What it takes to get players to transfer from congested servers

After reading many posts and hosting a discussion on the matter, I saw many things holding players back from transferring to low pop servers. The following, practical or not, are ways that would notice more players transfering.

1.FC transfers: being able to keep together, keep progess, airship, research, house etc. Maybe save a free transfer for any FC members that return to the game after their friends leave.

2.Housing: Perhaps new wards temporarily reserved for new transfers. Not too practical, but very requested by potential transfers

3.Transfer after transfer: In case of a bad server, allow extra transfer within a short duration. Reduce time between permitting transfers. Most don't want to be stuck, just in case.

4.Refunding of transfers: A hot topic, many people transferred into congested servers and paid for it, only to be told they should transfer out of it. A reimbursement through game time or mogstation would suffice.


These are the biggest demands I've noticed. I myself would love to transfer to a server full of sprouts that are not RP alts, but my responsibilities to my FC come first. Whenever SE meets some of these demands, I expect transfers to shoot up. All of these are risky and not too terribly likely, but this is what it would take.

So if you wonder why not enough transfer out, this is what they all want.

1. SE is working on way to handle that.

2. Would piss off the community of the server your transfering too. Would you like it if they add new wards on Balmung and said you could not buy them cause their for players transfering in? Pretty sure most of Balmung would be pissed..

3 & 4. Not going to happen. Researching a server before transfering is not hard, every server has its own forum post questions and get information. If you can make an alt on the server you wish to transfer too and try it out. If you transfer into a high pop that is your choice; never transfer to a high pop server unelss you are willing to deal with the circumstances of that choice.

Regarding #2, I think just adding enough wards so people can have a chance to actually own a house on high pop servers without bum rushing the gates the moment they're released would be better. Reserving anything for anyone is generally a bad idea.

If there isn't a guaranteed chance of owning a house, then what is the point of leaving if you already own the land you are staying on? It would seem stupid and foolhardy to leave without a guaranteed chance of getting everything you lost back.

what is takes people to move out?
new server: Checked
free transfer: Checked
increased gil transfer: Checked
Gold feather reward: Checked
Chance of no quene time: Checked
Chance of cheaper items: Checked
Chance of owning a cheaper FC/personal house: Checked

I think all there is left is cause them enough pain so they will actually do something.
INCREASE THE QUENE TIME !!!

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Originally Posted by Furiea

what is takes people to move out?
new server: Checked
free transfer: Checked
increased gil transfer: Checked
Gold feather reward: Checked
Chance of no quene time: Checked
Chance of cheaper items: Checked
Chance of owning a cheaper FC/personal house: Checked

I think all there is left is cause them enough pain so they will actually do something.
INCREASE THE QUENE TIME !!!

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It's not guaranteed though. A chance isn't good enough in my opinion.

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Originally Posted by NanaWiloh

3 & 4. Not going to happen. Researching a server before transfering is not hard, every server has its own forum post questions and get information. If you can make an alt on the server you wish to transfer too and try it out. If you transfer into a high pop that is your choice; never transfer to a high pop server unelss you are willing to deal with the circumstances of that choice.

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Except that if you look at forum posts from 9 months ago on the subject of "dead servers" the community told people to quit complaining and just transfer to high pop servers. I also think it's funny that you think it's the players fault that s/e didn't properly manage their servers.

Really, the only way to guarantee housing is with a brand new server.

Mateus is one of the preferred servers and both the Mist and Goblet are completely filled up already.

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Originally Posted by Ferrasper

It's not guaranteed though. A chance isn't good enough in my opinion.

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not guaranteed? what? you don't know how to make a new character on other server to see if they have housing spot open?

I can guaranteed your quene time suffering ain't gonna go away anytime soon. although I guarantee it will be much better if you wait another 2~5 months.

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Originally Posted by Furiea

not guaranteed? what? you don't know how to make a new character on other server to see if they have housing spot open?

I can guaranteed your quene time suffering ain't gonna go away anytime soon. although I guarantee it will be much better if you wait another 2~5 months.

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For Greg, the queues aren't that bad actually. Max wait for me is about 30 minutes. Usually though I pop right in.

Specially for Balmung, a big reason why people don't transfer is because there is no other (un)official RP server besides Balmung.

Also, friends, planning together to move to the same server can be impossible. Even with Cross-Server playing, the experience isn't the same. Square needs to release the new FFXIV soon, and allow Cross-Server Linkshells.

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Originally Posted by Jaibamon

Specially for Balmung, a big reason why people don't transfer is because there is no other (un)official RP server besides Balmung.

Also, friends, planning together to move to the same server can be impossible. Even with Cross-Server playing, the experience isn't the same. Square needs to release the new FFXIV soon, and allow Cross-Server Linkshells.

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players made Balmung the unofficial RP server.. why can't they just choose another one and move..

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Originally Posted by Gravton

Except that if you look at forum posts from 9 months ago on the subject of "dead servers" the community told people to quit complaining and just transfer to high pop servers. I also think it's funny that you think it's the players fault that s/e didn't properly manage their servers.

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If you choose too transfer to a high pop its your fault and yours alone. SE hand in it is not locking servers before they got out of hand. I hold people accountable for things they choose to do nobody was forced to transfer to high pop servers they did it out of their own accord. Same as SE out of its own accord failed to lock the servers sooner.

It's not my fault, it was my decision. If balmung was closed, I would have transferred to another high pop server. This game sucks when servers are dead. Since I'm not the system administrator at s/e I have no way of knowing it's over-populated because I have no way of knowing what the max occupancy is. Right now this problem is contained in house because players are attacking other players, instead of blowing up s/e twitter/Facebook. Shareholders aren't asking why players are upset or why they allowed a problem like this to happen. Even these free transfers are a way to shift the problem to the players, along with the roaming brownouts.

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Originally Posted by Furiea

players made Balmung the unofficial RP server.. why can't they just choose another one and move..

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They did. 2 actually.

Mateus on NA and Omega on EU.

The rewards for moving are great, but I can't go without my friends, or at least a majority of my friends coming with me. If the option to transfer an entire FC together was available, I don't know if my FC would agree, but it might have helped to convince them.

To be honest, i think Square-Enix should just make an official RP realm or two other MMO's have these.

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Originally Posted by Furiea

players made Balmung the unofficial RP server.. why can't they just choose another one and move..

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Because that's not how communities work. That's like saying why don't youtubers leave for vimeo. Communities build on themselves, and you can't just force people to move.

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Originally Posted by Gravton

It's not my fault, it was my decision. If balmung was closed, I would have transferred to another high pop server. This game sucks when servers are dead. Since I'm not the system administrator I have no way of knowing it's over-populated.

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Over population is not your fault but you did as you said Chose to go too a high pop server. You choose a high pop server you so choose the problems that come with it, SE will not compensate you for your own decisions, they will comp only when their decisions have a negative effect on players. Transfering is player choice and not SE's choice the free tranfers and bonuses they are offering right now are in regards to congestion only.

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Originally Posted by NanaWiloh

Over population is not your fault but you did as you said Chose to go too a high pop server. You choose a high pop server you so choose the problems that come with it, SE will not compensate you for your own decisions, they will comp only when their decisions have a negative effect on players. Transfering to high pop or bad one is player choice and not SE's choice.

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It wasn't a problem when I made the transfer, so I didn't chose the problem. I choose a server where ppl were still playing. There wasn't a que 9 months ago when I xfered. Also, that's irrelevant. "What will it take?" A refund. Since you set S/E policy and I won't get one, then I'm not transferring.

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Originally Posted by Furiea

what is takes people to move out?
new server: Checked
free transfer: Checked
increased gil transfer: Checked
Gold feather reward: Checked
Chance of no quene time: Checked
Chance of cheaper items: Checked
Chance of owning a cheaper FC/personal house: Checked

I think all there is left is cause them enough pain so they will actually do something.
INCREASE THE QUENE TIME !!!

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• New EU server. What relevance does this have for Balmung and Gilgamesh, North American servers?
• Free transfer only matter if we want to leave. We don't.
• I have several million gil and can easily make more through crafting.
• People generally don't base transfer decisions on mounts. Most already have them since they've been out for years now.
• If the queue isn't bothering us...
• Balmung marketboards are the lowest in the entire game by a mile. Ironworks currently says for 169,999. How much is it selling for on Tonberry?
• Only if those houses sit unoccupied for several weeks. And as we've established, gil is extremely easy to make in this game.

And therein lies the problem. None of the perks offer anything enticing for people who prefer their current servers. You don't even get the EXP boost. So.... tell me again why I should transfer when I get nothing out of it?

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Originally Posted by Gravton

It wasn't a problem when I made the transfer, so I didn't chose the problem. I choose a server where ppl were still playing. There wasn't a que 9 months ago when I xfered. Also, that's irrelevant. "What will it take?" A refund. Since you set S/E policy and I won't get one, then I'm not transferring.

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Over population is a risk of joining High pop servers. Just by joining the server your accepting the risk, nobody goes around asking for these kinds of problems. I feel SE is kinda of/ if not dumping this problem off on the community and the community has a point raise the capacity of the servers or slap a RP tag on a new one and hope it lures RP'ers off Balmung.

Free transfers for up to one year on any given server.

No seriously, one year.

If you want our inactive friends to return to the game and not be separated, you'll consider how important this is.

And nobody is going to pay a sub just to transfer their character. Make sure this is available through Mog Station.

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Originally Posted by Bourne_Endeavor

[LIST][*]Balmung marketboards are the lowest in the entire game by a mile. Ironworks currently says for 169,999. How much is it selling for on Tonberry?

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and you don't know how much it cost on tonberry? how did you make that claim then?

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Originally Posted by Bourne_Endeavor

And therein lies the problem. None of the perks offer anything enticing for people who prefer their current servers. You don't even get the EXP boost. So.... tell me again why I should transfer when I get nothing out of it?

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If the quene doesn't bother you, then by all mean, stay. I honestly don't give a crap what server you are on.

What I care about (and some other players) is that Balmung players stop crying foul on the forum about their quene time.

Split the server in two, keeping players grouped by fc and friends. Offer free server xfer between the 2 servers for 30 days to allow possible people that got seperated to rejoin each other on ine server or the other. Or give people the choice between server a and b 30 days before the split.

If the pop is not big enough to split in two, then make two low pop servers the destination servers to split to.

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Originally Posted by Furiea

and you don't know how much it cost on tonberry? how did you make that claim then?

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Because it's fairly common knowledge. Our population means more things sell and are subsequently made. Since you didn't check yourself, I suspect it's selling much higher on your server.

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Originally Posted by Furiea

If the quene doesn't bother you, then by all mean, stay. I honestly don't give a crap what server you are on.

What I care about (and some other players) is that Balmung players stop crying foul on the forum about their quene time.

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Evidently, you do since you're the one saying our queues should be forcefully increased in the hopes of frustrating us enough to transfer. Regardless, it's not Balmung people complaining. The last several threads and posts, such as yours, have come from people on different servers mad at is because we don't want to transfer. So kindly take your own advice.

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Originally Posted by Bourne_Endeavor

Because it's fairly common knowledge. Our population means more things sell and are subsequently made. Since you didn't check yourself, I suspect it's selling much higher on your server.



Evidently, you do since you're the one saying our queues should be forcefully increased in the hopes of frustrating us enough to transfer. Regardless, it's not Balmung people complaining. The last several threads and posts, such as yours, have come from people on different servers mad at is because we don't want to transfer. So kindly take your own advice.

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because I really don't care. it's more or less a loltroll directed at Balmung since they whined on the forum.

Cross-server friends list that you can drop in and out of parties with. Wouldn't get everyone but it definitely would get some to.

I would transfer if I could keep all my gil...

*edit*

Nvm, just found out I can >_>

For me, it would have to be (in addition to the given stuff):
1) A new server on Aether so I could still connect with people on Balmung if I wanted (e.g.it wouldn't disrupt a static)
2) Guaranteed housing/apartment (assuming you owned on your server, same size/city at least, both personal/FC) with full no-exceptions FC housing transfer. no shenanigans about not being able to transfer airship or furnishings.
3) Ability to offer free transfers there forever to returners on my friend list (of course it would have to be preserved somehow post-transfer) as well as brand new players I sponsor, regardless of the server becoming closed in the future.

Everything else is ephemeral.

I kind of feel, everyone is thinking about this ENTIRELY the wrong way.

SE is not looking to get highly invested people to move and never has been. This is why you will not get the incentives you think you would need, it is high investment low reward.

Right now SE is aiming at the low hanging front, the thousands of players, with no homes and minimal attachment to their FC's or server. You get them off first and THEN you consider what is needed if there is still a problem.

Based on what SE has done so far, you guys are absolutely off your rockers if you think you will get guaranteed housing in the same place (It is almost assuredly taken on the server you would move to) and every piece of furnishing transfered (They didn't do it for personal what makes you assume they have the infrastructure to do it with FC?)

What is more likely is that some part of either expanded wards OR Shirogane is reserved on preferred worlds for FC transfers on a first come first serve basis.

I transferred because someone on Balmung compared its server congestion woes to the Flint, Michigan water crisis, and I could no longer live in a world where our two characters were on the same server. So I guess...mind numbing conceit?

What i never see in this kind of discussions is my reason why i will always stay on an at least "high" population server.
The MMO feeling. I enjoy the game infinitely more when i zone into a hub full to the brink with players. Or seeing hundreds of players fly in to a boss fate from all corners of the zone. This has no gameplay value but more a immersion and cinematic value. I feel this will be lost on a low pop server, and i hate nothing more than seeing no other players around. Even if i don't interact with them.

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Originally Posted by HyperSMB

I kind of feel, everyone is thinking about this ENTIRELY the wrong way.

SE is not looking to get highly invested people to move and never has been. This is why you will not get the incentives you think you would need, it is high investment low reward.

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Now that the queues have somewhat stabilized and minimalized on Balmung thanks to the purges, no one has an incentive to leave despite it being congested. What they dangled isn't a good enough carrot to balance Aether population across its servers, especially since the xp bonuses etc. only last as long as that world stays "preferred."

A garantued and unlimited right to transfer back for free once the new Server starts beeing empty.

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Originally Posted by Talec

A garantued and unlimited right to transfer back for free once the new Server starts beeing empty.

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Except having everyone leave again asap is the opposite of what this is supposed to achieve. If you don't want the server to be empty, you, along with others, will have to actually stay there.

Step 1: Data Center Wide Market boards to fix disparity in economy.
Step 2: Cross server grouping. Join a group, and be in the group leaders version of ruby sea for example
Step 3: With that grouping, cross server friend lists and linkshells


Alternate Step 1: Make an overhaul plan, implement mega server to be datacenter wide. *they already have sharding, would only need to address hunts to keep them from being exploited