View Full Version : Dev response to Server Merge please.
InpendingDeath
10-23-2014, 08:56 AM
Over the past month I've noticed the game being less populated, /sea all during NA prime time on week days are 400-500 people and /sea all during JP prime time is 700-900 people. Now we KNOW these are not all active, most are asleep or at work just on game to bazaar items. Most are peoples second even third accounts. Realistically speaking we can assume 200-250 are active people. Or 350-450 during JP times and I'm pretty sure that's being generous.
This is a MMORPG right?
I know a lot of people are ok without the server merge because they prefer less people to compete with over certain NMs, and some people do everything as a linkshell so they could care less. But what about the people who rely on making their own shout groups and joining the public runs? No reason for a MMORPG to be dead during prime times and SE not say anything about it. Will it be this way until more and more people quit playing until you can't do anything without shouting for 5-6 hours?
Feel free to make a similar topic instead of posting in this one, maybe if 20-30 people do we'll get a response.
Zarchery
10-23-2014, 08:58 AM
What good would that do? A response I mean. 2 weeks later nobody's gonna know it's there and start asking again.
Tidis
10-23-2014, 09:00 AM
I agree, would be nice for more stuff to be going on, surely any excuse to cut costs by reducing the amount of active servers can't be too bad either?
InpendingDeath
10-23-2014, 09:10 AM
What good would that do? A response I mean. 2 weeks later nobody's gonna know it's there and start asking again.
Sorry I've just joined this community a few days ago. I've tried using the search function to find "Server Merge" topics but did not see any with official responses. If you could link them I'd love to see there reasons for not doing this if there have said no. If they have said they will maybe a new dev response to get a timeframe on when this will happen.
InpendingDeath
10-23-2014, 09:13 AM
I agree, would be nice for more stuff to be going on, surely any excuse to cut costs by reducing the amount of active servers can't be too bad either?
After reading other topics about peoples payment errors and not being able to pay I think SE just decided they have too much money and would rather lose money so cutting costs doesn't seem like a good argument with them, tho I do agree with you. :)
Stompa
10-23-2014, 10:26 AM
Even with low server numbers, I see a lot of people soloing with trusts and doing the RoE "timed events" like "vanquish lizards" etc. I see people soloing these EP lizards with trusts, and competing with other solo people also with trusts and also chasing after the same handful of EP lizards, lol. They could team up and still finish the vanquish timed event, but they solo because they probably think it saves time and means they don't have to send tells or w/e. I wonder how this already cramped situation would be if there was a merge and suddenly the number of people competing for those raptors etc. was quadrupled lol. Yes you can fight tougher mobs in seekers and still clear the timed "vanquish" pages, but people want to save time by killing EP, or they want beastmens seals or kindreds seals instead of KC/HKC/SKC. And because it is timed, that means you do tend to get a lot of people heading to the same areas at the same time, to kill the same mobs. It isn't a huge problem by any means, but I wonder how it would work on servers with 3x the people.
In short, the trust system and the timed vanquish events seem like a system designed for lower server numbers, and so I doubt that SE would add these systems if they planned to merged servers. I don't really have a horse in this race, I don't mind if they merge or not, I'm just wondering if players would adapt to maybe not using their trusts, and actually partying up with other players in RoE runs etc.
InpendingDeath
10-23-2014, 11:21 AM
Even with low server numbers, I see a lot of people soloing with trusts and doing the RoE "timed events" like "vanquish lizards" etc. I see people soloing these EP lizards with trusts, and competing with other solo people also with trusts and also chasing after the same handful of EP lizards, lol. They could team up and still finish the vanquish timed event, but they solo because they probably think it saves time and means they don't have to send tells or w/e. I wonder how this already cramped situation would be if there was a merge and suddenly the number of people competing for those raptors etc. was quadrupled lol. Yes you can fight tougher mobs in seekers and still clear the timed "vanquish" pages, but people want to save time by killing EP, or they want beastmens seals or kindreds seals instead of KC/HKC/SKC. And because it is timed, that means you do tend to get a lot of people heading to the same areas at the same time, to kill the same mobs. It isn't a huge problem by any means, but I wonder how it would work on servers with 3x the people.
In short, the trust system and the timed vanquish events seem like a system designed for lower server numbers, and so I doubt that SE would add these systems if they planned to merged servers. I don't really have a horse in this race, I don't mind if they merge or not, I'm just wondering if players would adapt to maybe not using their trusts, and actually partying up with other players in RoE runs etc.
Just today I was leveling monk in qufim and there was another player of the same level there, we were both fighting over monsters around the pond for an hour. I did ask him if he wanted to Team Up? but I got no reply, maybe it was a language barrier or something but I do know what you mean. Some people like to solo and that's fine, there is a ton of zones in the game to do said objectives so I don't think it'd be a real problem and if it was I'm sure people would figure out doing in a group would be better for not only themselves but everyone at the location. And hey maybe with twice as many shouts half the people would be doing something rather than soloing, although I suppose that's wishful thinking.
On the flip side this has the potential to do great things, what if level sync wasn't useless anymore for strangers, think about seeing shouts "In 30 mins xx objective begins why not level sync with me @ xx location". Now I know that IS wishful thinking seeing as most people have every job level 99 but for those who might not have access to abyssea, who don't want to solo or fight over the common camps, for those who like helping others while still benefiting themselves (since there are people who still enjoy leveling the old way but your never going to see a level sync party now days among strangers via seeking party or shouting) and for those who might just like playing the game. This could also help people farm CQ/IS points. I only see server merge doing good things for this.
Stompa
10-23-2014, 11:40 AM
I was on Remora 2004~2010 until the server was merged with Leviathan. Admittedly server numbers were higher then, the game was different etc. But even so the server merge made no difference to me as a player really, I still did my fishing and Pup stuff on the new server and it didn't really affect me. Obviously we all felt sad to see Remora die, and have nostalgia for it etc. but that is all it is - just nostalgia. In practical terms that server merge didn't spoil the game for me or anyone I know.
Also I've been stuck on the final Seekers battle for a while, none of my friends or fellow LS members do Seekers missions, and it seems that people who wanted that win did it in the week after update (when I was snowed under with work!!!) and are too busy to join shout for it now. So server merge would help with things like that, more people doing missions or having the mission-clear KI so they can enter the fight again, makes mission fights easier to group up in.
I don't mind at all if they merge servers, tbh I'm happy with w/e they do that keeps the game online and retaining its basic FFXI essence as much as possible. I have a lot of admiration for SE for many of the positive changes they have made to the game in the past year or so, and for soldiering on to keep the game fun after all this time. If they want to merge servers I won't say anything either way, they do what is best for their product and hopefully the customers too.
Zarchery
10-23-2014, 01:14 PM
Sorry I've just joined this community a few days ago. I've tried using the search function to find "Server Merge" topics but did not see any with official responses. If you could link them I'd love to see there reasons for not doing this if there have said no. If they have said they will maybe a new dev response to get a timeframe on when this will happen.
Sorry I wasn't accusing you. I was saying that someone would do it.
Devs haven't responded to this topic yet, but there are plenty they have and which people continue to inquire. H-P Bayld being one off the top of my head.
Deifact
10-23-2014, 06:18 PM
I would really love a server merge! I recently came back after a year or so and the population is really depressing... The game is still fun, but it feels lonely, I guess I have Trion and Ayame to talk to...
They could make some good things happen by running a welcome back campaign, along with server merge and maybe a permanent 50% off the sub price (let's be honest the sub price is extortionate). I think the QoL changes since coming back are amazing and I think players who left a year or two ago would be pleasantly surprised too but they'll be put off (like me) by the low population and high sub price.
Comeatmebro
10-23-2014, 09:45 PM
it's not a question of whether the game would be better with a 2:1 or 3:1 merge(it would), it's their infrastructure
instanced zones can barely handle busy times as is, anyone who's done delve(particularly around may-september '13 when populations were still high) can speak for the frustration of TP moves not readying, missing the message(and subsequently the recast staying 0) when a spell completes, 'cannot cast at this time' spam from your outgoing spell getting sent twice, etc..
mission bcs are less congested now that there are more of them, but ark angels are still the primary chapter BCs and with only 3 instances per server a soloer or 2 will almost always result in congestion, 10-20 minute waits for a group to finish bc aren't fun, especially if someone at a different entrance beats you into the opening leaving you stuck waiting again
entrance for salvage can be a 10 minute wait at times, and at busy(jp) times the servers will disconnect people midrun because they can't keep up
frequent r0s independant of internet connection in essentially any zone, particularly inside mog house
the population is minimal at the moment and these issues are still all over, the servers need serious hardware and/or software improvements to be able to maintain the people they have at the quality one would expect for their monthly fee.. these issues will be compounded if they decide to just dump servers together and se knows it
InpendingDeath
10-23-2014, 11:02 PM
I would really love a server merge! I recently came back after a year or so and the population is really depressing... The game is still fun, but it feels lonely, I guess I have Trion and Ayame to talk to...
They could make some good things happen by running a welcome back campaign, along with server merge and maybe a permanent 50% off the sub price (let's be honest the sub price is extortionate). I think the QoL changes since coming back are amazing and I think players who left a year or two ago would be pleasantly surprised too but they'll be put off (like me) by the low population and high sub price.
I think the campaigns are great, the WoE campaign sure did bring alot of people online but everyone was in WoE so it diddn't effect the common person making a shout really. The game does feel lonely at times, Sitting in jeuno and being the only person to shout for the past hour and not one reply to the thing your shouting for sucks.
InpendingDeath
10-23-2014, 11:05 PM
it's not a question of whether the game would be better with a 2:1 or 3:1 merge(it would), it's their infrastructure
instanced zones can barely handle busy times as is, anyone who's done delve(particularly around may-september '13 when populations were still high) can speak for the frustration of TP moves not readying, missing the message(and subsequently the recast staying 0) when a spell completes, 'cannot cast at this time' spam from your outgoing spell getting sent twice, etc..
mission bcs are less congested now that there are more of them, but ark angels are still the primary chapter BCs and with only 3 instances per server a soloer or 2 will almost always result in congestion, 10-20 minute waits for a group to finish bc aren't fun, especially if someone at a different entrance beats you into the opening leaving you stuck waiting again
entrance for salvage can be a 10 minute wait at times, and at busy(jp) times the servers will disconnect people midrun because they can't keep up
frequent r0s independant of internet connection in essentially any zone, particularly inside mog house
the population is minimal at the moment and these issues are still all over, the servers need serious hardware and/or software improvements to be able to maintain the people they have at the quality one would expect for their monthly fee.. these issues will be compounded if they decide to just dump servers together and se knows it
Yes you make very good points, I would expect this to be fixed as well. They can do it with XIV, why can't they do it with XI is it an issue of not wanting to invest resources or is it maybe somethng with the games coding that will make this extremely more difficult to do? Either way I believe they should have been planning for this for a while now.
Pixela
10-24-2014, 12:18 AM
Over the past month I've noticed the game being less populated, /sea all during NA prime time on week days are 400-500 people and /sea all during JP prime time is 700-900 people. Now we KNOW these are not all active, most are asleep or at work just on game to bazaar items. Most are peoples second even third accounts. Realistically speaking we can assume 200-250 are active people. Or 350-450 during JP times and I'm pretty sure that's being generous.
This is a MMORPG right?
I know a lot of people are ok without the server merge because they prefer less people to compete with over certain NMs, and some people do everything as a linkshell so they could care less. But what about the people who rely on making their own shout groups and joining the public runs? No reason for a MMORPG to be dead during prime times and SE not say anything about it. Will it be this way until more and more people quit playing until you can't do anything without shouting for 5-6 hours?
Feel free to make a similar topic instead of posting in this one, maybe if 20-30 people do we'll get a response.
The problem is nobody needs what you're shouting for or they do it with their linkshell, 300-400 people is more than enough people if the content was relevent for them. The problem is that most people don't need what you're shouting for and of those that do, they are either too gimpy for you or they are JP.
Do I need to mention that old FFXI had almost no shout groups for anything, ever? You joined a linkshell or you did no endgame content, shouting only started with Abyssea so it pretty recent.
Server populations aren't NA prime time, they are 24/7 averages. JP numbers peak a fair bit higher.
Not saying I don't agree with server merges but if you think it's going to solve your problems you're delusional. Also people quit after merges due to losing names and community.
The problem is nobody needs what you're shouting for or they do it with their linkshell, 300-400 people is more than enough people if the content was relevent for them. The problem is that most people don't need what you're shouting for and of those that do, they are either too gimpy for you or they are JP.
Do I need to mention that old FFXI had almost no shout groups for anything, ever? You joined a linkshell or you did no endgame content, shouting only started with Abyssea so it pretty recent.
Server populations aren't NA prime time, they are 24/7 averages. JP numbers peak a fair bit higher.
Not saying I don't agree with server merges but if you think it's going to solve your problems you're delusional. Also people quit after merges due to losing names and community.
I agree. The real problem is expecting to rely on shouts. That's not going to work even if the sever population was tripled. The only solution is to stop relying on shouts.
InpendingDeath
10-24-2014, 01:00 AM
The problem is nobody needs what you're shouting for or they do it with their linkshell, 300-400 people is more than enough people if the content was relevent for them. The problem is that most people don't need what you're shouting for and of those that do, they are either too gimpy for you or they are JP.
Do I need to mention that old FFXI had almost no shout groups for anything, ever? You joined a linkshell or you did no endgame content, shouting only started with Abyssea so it pretty recent.
Server populations aren't NA prime time, they are 24/7 averages. JP numbers peak a fair bit higher.
Not saying I don't agree with server merges but if you think it's going to solve your problems you're delusional. Also people quit after merges due to losing names and community.
Well i've only played for about 3-4 months so I can't speak for the past. 300-400 people might be enough if they need said content but as you said most have completed with their linkshell. What about the people who are in casual linkshells and can't always play when stuff is planned out just give them the finger? I think having a server merge would help all shouts, more people is always better they might not need everything you shout for but maybe a few need AAs/Rem Ch1-5 runs/VW/Delve/Skirmish/Merit BC fights/etc and when your looking at the population every single person counts. I also believe having a server merge would attract people, they can logon and not be in a ghost town they'd be in a MMO, which thrives on community and more people equals more community. Also don't know the average age of people who play this game but you have to be pretty young/immature to quit over something as small as having to change your name. I don't think I have ever met nor heard of someone quitting a game they enjoy due to not being able to use the name they wanted. I have however heard of people quitting games due to population issues.
InpendingDeath
10-24-2014, 01:08 AM
I agree. The real problem is expecting to rely on shouts. That's not going to work even if the sever population was tripled. The only solution is to stop relying on shouts.
As a casual player how do you not rely on shouts? You expect people in a linkshell to always be willing to do that you want to, no. Shouting is the main way for casual players to get things they need cleared. If i shout for a AA run and get 1 reply we now have 2 people, if the server population is tripled wouldn't that mean we'd have 6? Numbers are important to rely on shout groups which should be important since there are so many things you can do via shout. Maybe if I wasn't a casual player and knew many people who needed the same things I did I could stop relying on shouts, but thats just unrealistic when you have job/family and more important things to do.
As a casual player how do you not rely on shouts? You expect people in a linkshell to always be willing to do that you want to, no. Shouting is the main way for casual players to get things they need cleared. If i shout for a AA run and get 1 reply we now have 2 people, if the server population is tripled wouldn't that mean we'd have 6? Numbers are important to rely on shout groups which should be important since there are so many things you can do via shout. Maybe if I wasn't a casual player and knew many people who needed the same things I did I could stop relying on shouts, but thats just unrealistic when you have job/family and more important things to do.
I'm a casual player and don't rely on shouts. If I relied on shouts to play this game I would have quit it long ago.
What you can do is take the time to talk to others and get to know them. Create a link shell and recruit people who have like-minded goals whom you enjoy playing with. In the end this is a multi-player game and if you want to enjoy it your best option is to make friends and get to know people you can play with consistently to get things done.
Even when this game first came out and the servers were full, shouts were an awful way to get things done. Increasing the server population would not help.
InpendingDeath
10-24-2014, 01:35 AM
I'm a casual player and don't rely on shouts. If I relied on shouts to play this game I would have quit it long ago.
What you can do is take the time to talk to others and get to know them. Create a link shell and recruit people who have like-minded goals whom you enjoy playing with. In the end this is a multi-player game and if you want to enjoy it your best option is to make friends and get to know people you can play with consistently to get things done.
Even when this game first came out and the servers were full, shouts were an awful way to get things done. Increasing the server population would not help.
So I'm expecting people to be online when I have chances to play, expect people to not be doing anything when I have chances to play, expect people to be in need of the same thing I am when i have chances to play, and expect all these people to leave their frineds/linkshells to join one I create? Like i said I can't say how the past was due to being new but shouts have always been the way to go for me and have always worked, still do work perfectly fine when theres people online. The issue is when population starts to decrease those who rely on shouts are left having to shout for a longer period of time. There are just as many that rely on shouts that don't from what i've seen, the fact is there are people who do rely on shouts and more people would be great for those who do.
Deifact
10-24-2014, 01:41 AM
For those who say don't rely on shouts, rely on a link shell, how did you get into that linkshell? How did you prove to those people that you're worthy of bringing into the fold?
Sure anyone can join a social or casual LS but I'm sure a lot of people have joined a LS from a shout group. Shout groups (or pugs) are the only way to meet like minded people, you bump into the same faces a few times. You ask for a shell and boom you have that linkshell to help you out.
Imagine being a new player now? There's a huge divide between veterans and noobs that those noobs have to break through. How can they get into these linkshells? There aren't enough people in the same boat as them to make their own, and an established progression or endgame LS might be reluctant to take in a total newbie.
So the newbie gets to a natural stopping point where progress grinds to a halt and quits.
TL;DR shout groups are an important social activity that help build bonds between players.
So I'm expecting people to be online when I have chances to play, expect people to not be doing anything when I have chances to play, expect people to be in need of the same thing I am when i have chances to play, and expect all these people to leave their frineds/linkshells to join one I create? Like i said I can't say how the past was due to being new but shouts have always been the way to go for me and have always worked, still do work perfectly fine when theres people online. The issue is when population starts to decrease those who rely on shouts are left having to shout for a longer period of time. There are just as many that rely on shouts that don't from what i've seen, the fact is there are people who do rely on shouts and more people would be great for those who do.
Pretty much. You need to rely on others to play with with if you want to do group content.
You can try to rely on shouts, but it won't be reliable or effective. I understand that you think server merges would help, but I just disagree. I don't think it will.
For those who say don't rely on shouts, rely on a link shell, how did you get into that linkshell? How did you prove to those people that you're worthy of bringing into the fold?
Sure anyone can join a social or casual LS but I'm sure a lot of people have joined a LS from a shout group. Shout groups (or pugs) are the only way to meet like minded people, you bump into the same faces a few times. You ask for a shell and boom you have that linkshell to help you out.
Imagine being a new player now? There's a huge divide between veterans and noobs that those noobs have to break through. How can they get into these linkshells? There aren't enough people in the same boat as them to make their own, and an established progression or endgame LS might be reluctant to take in a total newbie.
So the newbie gets to a natural stopping point where progress grinds to a halt and quits.
TL;DR shout groups are an important social activity that help build bonds between players.
Shout groups are one way to meet like-mind people. But not the only way. None of my friends I play with I met through shouting.
Deifact
10-24-2014, 01:53 AM
Shout groups are one way to meet like-mind people. But not the only way. None of my friends I play with I met through shouting.
How did you meet them? I'm genuinely curious! If it isn't being too personal
InpendingDeath
10-24-2014, 01:57 AM
How did you meet them? I'm genuinely curious! If it isn't being too personal
Same, I've met everyone through shout groups some are new/casual and some have been playing 10+ years and have the best of the best. I have met a few people through parties when i was leveling in gusgen mines and people would be doing the same thing and we teamed up, but unless you go to abyssea after level 30 you ARE stuck solo. Even all the abyssea parties I see are via shouts.
How did you meet them? I'm genuinely curious! If it isn't being too personal
It's not too personal at all. And I'll give you a few examples:
I was introduced to my dragoon friend through a paladin I had met while hunting down PLD AF pieces. I met a ranger I later became friends with while hunting down coffers in Garlaige. I met a thief buddy of mine through a LS I had joined. A lot of my friends were met through links shells in fact now that I think about it. And we ended up forming our own since the current LS leader was too busy in his other so-called endgame LS to be of much use.
Anyway, I can legitimately say not a single one of my FF XI friends were met through shouts.
InpendingDeath
10-24-2014, 02:22 AM
It's not too personal at all. And I'll give you a few examples:
I was introduced to my dragoon friend through a paladin I had met while hunting down PLD AF pieces. I met a ranger I later became friends with while hunting down coffers in Garlaige. I met a thief buddy of mine through a LS I had joined. A lot of my friends were met through links shells in fact now that I think about it. And we ended up forming our own since the current LS leader was too busy in his other so-called endgame LS to be of much use.
Anyway, I can legitimately say not a single one of my FF XI friends were met through shouts.
I don't know how different is was back then but when i go to hunt coffers the zone is completely empty, even if there is someone there they don't reply to a simple /tell "Are you doing coffers?". I have met many many people in my linkshell but I didn't get my linkshell until the 5-6th day on the game which I only got because of a shout offering it as a social linkshell everyone welcomed. So I guess I kinda met the people in the linkshell due to a shout. How did you get the linkshells? I don't normally have people walk up to me and give me pearls but like I said I don't know if it was different back then or what.
I don't know how different is was back then but when i go to hunt coffers the zone is completely empty, even if there is someone there they don't reply to a simple /tell "Are you doing coffers?". I have met many many people in my linkshell but I didn't get my linkshell until the 5-6th day on the game which I only got because of a shout offering it as a social linkshell everyone welcomed. So I guess I kinda met the people in the linkshell due to a shout. How did you get the linkshells? I don't normally have people walk up to me and give me pearls but like I said I don't know if it was different back then or what.
Maybe the coffer zones are now empty. But plenty of zones aren't - so the same concept applies really. You can still meet people out in the open world. I see people all the time while running around doing reives and coalition quests etc.
And I have been invited to many link shells and none of them were through shouts. Most were just by people I met while fighting who took an interest. Some were due to inquiries I made of others because I liked the name of it or something. There are plenty of ways to get invited to link shells without shouting.
Pixela
10-24-2014, 04:13 AM
It amazes me how quick people forget that FFXI was never a shout/pickup group game at all before Abyssea.
You simply joined linkshells and did your endgame, I never saw a shout for content outside of help with artifact quests ever on FFXI before abyssea.
Maybe the coffer zones are now empty. But plenty of zones aren't - so the same concept applies really. You can still meet people out in the open world. I see people all the time while running around doing reives and coalition quests etc.
Yeah and then you send them a tell or say hi out loud and they ignore you. Maybe I've just had bad luck but I find people out and about in the world are often really really unfriendly.
I know it was different in the past but today's XI - a lot of people rely on shouts to do group content. The archaic linkshell design makes it so shells can die out in a matter of a week (seen it happen several times this year, I go away for a week come back and there is never more than 2 people in the shell anymore) - the playerbase is fragmented, most people aren't in solid, dependable shells. A lot of people play infrequently (hello, that's me!) and so can't really do statics etc, even if people wanted to do them.
Then on top of it, most of the jobs are considered crap tier, so god forbid you actually want to play a job you like... then you are screwed shouts or not.
And then SE makes matters worse by having "variable difficulty" content - where most of the difficulties drop nothing, and have extremely high costs to enter. It's nuts. Either E/VE should just be eliminated altogether, or they should cost less to enter, or their drop rates need to increase.
You know when was a good time to play? During abyssea. Why? Because the content was easy - and people were happy to invite scrubs just to help them out because they didn't lose out. If these new battlefields actually dropped anything on lower difficulty - or cost less to enter even, then people could do causal shouts with less than perfect jobs.
Instead most people are locked out of playing at all because the developers think it is necessary to punish people for being casual or daring to like a job that they feel should suck.
Anyway, server merge won't fix any of this. What the game needs is more causal content that can be completed by mediocre/reject job groups. They also need to stop punishing people for being casuals. Seriously.
InpendingDeath
10-24-2014, 05:02 AM
It amazes me how quick people forget that FFXI was never a shout/pickup group game at all before Abyssea.
You simply joined linkshells and did your endgame, I never saw a shout for content outside of help with artifact quests ever on FFXI before abyssea.
Well i've only played for about 3-4 months so I can't speak for the past.
Read then post, orders of operation.
InpendingDeath
10-24-2014, 05:06 AM
Yeah and then you send them a tell or say hi out loud and they ignore you. Maybe I've just had bad luck but I find people out and about in the world are often really really unfriendly.
I know it was different in the past but today's XI - a lot of people rely on shouts to do group content. The archaic linkshell design makes it so shells can die out in a matter of a week (seen it happen several times this year, I go away for a week come back and there is never more than 2 people in the shell anymore) - the playerbase is fragmented, most people aren't in solid, dependable shells. A lot of people play infrequently (hello, that's me!) and so can't really do statics etc, even if people wanted to do them.
Then on top of it, most of the jobs are considered crap tier, so god forbid you actually want to play a job you like... then you are screwed shouts or not.
And then SE makes matters worse by having "variable difficulty" content - where most of the difficulties drop nothing, and have extremely high costs to enter. It's nuts. Either E/VE should just be eliminated altogether, or they should cost less to enter, or their drop rates need to increase.
You know when was a good time to play? During abyssea. Why? Because the content was easy - and people were happy to invite scrubs just to help them out because they didn't lose out. If these new battlefields actually dropped anything on lower difficulty - or cost less to enter even, then people could do causal shouts with less than perfect jobs.
Instead most people are locked out of playing at all because the developers think it is necessary to punish people for being casual or daring to like a job that they feel should suck.
Anyway, server merge won't fix any of this. What the game needs is more causal content that can be completed by mediocre/reject job groups. They also need to stop punishing people for being casuals. Seriously.
Yes more people ignore others rather than even giving a simple reply. Most of the merit BCs can be done on normal with whatever setup you like, but finding the people is the issue the most time, more people would be helpfull especially when it comes to voidwatch.
I'm sure there will be a lot of varying opinions of this. Mostly because some servers have more players than others. Personally I think my server is at the right amount of population. The economy is alright, every now and then there are shouts for pick ups, and I have a very nice linkshell. That being said I don't want it merged with another server, or have a server merged into it. However if you are on a dying or poor server maybe you should think about world transfer before asking to have the server shut down. Maybe instead they should have a free world transfer event and see how the chips fall. If enough people willing transfer out of a server then it might be time to merge it.
InpendingDeath
10-24-2014, 05:43 AM
I'm sure there will be a lot of varying opinions of this. Mostly because some servers have more players than others. Personally I think my server is at the right amount of population. The economy is alright, every now and then there are shouts for pick ups, and I have a very nice linkshell. That being said I don't want it merged with another server, or have a server merged into it. However if you are on a dying or poor server maybe you should think about world transfer before asking to have the server shut down. Maybe instead they should have a free world transfer event and see how the chips fall. If enough people willing transfer out of a server then it might be time to merge it.
Yeah everyone will have a different opinion, and I do not know current populations on other servers. Just hard to call a game a MMORPG with such low numbers considering any other has 2k+ at any given time shouldn't this one have atleast 1,000 at any given time? Currently /sea all = 478. And of that more than half are AFK Bazaar/Peoples 2nd-3rd char.
Then just don't call it a mmorpg. You don't need thousands of people on at once to do something. Pretty much anything can be done with just a party of six. Sometimes it's bigger and you need an alliance of 18. Even with wildskeeper reives once the number of people get to about 40 it feels crowded. What doesn't matter is how many people need to active at one time for you to consider the game massive. What does matter is what works.
Pixela
10-24-2014, 08:42 PM
Read then post, orders of operation.
Well this is your problem. Almost everyone that is capable has already done this content, you're late to the party and asking people to do stuff that very few need. All you're going to get now is the people that were unable to do it before, which means they will be undergeared or simply not very skilled/experienced.
I'm not sure what you're shouting for, if it's bcnms for papers then many are capped or solo those now. If it's high tier delve, people won't join unless you're highly geared and known to be a good leader. Shout for stuff like WKR and you'll usually get a big group there.
Server merge won't fix the problem you're having, what would fix it is an updated party finder system, but chances of that are slim.
Yeah everyone will have a different opinion, and I do not know current populations on other servers. Just hard to call a game a MMORPG with such low numbers considering any other has 2k+ at any given time shouldn't this one have atleast 1,000 at any given time?
FFXI is one of the very few games that you can tell how many are online, I can't think of any other mmo that lets you know how many are online at once. Thinking all these games have thousands of players on at any time is kinda silly.
Yeah and then you send them a tell or say hi out loud and they ignore you. Maybe I've just had bad luck but I find people out and about in the world are often really really unfriendly.
I know it was different in the past but today's XI - a lot of people rely on shouts to do group content. The archaic linkshell design makes it so shells can die out in a matter of a week (seen it happen several times this year, I go away for a week come back and there is never more than 2 people in the shell anymore) - the playerbase is fragmented, most people aren't in solid, dependable shells. A lot of people play infrequently (hello, that's me!) and so can't really do statics etc, even if people wanted to do them.
Then on top of it, most of the jobs are considered crap tier, so god forbid you actually want to play a job you like... then you are screwed shouts or not.
And then SE makes matters worse by having "variable difficulty" content - where most of the difficulties drop nothing, and have extremely high costs to enter. It's nuts. Either E/VE should just be eliminated altogether, or they should cost less to enter, or their drop rates need to increase.
You know when was a good time to play? During abyssea. Why? Because the content was easy - and people were happy to invite scrubs just to help them out because they didn't lose out. If these new battlefields actually dropped anything on lower difficulty - or cost less to enter even, then people could do causal shouts with less than perfect jobs.
Instead most people are locked out of playing at all because the developers think it is necessary to punish people for being casual or daring to like a job that they feel should suck.
Anyway, server merge won't fix any of this. What the game needs is more causal content that can be completed by mediocre/reject job groups. They also need to stop punishing people for being casuals. Seriously.
Yes I know. Heaven forbid you a play a job you enjoy because it might take a couple more minutes to beat a battlefield or clear a raid. You are singing to the choir on that one. So I won't disagree with you. And this type of business-approach to video games is something that was less prevalent in the past. So you make a good point.
But as you say, server merges wouldn't fix this. And there are still nice people out there. But I'll concede you will probably have to look harder to find them.
I do slightly disagree with you about them needing to add more casual content for rejects though. Because it's been my experience the content can be completed by unusual jobs that don't fit the typical mold. I'm a casual player myself - and enjoy the challenge of figuring out how to succeed using different strategies. The ideal set up isn't needed to win on this game. Though you would never know that if you were to listen to some of these elite players who believe they have a monopoly on how to play the game.
I'm not sure what you mean when you say this game punishes people for being casuals. I can certainly understand how other players do. But if you could elaborate on why you feel the game does I would comment.
Then just don't call it a mmorpg. You don't need thousands of people on at once to do something. Pretty much anything can be done with just a party of six. Sometimes it's bigger and you need an alliance of 18. Even with wildskeeper reives once the number of people get to about 40 it feels crowded. What doesn't matter is how many people need to active at one time for you to consider the game massive. What does matter is what works.
Just to add to your point, I beat the first WKR with just 3 people the other day. Was a long fight, but in the end we won.
Probably what would go a long way to making this game more friendly to casuals and smaller-numbers would be to simply do away with all of these time-limits on everything. That would be a nice start. That way smaller groups of players would have a better shot at being able to complete more content.
InpendingDeath
10-25-2014, 01:00 AM
Yes I know. Heaven forbid you a play a job you enjoy because it might take a couple more minutes to beat a battlefield or clear a raid. You are singing to the choir on that one. So I won't disagree with you. And this type of business-approach to video games is something that was less prevalent in the past. So you make a good point.
But as you say, server merges wouldn't fix this. And there are still nice people out there. But I'll concede you will probably have to look harder to find them.
I do slightly disagree with you about them needing to add more casual content for rejects though. Because it's been my experience the content can be completed by unusual jobs that don't fit the typical mold. I'm a casual player myself - and enjoy the challenge of figuring out how to succeed using different strategies. The ideal set up isn't needed to win on this game. Though you would never know that if you were to listen to some of these elite players who believe they have a monopoly on how to play the game.
I'm not sure what you mean when you say this game punishes people for being casuals. I can certainly understand how other players do. But if you could elaborate on why you feel the game does I would comment.
I agree I have done most all Merit BCs with unique-non cookie cutter build setups but the fact is people are too stubborn to try. Maybe the real problem is lacking people who are willing to help others with nothing to gain for themselves. Maybe they should add a function like WKR to AA's and once clear them all can chose an item of your choice or something. I understand what he means by saying they punish people for being casuals because casual players are left to do content no one is doing nor willing to do because they have better harder things to do that you can't do yet. So if your left behind your not catching up without people not needing something from said event to help you, which is rare. Maybe a server merge would bring more people not so elite to the table, those willing to help others without getting anything from it.
InpendingDeath
10-25-2014, 01:04 AM
Just to add to your point, I beat the first WKR with just 3 people the other day. Was a long fight, but in the end we won.
Probably what would go a long way to making this game more friendly to casuals and smaller-numbers would be to simply do away with all of these time-limits on everything. That would be a nice start. That way smaller groups of players would have a better shot at being able to complete more content.
I don't know what time limits you are talking about but 30mins in a battlefield is fine imo, Delves never really an issue of time either.
I agree I have done most all Merit BCs with unique-non cookie cutter build setups but the fact is people are too stubborn to try. Maybe the real problem is lacking people who are willing to help others with nothing to gain for themselves. Maybe they should add a function like WKR to AA's and once clear them all can chose an item of your choice or something. I understand what he means by saying they punish people for being casuals because casual players are left to do content no one is doing nor willing to do because they have better harder things to do that you can't do yet. So if your left behind your not catching up without people not needing something from said event to help you, which is rare. Maybe a server merge would bring more people not so elite to the table, those willing to help others without getting anything from it.
Maybe but I doubt it. Chances are the amount of open-minded players would be drowned out by the influx of new elite-minded players; especially in regards to activities on shout. Rarely if ever do I see people shouting for all-comers. They usually always want very specific and ideal job combinations - the cookie-cutter set ups as you refer to them. And I doubt this would change after a server merge even though having these specific set ups isn't necessary at all.
Part of the problem is after someone views themselves as becoming an elite and taste the so-called endgame they have this habit of viewing the entire game in that very limited context. So even when doing something as simple as a chapter 1 REM battlefield for example they act as if they are getting ready to do some very difficult endgame alliance raid. I see it happen all the time. A battlefield you can solo yet I see players making a huge fuss about what job and gear everyone has. It's silly and very punishing to casuals who are trying to gear up I agree. I wish I could change their minds but I can't. They are set in their ways and for some it makes them feel special to exclude others.
I don't really think there is a good solution to this. I wish there was. But there isn't. That's why my best advice is to try and build a circle of friends you can depend on to help you with content and not nitpick of every minor detail. But I do now recognize that may be more difficult to do in today's climate. Most of my friends are from older times when the difficulty on this game was merciless and people were all but forced to befriend each other if they wanted to succeed. That is less the case now - so I'm sure that has lead to people being a lot more anti-social.
I don't know what time limits you are talking about but 30mins in a battlefield is fine imo, Delves never really an issue of time either.
I've done a lot of skirmishes where time is a serious factor. For example: trying to 2 man a Ra'Ka skirmish in the amount of time they give you is pretty hard. At least for us. We've been able to 3 man it - but even then there wasn't a lot of room for error. And we are pretty well geared. Not amazingly geared but well enough.
Also, the time limits on a lot of those notorious monster fights in Adoulin are way too short. A lot of casual players (like me) would like to be able to work on our plasm reserves in our off-time but can't, because there just isn't enough time for me to solo them. And I miss the days when I could wander around soloing NMs for fun while waiting for my friends to get online as I used to do in abyssea when that place mattered.
In my opinion time limits are an uncreative way to add challenge to any fight and should only be implemented on a very limited occasion. To rely on them as your chief source of challenge is flawed game design IMHO. It's also an impediment to a smaller group of friends being able to get things done.
InpendingDeath
10-25-2014, 02:22 AM
Maybe but I doubt it. Chances are the amount of open-minded players would be drowned out by the influx of new elite-minded players; especially in regards to activities on shout. Rarely if ever do I see people shouting for all-comers. They usually always want very specific and ideal job combinations - the cookie-cutter set ups as you refer to them. And I doubt this would change after a server merge even though having these specific set ups isn't necessary at all.
Part of the problem is after someone views themselves as becoming an elite and taste the so-called endgame they have this habit of viewing the entire game in that very limited context. So even when doing something as simple as a chapter 1 REM battlefield for example they act as if they are getting ready to do some very difficult endgame alliance raid. I see it happen all the time. A battlefield you can solo yet I see players making a huge fuss about what job and gear everyone has. It's silly and very punishing to casuals who are trying to gear up I agree. I wish I could change their minds but I can't. They are set in their ways and for some it makes them feel special to exclude others.
I don't really think there is a good solution to this. I wish there was. But there isn't. That's why my best advice is to try and build a circle of friends you can depend on to help you with content and not nitpick of every minor detail. But I do now recognize that may be more difficult to do in today's climate. Most of my friends are from older times when the difficulty on this game was merciless and people were all but forced to befriend each other if they wanted to succeed. That is less the case now - so I'm sure that has lead to people being a lot more anti-social.
Yeah I agree, Tho I can understand if there trying chapters on Difficult or VD why they want their PLDs with ochain aegis and such. I agree with a lot of people being anti-social but I think it's more the case I have the items I want I don't need to do that shout content, but if I didn't I would join. I haven't noticed but do you get CP at the end of Merit BCs or only SKCBCs? Even if they added that if it wasn't there it's such a small amount I don't think it'd drive someone into joining a shout.
InpendingDeath
10-25-2014, 02:25 AM
I've done a lot of skirmishes where time is a serious factor. For example: trying to 2 man a Ra'Ka skirmish in the amount of time they give you is pretty hard. At least for us. We've been able to 3 man it - but even then there wasn't a lot of room for error. And we are pretty well geared. Not amazingly geared but well enough.
Also, the time limits on a lot of those notorious monster fights in Adoulin are way too short. A lot of casual players (like me) would like to be able to work on our plasm reserves in our off-time but can't, because there just isn't enough time for me to solo them. And I miss the days when I could wander around soloing NMs for fun while waiting for my friends to get online as I used to do in abyssea when that place mattered.
In my opinion time limits are an uncreative way to add challenge to any fight and should only be implemented on a very limited occasion. To rely on them as your chief source of challenge is flawed game design IMHO. It's also an impediment to a smaller group of friends being able to get things done.
I can understand why they wouldn't want the outside delve NMs to be timeless for the fact people would hold up other groups trying to do the same content, I've always just done shout skirmish and there always full so never worried about time I'd have to try doing with less people to really reply on that.
Yeah I agree, Tho I can understand if there trying chapters on Difficult or VD why they want their PLDs with ochain aegis and such. I agree with a lot of people being anti-social but I think it's more the case I have the items I want I don't need to do that shout content, but if I didn't I would join. I haven't noticed but do you get CP at the end of Merit BCs or only SKCBCs? Even if they added that if it wasn't there it's such a small amount I don't think it'd drive someone into joining a shout.
I did a difficult battlefield other day with a pair of dragoons and no mages and I don't have an aegis or ochain. Least not yet (working on the latter ^^). So even on higher difficulties these ideal set ups aren't really necessary. The reject jobs as they were referred to earlier are more than capable.
Most shout groups I see tend to be expecting normal difficulty. I think the higher difficulty levels are meant more as an extra challenge for seasoned players who are skilled at playing with one another to push their limits. I don't really think SE intended them for pick up groups. But that's just a guess because I'm not channeling the thought-processes of SE's staff.
As far as capacity points - I can't remember if I got any or not. I know everyone gets a chapter and some gil out of it. Maybe they should add a NPC that lets players exchange 3 chapters they don't need for one they do - like they do with the job capes. That might would help.
I can understand why they wouldn't want the outside delve NMs to be timeless for the fact people would hold up other groups trying to do the same content, I've always just done shout skirmish and there always full so never worried about time I'd have to try doing with less people to really reply on that.
I don't remember it being much of an issue in Abyssea when they allowed it. In any case, they could at least increase the time some so people could solo them for beads. I don't see what harm that would do.
InpendingDeath
10-25-2014, 03:01 AM
I don't remember it being much of an issue in Abyssea when they allowed it. In any case, they could at least increase the time some so people could solo them for beads. I don't see what harm that would do.
Yeah, I've noticed also a lot of Abyssea monsters have 3 spawn points where others just have 1.
I'm not sure what you mean when you say this game punishes people for being casuals. I can certainly understand how other players do. But if you could elaborate on why you feel the game does I would comment.
Because Normal and below battlefields drop essentially nothing (except chapters), and no, special snowflake jobs with average gear cannot clear higher difficulties. Normal should be at least a reasonable drop rate - or the entry fee for entering lower difficulty fields should be lower so that people can do them more times (so still rewarding higher difficulties by making them more efficient, without making it unrealistic to even bother trying to get items on lower difficulties)
This is a game design flaw, not a player design flaw. Again, look at abyssea - that content was designed to be welcoming to new players and casuals because the entry fee was low and the rewards were able to be shared better (every monster dropping several things pretty much, and then ATMA as an infinitely shareable reward)
Forcing people to use full amount of seals/merits to do lower difficulties means there is a HUGE disincentive to fool around/be causal/help people out. Essentially people are being elitists about it because the time sink to even qualify to enter the content is so large.
Yeah, I've noticed also a lot of Abyssea monsters have 3 spawn points where others just have 1.
Yeah some did. So they could always add more points like that if it became a problem too.
Because Normal and below battlefields drop essentially nothing (except chapters), and no, special snowflake jobs with average gear cannot clear higher difficulties. Normal should be at least a reasonable drop rate - or the entry fee for entering lower difficulty fields should be lower so that people can do them more times (so still rewarding higher difficulties by making them more efficient, without making it unrealistic to even bother trying to get items on lower difficulties)
I'm not sure what you mean when you say special snowflake jobs with average gear.
What I do know is you do not need the ideal or cookie-cutter set up to complete difficult content on this game. I know this from personal experience. And difficult content isn't meant for average players anyway. It's not suppose to be easy and is meant to be a test for above-average players. That is the whole reason for having the higher difficulty levels to begin with. And casual players can be just as skilled as other players after all.
All that being said, I really wouldn't have a problem with increasing the drop rates for normal modes though. That's fine by me. So I'm not really in disagreement with you on this point. I'm just clarifying that it's a myth you need certain jobs or certain set ups to complete difficult content on this game. Because you don't.
InpendingDeath
10-25-2014, 03:54 AM
Sorry I wasn't accusing you. I was saying that someone would do it.
Devs haven't responded to this topic yet, but there are plenty they have and which people continue to inquire. H-P Bayld being one off the top of my head.
On a side note, Looked back in the dev responses as far back as 2011 and didn't see them mention anything on the subject. While some agree/disagree with it would be nice for them to acknowledge it and give some sort of statement so people would know/quit asking about it.
InpendingDeath
11-11-2014, 08:11 AM
New update today added new content and the end of seekers storyline. Still not even 400 people online (Considering half a AFK/mules not even 200 active players). Need server merge bad still. SE you respond to many useless threads why not this one?
Rainehx
11-11-2014, 09:10 AM
Amazes me people still don't get it.
Every company needs room to expand, what about if/when they bring out a new expansion? or raise the cap to ilv149?
Where would you expect SE to put all the returners? Some content can be over subscribed already, so what about when people
reactivate? A new server because the current ones are full? That wouldn't keep any returners to the game.
Any company without capacity to move forward is a company moving backwards, sure that sucks for us because less people to play
with but that's the price we pay for updates and possible future expansion packs, the day they stop trying to bring people back to the game is the day
they give up on ffxi so lets not wish that to soon.
And hey lets remember its not as if the only content is 64 person dynamis any more, with most new things being scalable and trusts
it would seem that a compromise is trying to be made, if only people could see it rather than adopting the attitude of "Do what I want
because I pay a sub" and ignoring the bigger picture.
Demonjustin
11-11-2014, 09:16 AM
That's a flawed argument. By not merging they're making people leave because there are less people to do content, that lack of people to do content leaves people sitting around doing nothing, those people eventually quit the game. If your goal is to bring people back then you're only making the list of people who need brought back longer whilst losing more people due to failing to make adjustments demanded by the current setup. It's like if I said I'm saving my money so that in the future I can pay my bills, but by doing so I'm not paying the bills I have now. Sure, I'm making arrangements for the future and that sounds smart and all, but I'm being a complete moron by not paying the current bills which will only compound with my later issues and create one much more difficult to solve.
InpendingDeath
11-11-2014, 09:56 AM
Amazes me people still don't get it.
Every company needs room to expand, what about if/when they bring out a new expansion? or raise the cap to ilv149?
Where would you expect SE to put all the returners? Some content can be over subscribed already, so what about when people
reactivate? A new server because the current ones are full? That wouldn't keep any returners to the game.
Any company without capacity to move forward is a company moving backwards, sure that sucks for us because less people to play
with but that's the price we pay for updates and possible future expansion packs, the day they stop trying to bring people back to the game is the day
they give up on ffxi so lets not wish that to soon.
And hey lets remember its not as if the only content is 64 person dynamis any more, with most new things being scalable and trusts
it would seem that a compromise is trying to be made, if only people could see it rather than adopting the attitude of "Do what I want
because I pay a sub" and ignoring the bigger picture.
Pretty sure they could do 3:1 merges and still have plenty of room for new people, if not make new server give people the option to transfer to it for free it'll work out.
InpendingDeath
11-11-2014, 09:59 AM
That's a flawed argument. By not merging they're making people leave because there are less people to do content, that lack of people to do content leaves people sitting around doing nothing, those people eventually quit the game. If your goal is to bring people back then you're only making the list of people who need brought back longer whilst losing more people due to failing to make adjustments demanded by the current setup. It's like if I said I'm saving my money so that in the future I can pay my bills, but by doing so I'm not paying the bills I have now. Sure, I'm making arrangements for the future and that sounds smart and all, but I'm being a complete moron by not paying the current bills which will only compound with my later issues and create one much more difficult to solve.
Yes, I agree. I know tons of people in the short time I've played to quit the game due to server population being so low. Also the fact there has been 15+ topics on server merge and not one response are they just ignoring the issue? Ignore problem=problem solved?
During NA time there is 400-500 people on that includes a lot of asleep JP players farming.
InpendingDeath
11-11-2014, 06:24 PM
During NA time there is 400-500 people on that includes a lot of asleep JP players farming.
Not to mention the 200+ people away/bazaar and just peoples 2nd char doing duo things some days under 100 active players I can bet on it.
Rainehx
11-11-2014, 07:48 PM
There are roughly 600 active users at most times on Phoenix, so lets assume each one has at least 1 mule and or alt.
Add a few hundred at least who are inactive atm that's 1500 chars on the server maybe not all active at once but unless
you wish to see "Server is full please try again" those numbers have to be considered as normal players.
So lets merge that server with another server and that's nearly 3k chars on it. Maybe there not all active but that server is
now at capacity, so what as in my previous post would they do with returners?
Exactly the same has happened every time they have merged servers in the past, SE basicly gives up on the game stops trying
to recruit and stops making content, look it up in pol news im not lying, why are you wishing this to happen?
Would you really rather 5 more people to run past in each zone over them continuing to make content for the game? I wouldn't.
An im not surprised SE continue to no comment, clearly people cant see anything more than what's in front of them.
InpendingDeath
11-11-2014, 08:23 PM
There are roughly 600 active users at most times on Phoenix, so lets assume each one has at least 1 mule and or alt.
Add a few hundred at least who are inactive atm that's 1500 chars on the server maybe not all active at once but unless
you wish to see "Server is full please try again" those numbers have to be considered as normal players.
So lets merge that server with another server and that's nearly 3k chars on it. Maybe there not all active but that server is
now at capacity, so what as in my previous post would they do with returners?
Exactly the same has happened every time they have merged servers in the past, SE basicly gives up on the game stops trying
to recruit and stops making content, look it up in pol news im not lying, why are you wishing this to happen?
Would you really rather 5 more people to run past in each zone over them continuing to make content for the game? I wouldn't.
An im not surprised SE continue to no comment, clearly people cant see anything more than what's in front of them.
I would love to see "Server is full please try again" but we all know that's never going to happen in this day and age of this games life. Lets talk in the realm of possibility.
Pixela
11-11-2014, 09:08 PM
I would love to see "Server is full please try again" but we all know that's never going to happen in this day and age of this games life. Lets talk in the realm of possibility.
What you want isn't what everyone else wants, I pay to play this game so I can do things. Not so I can see server full or not be able to get into what I want to do due to overcrowding. You are new, many of us have played for a long long time and have seen the server with 4-5k people online, sorry it was crap and more people quit after server merges than from anything else. Go to do limbus, can't get in because their are only 4 instances, they are all full and there are 5 parties waiting outside. Can't get sky pops because it's full of people, can't farm dynamis because it's packed, can't do anything so go level some job you aren't really interested in.
Transfer to Asura and stop complaining, you aren't filling your shout groups because nobody needs what you're shouting for.
InpendingDeath
11-11-2014, 09:16 PM
What you want isn't what everyone else wants, I pay to play this game so I can do things. Not so I can see server full or not be able to get into what I want to do due to overcrowding. You are new, many of us have played for a long long time and have seen the server with 4-5k people online, sorry it was crap and more people quit after server merges than from anything else. Go to do limbus, can't get in because their are only 4 instances, they are all full and there are 5 parties waiting outside. Can't get sky pops because it's full of people, can't farm dynamis because it's packed, can't do anything so go level some job you aren't really interested in.
Transfer to Asura and stop complaining, you aren't filling your shout groups because nobody needs what you're shouting for.
I did say they should address the instance problem before hand. It's a MMO if you can't handle the competition try WoW or offline game. Maybe they won't merge your server because there are plenty of people but from the server merge posts popping up every week there is obviously some that need it.
Pixela
11-12-2014, 08:08 AM
I did say they should address the instance problem before hand. It's a MMO if you can't handle the competition try WoW or offline game. Maybe they won't merge your server because there are plenty of people but from the server merge posts popping up every week there is obviously some that need it.
I've been around long enough to see that what players ask for isn't really what they want, it's just what they think they want.
Here's how it goes:
"Give merge, nobody joins my crappy shouts!"
"Omg Square I'm going to lose my name, this sucks!"
"Please add more instances I can't do any content anymore!"
"omg it's so laggy"
Then they realise that a merge does not fix their issue because, again nobody wants the crap they are shouting for so now they have the negatives of an overpopulated server & the original issue.
At the end of the day, you can complain about it as much as you want (although I'm not sure I buy you actually care about FFXI at all given your name and post history) but it's pretty obvious what side of the fence Square is on since they ignore all these threads.
InpendingDeath
11-12-2014, 09:15 AM
I've been around long enough to see that what players ask for isn't really what they want, it's just what they think they want.
Here's how it goes:
"Give merge, nobody joins my crappy shouts!"
"Omg Square I'm going to lose my name, this sucks!"
"Please add more instances I can't do any content anymore!"
"omg it's so laggy"
Then they realise that a merge does not fix their issue because, again nobody wants the crap they are shouting for so now they have the negatives of an overpopulated server & the original issue.
At the end of the day, you can complain about it as much as you want (although I'm not sure I buy you actually care about FFXI at all given your name and post history) but it's pretty obvious what side of the fence Square is on since they ignore all these threads.
Didn't say no one joined my "crappy shouts" just only during prime time really, which I can't always play during. Don't see how new content is considered crappy shouts anyway. My name? I don't care about this game because my name? Your IQ must not be very high lol that's the dumbest thing I've heard in a long time. Don't know if your trolling or being serious but please say trolling. . . Sorry I'm trying to make a post for Dev response to something many many other people would like the answer to as well. Quitting a game over name loss is pretty childish and we could do without them. Adding more instances is common sense. It's 2014 there isn't any server side lag unless they use AoL.
I've been around long enough to see that what players ask for isn't really what they want, it's just what they think they want.
Here's how it goes:
"Give merge, nobody joins my crappy shouts!"
"Omg Square I'm going to lose my name, this sucks!"
"Please add more instances I can't do any content anymore!"
"omg it's so laggy"
Then they realise that a merge does not fix their issue because, again nobody wants the crap they are shouting for so now they have the negatives of an overpopulated server & the original issue.
At the end of the day, you can complain about it as much as you want (although I'm not sure I buy you actually care about FFXI at all given your name and post history) but it's pretty obvious what side of the fence Square is on since they ignore all these threads.
Only thing is the servers are running at about 25% of the population they once were. Back in the day about 2000-3000 people would be on. Now a days its 500-800 people. That is a lot less people to do stuff with thus people want a merge.
Comeatmebro
11-13-2014, 01:41 PM
The server hardware is either worse than it was in 2005 or changes in playstyle have resulted in a higher load. The server quality is certainly lower than it was back then.
Please don't think about a merge until the game is stable for the current population.
Pixela
11-13-2014, 08:19 PM
I think the devs have added a lot of features that were impossible back in the day, that added a larger load to the servers. These are things they have added precisely because of more normal server pops, so it's probably impossible these days to do server merges. Keep in mind that current server populations are not low, they are normal for almost any mmo.
I think honestly, that some people want merges just purely out of comparison sake instead of actual reasoning, I've played a lot of titles and you can see quite easily that there are a few hundred people on the game (much smaller worlds so easier to actually judge). You only argue for it here because you can see the actual numbers and compare to years ago, on almost every other mmo people will use the arguments they do on FFXIV and just goto a busy area and say see the server is full!
The lowest numbers I see (and they peak well upto 1.5k+ at times) is 500, 500 is a hell of a lot of people. If you're telling me that you can't do the small scale content FFXI has to offer with that many people then there is something wrong with what you're shouting for. We aren't in the era where most everything required an alliance.
Oh and also when FFXI had 3-4k people online at once shout content DID NOT EVEN EXIST, everyone did everything in their linkshell 100% of the time and at set times because it was impossible to enter dynamis or whatever whenever you wanted. Nobody shouted for anything endgame related ever, at all. If you didn't have an event linkshell you did no endgame content, the end.
The problem with some players (those who aren't obvious XIV trolls) right now is they are refusing to be part of the community and expect FFXI to accommodate their shout content demands like it did for Abyssea, abyssea was by design so simple it was shout friendly and that is something totally alien to FFXI. Join linkshells and do content with people in those shells, where are all the event linkshells that used to exist? FFXI has always been a community game. Only since Abyssea were shouts even a thing and we aren't in the abyssea era anymore.
Nobody wants to join shells to do content anymore. They just want to shout for everything in a game not designed for that kind of system. When those shouts don't work they get pishy and demand merges for no reason or real benefit.
There are huge numbers of negatives to a merge, very very few benefits.
Mitruya
11-13-2014, 10:19 PM
But all those 500 people aren't actually PLAYING. They're afk. They're mules, They're bots. Or whatever.
Also, I think people are throwing together the job imbalance (both perceived and real) and the server populations into one issue.
When casuals/returners/new players/people who want to play other jobs face the "we can only clear this content with 5 relic RNGs and a mythic WHM"-type of baloney, they see the lack of shouts and lack of interest in events and lack of invites as a population problem. And to some extent it is.
The rampant cheating and use of third-party tools isn't helping, either.
Not to mention, there have been posts from people who lead or are in event linkshells, and even they have problems, either filling slots due to lack of interest, or feeling punished by the HP-scaling of events and drop-rates that reward less people. So there's a game design issue, too.
Pixela
11-13-2014, 11:24 PM
But all those 500 people aren't actually PLAYING. They're afk. They're mules, They're bots. Or whatever.
Also, I think people are throwing together the job imbalance (both perceived and real) and the server populations into one issue.
When casuals/returners/new players/people who want to play other jobs face the "we can only clear this content with 5 relic RNGs and a mythic WHM"-type of baloney, they see the lack of shouts and lack of interest in events and lack of invites as a population problem. And to some extent it is.
The rampant cheating and use of third-party tools isn't helping, either.
Not to mention, there have been posts from people who lead or are in event linkshells, and even they have problems, either filling slots due to lack of interest, or feeling punished by the HP-scaling of events and drop-rates that reward less people. So there's a game design issue, too.
If 1/4 are afk (which they aren't, many idle but keep an eye on shout and LS chat), that's still a ton of people and comparable to almost any other mmo (oh and afk people used to be a far bigger issue in the past, rolanberry was packed with bazaars and whole linkshells would afk showing off loot before Abyssea). People only complain because they compare one number with another without putting more thought into it than that, let's say 300-400 people at lowest taking into account bazaars? that's still a huge number of players online at one time (and it peaks well above 1k during server peak). Also please keep in mind that this is not regional servers, it's JP/EU/NA all in one.
As I said, the problem is that so many people have the shout mentality. They don't want to join shells anymore because Abyssea ruined their idea of how endgame can be done and the content is not keeping up with that mindset change.
Square can fix these issues in 4 ways:
A) Regional servers? Want that forced on you? This is where a lot don't understand how things work, a dev will never count population numbers by EU or US peak it will be server peak...which is JP prime time.
B) Nerf much of the content like they did on FFXIV so it is 100% pugable. How about that?
C) Force people to join linkshells again by blocking content off from puggers (again like they did in FFXIV by removing "top content" from the doody finder).
They did this in the past by adding large price tags to enter (1 mill per dynamis entry etc), they also had very low drop rates meaning you had to have point systems.
D) Add some kind of group finder system for specific content, again if they do this they will have to go with B.
I don't particularly like any of those options but they are all still better than MORE PEOPLE in the pig pen.
As an added note, their are 988 people online right now on Sylph. There are still almost no shouts at all, certainly no more or less than when their are 500.
Mitruya
11-13-2014, 11:56 PM
I wasn't necessarily disagreeing with you, just posting some personal observations that may or may not really have anything to do with the population issue. I don't really have any solutions to offer though, and I understand the hesitancy to make things overcrowded again.
Is there a server that a majority of NA players transferred to because my server is pretty much dead for doing anything really. Someone told me there was one or two servers that the majority of the NA playerbase moved do anyone know what that is?
Seillan
11-16-2014, 07:25 PM
Is there a server that a majority of NA players transferred to because my server is pretty much dead for doing anything really. Someone told me there was one or two servers that the majority of the NA playerbase moved do anyone know what that is?
If I had to guess, I'd say Asura is probably one of them. A lot of new/returning NA players (or English speaking players anyway) tend to join the reddit linkshell there. I'm hoping to do the same once I get more time for playing again.
InpendingDeath
01-15-2015, 02:14 PM
Is there a server that a majority of NA players transferred to because my server is pretty much dead for doing anything really. Someone told me there was one or two servers that the majority of the NA playerbase moved do anyone know what that is?
I'd guess asura is one also a lot of people from my LS have up and moved there.
Missdivine
01-21-2015, 03:02 AM
None of this make sense to begin with, making a linkshell is hard nowdays because low population and most players on go online but afk/bazzaring or doing their own thing
ffxi is just made for hardcore players now, and the casuals are abandoned because they don't have stuff to get done. thats why i quit ffxi because it have become a sad offline mmorpg with npcs
I'd guess asura is one also a lot of people from my LS have up and moved there.
I recently moved to Asura to follow a friend and... it's night and day from Odin. So many more people.
But the community seems kind of meaner so I might move away again...
Malithar
01-21-2015, 08:11 AM
None of this make sense to begin with, making a linkshell is hard nowdays because low population and most players on go online but afk/bazzaring or doing their own thing
ffxi is just made for hardcore players now, and the casuals are abandoned because they don't have stuff to get done. thats why i quit ffxi because it have become a sad offline mmorpg with npcs
The game is more casual then it's ever been, your own post even calls it "a sad offline mmorpg with npcs." That's not hardcore at all. Anyone can jump back into the game and get caught up within a fairly minimal amount of time at this point. "None of this makes sense" indeed.
No thanks to server merges.
InpendingDeath
04-04-2015, 08:45 PM
Well, With the newest Freshly picked post it looks like they have no plans to merge until at least after November. With their live announcement I have seen server population dwindle even further and I'm not sure if I am alone on this but I don't really believe there going to see much of an increase in population with this years final updates. Unless it's JP primetime and on the weekend it's very rare to see more than 400 people on now, hovering just below 400 most afternoons I check. I still believe Cerberus could really benefit from a merge still and hearing stories from other servers there is a couple in the same boat. Hopefully they'll realize this and reconsider, Not sure how many can hold out until November in hopes of a merge that isn't even confirmed to take place.
Sirious
04-04-2015, 10:43 PM
It's 100% time for regional servers. Not ALL servers. 1 English ONLY server. If you don't play during english prime time, then don't transfer there. If your vagina bleeds to play with JP then don't transfer there.
This sub 400 online thing per server is a bit too low. I get that it's a JP game and the JP pop is still around 1000 but you could EASILY put most if not all NA players on one happy little server.
Zarchery
04-05-2015, 12:35 AM
Everyone talks about Asura but I threw a mule on there for a week and every check didn't show much more people than Carbuncle.
Sapphire
04-05-2015, 01:42 AM
Everyone talks about Asura but I threw a mule on there for a week and every check didn't show much more people than Carbuncle.
My understanding is that Asura is the land of DRAMA and some long standing communities. And DRAMA!
Odin appears to be the most populated server. (Which seems to result in Odinites calling for merges... except their server lol.)
InpendingDeath
04-07-2015, 05:24 PM
300-400 people online today, if only 200 of them weren't AFK/mules we'd be ok(kidding).. Daily bump, Cerberus needs a merge I'll take any server regardless of reputation.
InpendingDeath
04-07-2015, 05:27 PM
I remember one time Odin was so Overpopulated they offered free server transfer for people to go to one of three worlds to avoid having to split it themselves, even then it was maybe at most a months notice. So it's obviously not about time required or effort required. Let us have a population again, besides weekend JP primetime were lucky to break 600, once again 200 of those are AFK and mules not doing anything.
InpendingDeath
04-09-2015, 06:01 PM
Daily bump.. What to do with 300 people online.. and 100 if not more AFK/Bazaar/Mules ; ;
vienne
04-09-2015, 07:10 PM
Did a sea all last night during the end of EU primetime, so somewhat the start of American primetime, and on leviathan also 350 people online.
InpendingDeath
04-09-2015, 07:27 PM
Did a sea all last night during the end of EU primetime, so somewhat the start of American primetime, and on leviathan also 350 people online.
Yeah, Would be ok with twice the number I am currently seeing but really need three times this population to be healthy.. I really wonder if they think new add-ons will bring players or if there just avoiding the problem. Been atleast 30 server merge topics made this past year and not a single respond but they can respond to many other lesser issues. They need to seriously do something. Just finally decided to daily bump until fixed maybe they aren't seeing this topic.
Sapphire
04-09-2015, 11:43 PM
They did respond during the freshly pickled. Read it. You won't be happy but read it anyway.
InpendingDeath
04-10-2015, 03:58 AM
They did respond during the freshly pickled. Read it. You won't be happy but read it anyway.
Read my Bump post on previous page around time that came out I went over it. They expect people to come running back to the game with new addons but there out of their mind thinking this. Need to take action to fix population sooner rather than later. 300 people online.. not good. Half are AFK.
Sapphire
04-10-2015, 04:05 AM
Read my Bump post on previous page around time that came out I went over it. They expect people to come running back to the game with new addons but there out of their mind thinking this. Need to take action to fix population sooner rather than later. 300 people online.. not good. Half are AFK.
Dude. They answered. It isn't happening till after November at the earliest. The End. Doesn't matter how much you bump this. Doesn't matter how many times you post your numbers. They have THEIR numbers and the Powers That Be - who aren't the devs, said no.
InpendingDeath
04-10-2015, 12:42 PM
Dude. They answered. It isn't happening till after November at the earliest. The End. Doesn't matter how much you bump this. Doesn't matter how many times you post your numbers. They have THEIR numbers and the Powers That Be - who aren't the devs, said no.
I don't think they understand when there is 600 online there are 300-400 away/alts. Thus making their numbers completely irrelevant. Instead of people making this same topic twice a week I keep this available for them to notice and comment here. Here is their quote:
"A: At least until the completion of “Rhapsodies of Vana’diel” in November 2015, there are no plans for merging unless something major comes up. After completion, we do have some plans in the event that players are giving feedback about not being able to form parties and more players voicing their requests for server merges. As far as how we’ll merge, we’ll be looking into how to handle this such as merging two Worlds into one World, or transferring players from one World to a World of their choosing. "
Guess what? Something Major did come up! They announced the end of content making thus causing even more people to quit playing rather than having more people start playing like they expected.
machini
04-11-2015, 01:04 AM
Dude. They answered. It isn't happening till after November at the earliest. The End. Doesn't matter how much you bump this. Doesn't matter how many times you post your numbers. They have THEIR numbers and the Powers That Be - who aren't the devs, said no.
Bears repeating.
Sapphire
04-11-2015, 01:19 AM
Guess what? Something Major did come up! They announced the end of content making thus causing even more people to quit playing rather than having more people start playing like they expected.
Your numbers are NOT their numbers. Though I clearly can say this till I am blue in the face. Their numbers for ages have not pointed to a merge. Heck Every Single Time a server crashed Salvage II due to congestion, guess what?! YOU JUST TOOK MERGES OFF THE TABLE. You see a drop at the moment. They see a blip that will be made up with returners who figure they'll "finish the story." They aren't expecting these returners right now. They are expecting them in May when Rhapsodies hits and they do another "Return/Discount" campaign. Whether is happens or not is irrelevant. The money people took a look at the ACTUAL log-in numbers, made the decision and you get to live with it. As far as they are concerned, no, nothing major has happened, everything is proceeding as they expected post announcement.
InpendingDeath
04-16-2015, 04:44 AM
Your numbers are NOT their numbers. Though I clearly can say this till I am blue in the face. Their numbers for ages have not pointed to a merge. Heck Every Single Time a server crashed Salvage II due to congestion, guess what?! YOU JUST TOOK MERGES OFF THE TABLE. You see a drop at the moment. They see a blip that will be made up with returners who figure they'll "finish the story." They aren't expecting these returners right now. They are expecting them in May when Rhapsodies hits and they do another "Return/Discount" campaign. Whether is happens or not is irrelevant. The money people took a look at the ACTUAL log-in numbers, made the decision and you get to live with it. As far as they are concerned, no, nothing major has happened, everything is proceeding as they expected post announcement.
Their numbers are wrong, need a merge. More people quitting and leaving server everyday due to low population. Might be hard to understand for some. #250 people online right now, need a merge bad.
detlef
04-16-2015, 05:00 AM
Check again in 14 hours.
InpendingDeath
04-16-2015, 06:08 AM
Check again in 14 hours.
Will be around 6-700, 200-300 afk/mules/bazaar... unless it's the weekend+JP prime time we don't see much activity. Were going to break 300 it seems hope the servers can handle all the AFK in jeuno
InpendingDeath
04-17-2015, 06:54 AM
Daily bump and no surprise only 300 people online.. 200 afk... need merge still.
bungiefanNA
04-17-2015, 09:41 AM
How do you know they're AFK and not just on chatting? I've been logged in from work during lunch via a remote desktop program, so the framerate is too low to do any combat, but I've done mog house activities and LS chat.
Sirious
04-17-2015, 10:38 AM
How do you know they're AFK and not just on chatting? I've been logged in from work during lunch via a remote desktop program, so the framerate is too low to do any combat, but I've done mog house activities and LS chat.
That's "afk" ffxi is not a chatroom.
bungiefanNA
04-17-2015, 11:29 AM
It is not when you are in an LS that refuses to have a forum and you need to plan out things ahead of time. I am still active, just limited in what activites I can do.
Celdwn
04-18-2015, 06:34 AM
this is a Japanese game, for Japanese players, all others especially NA players are a guest/nuisance. The numbers during Japanese prime time are fine. Please take being their guest graciously.
I just did a /sea all and we're at 650 people right now (7:39 PM PDT, 11:39 AM JST). -shrug- Seems perfectly fine to me.
InpendingDeath
04-29-2015, 08:24 AM
I just did a /sea all and we're at 650 people right now (7:39 PM PDT, 11:39 AM JST). -shrug- Seems perfectly fine to me.
Seems your server is doing much better, Around that time weekday were lucky to break 400.
Tidis
04-29-2015, 08:28 AM
Might want to skip your /sea all for a few days since there was a wave of temp/permabans!
InpendingDeath
04-29-2015, 12:54 PM
Might want to skip your /sea all for a few days since there was a wave of temp/permabans!
Yeah>< Sorry to hear about you getting hit. With them thinning out the population and the population on Cerb being extremely low they need to do something..
lllen
04-30-2015, 12:09 AM
I have been on a few times lately and the not once was the number above 375, out of my LS which showed about 8-12 people on, only one or two besides myself was actually playing. The others seems to sign in and stay in game but not physically present.
InpendingDeath
04-30-2015, 09:35 AM
I have been on a few times lately and the not once was the number above 375, out of my LS which showed about 8-12 people on, only one or two besides myself was actually playing. The others seems to sign in and stay in game but not physically present.
Yeah, If there is 500 people online it is very safe to say 300,if not more are AFK/Bazaars.
machini
05-03-2015, 04:21 PM
879 people online, on Asura, at 3:21 EDT, Sunday.
lllen
05-03-2015, 10:44 PM
Anyone besides myself noticed the 1/2 price sale on server jumping? Maybe they are hoping we do the merge on our own and they can make money.
InpendingDeath
05-04-2015, 05:12 AM
Anyone besides myself noticed the 1/2 price sale on server jumping? Maybe they are hoping we do the merge on our own and they can make money.
They do this with every Return campaign, Can buy Seekers for 5$ and Ultimate collection for 10$ as well. I'd rather not jump ship since I have so many friends and a good LS on cerb, but those days you work late and can't be on until early hours and there is 300 people on really sucks. They need to fix the issue themselves instead of making people pay for merge.
nekroturkey
05-04-2015, 12:53 PM
Instead of doing a "/sea all," try doing a "/sea all 1-98."
Doing this on Asura lowered the number from 906 to 167.
InpendingDeath
05-07-2015, 04:25 AM
300 people online. Sucks when you have day off work and can't do anything due to there being 50 active plays on with 250 mules/bazaars. SE needs to marge. NA/EU players need some love.
elqplau
05-14-2015, 11:04 PM
Im a soloist meaning i didnt like the way parties where set up when rdm was nurphed so long ago...ive been playing sence na release. ..me and my mules have been through 3 merges... i dont rely on shouts....to me its spam...im in. City long enough to change jobs dump merits upgrade nvr longer than that
Castanica
05-15-2015, 01:12 AM
Most people will quit for good in November so they will probably wait till them!
They will only need 1 or 2 servers.
InpendingDeath
06-09-2015, 02:56 AM
Bump.. Numbers looked ok during free to play campaign, maybe it was just the Addon hype and it wasn't sufficient enough to get people to pay and return. Numbers are back in the 300-400 range. Maybe do a free to play campaign until November to keep numbers at a below decent amount.
Obysuca
06-09-2015, 04:55 AM
300 people online. Sucks when you have day off work and can't do anything due to there being 50 active plays on with 250 mules/bazaars. SE needs to marge. NA/EU players need some love.
^ This. Though, it's not that there isn't people to do things with, it's just people have already done it or they're not interested :/ Which kind of sucks considering you need to do vagary nms to even unlock the option for 119 empy reforged and no one seems to do it....ever.
InpendingDeath
06-10-2015, 12:29 AM
^ This. Though, it's not that there isn't people to do things with, it's just people have already done it or they're not interested :/ Which kind of sucks considering you need to do vagary nms to even unlock the option for 119 empy reforged and no one seems to do it....ever.
Yes population increase would help you set up a group for clears, yesterday Cerb went as low as 280 people online at 1PM EST, and sat around 300-400 all afternoon basically until the morning 12:00JST. We are a server who badly needs merge, the numbers are record low.
Teleste
06-10-2015, 04:57 AM
Indeed, we need server merges. My guess is they will wait until November.
InpendingDeath
06-10-2015, 05:16 AM
Indeed, we need server merges. My guess is they will wait until November.
Yeah, Sucks.. 300 people online.. 100AFK/Bazaars. We could use a double merge at this point.