Low pop server / Server inactivity

Happy Thursday everyone,

I tried doing a search on the forums to see if this topic has been brought up but I didnt find anything concrete (Or I am just bad at searching).

I play on Coeurl.I have been on this server since launch. While it never seemed to have been a medium to high server, over the last couple of months, it has seen quite a drastic drop in activity mostly due to people either quitting the game or transferring out to higher populated servers in search for greener pastures. The party finder is pretty deserted - which has forced players to depend completely on their statics and kind of broken a bit the sense of community.

Has there been any official word on possible server merges or cross server party finders for the servers on the low pop end to help allieviate the stress on Free Companies that currently reside on these low pop servers? We try to keep a good stream of communication between FC leaders, and just this week, I found about three more that are leaving the server. It's a bit sad because we dont want to give up on the server but we can't pretend the problem isn't there or it will just resolve itself either.

Thanks for taking the time to read this!

~ Paris

Sadly to say, I doubt there will be any server mergers ... shareholders and the like will view mergers as the game is failing... WoW didn't even do that, they did that their instance thing... whatever... instead of just merging ... :(

I assume you are correct about server merges. It always seems to carry with it a cloud of dread. I wouldn't mind a similar system to Wow's instance thingy thing or even a cross server party finder. In fact, I think a cross server party finder would be everything anyone really needs on a low pop server. It would allow for those willing to stay on the server to keep working as a community but open up other venues when they want to get some content when people just aren't around. Thanks for the input Lilyanna.

I am also on Coeurl and am sad to witness its decline. A cross server PF would help some of the newer players on Coeurl clear content and more established players form farming parties.

Coeurl here too, and it has gotten especially bad lately. I have five or six linkshells, and over the last couple of weeks alone, three have gone from bustling to dead silent. Even hunts are painfullyyy slow nowadays. But that said, decent patch is coming next week and its only a few more months to expansion; Coeurl may see lots of new players soon. It's too early to shout for abandoning the whole ship.

I agree. Which is why we haven't given up on the server. In fact, For the next month or so, leading up to heavensward, we have some server activities planned out to keep things a bit lively and bond more as a community. Our first one being a server wide fun community lottery. This post is merely a call out to the powers that be to recognize that some servers are having a bit more difficult time than others and hopes that the ball is rolling to implement some type of solution however small it may be : )

As each day passes, we lose more and more friends and neighbors. Please expedite the cross server party finder or please start merging servers! Waiting until after heavensward will be too late for Coeurl.

But but why cant every new character be created on Balmung???

I am on Coeurl , as are all my friends, I don't have any intention of leaving, also paris I might buy some lottery tickets from ya when I get home tonight

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Originally Posted by OlyverW

I am on Coeurl , as are all my friends, I don't have any intention of leaving, also paris I might buy some lottery tickets from ya when I get home tonight

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Great! Thanks Olyver. This is the original thread located in the Coeurl Forums for reference:
http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/t...url-Lottery%21

Paris --

I am sorry to hear what is going on with your particular server. Ultros seems to have been roughly the same way as of late; but we've attributed some of this to a. waiting for 2.5 and the followup 2.5x content or b. even 3.0. I hope things get better for you guys.

Cheers.

All they have to do is get rid of the LEGACY tags and people will stop fleeing.

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Originally Posted by Lilyanna

shareholders and the like will view mergers as the game is failing... (

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What shareholders? SE owns it, just like originally with WoW and Blizzard.

FFXIV is not in the same boat as 95% of all the other MMO out there that actually have to listen to shareholder *demands* and implement them regardless of what the main company says.

If SE really wants to do it, they will. Just like they did with XI... Though, I really don't see it happening at this point, especially with 3.0 so close. The game is still far too popular.

Many of the problems where it seems like worlds are less active (imo) are due to most people not working on low content anymore and strictly farming for things like light. People are still in the game, just doing different content.

Couerl also
I've noticed a drop in pop also - some maps just end up barren except for an occasional newbie player - which could also just be an Alt (like I have) - doing a quest or gatherers here and there. Fate trains in Coerthas and Costa del Sol just don't seem quite as big and even Mor Dhona doesn't seem as bustling lately (hell, even with my bad memory I'm starting to pick out and recognize names of persistant Mor Dhonuts visitors - I couldn't do that before, from sheer amount of people + bad memory). With exception of some occasions (like the fat chocobo train chain)

2.5 and it's splits might bring people back long enough for Heavensward, I hope.... or at least lessen the loss of interest in the timespan of between 2.5 and Heavensward

Edit: Like Rhas said, it could be that the server's player base is now just "too old" for running the older content - but that also might also mean we're not getting many actual newbies that stick around, either

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Originally Posted by Rhas

What shareholders? SE owns it, just like originally with WoW and Blizzard.

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You do realize Square Enix itself has shareholders, right? They can view servers merging or population dropping as failure depending on the incoming revenue. And they do have a say on what happens within the company, FFXIV included.

http://www.hd.square-enix.com/eng/ir/faq.html

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Originally Posted by Noahlimits

You do realize Square Enix itself has shareholders, right? They can view servers merging or population dropping as failure depending on the incoming revenue. And they do have a say on what happens within the company, FFXIV included.

http://www.hd.square-enix.com/eng/ir/faq.html

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Again, FFXIV is not in the same boat as 95% of all the other MMO out there that actually have to listen to shareholder *demands* and implement them regardless of what the main company says.

Look at all the companies out there that have made a mess of things strictly because of shareholders. Lets just throw out the MMO name LOTRO as a perfect example, for instance. Or GW2.... How's SWTOR doing after being forced to go F2P. I really shouldn't have to go on at this point.

The main thing is, the shareholders SE does have don't have much real input about getting things forced into/onto the game. SE holds the control. Sure if enough investors tell SE they would like to see a certain thing or another, they may try to accommodate but SE will never be forced into implementing something it doesn't want to.

Problem is that the endgame scene has died out. I remember fall gourd being bustling during Scob but with Fcob, in N. than its just the two to three statics that I see. I used to raid before I moved but stuff happened so I had to stop. However the fact that there are little to no "good" t8-9 farm groups has led me to believe why ppl are leaving. I don't want to waste raid time gearing alts and neither do some of the serious players in the server. Before you say I am elitist I would like to say that I expect people to at least know how to play their job and if they don't ask questions. Idm helping, and I have helped a couple ppl in my ls get their t9 clears. But its starts to get annoying when u want to gear for glamour but you can't clear nerfed content.

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Originally Posted by Marxam

I remember fall gourd being bustling during Scob but with Fcob, in N. than its just the two to three statics that I see.

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This is not just low server pop, but the fact that t9 is still a huge wall for most people without a static or in a casual static. A lot of people just do not have it unlocked. It is same even on a high pop server like Balmung, there are people there yes but not like fallgourd was.

A lot of valid points all around. Thanks all for the input and civil discourse.

While its hardly scientific, I am basing my statements on the monitoring of party finder/forums and linkshells/ Free Company status (Size numbers and transfers)- as well as conversations with a lot of the still active veteran FC's on the server - I'm sure there is still people playing on Coeurl but its not quite what it used to be. In Prime time you only see a couple of things in party finder , where one of them is probably someone hunting and another is crafter selling his services, and possibly a T9 or shiva farm. Ocassionally, we do break that mold and get some things rolling but its few and far in between. I dont mean to paint Coeurl as a dead server but was just wondering if there were any talks or if anyone had any knowledge of SE mentioning/addressing this issue.

As far as T9, its still a gate for some that don't have the oppprtunity to run with a static. While I have noticed that a static that is replacing a member for FCoB has no issue getting the T9 clear for someone that doesn't really help all the other people.

My FC runs strike teams on Saturday evenings. We try to get clears for people and teach them the fights. We are thinking of extending that service and taking down names of people interested in forming statics and try to get people together. In simple terms, offering the server a service to form static pugs, in hopes that they can become permanent statics.

While the future is indeed unclear. We try to keep trucking a long with a smile on our face.

Unfortunately, threads like this will only do more harm than good to your server. :( Now anyone coming to the OF to look for a good server that sees this thread probably will not pick Coeurl as a destination.

What can SE do to funnel new players to Coeurl or similar low pop servers? As of now, they close the high pop servers. Sadly, it takes a crowd to draw a crowd. Look at Balmung for example... folks would rather not play at all if they can't get into THAT server. >< People come to the OF and ask for 'active' servers.

What can players do? Advertise the shit out of your home server. What does your server offer that others don't? What about the FCs? You mention events, market those. Do you have friendly people willing to help newbies? Say so. Good place for solo players? See if you can entice them. Low cost (and still available) housing? Let people know.

Good luck! :o

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Originally Posted by PariSexus

taking down names of people interested in forming statics and try to get people together. In simple terms, offering the server a service to form static pugs, in hopes that they can become permanent statics.

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My FC friends might be interested in that I know we are trying to progress through the coil. I will mention it to them tonight

Yep, I hear ya Valia. I had my reservations on posting for those exact reasons. If I just picked up the game and was doing research on which server to go to and bumped into a thread like this, it would more than likely not be very high on the priority list but I felt the issue needed to be addressed not only because Im sure other servers are in the same boat and were probably wondering the same things but because some of us refuse to give up and are willing to fight the good fight.

Your suggestions are amazing. We once had planned to do a Coeurl recruitment video and as the holidays came and went the idea kinda fell on the side. Maybe its time to revive it. Which reminds me of this video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=enObyhmmqdo

lol. We had a lot of fun making it. Maybe its time to update it too. Thanks for the pep talk Valia!

Things do tend to slow down right before a patch. They've done that with each patch since launch in my experience. People have been doing the same content for 3 months and are bored so they take time to play something else. Hopefully many will return next week.

I actually have an alt on Couerl, simply because I like the name. (I don't think I have any friends who play on it. Adamantoise, Behemoth, Leviathan (which has become the defacto Twitch.tv server) & Diabolos are all servers that I have friends on.) That being said, activity could also be affected by school starting back up. Game and server activity does fluctuate during certain times of the year.

There are servers that are full to Bursting. Balmung's pretty much closed all regular server registration windows, reserving them to post-maintenance hours. Players complaining that they can't get their friends into more populated servers because of this. It's all a matter of players wanting to condense where it is popular to do so.

I wish SE would encourage players to go into lesser populated servers to relieve congestion. There are still lots of disconnects whenever Odin and Behemoth spawn and A and S rank hunts are a madhouse. As much as I would like to welcome everyone onto Balmung as I could, I feel as if we're now hurting players on other servers as well as potential players by frustrating them.

OP, I feel your plight on the other end of the bridge. Hopefully players will return and distribute better when Heavensward a comes out, along with the burst of activity we normally get with each numeral patch.

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Originally Posted by PariSexus

some of us refuse to give up and are willing to fight the good fight.

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There is always gonna be a natural ebb and flow to the activity on any server. Don't let it bring you down; look at the bigger picture. Trust me, we've weathered this kind of stuff on Atomos. We're one stubborn ass flock of Americans who stuck it out on a JP server even after free transfers were offered (if y'all remember the NA sign in fiasco during Early Access). I'm the third FC leader after the first two bailed; I've had a senior officer tell me "this FC will never amount to anything" before he left. I have busted my ass over the past year to make Harmonium the kind of FC that prompts quotes like the ones I've put in my siggy below; hell, my whole FC has. I'm proud of each and every one of em and am always humbled and thrilled when folks move in from the more 'famous' servers to be with us. We're now an international FC with two prime times, medium sized yet cozy (largest on Atomos though), and always in the top ten of FC standings if not holding the number 1 spot. I couldn't be more proud to be a member.

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Originally Posted by PariSexus

Thanks for the pep talk Valia!

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You're very welcome! :o Thank you for giving me the opportunity to soapbox! xD

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Originally Posted by OlyverW

My FC friends might be interested in that I know we are trying to progress through the coil. I will mention it to them tonight

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I can already say I'd be down with that - though I'm not always available every sat night if that hurts any chances :\

Saseal,

Saturday's is just when we run the strike teams though Im sure if given notice we can put together something for another night. What we envision for the static pug forming though is put together 8 people that mesh well and let them figure out how the scheduling would work amongst themselves. It wont always work, but if you have a big enough pool of names/availabilities - you can make time schedules work. From there its up to them to make it work personality wise so it can become a permanent static (Not sure if all this makes sense)

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Originally Posted by PariSexus

It wont always work, but if you have a big enough pool of names/availabilities - you can make time schedules work. From there its up to them to make it work personality wise so it can become a permanent static (Not sure if all this makes sense)

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Aha, it does make sense, actually :D Thanks for the info!

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Originally Posted by Lilyanna

WoW didn't even do that, they did that their instance thing... whatever... instead of just merging ... :(

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Wow's servers are essentially merged now.

^

While it wasn't officially a merge. This feature they implemented works really well. Wow also has what is called "Connected Realms" where, they group up certain realms (different than the battlegroups) and the players on these realms can trade amongst each other and be in cross server guilds. Another great feature.

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Originally Posted by Lilyanna

... shareholders and the like will view mergers as the game is failing...

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You can't have shares in FFXIV, it's not like it's made by a small company with only one IP. You can have shares in SE, but shareholders in SE won't be paying any attention to things like patches or server merges, only revenue and subscription numbers (if they even bother to look in that much detail).

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Originally Posted by Rhas

Sure if enough investors tell SE they would like to see a certain thing or another, they may try to accommodate but SE will never be forced into implementing something it doesn't want to.

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There are no investors in XIV, only Shareholders in SE. The only pressure that can be put on Yoshi-P is from his immediate superiors (or us).