Official Role Playing Servers [Petition]

Hello,

This is a petition to Square Enix to name the following servers as official Role Playing servers:

Mateus, Balmung, and Coeurl.

The reason for this is because:
Role players make up a large portion of the North American player base. Enough to that we can lock out a server due to a flood of accounts being created or transferred because of the closure of one unofficial role playing server designated by us.

We like to congregate and have designated certain areas within the server we play in, and have events in those areas, creating not only a rich immersive experience for each player, but overall hype of FFXIV and a sharing of lore through out the community which can make the content even more enjoyable.

Right now there are players willing to participate in one of the worlds mentioned above and who currently do participate, for example Mateus and Balmung are currently locked. I bet you did not see this coming!

Players, please sign this petition!

You best be trolling. Gilgamesh has a large population but you'll actively get mocked for RPing if you try to do it openly there.

SE should have labeled a server or two from the start, or just tagged Balmung and Mateus since they're the "unofficial" RP servers for NA. Doing it after the fact would cause more headaches than it's worth.

Just go to another new, under-populated server in Aether if the current ones are locked. Or go to Primal- I hear they've got a lot of less populated servers there and could probably use the infusion of "rich immersion" and "hyped lore sharing" that your crowd would bring.

*thumbsup* Signed.

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Originally Posted by Hestzhyen

You best be trolling. Gilgamesh has a large population but you'll actively get mocked for RPing if you try to do it openly there.

SE should have labeled a server or two from the start, or just tagged Balmung and Mateus since they're the "unofficial" RP servers for NA. Doing it after the fact would cause more headaches than it's worth.

Just go to another new, under-populated server in Aether if the current ones are locked. Or go to Primal- I hear they've got a lot of less populated servers there and could probably use the infusion of "rich immersion" and "hyped lore sharing" that your crowd would bring.

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As one of the people who is a leader among Gilgamesh's RPC, I can say that that is not the case. There may be SOME contingent that will mock or troll? But there are plenty of RPers there also.

Hi folks, co-host of MuseCast XIV here. I am absolutely, vehemently AGAINST the idea of official RP server designations.

First reason is, it'll perpetuate the idea that those are the only servers where RP is "allowed," when the playerbase at large is already (and inexplicably) hostile to roleplayers. Yeah, it's true that right now, those four have existing strong RP populations of various sizes. But the second SE slaps an "official RP server" label on them, anyone attempting to RP ANYWHERE ELSE will be auto-trolled, and probably told to "get off the server" even if it's been their home for the life of the game.

Second reason is that by second-order effect, saying that these servers are the only places where RP is "allowed" means that slowly, it will become the only places where RP happens. By limiting RP to only a handful of communities, they are going to become very culturally homogenous. Right now, culturally speaking, Mateus is arguably a smaller Balmung clone. Such a designation as you're suggesting is only going to create FOUR Balmung clones. This is an ENORMOUS problem, because one of the biggest barriers for the average player to try or get into RP is that there is only one "style" of RP currently readily available -- the serious, hardcore, hard-line lore-compliant style found on Balmung. That is NOT a criticism of Balmung in any way. It is what it is, and many players want to RP that way. But many others prefer a more laid-back, casual, part-time, sometimes lore-bending style that gives more creative freedom and fun.

I believe we have something like that on Gilgamesh, which is one reason I love my server. I'd rather RP on Greg than Balmung any day, because I've found a community that fits me. The more RP communities there are out there, the more likely there will be one out there that fits YOU as a roleplayer.

Third reason is that that server pop also affects player experience. Balmung became the most populated server in the game because of RP, and RPers flocking there. The same would happen to any server labelled an official RP server, and all four would become mega-servers. Suddenly, there'd be no small server options for those wanting to RP. Whether it's to avoid crazy login issues on patch days, or to avoid large crowds in public areas, or to get that small-town tight-knit feel, there are many reasons players choose to make their homes on small servers. Let's not make it impossible for RPers to have that choice.

Fourth reason is that all the servers you named are NA-based. Having made a second home on the Lich server, I talked to several EU players and RPers who transferred there because from where they lived, the game had become literally unplayable on Balmung due to latency. Any EU players, or anyone living anywhere far away from NA datacenters, would be left out in the damn cold.

There are so many, MANY other reasons why this is an awful idea, but I'll end with this: Just continue to let the community self-organize. We are resourceful and creative people who don't need micromanagement from Big Daddy SE to create roleplay communities and experiences for ourselves, wherever we want.

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Originally Posted by remixsakura

Hi folks, co-host of MuseCast XIV here. I am absolutely, vehemently AGAINST the idea of official RP server designations.

First reason is, it'll perpetuate the idea that those are the only servers where RP is "allowed," when the playerbase at large is already (and inexplicably) hostile to roleplayers. Yeah, it's true that right now, those four have existing strong RP populations of various sizes. But the second SE slaps an "official RP server" label on them, anyone attempting to RP ANYWHERE ELSE will be auto-trolled, and probably told to "get off the server" even if it's been their home for the life of the game.

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You make wild assumptions instead of asking what specifically I have in mind. Your post is egregiously negative indicating you have a past. This is just PTSD backlash, nothing more.

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Originally Posted by remixsakura

Second reason is that by second-order effect, saying that these servers are the only places where RP is "allowed" means that slowly, it will become the only places where RP happens. By limiting RP to only a handful of communities, they are going to become very culturally homogenous. Right now, culturally speaking, Mateus is arguably a smaller Balmung clone. Such a designation as you're suggesting is only going to create FOUR Balmung clones. This is an ENORMOUS problem, because one of the biggest barriers for the average player to try or get into RP is that there is only one "style" of RP currently readily available -- the serious, hardcore, hard-line lore-compliant style found on Balmung.

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You mention nothing concrete and after all it is your opinion this isn't the purpose of this thread. the purpose of this thread is unity. People like YOU are keeping the community divided.

RP tags would be nice

HOWEVER

Based on what I've seen from other MMORPG's, official RP tags would be a lose/lose for Squeenix. Either they'd have to hire a lot more GM's to enforce an RP ruleset (extra cost + would probably piss off some of the non-rp'ers) or the tags would have no real meaning except for a 'roleplayers go here' designation. In the latter case some of the more hardcore ropelayers would be pissed off because of no RP ruleset enforcement + trolling.

Also a yay for NA-centricity.

What would the point be of having one or more official RP servers?
And why only NA servers? There are roleplayers outside NA you know.
The people who are involved in roleplaying already know which the unofficial RP servers are, so anyone wanting to play on an RP server can already do so.

Adding a special ruleset for the RP servers would be unfeasible today - anything like that would have needed to happen from the start if at all. Too many people already on all servers who might not like the special rules.
Without a special ruleset an official RP tag on some servers would accomplish absolutely nothing useful beyond what the current player-determined unofficial RP designations of certain servers already do.

You will never see an existing server become an official RP server because it would forcefully isolate a portion of the player base. No company in their right mind would do that.

If we do see an official titled RP server, it will be a brand new one, possibly 1 per region.

Gilgamesh is probably the last server I'd list for official RP since so many RPers have transfered off of it due to grief from the plentiful non-RP crowd.

I see your point that it would be nice if new people without any community contacts knew where to start if they'd like to RP but honestly it would just kill whatever small RP communities are on other servers.

RP is popular and being the "unofficial" RP server caused Balmung to explode at the seams. If Mateus is now there for overflow but if we made both "official" how long until Mateus is maxed out and future new people are locked out of the RP community again?

Probably cause its the unofficial rp server and people from all around the world flocked to it when the flood gates opened...
Could imagine what would happen had there been at least three official rp servers to choose from.

Oh well ;)

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Originally Posted by Yhah

Probably cause its the unofficial rp server and people from all around the world flocked to it when the flood gates opened...
Could imagine what would happen had there been at least three official rp servers to choose from.

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Balmung is not THE unofficial rp server. It is one of three unofficial RP servers - although the biggest and oldest of them.
If there had been some official RP servers then NOTHING would have been different - people moved to Balmung because it has a reputation as something special, and because it is the largest rp server.

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Originally Posted by Yhah

Role players make up a large portion of the North American player base.

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ppfffft i doubt that very much.

Unofficial raid servers... Unofficial RP servers...
Dude, pick a server you wish and play the way you wish.

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Originally Posted by Ayasaki128

Unofficial raid servers... Unofficial RP servers...
Dude, pick a server you wish and play the way you wish.

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For many activities it is a whole lot easier to do them if there are other people on your server who are also interested in that.
You can't do much RP unless there are other RPers on your server.
Prior to the cross-duty PF you couldn't do much raiding unless there were other raiders on your server.

Hence the unofficial designations on certain servers - just to tell people where other people with a certain interest gather.