Reassessing the Merger of FFXIV Worlds (02/13/2012)

[Haziel]

Awww I just wonder...
Which will be the server merged with Lindblum ?! *-*

[Camate]

Apologies for the delay! Here is the second (and lengthier!) post from Yoshi-p

World Merge Specification Changes (Detailed)

■World Merge Specification Overview Details■

The following are the specifics of the World Merge concept and specification overview. There is a lot of text, but I’ve made the explanations in-depth so that you can properly understand all of the information. Please read over everything when offering feedback.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

■World Merge Concept ■

The main purpose of the World Merge is largely based on the idea of providing a suitable community size to all active and currently playing players for every bit of content. In other words, the goal is to make each World’s population adequate so that parties can be formed sufficiently in each time zone.

The important factor here is not the total number of active players (= number of characters), it is the amount of people from each time zone that can gather together.
Even if the number of active players is large, FFXIV is operated on global servers, so we need an environment that will allow players from each of the three time zones (Japan, North America, and Europe) to gather together.
(Though the total number of active characters for a world may seem the same, looking at it for each time zone, the number of peak players changes.) The facilitation of making each population the proper size is the main objective of this World Merge.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

■World Merge Method ① - Basic consolidation-■

Below I will explain about the basic World Merge using letters. The below is an example.
(A-R　= Existing worlds 1-18)
・A + B　⇒ New World 1
・C + D　⇒ New World 2
・E + F　⇒ New World 3
・G + H ⇒ New World 4
・I + J ⇒ New World 5
・K + L ⇒ New World 6
・M + N ⇒ New World 7
・O + P ⇒ New World 8
・Q + R ⇒ New World 9
・Create New World 10 (*World recommended for those in EU time zones)
By consolidating existing Worlds, each time zone’s community size will be made appropriate. With the consolidation of the existing worlds into 9 Worlds plus the addition of one completely new World, FFXIV will operate with 10 Worlds.

The newly constructed “World 10” will be a totally new World and will be the world that we recommend to the small sized community of EU time zone players. (Of course this is not a world only for the EU time zone and it will be possible for players of other languages and other time zones to choose it.)

How Worlds will be consolidated and which Worlds correspond to the new World will be announced on Topics in the coming days.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

■World Merge Method ② - Community Preservation - ■

In the case of merging two Worlds together, the problem has been that it was not technically possible to preserve one of the world’s Linkshells, Friend Lists, and Blacklists; however, during tests that took place alongside the exploration of specification adjustments, we gained solid technical proof that it will be possible to completely preserve the communities of both Worlds.

In other words, regardless of the number of currently active characters on the World that is formed after merging 2 or 3 Worlds together, it will be possible to preserve the below community information for every world.
・Current Linkshell information
・Current Friend List information
・Current Blacklist information
With this, those players who elect to do nothing during the World Merge will be able to continue playing within their community as before even after they merge. Also, the same will be true for those players who are not currently subscribed.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

■World Merge Method ③ -Freely select world to transfer to-■

Along with the basic merging of Worlds, all player characters will be given the opportunity to transfer Worlds within a certain time frame. In other words, players will be able to either remain in their current World or apply to transfer to a different World.

Players will be able to request a transfer to any World, not just the newly created World 10.

However, once a World Transfer is requested, players will not be guaranteed the ability to return to their original World. For example, suppose a player decides to try to return to his original world after requesting a transfer, but the number of players in the original world exceeds the limit, that player will not be able to return to their original World.

Also, when a player transfers Worlds, the player will be removed from all Linkshells they were a part of in the original World and will also have their Friend Lists and Blacklists cleared.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

■World transfer requests and the world character limit■

World transfer requests will be handled during 2 different periods, in a method similar to the method posted in a previous Topics article.

1. World Transfer Period A (Possible to re-select a new destination World as many times as desired)
2.World Transfer Period B (Players in Worlds that have reached the limit cannot re-select a destination World)

The development and operations teams will determine a maximum number of active users per time zone for each World. This number will represent the total players from a specific time zone, rather than total players overall, and will differ for each World. The extent of player migration in each World will be represented by the following symbols on a special page on the Lodestone:
○= Possible to transfer to
△= Possible to transfer to, but the limit is fast approaching
×= Not possible to transfer to

By setting maximum limits for active users in each World, we would like to even out the populations on each server as best possible. Populations will be monitored by the development and operations teams, and players will be notified whether or not it is possible to transfer to each World.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

■The recommended EU time zones server and other special measures■

World 10 will be the recommended EU time zones server, but it is not limited to players in the EU time zones. Players from other time zones, as well as players who speak languages other than French, German and English can still freely transfer to World 10. I would like to make it clear that this server is not set up for players who all speak the same language. Rather, we would like players in Europe to consider joining World 10 in order to be able to play with fellow players from similar time zones.

Since World 10 will be a new World, some players may worry that this world will be severely underpopulated if few players desire a transfer to this world. With that in mind, we decided that as a special measure, we will look into either allowing players to transfer another time or merging underpopulated servers, in the case that there is a significant disparity in the numbers of players on each server. Therefore players should have no worries when considering World 10 as a potential destination.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

■Absolute reform of world names■

Until now, Worlds were named after historical towns/cities from the FINAL FANTASY series, but heading towards the release of 2.0, we decided that this World Merge would be a great opportunity to change the names of all Worlds.

The World names currently in use may be unfamiliar or difficult to understand for those who are not hardcore players, so we wanted to change these names to be more familiar to casual FINAL FANTASY players, as we approach the release of 2.0. Also, as we look to expand FFXIV, some of our visions for the future, such as releasing content based in Worlds from previous FF titles, will require us to use names previously reserved for Worlds as names of cities and other locations instead. (For example, we feel like Midgar has too powerful of an image associated with it to be used as a name for a World. Also, we would like to reserve the name Gold Saucer for the casino, not a world.)

With that said, we would like to select the names of Worlds from the “Legacy Item List” which represents the history of the FINAL FANTASY series. Here are a few world name candidates:
・Ridill
・Excalibur
・Ragnarok
・Aegis
・Balmung

We understand that there are players who have a deeper connection and attachment with the current World names, but we hope you understand that we decided to change these names with the future development of FFXIV in mind.

We will reveal the new World names along with the Topics announcement for the revised World Merge specifications.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

■Clashing of character and Linkshell names due to the World Merge■

With the World Merge, it is possible that characters and linkshells with the same name end up on the same world. Here is how we will be dealing with these cases:

1. Character Name Overlap

The decision for which character keeps their original name when identical names clash on a World is based on whether they are active or not, rather than what date the character was created. If both are active, the character which was created earlier is given priority over the name (based on the time stamp at creation). All other characters with the same name will have to choose a new name.

2. Retainer Name Overlap

The decision for which retainer keeps their original name when identical names clash on a World is based on whether the player character associated with them are active or not, rather than what date the retainer was created. If both are active, the retainer which was created earlier is given priority over the name (based on the time stamp at creation). All other characters with the same name will have to choose a new name.

3. Linkshell Name Overlap

The linkshell with the most active characters at the time of the world merge will retain the name. All other linkshells will be temporarily renamed to have a number (such as “01”) at the end of their current name. Players can then request to have their linkshell renamed through GM support.

We understand that the above issues can cause a severe inconvenience for players, but we will do our best to handle these cases as smoothly as we can.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

■Conclusion■

That is all for my explanation of changes to the World Merge specs.
Due to these changes, it is possible that our planned schedule for the World Merge will be pushed back a few days. We will let you know on Topics when we have a finalized schedule.

We are very grateful that we received lots of feedback from players all over the world.

[Rowyne]

Well I imagine since Besaid is the RP server and it's getting merged with something else, the product of that will be the unofficial RP server. People can leave/join accordingly if they see fit.

^ This. Now they just need to officially designate/suggest/recommend it so players will know where to find us.

[MeowyWowie]

100% WIN

Only part I'm a bit curious about is this:

2.World Transfer Period B (Players in Worlds that have reached the limit cannot re-select a destination World)

While it may not affect me directly, what would happen if an entire Linkshell decides to move to a new server and the server cap is reached before all members are able to transfer? Will those who already transferred to the new world no longer be able to choose another server to preserve their Linkshell as a whole?

I know there will be icons to indicate current populations, but it may take some members longer to transfer than others due to real life issues. Then again, I may not fully understand what constitutes the start of this transfer period (B) to begin with. Will it start at a predetermined time, or does it start once the server in question has reached its cap?

[Silversnow]

Character name overlap. So someone who played on a buddy key first month and never again get to force a name change on current customers? This shall be interesting.

[Josh]

Also, as we look to expand FFXIV, some of our visions for the future, such as releasing content based in Worlds from previous FF titles...

Wait, what the...!

[Murugan]

100% WIN

Only part I'm a bit curious about is this:



While it may not affect me directly, what would happen if an entire Linkshell decides to move to a new server and the server cap is reached before all members are able to transfer? Will those who already transferred to the new world no longer be able to choose another server to preserve their Linkshell as a whole?

I know there will be icons to indicate current populations, but it may take some members longer to transfer than others due to real life issues. Then again, I may not fully understand what constitutes the start of this transfer period (B) to begin with. Will it start at a predetermined time, or does it start once the server in question has reached its cap?

I'm hoping this is a mistranslation meaning to be:

During World Transfer Period B players cannot select a world that has reached its limit as their destination world.

If a server is at its limit, why would they keep people from transferring off of it?

[Sidious]

I think the server merge is the first thing that everyone has ever agreed on. That the way they wanted to do it sucked, and needed to be changed.

Not everyone agreed on it, give me a break.

I say do option 1 and quit wasting my time. Take two current servers then merge them into a new server with a new name. Quick, easy, effective.

[Bulwarkz]

Greetings everyone!

The 10 new Worlds will have completely new names.

Yes! Yes! ( Yes! )

EDIT: It's relevantly fresh and cool because it's a merger; This allows the new worlds to become one with their new identities!

[Mireille]

Character name overlap. So someone who played on a buddy key first month and never again get to force a name change on current customers? This shall be interesting.

I'm hoping he just neglected to mention that the character has to be active.