p2p and implications on server population

I think it's safe to say that not everyone playing right now up to the subscription implementation is going to pay, especially with all these new and shiny games being released during the holiday season. The issue then comes with server population. There are some servers that have a really low population even now.

Once you start paying, what happens when the server population drops below what you think is acceptable? If you invested a lot of time on your character, you probably wouldn't want to reroll on a higher population server. This can turn into a huge problem especially if they want people to actually subscribe and pay them.

I know in the MMO world, server transfers/merges have a stigma of "lolgameisdedbro" but really, when the population gets really low, it is discouraging to say the least.

Should they eventually implement some kind of free character transfer system? (Making people pay to transfer a character on top of a sub fee is probably the worst thing they could do at this point.)

Merging is iffy at this point, especially when 2.0/PS3 gets released and there is a flood of people but I suppose they could just open more servers then anyway.

Thoughts?

A substantial number of people will leave this game and I can't imagine any new players replacing them when they are being asked to pay for a game that will be so radically different from the new version. A declining player base will send out some very bad signals to the gaming world, and may do far too much damage to the reputation of the game before its relaunch for it to recover. A lot of people will take the wait and see attitude and plan to play when the new version is launched, but if the server populations have dwindled and the games reputation has sunk even lower then how many of people will rethink that one and decide not to bother?

Until 2.0 hits late next year or early 2013, I think it's safe to say 2011/2012 will be hard times.

I think, as everyone was still playing till now, they must had have fun till now, if they doesn't subs, it's because the game was free, not mean.

I think SE doesn't care who'll stay or leave, it'll still be a little price for them until 2.0 when everyone will come back to try it out.

Some money > no money

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Originally Posted by charlemagne

A substantial number of people will leave this game and I can't imagine any new players replacing them when they are being asked to pay for a game that will be so radically different from the new version. A declining player base will send out some very bad signals to the gaming world, and may do far too much damage to the reputation of the game before its relaunch for it to recover. A lot of people will take the wait and see attitude and plan to play when the new version is launched, but if the server populations have dwindled and the games reputation has sunk even lower then how many of people will rethink that one and decide not to bother?

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That is pretty much the issue here. You could have an x number of people subscribing but they are all spread out on all different servers so it would seem like no one is playing on some servers but other servers are fine... That's not good for the game's health in the long run.

Guys... They just went through a year of not making a single additional dime off of their players, and kept things going.

I hardly see how getting subscription money from at least a portion of the playerbase is going to be any worse for them than getting none at all.

I will be seriously face-palming repeatedly if people are going to talk about how adding subs will make the population drop and kill the game because they're not getting enough subs after all that transpired in the past year.

Something is still > Nothing

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Originally Posted by Vaer

That is pretty much the issue here. You could have an x number of people subscribing but they are all spread out on all different servers so it would seem like no one is playing on some servers but other servers are fine... That's not good for the game's health in the long run.

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Up 'til 1.18, the game's population was pretty much as you describe it... They kept the game going.

I swear it's like people are already completely forgetting the events of the past year and looking at the game as though it's "just like any other MMO on the market backed by a company that's just like every other MMO dev on the market".

It should be abundantly and undeniably clear by this point that that is not the case.

I have no issue with them trying to get some income from the past year where they pretty much gave it away for free. I never said the game is going to die because of the sub being added. I just think having multiple low population servers on a paid service that is still a work in progress is not ideal.

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Originally Posted by Preypacer

Up 'til 1.18, the game's population was pretty much as you describe it... They kept the game going.

I swear it's like people are already completely forgetting the events of the past year and looking at the game as though it's "just like any other MMO on the market backed by a company that's just like every other MMO dev on the market".

It should be abundantly and undeniably clear by this point that that is not the case.

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That is exactly the point, this game is not like regular MMO'S, is way below the standard's of regular MMO'S, the patching pace is slower than any current AAA MMO'S, the content currently in game does not merit a pay-to-play subscription, we only have 3 dungeons :/ and some boss fight from vanilla wow, nothing to brag bout :/

Also SE is not like the rest of the MMO Company's, current company's actually know what makes a MMO, SE does not, for reference do remember one year ago :/

The patching pace is slower because the patches are HUGE, not to mention the server work that is being done also

I have no issue with SE charging for the game, but I will not be paying until the game is what I consider worth paying for. (Which it is not even close to yet.)

Definitely taking a wait a see approach once P2P starts.

I think there will likely be many who do the same, expect the server populations to drop dramatically.

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Originally Posted by Nexxus

I think, as everyone was still playing till now, they must had have fun till now, if they doesn't subs, it's because the game was free, not mean.

I think SE doesn't care who'll stay or leave, it'll still be a little price for them until 2.0 when everyone will come back to try it out.

Some money > no money

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yes, but i think all anyone has been saying is that it just seems to be a strange time to start charging. think about it. you had horrible release reviews, the majority that purchased the game quit within 2 months, complete change in dev leadership, new direction to the game, and more players dropping a few weeks after each patch. they finally started getting some decent reviews, adding new players, and older players coming back to try out the new stuff. you have big named games coming out and directly stating the game is only 50% complete.

that just seems like the perfect storm on the worst possible time in which the payments should have been added. to me if they had held off for even another few updates to get the battle system changes, crafting changes, and server issues taken care of with the positive direction they started in the last 2 patches it would have worked. i just think right now when things were starting to look up was a bad time.

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Originally Posted by darkstarpoet1

yes, but i think all anyone has been saying is that it just seems to be a strange time to start charging. think about it. you had horrible release reviews, the majority that purchased the game quit within 2 months, complete change in dev leadership, new direction to the game, and more players dropping a few weeks after each patch. they finally started getting some decent reviews, adding new players, and older players coming back to try out the new stuff. you have big named games coming out and directly stating the game is only 50% complete.

that just seems like the perfect storm on the worst possible time in which the payments should have been added. to me if they had held off for even another few updates to get the battle system changes, crafting changes, and server issues taken care of with the positive direction they started in the last 2 patches it would have worked. i just think right now when things were starting to look up was a bad time.

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I can agree with this. A better time to start charging would be around 1.21 with the new jobs system at least.

1.22 -> 1.23 is a 3month gap. Almost makes you just want to wait for v2.0.

there is a reason why they wont spring this game before 2.0 onto the PS3 crowd...

I'm at the wait and see. I'm leaning towards cancel until the PS3 if they decide to go through with this terrible idea. They really shouldn't charge until they're willing to stand by the quality of their product - which clearly isn't until sometime NEXT December.

I think charging in November/December is way too premature. I always figured the PS3 version was coming next Fall, but to start charging a year before then and before the job system is even implemented is just... disappointing.

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Originally Posted by XxOstiaxX

That is exactly the point, this game is not like regular MMO'S, is way below the standard's of regular MMO'S, the patching pace is slower than any current AAA MMO'S, the content currently in game does not merit a pay-to-play subscription, we only have 3 dungeons :/ and some boss fight from vanilla wow, nothing to brag bout :/

Also SE is not like the rest of the MMO Company's, current company's actually know what makes a MMO, SE does not, for reference do remember one year ago :/

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Commendable attempt at twisting my post to suit your own agenda... But sorry.. That dog won't hunt.

In fact, your "argument" is not even relevant to the point I'm making. It's a complete red herring.

They've kept the game going 100% on their own dime for a year now. They have not gotten a dime beyond the initial box purchase.

Once they begin charging subs, they'll be getting subscription money. In other words, they'll be in a better position than they have been for the past year in that there will be a return on their product, instead of no return on their product.

It really shouldn't require further explaining to see the very clear difference between one scenario and the other.

As for them not knowing how to make a MMO. Right, let's just ignore or revise history to suit our case, now shall we? 'cause , ya know... SE has never had a MMORPG called FFXI that has been running for nearly a decade, and is still running with a healthy population. Nope. They have no idea at all.

Give it a freaking rest already.

None of the current content in the game requires a large number of people. I really don't care if a couple whiners leave.

"Ooops SE, you don goofed. It's ok we'll pick up the tab, you don't make enough millions more than each and every one of us do a year :)"

EDIT: if worse comes to worse they will probably merge servers.

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Originally Posted by Zanfire

there is a reason why they wont spring this game before 2.0 onto the PS3 crowd...

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I agree with this comment. The game is now somehow "good enough" to charge PC players a subscription fee for, yet they're waiting until 2.0 to release it on the PS3 because it's not good enough to sell to them yet. Consistency please, Square Enix.

People, seriously... SE doesn't care about server numbers right now. SE will care about marketing 2.0 and numbers at re-launch. We, the freebie players, are inconsequential. The perk to paying is seeing the changes and new story unfold. That's all.

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Originally Posted by Wulf

Until 2.0 hits late next year or early 2013, I think it's safe to say 2011/2012 will be hard times.

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So true. And let's not forget that 1 year in real time, it's about 7 years in internet time. What the heck! I've been playing not that long and it's feels like years rather than months!