Balmung - Seriously need a better system then WORLD IS CLOSED constantly

Ok so I'm fairly new, my 30 day free trial isn't up yet and I paid my 18 bucks to transfer into Balmung since in my first week it was constantly closed (2 friends already on this world). Now FF14 is on sale for the PS4 and I've touted this game (since I like it a lot) to a few of my friends. Well 1 of them bought it already and Balmung is still not open! So the other 2 refuse to buy it because what's the point of playing an MMO if you can't play with friends?!

So long story short, my question is, What is the best way to get into a world? I assume we're doing something wrong because I can't believe a company would deliberately set up a system which discourages people from buying their product. Please someone, anyone, help me!!

(Thank you for reading!)



Edit 1/19/2015: So my friend just paid the 18 like me to transfer in and my other 2 buds simply won't play. Oh well, crappy system. Guess one of the Marvel MMO's used an invite system to let friends play together in full worlds, might be worth FF14's time to rethink their way of doing things.

It's a typical problem with server based mmos.. some servers will be more populated than others and will be harder to get on. This is typically a problem at launch and free transfers are offered. I've never seen this problem years later. So I don't know what can be done about it.

Is it always closed or just during peak times? Try checking in the middle of the night or something?

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Originally Posted by Slapped_Silly

It's a typical problem with server based mmos.. some servers will be more populated than others and will be harder to get on. This is typically a problem at launch and free transfers are offered. I've never seen this problem years later. So I don't know what can be done about it.

Is it always closed or just during peak times? Try checking in the middle of the night or something?

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Most of the legacies and Tonberry are pretty much permanently closed. I've been trying to move to Tonberry T_T

Get your friends to move to a less populated world

If Balmung was always closed because of heavy population, then why did you choose to go to Balmung? On top of that, why try and force your friends to do the same?

I mean, seriously, if the place is so full that they lock it out, why do people keep trying to force themselves in? ... and complain when they can't?

Guys, if you keep cramming yourselves into Balmung like sardines, you're going to kill it! :(

I concur currently having the same problem on Sargatanas had a friend that joined the game by recommendation of me and 6 other people we have playing. He's spent the first 4 days after buying the game trying to get on the server. Even more so the website currently says the server is accepting new character creations and when he opens his client he gets told the world is closed.

Thank you for your replys!

Well the problem is that 2 of my friends were already on the server and have been for a while. I've been wanting to get FF14 for a while now and finally decided to since they were playing. Had I known Balmung would be pretty much closed I would not have bought this game. I actually played till level 15 when I realized I wasn't in Balmung and just decided to pay the 18 to transfer since one person paying is less than two.

After 3 weeks or so the game goes on sale and lo and behold 3 of my friends decide they want to join the 3 of us already playing. So it's not quite as simple as had we all joined at the same time, in which case we would have just chosen a less populated world. (We're not that stubborn where we just had to join Balmung lol)

No I thought there wasn't a good way around this but I figured I'd ask just in case someone knew of a way. We'll just keep trying to find an opening, but so far even 3am EST has seen Balmung closed :(

The problem with Balmung is it is a 'Legacy' server that was one of the servers for the original version of FFXIV (version 1.0), and back then, it had been designated by players as the 'unofficial role-play server', thus it's always had a very large population and this didn't change going into ARR it's only increased in popularity.

Unfortunately because of this abnormal popularity, it makes inviting new people to play on it very difficult - but it is possible, you just have to try creating a character during it's quiet time (in the early morning specifically when a lot of players are in bed and only the night owls like me are still playing ;)), as it's often restricted during peak times.

Do it either right before or right after maintenance. I was able to make an alt on Balmung with no issues about five minutes before maintenance began.

Trying to cram people in will just ruin the fun for you and/or others who happen to have joined when was not full. People can't get on unless someone gets off and not just in character creation but logging in queues too. It is hard to know whether just because someone's subscription ends they will or will not be back hence leaving spot open or shut long term closing of worlds from SE perspective it would be hard to solve from their end especially if the players won't apply common sense themselves, not trying to squeeze themselves into full servers despite clearly being full already.

I do not think that's fair if the other person made their character on it before other people tried to cheat the system by forcing their character on it in off peak hours given they will be trying to play that character in peak hours too forcing the other person to wait in queues even though that person made their char there first. Even if get on you will sometimes be forced to queue to get in because of your actions and others who do the same, as a legacy player on a legacy server I admit I am biased so it annoys me that I have to wait in queue of over a thousand people sometimes who crammed themselves in despite being a full server already.

Why got cap on server capacity? Why they don't just mix up the servers?
Less population server are boring, and some new player trying go to server that have more people from their Region eg: Tonberry for SEA.
Some new player play this game because they got invited by their friend, its hard for their friend to leave their current main character and FC just to play with you at empty server.

Sorry, not mean any harm, just to express my opinion here.

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Originally Posted by nuyu11

Why got cap on server capacity? Why they don't just mix up the servers?
Less population server are boring, and some new player trying go to server that have more people from their Region eg: Tonberry for SEA.
Some new player play this game because they got invited by their friend, its hard for their friend to leave their current main character and FC just to play with you at empty server.

Sorry, not mean any harm, just to express my opinion here.

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Overcapacity affects server stability is the short answer hence the caps. I would prefer they upgrade their server infrastructure already as it is way past long overdue anyways and affecting many areas of the game but even if they did so it would only potentially raise the cap not remove the need for them.

I wish they upgrade it, especially for popular server.

Well waiting in a queue to load in even with 14 people (like last night) I got in within 60 seconds.

My main issue with the current set up is that if you already have friends established on a certain server, such as in my case, and want to get other friends to join in you can't without paying 18 dollars to transfer in or hoping it opens up on "off peak" hours (though that never happened with Balmung). It's just a very poor system right now and it discourages new business, admittedly my 2 friends who won't buy the game are a small loss, this has pry happened before and will pry happen again.

There has to be a better way, perhaps an invite system where if you have a certain amount of invites you can get into the world? Or all people to jump worlds when they wish, basically cross-world party systems. Something!

Well, sadly it is a mistake to have an unrealistic expectation that a highly populated server like Balmung can be freely accessed at any time of day regardless - in a perfect world, yes, that's what things would be like. But we're not in a perfect world, and limits/restrictions apply to everything. Basically, think of the game servers like a freeway - it's built to handle only a certain amount of traffic at once, and if too many cars try to use it at the same time, you get congestion and traffic jams, especially if you try using it a certain time of the day. This is exactly what is happening to Balmung - too many people are using it.

And even though it's easy to say "why don't they just upgrade the servers to handle more people?", continuing with the freeway analogy, you can increase a freeway so it's wider and has more lanes, but there is only so much land you can take up for expansions/new lanes. Sooner or later, a solid limit is reached that it cannot physically handle any more.

Like it or not, servers can only handle so many connections at once, no matter how much it's upgraded or tinkered with.

Also it should be noted SE already tried a 'server invite' system once before with FFXI called the 'World Pass' system (as FFXI's server assignment when you created a character was completely random based on how populated the servers were at that time) - sadly it didn't work well and was unpopular with players (mostly because you had to buy it as an in-game item with gil, and they weren't cheap either). In the end SE scrapped the system and allowed players to choose whichever server they wanted when creating their character, just like FFXIV does. There's no easy solution to this problem I'm afraid. You just have to be patient and understanding, and try creating a character during a server's quiet time.

I think If some item or mount are account wide, that should not be a problem.
Some veteran player would not change to the less populate server to play with their new friend and leave everything behind.
This game is nice and bit unique but got some drawback, there is no bubble chat.
World Of Warcraft got no issue with the server capacity, I'm expecting more from SE actually.

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Originally Posted by Snugglebutt

I do not think that's fair if the other person made their character on it before other people tried to cheat the system by forcing their character on it in off peak hours given they will be trying to play that character in peak hours too forcing the other person to wait in queues even though that person made their char there first.

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It is not "cheating the system" if the world is open for character creation. If SE really didn't want anyone to be able to create new characters there, they would put a stop on character creation AND not allow anyone to transfer characters there from other worlds, neither of which they've done.

I have yet to wait in a single queue to log onto Balmung. I get queues on Gilgamesh more often than I do Balmung. What's more, I've never waited in a queue for more than a minute, so it's not as if it's making a horrible imposition on you.

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Originally Posted by LunaHoshino

It is not "cheating the system" if the world is open for character creation. If SE really didn't want anyone to be able to create new characters there, they would put a stop on character creation AND not allow anyone to transfer characters there from other worlds, neither of which they've done.

I have yet to wait in a single queue to log onto Balmung. I get queues on Gilgamesh more often than I do Balmung. What's more, I've never waited in a queue for more than a minute, so it's not as if it's making a horrible imposition on you.

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Of course your cheating the system when do it, the system is flawed and people take advantage of that. It's ironic that you seem to imply I am making mountains out of molehills yet you complain about something so minor as to which turn of phrase I use to describe it. Another way you could say it is 'gaming/manipulating/playing the system' if don't like the phrase cheating the system meaning doing something to bypass the restrictions despite those restrictions existing for a reason.

The flaw being Squeenix have set up a flawed logic gate in which server is closed to new characters at peak times but not off peak times which is fine if people who created their character at off peak times did so because they play at off peak times for the majority of the time...yet a large amount of the ones who create their character during off peak times do not even play at off peak times most of the time, they play at peak times which is when the server is shown to be full and why they couldn't create it at peak times to which causes the congestion queues (Ragnarok for example queues I come across sometimes go up as high as 1300-2000 after pretty much every maintenance for me) and it lags in quite a few areas of the game due to overcapacity of which the restriction was intended to help alleviate.

You make it sound like I am holding a banner saying the end is nigh or in a fit of rage about it which is not true, it's not like they pushed a relative of mine under a bus or threw a kitten out a window but it is somewhat 'annoying'. My main point though is simply I would much prefer people started using some common sense when see a server is often listed as closed then realize it is closed for a reason and create your character on a different server that needs more players and has ample room for them.

At the moment it's like trying to fit a dozen or more people in the worlds smallest car and ignoring the reality of how damaging to the performance of that car it is and that it is damaging to the comfort and enjoyment of the person who got in first. It's not fair in the sense if that car was for example a taxi designed to hold a certain capacity at any given time and you got in first...then twenty other people who was not with you squeezed themselves in way beyond it's capacity like people noticing they could push someone else into a corner and squish themselves in and then also strap themselves to the roof/bonnet and boot of that tiny car instead of simple getting in the next car. The taxi driver allowing it because makes him more money; but it wouldn't be fair on the person who got in first.

If the server is telling you this most of the time...

http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g2...cdef54cac3.jpg

...common sense is not "Oh let me squeeze in there too!" or "There is room to strap myself to the roof so that's what I'll do!" just because you can potentially do those things. You could jump in front of a train but common sense should tell you it's not a wise decision to make. I can't recall which MMO it was but there was one I played (might have been WoW) which allowed for free server transfers once every few weeks or maybe once a month or two, that helped alleviate the imbalance slightly between servers but it will not solve the problem long term until people start using some common sense by not trying to squeeze themselves into a server they already know is at capacity most of the time hence so often it tells you it's closed to new players. Your not told it is closed out of spite, it's for good reasons such as stress on the server, overcapacity causing queues and lag for example among other things.

It's too long to read...
I'm start to enjoy my current server, but my main issue is latency, not try dungeons yet.
The only reason I want to go to Tonberry or Masamune is because for latency and I have friends there.

The definition u mention is a bit over in my opinion, maybe you're mad because you can't play in peace with all player walking around bugging your activity.

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Originally Posted by Snugglebutt

Of course your cheating the system when do it, the system is flawed and people take advantage of that.

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No, it is not. The system is working exactly the way SE intended, which is to discourage brand new players from picking the highly populated servers at random off the server list when starting their character. As I said, if they did not want ANYONE to create new characters there, they could simply shut down character creation and transfer entirely. The fact that they didn't is a clear indicator that they are trying to limit the number of new characters created on those servers rather than trying to cut it off completely. They've still left it available so that players who really want to join their friends on those servers can do so, whether it be by waiting for the character creation window to open briefly or by creating a character on another world and transferring.

Way to take what I said and remove the context in a quote.

The context of that sentence being the entire first few paragraphs you decided to ignore.

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Originally Posted by Snugglebutt

Way to take what I said and remove the context in a quote.

The context of that sentence being the entire first few paragraphs you decided to ignore.

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Your argument holds no water. SE could easily just put a lock on character creation if they wanted to do so. They haven't done so. Therefore, there is no "cheating/gaming/whatever the system" involved if people make characters while the window is open or transfer them from another server. You are not bypassing restrictions; the restrictions aren't in place at those points.

I have no doubt that SE monitors the server load very carefully-- that's why they have open/closed windows for character creation in the first place. They set up the system and they clearly feel that it's working, so they aren't going to change it no matter how much you complain.

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Originally Posted by LunaHoshino

Your argument holds no water. SE could easily just put a lock on character creation if they wanted to do so. They haven't done so. Therefore, there is no "cheating/gaming/whatever the system" involved if people make characters while the window is open or transfer them from another server. You are not bypassing restrictions; the restrictions aren't in place at those points.

I have no doubt that SE monitors the server load very carefully-- that's why they have open/closed windows for character creation in the first place. They set up the system and they clearly feel that it's working, so they aren't going to change it no matter how much you complain.

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I never said they should or should not change the system, I said people should use some common sense.

If a server is often showing as full and locked, take the hint instead of trying to get around it by creation during off peak hours so you can play during peak hours once created on an already over-crowded server. There is a lot of servers that could benefit from population increase which are not filled to the brink already causing large scale latency and queues like which happens on mine along with other problems due to the over-population.

As for your other comments, I already addressed those in a previous post and as for your snide comment about 'no matter how much I complain' I would like to point out I have only spoken about this issue in one (maybe two at most) threads in total over past 3+ years and only half dozen posts on the entire subject during that period...so by 'no matter how much I complain' I have to assume you mean by 'how little I complain' about it.

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Originally Posted by Snugglebutt

If a server is often showing as full and locked, take the hint instead of trying to get around it by creation during off peak hours so you can play during peak hours once created on an already over-crowded server. There is a lot of servers that could benefit from population increase which are not filled to the brink already causing large scale latency and queues like which happens on mine along with other problems due to the over-population.

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People who wait for character creation windows to be open are following the rules as set by SE. If a world says "This world is currently allowing new characters," then someone has every right to make a character on it. The only people who are going to go through the trouble to wait for an open window on a world like that are the people who really want to be there (usually because they have friends on that server); the ones who don't care what server they're on are going to pick another world that's open. It's rather arrogant of you to be saying "people shouldn't do this" when SE has set it up specifically to make it possible for people to transfer in from other servers or wait until creation is open during off-peak hours.

They're the ones who ultimately have control over the servers. The fact that they are leaving the system the way it is is a pretty clear sign that they don't think it's a problem.

Did you also turn around and call your parents arrogant or the adults around you if/when they told you to not take candy from strangers, not to cross the road without looking or not to run with scissors when you was a child? You can do all those things, the world does not stop you from doing so. Saying use common sense is no more or less arrogant on this subject than it is in the examples I gave above. Using the excuse just because you can do something as a reason you should not use common sense is also not a good excuse. No-one is forcing you to agree with me on this but your not going to change my opinion on the subject just because you do not like how I expressed it, a phrase I used or that I dared to express my opinion on the subject in the first place.

We are done here, clearly nothing more can be gained with replying to you on this subject.

I'm trying to get on it because it seems the most active rp server. At 12pm UK time it wasn't open.

I'm able to create a character at Masamune, even I'm fail at Tonberry.
With full of patience I'm putting this whole week trying to get into Japanese Server.
My friend at Tonberry introduced me with some player at Masamune who is same country as me.
They add me into FC and link shell, I'm totally grateful that I go to Masamune.
I'm on the edge to quit this game actually, time zone difference on NA server is hard for me to find a friends.

This has become an exceedingly upsetting issue for my friends and I as well. We've been on Balmung since launch, and with all the new content being announced we have about 5 new players looking to join us on Balmung. I've had the Lodestone saved on my phone, checking every single interval that the character creation restriction page is updated as I can. Balmung has almost been closed solid for a month now according to the page.

You obviously can't pick up you company and move it with you, nor ask a dozen people to all pay 18 dollars to transfer elsewhere. So all we can do is sit around with our fingers crossed, apparently.

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Originally Posted by Fellheart

You obviously can't pick up you company and move it with you, nor ask a dozen people to all pay 18 dollars to transfer elsewhere. So all we can do is sit around with our fingers crossed, apparently.

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It seems about time that SE should consider offering free transfers to those who want to transfer off of some of the busiest servers like yours onto less crowded ones. After all, it would help not only players but SE themselves to have them balanced out better. And maybe without that $18 per person hurdle, it might become feasible for at least some groups to coordinate moves like that. (Housing would be an issue, though, as it's something you can't transfer with you.)

I stated earlier in this thread that other MMO's have done so from time to time too and would be a good thing to do alongside people using common sense in regards to not always trying to squeeze onto a single server which is clearly filled to the brim already which is why it is locked a lot of the time with people trying to find ways around that lockout to the detriment of server stability. So I am very much in favor of free transfers maybe one weekend per month or maybe an service event from time to time every few months which allows for it for a day or so now and again.

I concur. We need a free transfer! I played beta 1.0 and got pushed into Balmung. I didn't even ask to be on Balmung. It is now SO STUPIDLY crowded.

I'm Australian so I'm on at wierd hours for a US server but I still get queued. It's not my fault its overcrowded and I don't get to play often because of IRL commitments. So it is VERY annoying when I do have spare time but can't get in, or am in an instance and get booted to requeue! Also 0% housing.

A free transfer means my mates and I can all decide to jump ship together, its harder when you all need to commit to paying as well. And as an Aussie they force me to pay in Euro so anytime I use mogstation I get extra bank fees too.More people want in, I'm happy to move out if not costly. I'm sure others feel the same...

Unless they've decided to let us get so packed and angry that we all pay a mint to move!

I'd rather just quit then if it keeps being this bad : Getting very sick of indulging poor customer service.

I'm new to FF, and while not on Balmung, I'm on Gilgamesh, a server also highly populated. Especially right now. But there is something I fundamentally don't understand, and hope that someone can explain it to me.

I'm on Gilgamesh. I have a character there. However it didn't work out for me, and now I wish to create another character. As far as I know, there is no way to log into two characters at once on the same license.

So why can't I create a new character and log in? I already have a slot. What difference does it make what character I am on? I'm still only going to count for one place. :/ So, I made it on another server, away from my friends, and will have to pay $$ to get it there after 3 days. Sounds like a scam, unless I'm not understanding something.

Thank you for reading, and T.I.A. for any assistance.

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Originally Posted by Mossclaw

I'm new to FF, I'm on Gilgamesh. I have a character there. However it didn't work out for me, and now I wish to create another character. As far as I know, there is no way to log into two characters at once on the same license.

So why can't I create a new character and log in? I already have a slot. What difference does it make what character I am on? I'm still only going to count for one place. :/ So, I made it on another server, away from my friends, and will have to pay $$ to get it there after 3 days. Sounds like a scam, unless I'm not understanding something.

Thank you for reading, and T.I.A. for any assistance.

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Which service did you sign up for? They have a basic one that allows for only 1 character per server and then a full service where you can have up to 8 per server. From your description I'd guess the basic.

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Originally Posted by sciondar

Which service did you sign up for? They have a basic one that allows for only 1 character per server and then a full service where you can have up to 8 per server. From your description I'd guess the basic.

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No, I'm allowed more than one character. I'm on my free time, still, but have set up a subscription for, what?, 8 characters per realm or whatever it is. My Creation screen indicates I can make more characters.

Thank you for checking however. :)

Unfortunately they have to try and stop people from going to the most popular servers, or otherwise they become unstable and queue times appear even when there isn't new content. I played a game that allowed everyone to make characters on any server and people always go to the most popular one. Trust me, it's better like this in the long run. Would you rather wait a few days to create your character, or spend hours in queue and suffer extreme lag over the next years to come? SE's way of handling things serves the majority well even though new players are inconvenienced.

Throwing money at the problem won't solve it either as far as I've seen. Increasing the server cap and improving hardware is only a temporary solution, and a costly one too. If players notice that there's room on the big server again, they will quickly fill it up to the new limit. I'd much rather they gave permanent free transfers from big servers, with a small incentive attached (title or something).

For now, if you really want to play with friends on a big server, keep trying to make the character at different times of day and week. Others who don't have real life friends to play with just yet: please try a smaller server. You and your fellow players will be happier that way.

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Originally Posted by Reinha

<snip>For now, if you really want to play with friends on a big server, keep trying to make the character at different times of day and week. Others who don't have real life friends to play with just yet: please try a smaller server. You and your fellow players will be happier that way.

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I feel as if I'm not explaining myself clearly. Sorry. Let me try again.

My confusion is because I'm on Gilgamesh. If I'm already taking up a spot on the server, why must I pay to transfer a 2nd character there? (Standard account)

Did I make a mistake when I created my 2nd character? Is there a different button? I hear great things about SE, and it doesn't seem in character to make me pay, although of course I will now, because I want to be on my server. :/

Thank you for reading.

I feel bad because I baught this game to play it with my friends. Both of their servers are full. If this doesn't change soon, I will be returning this game to steam. Why has 14 not adapted mega servers yet? Server copasity is no longer about hardware, its a software issue that can be fixed with load balancing and server splintering. Honestly, their server set up is five years old and its time to update.

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Originally Posted by matrim1985

Server copasity is no longer about hardware, its a software issue that can be fixed with load balancing and server splintering.

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Splintering brings in more problems of its own. Personally, I'm glad SE reserves that for unusually high traffic periods (like now just after an expansion release) and doesn't just give up and settle for splintering the traffic all the time. I do think SE could do more for people with friends on other servers, like allowing cross-server chat and allowing people to form invited parties for cross-server instances (where Duty Finder could put them together anyway). But for open-world content, it's better if you can have everyone on the server be in the same world and not dozens of splintered off fragments of it where you can't even see each other.