World Mergers

[Suikoboj]

Yes, I have been playing for years on Leviathan. And I've noticed over the last few months, one Saturday, 6-8pm my times which is central, should be prime american play time. There are only 800 people on, I am asking to please consider doing some server mergers. Cause as it stands, there is almost no reason for me to play the game, no one is ever on.

[Caradog]

Problem is the population of the Japanese is still healthy, might be time for regional servers or something because the EU population is equally dead on Shiva, American isn't much healthier.
Only real way to get anything done is to have 2-5 friends still interested enough in the game to meet regularly and do content (3-6 is more than enough for anything as it stands).
While I wanna see mergers too, I doubt they'll happen until the Japanese population is unhappy.

[Pixela]

Yes, I have been playing for years on Leviathan. And I've noticed over the last few months, one Saturday, 6-8pm my times which is central, should be prime american play time. There are only 800 people on, I am asking to please consider doing some server mergers. Cause as it stands, there is almost no reason for me to play the game, no one is ever on.

Only 800? How many people do you want online at once? o.O

You have to make a better argument than "only 800!", 800 is a heck of a lot of people.

If they did a merge and there were 1400 on at your prime time that is still less than 5 years ago so how will 1400 be better than 800? If you have issues at 800 they will still exist at 1400.

All merges really do is add more issues while fixing none of the bad, I've been though merges and they didn't fix anything. They did however make more people quit due to the negatives of a merge.

[Caradog]

Problem is that a sizeable portion of those 800 people are either JP, of which a large portion utterly refuse to interact with anyone else. And a large chunk is taken up by inactive mules, do a search in jeuno and the adoulin cities, I wouldn't be surprised if 300-400 of that 800 can be accounted for there.

I doubt much is going to fix the dwindling population issues, a flat out merge I agree probably isn't the best idea but perhaps offering regional servers could help to bring those playing in similar time zones together.

[Pixela]

Problem is that a sizeable portion of those 800 people are either JP, of which a large portion utterly refuse to interact with anyone else. And a large chunk is taken up by inactive mules, do a search in jeuno and the adoulin cities, I wouldn't be surprised if 300-400 of that 800 can be accounted for there. I doubt much is going to fix the dwindling population issues, a flat out merge I agree probably isn't the best idea but perhaps offering regional servers could help to bring those playing in similar time zones together.

FFXI has always been this way, nothing you stated is new.

The problem is no new content + a portion of players that think they can do everything via shouts. Something that is totally alien to FFXI.

[Caradog]

I know none of its new but it becomes an ever increasing problem in a dwindling population.

Not really sure if there's any way to fix the problem in the long run, we're getting a fair amount of content at the moment but its all either simply reskinned old content or fairly easy to get through in a week, think Square-Enix have just used up a lot of their credibility.

[Peepiopi]

FFXI has always been this way, nothing you stated is new.

The problem is no new content + a portion of players that think they can do everything via shouts. Something that is totally alien to FFXI.

I don't mean to sound rude, and I don't mean this in an attack against you personally. However, whenever someone mentions anything that glaringly sucks about FFXI, it's pretty much guaranteed that diehards come out to defend it by saying, "FFXI has always been this way".

Ex:
1. Horrible server population management causing issues with content completion: Always been this way.
2. "Role balance" being used instead of fair job balance: Always been this way.
3. Prohibitive metagame with extremely difficult progression walls for new players: Always been this way.
4. Horrible economy management and obscure gil income methods: Always been this way.


Those are just to list a few complaints that come up frequently. With respect to a few exceptions, this game DOES NOT appeal to new players largely because of the reasons above. FFXI is shrinking because of it, probably irrevocably so at this point. Unless SE makes serious efforts to address these concerns and actually listens to the players' frustrations, people will just stop playing it. And the remaining number of subscribers will just get smaller and smaller.

I've played FFXI for years, and there are a few things that I really enjoy about it. But I get extremely fed up with the progression in the game. I want to play any content I want with my job of choice, so my biggest complaint is SE's idea of "Job Balance". I sometimes return to the game usually out of nostalgia and interest to see if the problems have been fixed, but they never really are... So I can never resubscribe for more than maybe a month. There are just WAY better and more rewarding MMOs to play out there.

[Pixela]

I don't mean to sound rude, and I don't mean this in an attack against you personally. However, whenever someone mentions anything that glaringly sucks about FFXI, it's pretty much guaranteed that diehards come out to defend it by saying, "FFXI has always been this way".

Ex:
1. Horrible server population management causing issues with content completion: Always been this way.
2. "Role balance" being used instead of fair job balance: Always been this way.
3. Prohibitive metagame with extremely difficult progression walls for new players: Always been this way.
4. Horrible economy management and obscure gil income methods: Always been this way.


Those are just to list a few complaints that come up frequently. With respect to a few exceptions, this game DOES NOT appeal to new players largely because of the reasons above. FFXI is shrinking because of it, probably irrevocably so at this point. Unless SE makes serious efforts to address these concerns and actually listens to the players' frustrations, people will just stop playing it. And the remaining number of subscribers will just get smaller and smaller.

I've played FFXI for years, and there are a few things that I really enjoy about it. But I get extremely fed up with the progression in the game. I want to play any content I want with my job of choice, so my biggest complaint is SE's idea of "Job Balance". I sometimes return to the game usually out of nostalgia and interest to see if the problems have been fixed, but they never really are... So I can never resubscribe for more than maybe a month. There are just WAY better and more rewarding MMOs to play out there.

He was saying that JP players won't play with English speaking players and that a lot of people afk. I was saying this isn't new, the game has always been the same.

The only real reason people want merges is because they check numbers and without taking into account that a lot of people are actually online at once they simply compare one number to another. A merge won't fix the real issues people have that are asking for merges, it will just make more.

[Caradog]

He was saying that JP players won't play with English speaking players and that a lot of people afk. I was saying this isn't new, the game has always been the same.

I don't think that server merges alone could fix the game, at this point it would take hardware and software upgrades so that we cease to run into instancing issues, one of the biggest problems with a larger population causing problems is that the vast bulk of content is instanced and only allows a limited number of groups in at once - Salvage/Sky bcnms/Delve etc

At the same time, I do think server populations are at an all time low, and merging the servers could help as long as steps are taken to alleviate problems caused by the above. Its hard to ignore that shouts are at an all time low and while not suitible for everything, most the fodder content could easily be cleared by a few well aimed shouts.

[Peepiopi]

He was saying that JP players won't play with English speaking players and that a lot of people afk. I was saying this isn't new, the game has always been the same.

The only real reason people want merges is because they check numbers and without taking into account that a lot of people are actually online at once they simply compare one number to another. A merge won't fix the real issues people have that are asking for merges, it will just make more.

I gotcha. I do agree that there is definitely a disconnect between JP and EN players. I really wish that wasn't the case, but language barriers are language barriers. And I totally agree that simply merging the worlds wouldn't fix the main issues with the game, but I don't know if it would make more. More people playing together means more opportunities (Assuming that the servers are re-optimized for larger populations).

With that said though, I think all of the games issues (including language barrier problems) could be resolved through more aggressive updates with the game, which we all can agree probably won't ever happen. For example, there's a lot of coding that needs to be cleaned up and the game really needs a more intuitive interface. In regards to the language issue, I'm sure that could be improved by a more user-friendly emote and ping system. Emphasize visual communications rather than typed/macro'd. We can give that a big Fat Chance sticker though.

And if you're looking for players to complete endgame content, the 800 server population really is a pretty stinky number when you consider that big chunks of that are attributed to:

- People that we don't share a common language with (Not as big of a deal for JP players at their peak times)
- Multi-boxers
- AFK Bazaars
- RMT (Not as huge of an issue now as it used to be and I haven't seen any bots, but I assume there are still some bots running around)
- Lowbies
- 99s with insufficient gear to clear the event.

All but the RMT makes up part of the server population that can't be used when putting together groups for events. Now if SE managed the servers so that they had 5-10k players, then the increased activity would mean more communication, more events, and more economy stimulation.

I agree that merging the servers would't be a panacea but it would certainly improve the gameplay.

[Peepiopi]

I don't think that server merges alone could fix the game, at this point it would take hardware and software upgrades so that we cease to run into instancing issues [clip]

Thanks for mentioning that. That's another thing. Whatever database management system they're using for ffxi is really inefficient. I'm not a database expert, but I'm pretty sure that modern relational or object-oriented DBMs blow older hierarchical systems out of the water in terms of efficiency. I'm willing to bet that the inventory lag issues are more related to an outdated DBM that they don't want to change rather than where the servers are located geographically.

point: FFXI's technology is holding development back.

[Lyncath]

Regional servers might be the answer unfortunately.

I cannot see Square-Enix addressing the dead periods especially during EU times across most servers until the Japanese players begin complaining about it for some reason. No, that isn't bias either, it's a logical business decision - pander to your largest customer base.

[Sfchakan]

The day SE makes FFXI a game with regional servers is the day I unsubscribe forever. It would actually create worse issues, as no one would be doing anything outside of that region's primetime.

I wish SE would merge every server but Asura and Odin, so all of these monthly threads about the other servers being dead would stop... Surely they'd stop then, right? No? They won't stop then? No? Damn.

[Zehira]

I doubt merging servers would fix anything but only to lose more players. Don't you remember the day when it got merged, we all lost our linkshells and were forced to rename our names if already taken? Yep, that would be more problems than fixing the payment or improving the technology. I do agree with people who said this game does not appeal to new players, I had my friend who decided to play this for the first time (also her first MMO before FF14 released) last year. I helped her to get her thief all the way to level 99 but while I was not around online she simply had no idea what to do. I told her having the wiki guide is the only way to play this game so we both decided to drop it and move on to FFXIV because it suits her more better than this game does. :(

[Behemothx]

This thread is full of terrible ideas.

There is no reason to have a merge, SE weakens the content too fast and everyone gets everything. FFXI needs new, sustainable content.

Regional servers would cause even more issues than what it is now, imagine the auction house from 2am - 5pm.

[Zarchery]

Most things can be soloed. Most of the rest can be done with 6 or fewer people. 800 people is plenty. It's much easier to get things done now than it was when server populations were 5 times higher.

[Sfchakan]

Most things can be soloed. Most of the rest can be done with 6 or fewer people. 800 people is plenty. It's much easier to get things done now than it was when server populations were 5 times higher.

... but think of the people who have a bad reputation for not playing well with others or not playing the game well at all! How will they ever be able to do group content when no one wants them! Won't someone please think of the undesirables?!?

[FrankReynolds]

I remember when my server used to have 2,400 people on line at night. 800 is not impressive. It hasn't always been this way.

[Draylo]

That is when the majority of content was 18 man, everything is 6 man or lower... They already made it clear they are continuing that going forward, 800 is plenty. The biggest thing the game needs is CONTENT that lasts, incursion was a good idea but they failed by not having any unique drops at higher ilevel. We need a new Delve again and fast, people still spam the heck out of Delve and for a good reason.

[Stompa]

I quite like the current numbers on Levi, areas are not overcrowded, but you can still find a few friends to start events with. I like being able to solo CAP for example, its nice that I can pick a fairly decent camp and be able to farm CAP at my own pace. It would be a lot harder to find empty camps if we had 1500-2500 people. Also things like Limbus etc, are nicer when you don't have to camp the entrance for ages. I have LS with people if I want to chat or start events, friend list too. Sometimes it does take a long time to /sh for members, but that is because there is so much new content - this competes with content from a few months earlier etc.

[Bluestar2kx]

To add to Stompa's point.
If servers merged, one of 2 things would happen with dynamis:
Prices would plummet as everyone can do dynamis and the server gets flooded with coins. Or skyrocket as dynamis zones get filled and coin income slows from competition.

Plus adoulin would just be overflowing, which is where everyone is right now, would be as bad as jueno used to be in 2005, stuffed full of people.
Remember, More is not always better. some things it might fix, but others are going to get messed up, and mergers involve a lot of hard feelings from players due to name loss (I lost Amanda which I had since 2003, when Alexander merged into Shiva), shells, and friends. Loss of friends means loss of funds for SE to support FFXI, because both the person who left AND their friend might go, and others will do the same, it's a potentially large snowball effect.

I wish we could see signs of life in older zones. Walking through most zones I go leveling in off pages is like walking through town after a plague. But just adding more people isn't going to solve that. The key to both problems is adding content and zones, people want to do, and adding enough of it.

Most people are too impatient to level the old way when they can burn to cap in a few days, so getting them back into older zones requires things like Unity does, or magian trials attempted. Getting players to come back is going to require a lot of work, like a new good expansion pack loaded with at least as much as adoulin had, if not more, and a story to rival CoP. (And empy armour reforge!! Seriously!)

[Ritsuka]

FFXI has always been this way, nothing you stated is new.

The problem is no new content + a portion of players that think they can do everything via shouts. Something that is totally alien to FFXI.

Well,,,, I did everything through shouts pretty much but its not like i had a choice really..... i had a bad play time plan cause of work
and when i did finally lose my job which isn't really a great thing haha i still couldn't get a good linkshell lol. So ya I had to do everything via shouts lol.
It worked o,0

[Ritsuka]

Bahamut is hungry it needs to eat another server :3 rawr!

[Kimowar]

as a returning player I didn't expect huge pops but there isn't even people to talk with, so there is no chance for me to ever get groups for content that requires it, they really need to merge servers to 1 and do some serious promos to bring in more people