Incentive to transfer must be increased

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Originally Posted by Valkyrie_Lenneth

I joined balmung in 2010. I left as soon as they opened transfers. Its not a matter of time, its a matter of want. Have friends? bring them with you. have 200+ friends? no you dont.

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So you're saying that it was easy for your particular friend group. Your situation isn't the same as everyone else's situation.

Muggsy Bogues: Man, dunking is hard!
Shaquille O'Neal: Are you kidding, all you have to do is jump!

What they would have to do...is to much effort on their part when they don't really care about the RPers.

Balmung would essentially need to be 'closed', forcing everyone to pick between 1 of 2 new servers, FC and personal houses would transfer intact to both, 1 server would be designated RP and the other would not. If a player doesn't choose they'll default to the non-rp server.

An easier solution would be to open an RP server, close to everything except transfers from balmung for a week to ensure people can get their houses, then open it up to all.

I really don't see them doing anything more than they are currently, though.

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Originally Posted by EmeraldSerenade

So you're saying that it was easy for your particular friend group. Your situation isn't the same as everyone else's situation.

Muggsy Bogues: Man, dunking is hard!
Shaquille O'Neal: Are you kidding, all you have to do is jump!

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I mean, theres "I have friends" and then theres "I have 100 facebook friends" SE did do something, they locked the server and offered free transfers off. You know what people did when they finally locked the server? They complained. A lot.

I think the only solution to this is if SE give in and make a new NA RP server while still keeping it be a free transfer with the already inplace incentives. People would DEFINITELY transfer then but SE needs to be smart and keep a eye on it. When its on the verge of reaching the max that a server can hold? Lock it down immediately. heck a few days after they opened Omega they came with some other server..I don't even remember the name Luiosox or something out of no where. They can't do the same for a NA server and just slap a (RP server) tag on it so the text will purely please some people?
People will complain about that it got locked down but that's okay. People will complain about anything.
They are making this be so hard when it doesn't have to be. -...-

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Originally Posted by Valkyrie_Lenneth

I mean, theres "I have friends" and then theres "I have 100 facebook friends" SE did do something, they locked the server and offered free transfers off. You know what people did when they finally locked the server? They complained. A lot.

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The server lock was right before Stormblood release. That's not even close to fix, as you can see.

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Originally Posted by EmeraldSerenade

The server lock was right before Stormblood release. That's not even close to fix, as you can see.

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Right, and people threw a hissy fit that they locked it. and then the expansion dropped, and people threw a hissy fit over getting through the queue on the server lol.

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Originally Posted by Valkyrie_Lenneth

Right, and people threw a hissy fit that they locked it. and then the expansion dropped, and people threw a hissy fit over getting through the queue on the server lol.

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And that matters how? Do you have anything to say to further the discussion, or are going to continue being a pull string toy?

*Pulls string* I left Balmung~ Why can't yoouuu~
*Pulls string* You're going to miss your facebook frieeends~

I don't know if you're actually serious, or being disingenuous lol

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Originally Posted by EmeraldSerenade

And that matters how? Do you have anything to say to further the discussion, or are going to continue being a pull string toy?

*Pulls string* I left Balmung~ Why can't yoouuu~
*Pulls string* You're going to miss your facebook frieeends~

I don't know if you're actually serious, or being disingenuous lol

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I dunno, theres not much of an argument on either side. one side is WAHH SE FIX IT, and the other side is they did. I'm doing a pretty good job on my side i think :D

I'm not really sure what you expect them to do. If they upgrade the hardware on one server, they have to do it on all. Clustered servers generally require the hardware to match on the cluster. So you have 2 choices. Deal with the queue, like many are, or transfer off, also like many are.

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Originally Posted by Valkyrie_Lenneth

I dunno, theres not much of an argument on either side. one side is WAHH SE FIX IT, and the other side is they did. I'm doing a pretty good job on my side i think :D

I'm not really sure what you expect them to do. If they upgrade the hardware on one server, they have to do it on all. Clustered servers generally require the hardware to match on the cluster.

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You did! You got attention. Good job ^^

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Originally Posted by Dekent

An easier solution would be to open an RP server, close to everything except transfers from balmung for a week to ensure people can get their houses, then open it up to all.

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Just tagging servers would be enough: roleplayers would go to other RP servers, and non-roleplayers would just go to pve or pvp servers: problem solved and it would only take a few minutes...unfortunately the producer himself said something about "this could lead to toxicity so we rather not". Yeah, because this game is clearly not toxic AT ALL!

On the other hand, I'm fairly sure this is just untrue: whenever RP servers would allow transfers people either stayed or moved out so I don't know where the "toxicity" comes from roleplayers to non-roleplayers, since most of the roleplayers would stay anyway.
I mean I certainly didn't see struggles between roleplayers and not in WoW and SWTOR and they have dedicated rp server.

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Originally Posted by EmeraldSerenade

You did! You got attention. Good job ^^

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See, and here you bring nothing to the conversation. I guess you did the exact same thing! I guess we are both string puppets! Wow!

I'm just gonna pop in and say the Balmung issue is part and parcel of FFXIV's housing system, and not solely related to role playing.

Basically, if you build a system where houses cannot be moved because they're server bound -- on top of those houses being purchasable by both FC and single player -- then you forfeit the right to be surprised when players don't want to leave that server. Unpopular opinion, but I don't think single player housing was ever a good idea. At all.

And I still can't believe it took them this long to add apartments. Apartments ought to have been there at 2.3, with the new plots, and those new plots reserved for Free Companies.

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Originally Posted by Rhysati

I don't know what the solution is, but they have to offer FAR more than they currently do if they want to see results. For someone like myself, I run a roleplaying FC on Balmung. We have a house, two linkpearls, connections throughout the community, and have no intentions of going off to a free transfer server to watch the RP community there wither over time. Biggest way they can solve the Balmung issue would be to open up an official RP server and allow transfers for free to it from Balmung. That will take a massive load off the server most likely.

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This is my counterargument to this suggestion that someone had posted in a different thread...

Transfer Restrictions and Roleplayers

My bf and I just moved from Balmung to Cactaur this evening. We didn't have much tying us there, though. One friend and he's now thinking of moving, too. Initially my bf wanted to stay because he likes the economy, but the queue times just aren't worth it for us. He works mornings and gets off right when Balmung starts getting busy. Plus if anything d/c's you, gods help ya. I tried to get him to take a free transfer, but he was too worried those servers will end up "dead". At any rate? Stormblood = $40; World Transfer = $18; cue of 26 to sign in at 7:30 ESt? Priceless.

If not being able to play isn't incentive enough, then may you suffer the queue a thousand times over.

And I'd just like to say to those who say they like Balmung because it has so many people, it isn't going to last. They're going to reduce Balmung's size to that of every other server.

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Originally Posted by Katryn

I tried to get him to take a free transfer, but he was too worried those servers will end up "dead". At any rate? Stormblood = $40; World Transfer = $18; cue of 26 to sign in at 7:30 ESt? Priceless.

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Aww. Coeurl wasn't dead before the transfers and we got so popular during the transfers we got locked at one point. We are a small town but never a ghost town.

SE really needs to start classifying some servers as RP-friendly servers and some servers that are not.

At the end of the day, I bet many players on Balmung would be happy to transfer out of Balmung if they knew that they'd be going to a smaller server that still had a RP community, even if that RP community was smaller. The fact of the matter is SE failed to give us RP servers and so the community made their own. Now that community is holding on very tightly to the two servers that they can call their own.

It's not rocket science why the two RP servers are the most populated on the NA data centers. They are sticking to the server primarily because of RP and SE isn't willing to give us official alternatives.

But the incentive to move would be significantly greater if we knew where we were going was going to be designated as a new RP community. It might not be as big or as dense as Balmung, but that's fine, there's something to be said for smaller, close knit communities. For many, it'd also give them a chance to RP a new fresh start on a new server with some familiar and new faces. AND, you'd be able to get that house you've been after for so long.

For those of you who might suggest the community should take the lead on this... sure, they could. But the fear that a new server could fail is very real, and especially with transfers back to Balmung being locked for the foreseeable future, nothing short of an official alternative is going to really make people comfortable leaving.

I'm not particularly big on the Balmung RP scene, personally. I am an RPer, and I like being where RP is at so I can recruit interesting people to my FC. I'd totally be down to move, if I knew that a new server had been designated for RP and that I'd still be able to recruit people. Til then, Balmung it is.

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Originally Posted by Keridwyn

Aww. Coeurl wasn't dead before the transfers and we got so popular during the transfers we got locked at one point. We are a small town but never a ghost town.

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I totally agree with you and Coeurl was my suggestion (it's even his primary mount, lol) but he pretty much had his mind set. *shrug* I certainly mean no ill will to you or your server, and I agree with what you are saying. :)

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Originally Posted by Katryn

I totally agree with you and Coeurl was my suggestion (it's even his primary mount, lol) but he pretty much had his mind set. *shrug* I certainly mean no ill will to you or your server, and I agree with what you are saying. :)

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No problem, I just worry everyone thinks we are suddenly gonna dry up and blow away. *chuckles* That said if you were looking for a small but not too small Cactaur really isn't a bad middle ground.

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Originally Posted by Just-Communication

Sounds like it's time for SE to host a Battle Royale. Turn on PVP across the server in all locations - those killed will have their characters transferred the following day. Bet some groups will even RP through it.

Friends will become enemies. Enemies will become friends.

Let the true side of human nature manifest itself in all shades of ugly.

It will be glorious.

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And may the odds be ever in your favor

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Originally Posted by MomomiMomi

If not being able to play isn't incentive enough, then may you suffer the queue a thousand times over.

And I'd just like to say to those who say they like Balmung because it has so many people, it isn't going to last. They're going to reduce Balmung's size to that of every other server.

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It might fall back to where it was around HW launch but that was still quite a bit higher then all other servers but most people I know who have been here for a long time wont move regardless of what SE offers and queue will drop eventually before SB there was never a queue that took more then 1-2 min to get in.

As Clawbriar above said, a lot of the unwillingness to move goes hand in hand with the absolutely nightmarishly-designed "who thought this was a good idea" housing system.

The only way to guarantee that people keep the plots that they bought, is by creating a completely brand new server and restricting it to transfers-only for a limited time period.

It is incredible unlikely that people and FCs who own houses will move unless an airtight guarantee to keep or upgrade their house is made.

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Originally Posted by alimdia

You can't force non RPers to leave Balmung even if it was designated as RP server, the population problem would only get worse with an official RP designation.

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Pretty much this. I've played games in the past where a large amount of non-rpers gravitate twords RP servers due to how often the RP community is pretty chilled. I feel most are reluctant to transfer off Balmung simply because they know how the game works pertaining to cycles. The ques maybe God awful now and the thought of moving to a new server may seem tempting. I think a lot know that in a month or so after all the ones that were in a rush to gear up and finish the story before they quit the game and take their five month break before the new content patch already know those servers they're moving to will become eventual ghost towns. While Balmung and other high population servers will still be populated. I feel the only real incentive to server transfer is for SE to break the patch cycle and come up with new and interesting ways to keep people playing after that initial one month rush n' quit between patches.

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Originally Posted by Mikhaill

They needed to make Balmung the official RP server, and those who want off, could of moved.
You're asking people who pretty much set in the stone this server to RP. It would of been easier
for those who didn't care much for it to go off somewhere else, imo. It's just hard to get people
who have been there forever and established everything along time ago and tell them to pack up.

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The people who don't RP are investing in the server as well. That said, they do need to make an official RP server. Personally I think a new server would be a smarter move and would avoid the concerns that Yoshi has already expressed.

I believe more transfers will happen once they roll out a method for migrating FC & House(FC). That's the only part of the incentives that is holding my FC back.

They could just put up a sign on the log in screen that says"This server is closed please select one of these fine servers to log in." But personally I think it should be like one of those sim city/civilization disaster events. Whenever the server gets over a certain population an elder primal or godzilla etches a path of destruction across a random area wiping out personal houses and players who are then dropped into a "You have died" screen which then lets them resurrect in "a new world".

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Originally Posted by Etisha

a discount on houses

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How about no. We don't need people able to come in and screw things up that easily. All that will lead to is people coming in, buying low, and then gouging the crap out of people who've been here and were looking to buy a place legitimately.
If you want incentives to get off your server, don't make it the ability to screw over the people you're moving in on.

Literally the only way SE could fix the balmung problem this week, this instant, would be to shut down the server, take half the population, cram it onto another server, and then be done with it because they used a server system that encourages people to huddle into internet hamlets. People in real life deal with having to move out of their original homes because their neighborhoods go bad, get over crowded, or worse. This is exactly the same thing in virtual form and it could have been avoided if people didn't keep sneaking onto an already overstuffed server over the years. Now we have an expansion, all those dormant accounts suddenly flared up, and no one thought to check the numbers and say "maybe we should cap the server by the number of total accounts and not just the active ones..."

The problems with the incentives aren't the incentives: people want to know that if the situation gets better, SE will step in and help them relocate so they don't end up on ghost servers because of those dormant accounts mostly being from less enfranchised players who will leave the game in six months. People play these games for years: They don't want to have to take a long term solution for something that could arguably be a short term problem as far as we know.

The better solution is to offer free level boost items and scenario skips for players on overpopulated servers. This lets the players keep their old characters in place and not lose their old home while still playing somewhere else for the time being. It doesn't take a whole lot of time to complete the stormblood scenario, after all.

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Originally Posted by Valkyrie_Lenneth

I joined balmung in 2010. I left as soon as they opened transfers. Its not a matter of time, its a matter of want. Have friends? bring them with you. have 200+ friends? no you dont.

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And if said friends don't want to leave? Balmung has a whole community dedicated to roleplay. While we might not all be friends, it's asking a lot to give up connections and the aforementioned community in the hopes Mateus pans out. If it withers down the road, you're essentially stuck on a lower pop server with a dying RP community. Not that I mean to speak ill of Mateus' attempts, but it's simply naive to assume everyone can easily convince their circle of friends or the community their associated with to pick up and leave. Yours did? Good for you. Your FC doesn't list roleplaying as something its interested in. So.... your decision to leave isn't weighed the same.

Citing only myself, none of my friends have any real interest leaving Balmung. They like the higher population; the larger RP community; the market, and have friends of their own who also don't want to leave nor do I for those same reasons. Like I said, it isn't quite as easy as you're trying to make it.

The only way I could see a flux of people moving off Balmung would be to keep all the current incentives and guarantee that people get a house. I know it's never going to happen. It's unrealistic but that's the only way I honestly see the population shifting off Balmung.

Personally, I've been on Balmung before it was even named Balmung (Besaid). Now our FC has started to splinter. Those who never cared about personal rooms, housing, all moved off world. Those of us who have homes, an FC house, airships, will lose all of that and for what? a few million gil that amounts to nothing. (If we move). And even if we or those in our position moved. Very high probability currently to never see a house again. More players shifting to the low population servers who will have the money to buy houses. When Shirogane opens up, it will be a landrush regardless. So it's either put up with bad queues until the welcome back campaign stops (and hope the queues diminish at that point) or have entire FCs take a gamble at being homeless on a move.

To me THAT'S the exact reason why there isn't a larger shift of players off Balmung.

The 4,000 to 6,000 person, 4 to 5 hour queues will do the job on their own, no additional incentives are needed.

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Originally Posted by Michiko

When Shirogane opens up, it will be a landrush regardless. So it's either put up with bad queues until the welcome back campaign stops (and hope the queues diminish at that point) or have entire FCs take a gamble at being homeless on a move.

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Honestly the developers should have done the with Free Company transfer function along with housing at start. And also they should have more wards when they do this. They are never thinking this through properly.

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Originally Posted by Hyperia

The 4,000 to 6,000 person, 4 to 5 hour queues will do the job on their own, no additional incentives are needed.

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Moved to Mateus this morning.

Incentive working confirmed :)

For any meaningful improvement, I feel that SE is going to have to force a split.

I just have one question and excuse my ignorance but wouldn't it be kind of counter intuitive for SE to actually assist the RP community? I don't want to bash RPers, far from that but RP is not an in-game specific experience. Why insist that SE opens up an RP tagged server? I don't think it's their role even though I see how this would herd the RP community into 1 place (although I don't think it would for other reasons but that's neither here or there).

I would prefer we stop with the RP server tags. In the end, everyone playing on this server has this problem so we need solutions that are fair enough to RPers and nonRPers both.

I get why the incentives wouldn't be worth it for people with a load of established connections, a house, or the like. For my wife and I though? The moment we saw a login queue on Balmung of 7488, those incentives suddenly looked really good. When every instance I entered booted me out, they looked positively irresistible.

I'll miss my old FC, Lucky Succors are the best, but I won't miss not being able to play the game reliably.

I agree that the economy on the smaller servers isn't as good, but materials sell better and for more and there are open housing plots. So for a non-rper who is also a filthy casual, I can live with it.

People who don't want to transfer off Balmung have zero right to complain about queue times, period. It's ridiculous to think that you're a special snowflake who's "been there since the start so I deserve to stay" Things change. You have friends? Add them on facebook and keep in touch while you move to a server that actually allows you to play the game.

Every server has been having problems. The entire EU data center had 2 days in a row where the instance servers were completely down. Big whoop.

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Originally Posted by Kyt

People who don't want to transfer off Balmung have zero right to complain about queue times, period. whoop.

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Except they combined two servers at 2.0 and kept transfers open by paying money.

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Originally Posted by Freyar

Except they combined two servers at 2.0 and kept transfers open by paying money.

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And they are now providing a solution at no monetary cost to the player. Transfer to deal with the queues....