Are we getting a server merge soon?

[Diavolo]

No! That is what is known as a community. A linkshell is a communication system and nothing more. You can have 2 people in a ls or be alone in a ls or have 30+ people in a LS. Doesn't mean you need one to do stuff in the game which Shadowlina was trying to explain to you. I can have 0 Linkshells equipped like Shadowlina said and still get invited by friend/people i know to go off and do events and NM's.

This is easier to do on larger servers where more people are available, both those who enjoy playing with their linkshells and those who enjoy playing without them. Server sizes have no bearing on the quality of a community. You can argue this point back and forth between yourselves, but I will say this, Final Fantasy XI has one of the best communities I've ever been a part of and I don't see that changing anytime soon. Friendships and acquaintances I made over a decade ago are still with me today.

Now don't get me wrong my favourite time of this game was probably abyssea/Voidwatch era. Everyone got loot/kill (although it was random) and most jobs had a good role in that time for proccing/healing/Damage/buffing/solo farming. You got to meet a lot of different people with the shouts but what you don't seem to understand is that this is not the game anymore. The content is based on smaller groups doing them not larger ones. Most NM's now scale to the point it is a disadvantage to bring more people. It gets harder and you get no extra loot for doing so meaning more people lotting against you. So a lot of people will low man NM's i go to reisinjima #9 and see people soloing NM's so i have had to check multiple spots to find them taken as well by low man groups. I have had to wait outside of High tier battlefields because they were full.

This irritates me and I fault the development team as much as I do the players. The HP scaling system in place does not discourage larger party sizes, it is your greed that does that as you already pointed out ("more people lotting against you"). There's enough evidence on forums to suggest NMs have been successfully defeated with 18 person alliances. If you're fighting an NM that requires one or two tanks and a healer regardless of the alliance size then adding a second or even third party that focuses entirely on dealing damage essentially makes the fight easier, not harder, provided, of course, everyone is playing their jobs well.

You just don't seem to understand that the way the game is getting too many people on the server when there is already a slight competition for NM pop spots will only get worst the more people you have.

Interest in Escha will slowly decrease over time, as with all things. Future additions of battle content will hopefully continue to spread players across various zones. Again, larger server sizes gives us all more options - we can choose to try our hand at something we've been ignoring or try to team up with whoever is doing the content you also want a shot at and SE can add a few more pop spots/battlefields. Let's not act like we're forced to deal with what we have in front of us because as you know, this game has been in a state of constant change since day 1.

The worst part is i have seen people shout and some people get criticized and made fun of for shouting and making groups cause they might not be perfect groups so people don't want to shout they rather just stick to their friends because people that want shout groups like there use to be like to make fun of those that do at least try which is the most disappointing thing i have seen in this game and then wonder why no one wants to shout.

I don't see how this is an issue in the argument for/against server merges as loudmouth fools are everywhere, but placing that situation on a larger server still gives you a better shot at accomplishing your goals, whereas on a lower population server you'll struggle to find help and be forced to deal with it.

[detlef]

This irritates me and I fault the development team as much as I do the players. The HP scaling system in place does not discourage larger party sizes, it is your greed that does that as you already pointed out ("more people lotting against you"). There's enough evidence on forums to suggest NMs have been successfully defeated with 18 person alliances. If you're fighting an NM that requires one or two tanks and a healer regardless of the alliance size then adding a second or even third party that focuses entirely on dealing damage essentially makes the fight easier, not harder, provided, of course, everyone is playing their jobs well.

I don't have much to argue with your other points but I disagree with you about HP scaling. It absolutely does hurt larger groups beyond just lotting. Are you really getting the bang for your buck when you add more players? More people means fewer skillchains or fewer unresisted nukes. And that's assuming that players are pulling their weight, which gets iffier the larger your alliance gets.

[Aisu]

This irritates me and I fault the development team as much as I do the players. The HP scaling system in place does not discourage larger party sizes, it is your greed that does that as you already pointed out ("more people lotting against you"). There's enough evidence on forums to suggest NMs have been successfully defeated with 18 person alliances. If you're fighting an NM that requires one or two tanks and a healer regardless of the alliance size then adding a second or even third party that focuses entirely on dealing damage essentially makes the fight easier, not harder, provided, of course, everyone is playing their jobs well.

This isn't just greed talk it is fact you will have more competition with more people. Every person you add to the alliance has to pull their weight cause each person added does make it harder and if everyone isn't pulling their own weight no real reason to bring them cause they will just make it worst for everyone else. I have a community that does full 18 man escha events which i go to cause they are all a bunch of friends and i enjoy doing it with them. Not going to lie and say it was easier with 15-18 people even if we can still kill them. Majority of people don't though i have heard people say stuff like "i'm not takeing more than 3" just because of the scaleing.

High tier battlefields was a much better system you get to choose the difficulty and you are rewarded for your choice and the more people you bring doesn't affect anything but make it easier the more you bring which is the way it should be. It should not get harder the more you bring that was such a bad idea on their side.

Interest in Escha will slowly decrease over time, as with all things. Future additions of battle content will hopefully continue to spread players across various zones. Again, larger server sizes gives us all more options - we can choose to try our hand at something we've been ignoring or try to team up with whoever is doing the content you also want a shot at and SE can add a few more pop spots/battlefields. Let's not act like we're forced to deal with what we have in front of us because as you know, this game has been in a state of constant change since day 1.

interest will die down if people are done with stones which is something that will not die down anytime soon with the randomness of the augments unless something new and better comes out and then that will just get congested with people low manning that. Prime example is escha when it came out was hard to farm silt cause everyone wanted to and it was a pain. Now resinjima is the new thing and NM pop areas are already crowded at times. I have recently witnessed going to #9 finding all spots taken. then went to 5 it was taken went to 4 it was taken then got lucky i think it was at 3. Sometimes High tier battlefields are full i'm waiting to enter and they have been out for ages now.

I miss the shouts and the bigger community i've been playing 11 years so don't get me wrong but the fact remains the same with the decreasing population for years now SE has made content based on low manning and soloing. With the HP scaling and easier battlefields and trusts. The game is at the point now where a large community will actually make for a worst game experience unless SE changes.