Resolving the Balmung Population Issue at Minimal Cost to the Benefit of All Players

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Originally Posted by Rivxkobe

Blaming SE for player choice, when they have already given incentive (which they didn't even HAVE to do), is disgusting.

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The server's been closed to character creation for years, but they still took money for transfers, which helped exasperate the problem to its current levels. What's disgusting is your lack of self-esteem.

Man, the replies in this thread are saltier than a bag of chips.

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Originally Posted by Galgarion

The server's been closed to character creation for years, but they still took money for transfers, which helped exasperate the problem to its current levels. What's disgusting is your lack of self-esteem.

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Completely lost on how their post had anything to do with their self-esteem.

I don't ever recall SE telling players to transfer to Blamung. Not a once. So how can you blame SE for people transferring to Blamung when that was completely up to the players?

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Originally Posted by VanilleFang

Completely lost on how their post had anything to do with their self-esteem.

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Oh, well you see, I was implying through analogy that the prior poster was a doormat. I can definitely see how that went over your head, though.

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I don't ever recall SE telling players to transfer to Blamung. Not a once. So how can you blame SE for people transferring to Blamung when that was completely up to the players?

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Uh, how about "closed means closed"? Not "Closed means closed unless you grease our palms." It's needlessly greedy and ill advised, considering the results.

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Originally Posted by Galgarion

The server's been closed to character creation for years, but they still took money for transfers, which helped exasperate the problem to its current levels. What's disgusting is your lack of self-esteem.

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Ahahahahahahahahaha!

Damn dude. They didn't "take money" for transfers, people paid for them. SE is a business. And Character Creation was closed for most of the day, but it wasn't completely closed. It never has been. If it was then they wouldn't have mentioned completely stopping character creation and transfers to Balmung until it stabilizes. They are now offering free transfers and other incentives. Not taking it but complaining about how populated Balmung is is not SE's fault.

Balmung at its finest though. Keep it up.

The last part of your post is such a desperate attempt at attacking me. Hilarious.

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Originally Posted by Galgarion

Oh, well you see, I was implying through analogy that the prior poster was a doormat. I can definitely see how that went over your head, though.

Uh, how about "closed means closed"? Not "Closed means closed unless you grease our palms." It's needlessly greedy and ill advised, considering the results.

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Man. You mad though.

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Originally Posted by Galgarion

Oh, well you see, I was implying through analogy that the prior poster was a doormat. I can definitely see how that went over your head, though..

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So... seeing things more logically rather than from an emotionally selfish perspective makes you a doormat? Hmm. That's rather interesting.

Balmung is full. That's a fact. Nothing can be done about it until people either leave the server, forced or not.

Yes, we have incentives. They suck. A million gil barely covers the costs of the rooms and stuff I've already bought. Most of my classes that I play are 50+. I have the mount and no need for more chocobo feathers.
If I move, I lose my apartment, my private chambers and friends. I lose my FC, if they can't move and keep the house.
I, as a roleplayer and someone who actively PvEs too, have zero incentive to move. Queue times have been an issue, but they got fixed. They haven't this time.

FC Transfers, Housing Allowances/Reservations, and a new world that Roleplayers can call home, officially, is sort of what we need. 'A roleplayer's preferred world' type deal. Mateus isn't that answer.

Point is, Balmung is full. Roleplayers would be more willing to move, if we had help setting up a new home, and tools to get our stuff back. Balmung wouldn't be full anymore.

They should start randomly deleting characters on overpopulated servers. Give people an announcement a month before so they can jump out. Those who dare to stay will have to suffer the loss of progress until population has stabilized. If that's not enough incentive, I wonder what people want

Problem solved

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Originally Posted by Rivxkobe

Ahahahahahahahahaha!

Damn dude. They didn't "take money" for transfers, people paid for them. SE is a business. And Character Creation was closed for most of the day, but it wasn't completely closed. It never has been. If it was then they wouldn't have mentioned completely stopping character creation and transfers to Balmung until it stabilizes. They are now offering free transfers and other incentives. Not taking it but complaining about how populated Balmung is is not SE's fault.

Balmung at its finest though. Keep it up.

The last part of your post is such a desperate attempt at attacking me. Hilarious.

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Uh, no, they accepted money for a service that compounded their server's congestion issue. Their business model, thus their fault for the results that followed. Or do you mean to imply that because it's their business model to accept money for backend character creations, that makes them without fault for their current difficulties? What kind of objectivist nonsense is that? "The MARKET is always correct!" You're aware that the amount of money they're currently losing in free transfers is probably going to dwarf whatever profit they achieved from these shady dealings, yes? But it's Square, they're used to losing money by accident. Been a company hallmark since 1999.

The last part of my prior post was a clever refutation of your simplistic thinking. And it was hilarious, thank you for noticing.

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man. you mad though

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Lol, you edited to call me mad, because you were mad. That's cute.

Preferential treatment is the flavor of the day here..

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Originally Posted by VanilleFang

So... seeing things more logically rather than from an emotionally selfish perspective makes you a doormat? Hmm. That's rather interesting.

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Okay, now you're just throwing words at the screen. "Seeing things more logically rather than from an emotionally selfish perspective." What in the name of Aelius Donatus, is "an emotionally selfish perspective?" You're going to be embarrassed by that sentence one day when you're older.

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Originally Posted by Galgarion

Okay, now you're just throwing words at the screen. "Seeing things more logically rather than from an emotionally selfish perspective." What in the name of Aelius Donatus, is "an emotionally selfish perspective?" You're going to be embarrassed by that sentence one day when you're older.

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Ya know, you arent really acting any better lol.

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Originally Posted by Valkyrie_Lenneth

Ya know, you arent really acting any better lol.

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I concede your point. But I did transfer, so you can't call it classic Balmung.

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Originally Posted by Galgarion

I concede your point. But I did transfer, so you can't call it classic Balmung.

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Until it changes on your forum profile, you are classic balmung :p

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Originally Posted by Valkyrie_Lenneth

Until it changes on your forum profile, you are classic balmung :p

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Well, damn.

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Originally Posted by NorthernLadMSP

Exactly. Not only free transfers, but also chocobo feathers and millions of free gil.

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I don't care about the gil. I can make millions easy already. I don't care about the chocobo feathers. I have 4 people I recruited.

I care about my FRIENDS that I play with.

Also, can we stop spreading around the flat out LIE that Balmung was closed to character creation? Balmung - every server - was closed to character creation when there was a queue. SE never officially said "okay, you can never ever create characters on Balmung." There were still windows of time when character creation was open. That's how we still had bots, and frequently.

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Originally Posted by Elamys

I don't care about the gil. I can make millions easy already. I don't care about the chocobo feathers. I have 4 people I recruited.

I care about my FRIENDS that I play with.

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And your FRIENDS can also transfer - for FREE.

At this point, I simply look at these responses as excuses.

My friends are in my free company. We have a house, 3 airships, and a lot of people. Mateus, a world that a lot of people pointed out as "having a lot of houses," has had its plots taken up. How many people have to transfer for it to be okay? Why do we have to give up on things we worked hard on? The problem was exacerbated by people refusing to log out, how terrible that you have to log out of the game when you're not there.

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Originally Posted by ExKage

It's a poor as fuck, I agree. It however seems to be the only thing that can get it through some peoples' minds that it is not simple. MOVING is never simple. But you still have plenty of people who say that the option is simple, they should have left months after the world found out about it because it is still happening. Nothing there was solved. Flint still has issues with its water supply and rich, privileged people will say it's as simple as "you just transfer". People say the same thing about other similarly-threatening issues. Poor school environments. Bad rental situations.

The point is that "you can move" is NOT simple and that it is not an easy task.

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You over stepped, we all do it from time to time. Defending it makes it worse. Drop it.

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Originally Posted by ErikMynhier

You over stepped, we all do it from time to time. Defending it makes it worse. Drop it.

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Who's the one bringing it up 3 hours later?

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Originally Posted by ExKage

Who's the one bringing it up 3 hours later?

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Someone with family living in Flint.

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Originally Posted by ErikMynhier

Someone with family living in Flint.

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The point is that yes I made that comment in extremely poor taste and stupidity that I am ashamed for doing so. The point was not to make light of the poor situation but because I think too many people are trying to trivialize something that isn't as trivial as they think it is. The point is also, I did drop it. You brought it back up.

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Originally Posted by Oaken

There is only one viable solution to resolving the population issue on Balmung: the creation of an official roleplay server and offering existing transfer bonuses to that server.

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I disagree. I can't possibly fathom that a desire for roleplaying is the primary reason, or even a major reason, why most people aren't migrating off. As others have said, FFXIV is a social game. Whether you're a roleplayer or not, unless your friends are willing to move, it's going to be rough taking the leap yourself.

SE needs to improve its server architecture and/or hardware. They created the problem of Balmung; they've known about it for years now, and they've done absolutely nothing meaningful to address the problem during FFXIV's low-population cycles. F*cking hold them responsible for fixing it, already. Asking people to leave behind their friends and communities isn't a solution - it's a cop-out.

I think Square should just go all united airlines on the balmaug players. Knock them out and drag them off the server.

I have an alternate idea.

Currently the main reason why people are refusing to transfer off of Balmung and Gilgamesh is because they have established friends and resources like housing that they cannot take to a different server, and the limits on what they can take with them are far too restrictive considering that. So why not do something like a server split, except not actually being a forced server split? Create a new server SPECIFICALLY to take in players from Balmung and Gilgamesh (or just Balmung), and ONLY for transfers from those servers (new character creation would probably have to be locked for about 2 months to determine how many are transferring over first). Said players that transfer to the new server will be allowed to keep all possessions except for housing plots and any FC-related progress (since I don't think any infrastructure exists to bring those over).

So the super big established FCs with housing in Balmung still won't have any incentive to transfer over, but larger groups of players who don't possess a housing plot would pretty much have no downside to making the jump since they get to keep everything else.

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Originally Posted by ExKage

The point is that yes I made that comment in extremely poor taste and stupidity that I am ashamed for doing so. The point was not to make light of the poor situation but because I think too many people are trying to trivialize something that isn't as trivial as they think it is. The point is also, I did drop it. You brought it back up.

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You don't get it. Nevermind, its to much to hash out.

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Originally Posted by SaitoHikari

I have an alternate idea.

Currently the main reason why people are refusing to transfer off of Balmung and Gilgamesh is because they have established friends and resources like housing that they cannot take to a different server. So why not do something like a server split, except not actually being a forced server split? Create a new server SPECIFICALLY to take in players from Balmung and Gilgamesh (or just Balmung), and ONLY for transfers from those servers (new character creation would probably have to be locked for about 2 months to determine how many are transferring over first). Said players that transfer to the new server will be allowed to keep all possessions except for housing plots and any FC-related progress (since I don't think any infrastructure exists to bring those over).

So the super big established FCs with housing in Balmung still won't have any incentive to transfer over, but larger groups of players who don't possess a housing plot would pretty much have no downside to making the jump since they get to keep everything else.

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SE needs to make the FC housing infrastructure. A server split should allow for everyone in either server to keep everything that they have - housing, furniture, FC stuff, friends list entries (for those who transfer with), linkshells, everything. I realize it's difficult to do this with normal transfers (a housing plot might not be available, for instance), but for a split? It's possible.

And I know it wouldn't be especially difficult to do this. The files containing relevant data are stored somewhere. Hell, even if you just cloned the server data entirely (which should copy over everything) and then "transferred" (deleted) everyone who no longer belonged on the respective server, that would do the trick. Why make excuses for SE to continue being lazy?

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Originally Posted by Reaperking386

I think Square should just go all united airlines on the balmaug players. Knock them out and drag them off the server.

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Didn't that make everyone hate United Airlines and tank their stock value? Is that something to emulate?

RPer here, but considering I never RP in-game, it's not really about losing the RP community for me.

I've been playing in Balmung since ARR release, I've met many people there and I also own a personal house. Even if my FC mates transferred, I'd still lose my house (which was a pain in the heart to get, mind you) and all the other friends I've made in-game. I'm sure most players are in the same situation; the server we initially choose becomes some sort of home for us, and losing everything we've build over the years is not an easy step.

This goes for people from other servers complaining about Balmung players who chose not to transfer. You can't simply ask everyone to leave everything behind to suit your personal needs, especially when you're not doing any sacrifice yourself. It's not easy, period.

On another note, if I were guaranteed that I could at least keep my house in the new server, I'd consider the option to transfer, even if it would still be a difficult step to take.

Blow it up and do a force server split. Clone the server 3x. Give people 3 months to choose. Once a choice has reached 40% of current population it can no longer be selected, people can switch out until the last day.

Players that don't select something will be joined with their FC leader if there's space, if there's no space they will be randomly distributed among the other two or just one if it ends up being a 40/40/20 split. Whichever hits the 40% mark will ban incoming transfers for at least 6 months.

Nobody loses their houses, some people will lose their FC and healthcare. They can designate 2 of the 3 as RP friendly.

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Originally Posted by Oaken

I agree that roleplayers are a minority on Balmung, but they are a sizable minority (perhaps 20%-49% of the player base). Reducing the RP player base on Balmung may not eliminate queues completely, but it would substantially and dramatically reduce the congestion issue on the server. One thing is certain: it would certainly not increase or harm the congestion issue on the server.

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I think you are vastly overestimating the number of RPers. More like 5%-20% of the Balmung player base.

As someone whos been in Balmung since 2010 I don't think he's overestimating at all. Hardcore rpers? perhaps a overestimate yes. Casual roleplayers? Oh honey were everywhere(and if there was a rp server id likely finally leave to help set up the community, though balmung has always been my home)

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Originally Posted by ExKage

I bet you tell people of Flint Michigan the same thing.

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And the reward for the dumbest thing ever said on these foeums goes to you dear boy. Wow you are a poor human being. I actually live in michigan. I dont tell the people of flint anything about my video game postings because it is not relevant to their situation.

Nice try though child.

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Originally Posted by SendohJin

Blow it up and do a force server split. Clone the server 3x. Give people 3 months to choose. Once a choice has reached 40% of current population it can no longer be selected

Players that don't select something will be joined with their FC leader if there's space, if there's no space they will be randomly distributed among the other two or just one if it ends up being a 40/40/20 split. Whichever hits the 40% mark will ban incoming transfers for at least 6 months.

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That is a terrible idea and the most people I see whining about Balmung are people who are not on the server, those of us who are on the server just want the AFK issue fixed but are fine with a temporary server queue because it wont last and if you dont want to handle it the free transfer is there and many have taken advantage of it.

What SE needs to do is keep the server completely locked and the population will slowly correct it self over time.

It's just kind of sad that we played and paid in 1.0, only to be locked to a server we couldn't leave and were essentially jailed to, while players yelled and screamed we ruined the game what with our rare items and gil and levels and should never be allowed to leave. People choose to come here and join us. I don't blame them, it's a wonderful server, it really is. But now once again I find myself being yelled and shamed for being someone on a sever that's always been bullied for crappy pve and erp and legacy and rp in general, for nothing more then being told to stay here, and welcoming the outside in.

Balmung is not your problem. Role players aren't your problem. A system poorly designed that was at the fault of higher ups telling the people to spend little make lots and get it out now now now. Even now I bet those people who tried really hard to make your voice known to these money gods are working on little sleep trying to make us happy, trying to make the bosses happy. Please for the love of god stop blaming people who were jailed to a server that called to people like a sirens song and were shunned and told to back off and the devs who work all day and night to please the gods of players and bosses.

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Originally Posted by MistakeNot

I think you are vastly overestimating the number of RPers. More like 5%-20% of the Balmung player base.

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No, I think he was pretty much correct in his estimation, especially if you include the casual RPers as pointed out above.

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Originally Posted by Rita1989

That is a terrible idea and the most people I see whining about Balmung are people who are not on the server, those of us who are on the server just want the AFK issue fixed but are fine with a temporary server queue because it wont last and if you dont want to handle it the free transfer is there and many have taken advantage of it.

What SE needs to do is keep the server completely locked and the population will slowly correct it self over time.

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i didn't start the topic. and my server has housing problems, yours is going to be much worse.

I wonder what the next complaint will be? Asking SE to effectively pay players to get off Balmung?

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Originally Posted by ExKage

I bet you tell people of Flint Michigan the same thing.

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Moving put of an area irl is not free. Moving from one server to another IS CURRENTLY free. Dumb comparison is dumb.

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Originally Posted by Oaken

I agree that roleplayers are a minority on Balmung, but they are a sizable minority (perhaps 20%-49% of the player base). Reducing the RP player base on Balmung may not eliminate queues completely, but it would substantially and dramatically reduce the congestion issue on the server. One thing is certain: it would certainly not increase or harm the congestion issue on the server.

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Originally Posted by Inuk9

Another "My server is full, I wanna people to leave but don't wanna leave myself"

there is already enough motivation for you and your friends to move but nobody does expecting other people to leave.

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I have a great Idea to make OP to put up or shut up... make Balmung the official RP server then offer to send off the non-RPer to another server... if his numbers are right, either option is viable. So exile the non-RPers. Sounds like a good plan, OP.