content, especially for NA players so it wasn't a surprise or shocking to see people merc some of the later fights. It's a lot more "open" nowadays because of the content style. SE shifted away from traditional "xi content" to more "standard MMO content" in a sense with ilvls, so now you kind of need to merc content to get caught up if you're not lucky enough to join a linkshell willing to help out. It's not hard to catch up, not in the slightest, but with gil having less value now due to the content shift it's the natural course of things.

Also yeah, moving to a small/quiet server only benefits you in terms of camps. You kind of need players for MMO things. The hardest part about modern XI is, as said, there's more cliques than linkshells so to speak and if you're a new or freshly returning player from pre-ilvl/adoulin there's a chance you can't join the content base anyway given stat requirements and needing job points. That too is another reason why mercing is becoming huge again, because it's an "auto catch up" so to speak, similar to burn parties with Abyssea only benefited in leveling everything to 99 and occasionally items etc depending on who was burning what (e.g they ask you to give them certain items at the end if its pops or whatnot.)

The whole "since a few are shouting, lets team up!" rarely worked even back in XI's prime because people preferred to do it with their linkshells than random strangers, especially after 3 incidents involving stealing and breaking trust between communities, for example 'Do**a' ruining NA and JP relations and the resulting drama that spilled over onto forums like killingifrit etc and ever since then neither side really trusted shouts outside of shouting to fill parties like for Voidwatch.

[Stompa]

This is not the answer.

I moved from Fenrir a few years back, and while there were no RMT/Merc related shouts, there wasn't much else in terms of other yells either.
The population levels on Asura are more than likely keeping the game afloat. The future of the game would be in jeopardy/possibly non-existent if it was just a collection of small servers.

It is the answer to people in this thread who are posting screenshots of Merc /yells, and saying they will [paraphrased] "quit the game because of all the Merc /yells."

I'm suggesting to them, that instead of quitting the game because of all the Merc activity and Merc /yells, they could not quit the game instead, and move to a quieter server.

If they don't want to move servers, I suggested spending less time in Town, where /yells are heard.

I should mention that in the years 2004 to 2010, I did not spend more than a few hours total, in Towns. I spent those six years hunting NMs in the wilderness areas, farming, fishing, or doing quests and missions etc. For six years I never spent much time at all in the Towns, except to occasionally use the AH and then go back to the wilderness areas.

So I see this "hanging round towns" as a miserable experience anyway, and it can only be even more miserable if you are reading all the /yells about Drama and RMT and Mercs. There are so many things to do in Vana'diel, it just takes a bit of decisiveness, perspective, and impetus.

So I was responding to the people who posted before me in this thread, and suggesting several solutions to their dilemma.

I don't agree with you, when you say that Asura is keeping the game afloat. Many players are very happy on the smaller servers too. People on the smaller servers are paying the same subs as people on Asura are paying, and doing the same content, and having the same amount of fun and excitement. We just don't spend as much time queueing.

I'm happy for you, that you like being on Asura. I liked being on Remora. Now I like being on Leviathan. I'm not the one posting "I'm going to quit the game because of all the Merc /yells."

Because there are no Merc /yells where I am, and if there was a lot of Merc yells, I would avoid them, either by leaving the Towns, or changing servers.

[Isola]

If it were free to server transfer, it would be a reasonable answer.

It's not really fair to charge for a service that lets you stop doing your job. You're incentivizing square to leave things as they are.

This game would flourish IF people could come and go to smaller servers as they please. Relatively speaking. A million people wouldn't suddenly start playing. But a thousand might suddenly stop quitting.

[DarkValefor]

I actually find it a good idea moving servers if you are uncomfortable with mercs in Asura.

I play in Carbuncle and while there is not many people in the server we have a strong linkshell. We do all kind of endgame content our way, we are also very inclusive with party setups. We form a party or alliance with what we have and try to find a strategy to clear the content. I haven't enjoyed more in quite a few years.

The only problem I see in small servers is the market, it's really hard to get certain items because there's not material supply.

I played in Asura about 2 years ago, I left Carbuncle because back then I wasn't in a big linkshell and it was hard to get content done. I spent 2 years in Asura but didn't make any progress with party related stuff as people didn't like to include the jobs I had in their setups. My experiences there were if you didn't play specifically the jobs the guides suggested there would be no room for you, which kind of makes sense as in such a big server it's easy to replace you. But it was bothersome that people didn't wanna try other strategies and allow other players to join.

I moved back to Carbuncle and I found a lot of old players that started coming back to the game, and every few days I see more old players coming back to the server so it doesn't feel empty anymore. As long as you're in a cool linkshell I think smaller servers are not a bad idea.

[Sirmarki]

I spent those six years hunting NMs in the wilderness areas, farming, fishing, or doing quests and missions etc. For six years I never spent much time at all in the Towns, except to occasionally use the AH and then go back to the wilderness areas.

That's the difference between you and I though. I actively look for pick up groups to do stuff in, I look for things I may or may not want to join.

What you have described yourself doing outside of town appears to be solo content. I can't see yells if I'm not in town, and although this game has somewhat solo aspect, I don't pay a sub to play solo. I would just buy an offline solo playing game for a one off price if I wanted to do that.

This game is based around player numbers (it would not be around otherwise) , its just unfortunate that it's been infiltrated by all kinds of toxicity.

PS: I don't recall saying 'I was going to quit the game'?

[Stompa]

That's the difference between you and I though. I actively look for pick up groups to do stuff in, I look for things I may or may not want to join.

What you have described yourself doing outside of town appears to be solo content. I can't see yells if I'm not in town, and although this game has somewhat solo aspect, I don't pay a sub to play solo. I would just buy an offline solo playing game for a one off price if I wanted to do that.

This game is based around player numbers (it would not be around otherwise) , its just unfortunate that it's been infiltrated by all kinds of toxicity.

PS: I don't recall saying 'I was going to quit the game'?

I didn't say you were going to quit the game, as I said in my post, I was responding to one of the earlier posters, who put up a photo of the /yell chatlog, and said [paraphrased] ; "I feel like I should cancel my sub because of all this Merc yelling / Merc activity."

Re; me being outside town in the early years, my first 75 job was Bst75 in 2005, and so I was exploring Vana'diel, and soloing NMs, while people were hanging round the Towns trying to get help with stuff.

But I wasn't always soloing, I met other solo Bsts while I was traveling the wilderness areas, and we became friends, and would team up to low-man boss mobs.

This was kind of my point though, you need to go out there and talk to people, make new friends, and try unorthodox low-man strategies, instead of just playing the game by some rigid "the internet says you should play it like this" rule-book.

I think it is easier to meet new friends if you go out and do stuff, levelling or whatever, rather than just staring at the chatlog in Towns.