How long until transfers to the big servers return?

Don't think something like this has happened before, so curious on guesses.

the locked servers are overpopulated to an absurd degree and should have been completely locked like this years ago. They will not be unlocked until such time as the population shrinks significantly. Which means a lot of people have to transfer out. So I'm gonna go with a conservative estimate of...
Never.

Depends on how the launch of SB goes and if people take advantage of the free transfers.

Assuming the attempts to woo players to new servers (free game time is not one I've seen offered before so that could prove to be a nice incentive) are relatively successful?

I'd guess no sooner than December 2017 (and that's being hilariously optimistic), with a more likely time frame being 9 months to a year out.

The whole thing would need time (imo) to really start encouraging players to move and for new communities to form and become established enough to be stable and not just transfer back when they are opened again, and that process is likely to take time.

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Originally Posted by Areonus

the locked servers are overpopulated to an absurd degree and should have been completely locked like this years ago. They will not be unlocked until such time as the population shrinks significantly. Which means a lot of people have to transfer out. So I'm gonna go with a conservative estimate of...
Never.

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I hope it isn't never. It makes hard to invite friends into the game when they can't get a character on the same server I am, and I am already rather invested into the server with my FC and the friends that are on Gilgamesh and the same goes for them. Sure there's cross world parties, but not being on the same server can suck a bit.

An easier solution is to transfer off to join your friends on a open server. Not being mean but that is the only answer right now. The population needs to go down and spread to other servers.

Till then it will hopefully remain locked tight.

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Originally Posted by Yahallo

I hope it isn't never. It makes hard to invite friends into the game when they can't get a character on the same server I am, and I am already rather invested into the server with my FC and the friends that are on Gilgamesh and the same goes for them. Sure there's cross world parties, but not being on the same server can suck a bit.

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Which is exactly WHY they'll probably never be unlocked. Unless some people decide to bite the bullet and give up their connections and friends or convince those friends to go with them, the servers will never de-populate. Square should probably keep the locks up for a fair bit after Server populations stabilize so that people become invested in their new server, otherwise everyone that left can/will just transfer back in. This rendering this lockdown an exercise in futility. Yes it does suck. But it also completely necessary for he health and survival of the servers and ultimately this game.

I think I'm the only Balmung player that hopes we stay closed for a while. I understand the plight of others but we are way too full.

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Originally Posted by Areonus

Which is exactly WHY they'll probably never be unlocked. Unless some people decide to bite the bullet and give up their connections and friends or convince those friends to go with them, the servers will never de-populate. Square should probably keep the locks up for a fair bit after Server populations stabilize so that people become invested in their new server, otherwise everyone that left can/will just transfer back in. This rendering this lockdown an exercise in futility. Yes it does suck. But it also completely necessary for he health and survival of the servers and ultimately this game.

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Then we will have to hope it won't backfire and reduce the number of players entering the game, because people may not decide to bite the bullet. I know I am highly unlikely to give up my connections and friends on Gilgamesh. Not only do I want to maintain these relationships on a personal level, but some of them can be useful in a professional sense as I am in the same field of study as a number of my friends and FC mates.

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Originally Posted by Atlas-04

An easier solution is to transfer off to join your friends on a open server. Not being mean but that is the only answer right now. The population needs to go down and spread to other servers.

Till then it will hopefully remain locked tight.

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That's assuming that people don't already have friends and relationships on their current server. I am rather unsure about how effective this will be. Yes, server distribution will end up more even but whether or not it will be to the degree that they are aiming for or if it was the right cause for such a result remains to be seen. It could just end up evening out because new players can't join the locked servers and thus become forced to join other servers thus causing the overpopulation to technically remain.

My other concern is that, if the amount of new players entering decrease due to this, and they join a less populated server while people don't migrate to smaller servers, the smaller communities may not be able to stabilize as people may not stay due to a lack of a stable community in their server. I hope this won't be the case but it is a possibility.

Right now, I am unable to get any of my friends who aren't already playing the game to join FFXIV, and I don't think I will be able to convince them otherwise as long as the lock remains. I hope that this lock does work and the other servers quickly build up a community so that the lock goes away and I can try inviting my friends again, but at the same time I have my doubts onto whether or not the lock will work.

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Originally Posted by AnaviAnael

I think I'm the only Balmung player that hopes we stay closed for a while. I understand the plight of others but we are way too full.

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You're not the only one.