Are we getting a server merge soon?

[Diavolo]

Aisu, arguing that today's solo-friendly events like Ambuscade are reason to avoid merging servers is like arguing that no one should ever take a public bus, get on a plane or even get on a highway. It's congested, so let's stop server transfers. Let's start limiting the number of people a server will allow online at any given time. Let's stop accepting new subscriptions. I mean, really, stop and think for a minute how silly that argument is.

This is a problem that would have arisen even on a server with a population in the single digits - a few people all download the update and log on at the same time, run to Mhaura to try out Ambuscade, a few get in, but one player gets left out and thinks "OMG, only half a dozen people online, why is this happening?!" then runs to a forum to post about it. Do you think that server with half a dozen people is too large to entertain a merge? It's a rhetorical question, but in the context of this thread I get the impression it won't be treated as such.

Your worries of overpopulation aren't unreasonable, but considering how Odin and Asura have been handling life with 1,000+ simultaneous users just fine I'm sure servers with only a fraction of that activity would hold their own after a merge 'cause, y'know...

[Aisu]

Yes they can "manage" but doesn't mean it is better. That is what you don't seem to understand. People could "manage" with 4000 people on a server but it would be hell trying to get into anything you want to do. What good is being able to shout and get people together easier if you can't even enter or pop the NM you want to fight because there are too many people Low Manning the fights?

I miss the big communities so don't get me wrong with that at all but i am being realistic here and not assuming anything like you are. you are saying well they can manage it but there are already a ton of people having issues with just 300-400 people online.

The picture above shows only 384 people on cause some are at work or asleep at this time and there are so many issues. the population can go upto 1000 on this server and i dread trying to do this at that time.


It's the same with everything they do. It is all designed as low mannable. People spamming volume 2 dragon cause you can solo VD and get 300 a run. Then go to zitah and get KI in like 2 mins and come back spam again.

The only positive thing about merging is more people but that is both a positive and negative and i'm sorry but the negative easily outweighs the other by far at the current state of the game. If they can change the state of this game where it is 100% required to have alliances to complete content then yes it will be better to have that bigger community. That is not a bias view on anything cause i wish it was viable to have the big community i miss from years ago but i am able to see that it isn't going to help anyone.

Again that isn't the current state of the game.

[Diavolo]

I miss the big communities so don't get me wrong with that at all but i am being realistic here and not assuming anything like you are.

Oh, let's not get presumptive now. I'm using facts to back up my argument - that the two largest servers have been doing well - while you're making the claim those population numbers are too high based off of anecdotal evidence that has no bearing on the topic at hand. As explained, your issue with Ambuscade (and other "hard mode" fights) is one that would be present even on a server with a population in the single digits, so there's no point playing it up. It's an issue with the game's PS2-centric software engine, not one made better or worse by population numbers as being on Cerberus today with only 220 online accounts I encountered the same situation you did above.

Again that isn't the current state of the game.

The game has been in a constant state of change since its very first days of public release. Do you agree or disagree with this?

[Aisu]

Oh, let's not get presumptive now. I'm using facts to back up my argument - that the two largest servers have been doing well - while you're making the claim those population numbers are too high based off of anecdotal evidence that has no bearing on the topic at hand. As explained, your issue with Ambuscade (and other "hard mode" fights) is one that would be present even on a server with a population in the single digits, so there's no point playing it up. It's an issue with the game's PS2-centric software engine, not one made better or worse by population numbers as being on Cerberus today with only 220 online accounts I encountered the same situation you did above.

How do you know the two largest servers are doing well?

As far as i know my friends i have on asura are doing nothing but complaining saying it is ridiculous and are thinking of coming back to shiva because of the huge population. The hype for asura isn't as great as some make it out to be. Many i know in my ls on Shiva are from asura saying it was just getting worst.

There are a limited amount of instance as SE has officially announced and they had a maintenance to try to fix it by trying to increase the amount of instances. Still having issues even when SE has Officially announced the congestion problem and are still having issues. Please tell me how merging servers will be beneficial in any way other than you can get more people to do stuff a little faster cause that doesn't mean anything if you can't even do the relevant content due to the population issue.

The game has been in a constant state of change since its very first days of public release. Do you agree or disagree with this?

Yes i do agree with this but the fact still remains Until They actually change it to where the current population on servers aren't already causing issues for many people. Just adding more people will just make it worst. The likely hood of this happeneing ever since they announced the likes of Rhapsody/HP scaling/Battle field difficulty choice and the big one is to summon 5 Trusts/person and solo most things is very unlikely.

[Diavolo]

How do you know the two largest servers are doing well?

Earlier in this thread Olor stated they hadn't seen any congestion at all for at least the past year. Likewise, detlef said almost everything he's read about the server's conditions has been positive. I don't spend a great deal of time browsing FFXI forums, but I've spent enough time on them to know if the conditions there were problematic we would have heard much more about it by now. In my experience, Asura's more vocal players tend to give off the impression of being a rather content group.

As Castanica pointed out, players want to be on larger servers, they "are moving by their own volition and planning to ODIN and Asura, nobody is making them do this." If, as you say, your friends on Asura are doing nothing but complaining maybe you should all take his advice and have them transfer to one that would be more to their/your liking. I hear Cerberus is a nice, quiet world.

Yes i do agree with this but the fact still remains Until They actually change it to where the current population on servers aren't already causing issues for many people. Just adding more people will just make it worst.

See, we at least agree that change is constant. Now forgive me for sounding a bit idealistic for a moment, but as a member of this community you are capable of bringing about some of that change. The development team does, in fact, pay attention to what we are saying and doing. Are you going to sit idly by and watch Final Fantasy XI fizzle out over time or are you going to discuss possible solutions to its current shortcomings, potentially bringing attention to concerns the development staff may be able address?

[Aisu]

See, we at least agree that change is constant. Now forgive me for sounding a bit idealistic for a moment, but as a member of this community you are capable of bringing about some of that change. The development team does, in fact, pay attention to what we are saying and doing. Are you going to sit idly by and watch Final Fantasy XI fizzle out over time or are you going to discuss possible solutions to its current shortcomings, potentially bringing attention to concerns the development staff may be able address?

Yes as a community member i do want change and understand that we can make change if SE's listens so telling them that to fix the issue is to merge servers is far from helping this game. It will make it worst and not actually telling SE the issues and trying to mask the situation with a merge isn't what i want. Yes a bigger community is better if the game was designed around it which FFXI isn't anymore. When FFXI started to lose a lot of its playerbase they started to develop new content for low man groups. They changed older content to low man groups, What this means is more groups can attempt this because you don't need to find a ton of people to do it anymore. Most content has no real limits like the game use to have like the 3 day waits for events that only lasted a few hours, This is not 2007. Like you said the game has changed and the game can change again BUT in it's current state it is not in a good position to merge. Before they even think about merging they would have to fix the game itself where people won't be locked out or have to fight over pop spots. Which is causeing many issues as I hear it a lot from others so it surprises me why some people can't see the issues it will bring when there are already issues on low populated worlds.

If they don't fix those issues before merging then they are just going to make it worst for the majority of players that want to get gear and actually want to do stuff instead of being told "No! You can't do that because too many people are stopping you from doing this here and now". Now spend your time spamming this book and waste your time for no good reason because a few players want to have more people to talk to and be able to form parties a little faster and then can't do what they formed the party for to begin with because too many people on at the same time is stopping them and wasting their time for no good reason.

I want a merge if SE changes the current state of game i really do but in its current state no thank you. Many agree with me and many people who had the same view as yours who i explained this to understood my opinion and completely agreed once they thought it through which is why it is baffling me as to why you are so determined to make the game play worst for many because you want more people to talk to.

[Aisu]

After a lot of people had been kicked off due to mass issues of D/Cs the server had 250 players on and i still had issues to get in i formed a full 6 man party which i might add took me literally 2 mins to do. When i searched Legion this is what i saw


1 party of 3 and 8 people soloing. Even though i was willing to make a party when i didn't need to since i have already soloed this just fine earlier. Yes it is faster with more people and it saves instances for more groups to do it with but most won't and these are some of the issues SE needs to fix about their game before they even think about merging.

[Castanica]

All Square had to do was limit how often you could enter because most of the issues are with a small number of hardcore people spamming it to death. 5 entries per day would of been more than adequate, I really don't get what they were thinking to make zero limitations.

Also I have to point out that doing a kill solo with trusts > going in with 6 random people.

[Stompa]

All Square had to do was limit how often you could enter because most of the issues are with a small number of hardcore people spamming it to death. 5 entries per day would of been more than adequate, I really don't get what they were thinking to make zero limitations.

Also I have to point out that doing a kill solo with trusts > going in with 6 random people.

I think unlimited entries is fine. But it needs multiple entrances, and multiple battlefield zones.

Some people want to challenge the Very Difficult mode. They might wipe out multiple times, while trying to find the best strategy. It is new content, people will want to try out optimum strategies. This requires multiple attempts. SE have tried to encourage people to try the Very Difficult mode battles, and for this to be possible there has to be the option of entering lots of times when the whole group are online and available. People play on different days and times, if you get your friends together at a certain day/times, you want to hit the event hard for as long as possible.

Also allowing Copper-vouchers conversion to Hallmarks, 1:25 or something, would cut down a lot of congestion at entrance sites. As people who only wanted one cape or another single item, could buy their item by converting vouchers to Hallmarks. This would leave the entrance free for parties who actually want to do the battles.

[Aisu]

All Square had to do was limit how often you could enter because most of the issues are with a small number of hardcore people spamming it to death. 5 entries per day would of been more than adequate, I really don't get what they were thinking to make zero limitations.

Also I have to point out that doing a kill solo with trusts > going in with 6 random people.

Sorry but i don't agree with this at all. Solo i was able to kill it on difficult in 15 mins with 5 random people it was dead on Very difficult in 2 minutes. Trusts are great if you can't get people but with everyone spamming this it isn't hard finding people to join. From all the conversation i have had about merging being an issue with the current game. The biggest issue really is trusts, I understand SE's logic behind trust because they were losing players and it was to help people who couldn't find parties.

They should of only made it possible to summon trust in the open world to level with. They should not have been allowed to be summoned in escha/reisinjima/HTBF/any relevant content so unless you were really good at actually soloing without the need of trust which only a small few actually areyou had to rely on finding people. With that THEN they should of merged servers together so we could have a bigger community and find people easier for stuff while still making it easy for people to level with trusts because that is probably something that would be most difficult to find people for unless you get power levelled by a friend which most don't have the luxury to do.