German Com rep response to "reservation system for dungeons".

[Ark_mage2]

I really don't think that this will be that big a problem, at least for the time being.
How many level 45+ people are on each server? Lets assume that there are 200 per server, just for the sake of argument. Also lets assume the instance limit is tied to each server and not the entire system... To enter the 45+ dungeon you need 8 party members, so that is 200/8...25. Now all 25 parties, comprising all 200 players eligible would have to want to do the dungeon at the same time for there to be 25 instances reached. However, with the 1 hour time limit, and cool down for the dungeon (even if it was one day). It seems likely that everyone would eventually get to go without much trouble.
Of course on launch day for the patch the servers will probably be jammed, but after that it will quickly end up where it is less of a problem, and hopefully in the future as they add more raids and other instanced content they scale their systems with them. I just thing at this stage in the games lifecycle, and the nature of the instance we shouldn't worry that much.

[Richard]

I really don't think that this will be that big a problem, at least for the time being.
How many level 45+ people are on each server? Lets assume that there are 200 per server, just for the sake of argument. Also lets assume the instance limit is tied to each server and not the entire system... To enter the 45+ dungeon you need 8 party members, so that is 200/8...25. Now all 25 parties, comprising all 200 players eligible would have to want to do the dungeon at the same time for there to be 25 instances reached. However, with the 1 hour time limit, and cool down for the dungeon (even if it was one day). It seems likely that everyone would eventually get to go without much trouble.
Of course on launch day for the patch the servers will probably be jammed, but after that it will quickly end up where it is less of a problem, and hopefully in the future as they add more raids and other instanced content they scale their systems with them. I just thing at this stage in the games lifecycle, and the nature of the instance we shouldn't worry that much.

um...tons? A majority of the people who still play this game just can't seem to pull themselves away from it for whatever reason, and almost all of them have at least one R50 if not multiple. I know of at least 500 people on my server with one R50.

[Dreadnought]

whatever, i think i get it. the wording some times is so retarded.
so their saying they are making individual instances, but they arent saying how many can be active at once which is what could cause the wait lines.
sorry, but i blame SE for not wording things as well as i could have.

[VydarrTyr]

Lets assume that there are 200 per server, just for the sake of argument. Also lets assume the instance limit is tied to each server and not the entire system... To enter the 45+ dungeon you need 8 party members, so that is 200/8...25. Now all 25 parties, comprising all 200 players eligible would have to want to do the dungeon at the same time for there to be 25 instances reached. However, with the 1 hour time limit, and cool down for the dungeon (even if it was one day). It seems likely that everyone would eventually get to go without much trouble.
Of course on launch day for the patch the servers will probably be jammed, but after that it will quickly end up where it is less of a problem, and hopefully in the future as they add more raids and other instanced content they scale their systems with them. I just thing at this stage in the games lifecycle, and the nature of the instance we shouldn't worry that much.

Gotta agree with Richard here. I've got 3 classes to 50, and I've done some leveling on every class in the game. And FFXIV Pro says there are 227 players on my server who have earned more SP than me. So it seems pretty likely that the estimate of 200 people per server with a r50 is really, really low.

Just as a random experiment, I scrolled back on FFXIV Pro's player rankings on my server to the 1,000th ranked player. That player had two classes to r50.

So it seems more likely that there are over 1,000 players who have a class to r50, and will be able to participate in the dungeons on release.

So I think it's a bigger issue than that. We'll have to wait on more info to see how big an issue it is, of course.

[Zozor]

If you search for a character that has 1 rank 50 class at the moment on ffxivpro you'll notice that their rank on the server is probably higher than 2,000. That of course means that there are more than 2,000 people with a greater amount of skill points acquired. Some of that is crafting, but a large portion isn't. Then consider that 2,000 doesn't track everyone. As an example, if 1,000 of those have 1 rank 50 combat class (highly likely and conservative estimate), and they all want to get in to the dungeon some day during a single 24 hour period then that's more than 40 players trying to get in per hour (spread evenly across the day). That number drops in off hours and increases at prime time for EST and JP time. at least twice as many people play during prime time, so I think it's highly reasonable to say that 80 people could be trying to get into an endgame dungeon per hour during prime time.

Now consider that my estimate only involves people trying once and then either succeeding or giving up. People will continue to try repeatedly. Many of those people could try all day long. There are some unknowns there, but it would be very easy to push that figure up to 200-300 players trying to use the dungeon per hour during prime time. If there aren't enough instances to accommodate that then there are going to be a lot of unhappy players.

Finally - keep in mind that it's SE's goal to INCREASE the number of players, making this issue even more important for their future. Players will probably come back to FFXIV to try this content. If they find it inaccessible they'll say 'lol' and forget about FFXIV forever.

[Betelgeuzah]

If there is a limit to the number of groups that can do the same instance at the same time, this will be beyond awesome.

That would mean SE managed to fail even something as basic as instanced dungeons.

"Because other games have no such limitations"?

Hahahaha.

[Dreadnought]

If you search for a character that has 1 rank 50 class at the moment on ffxivpro you'll notice that their rank on the server is probably higher than 2,000. That of course means that there are more than 2,000 people with a greater amount of skill points acquired. Some of that is crafting, but a large portion isn't. Then consider that 2,000 doesn't track everyone. As an example, if 1,000 of those have 1 rank 50 combat class (highly likely and conservative estimate), and they all want to get in to the dungeon some day during a single 24 hour period then that's more than 40 players trying to get in per hour (spread evenly across the day). That number drops in off hours and increases at prime time for EST and JP time. at least twice as many people play during prime time, so I think it's highly reasonable to say that 80 people could be trying to get into an endgame dungeon per hour during prime time.

Now consider that my estimate only involves people trying once and then either succeeding or giving up. People will continue to try repeatedly. Many of those people could try all day long. There are some unknowns there, but it would be very easy to push that figure up to 200-300 players trying to use the dungeon per hour during prime time. If there aren't enough instances to accommodate that then there are going to be a lot of unhappy players.

Finally - keep in mind that it's SE's goal to INCREASE the number of players, making this issue even more important for their future. Players will probably come back to FFXIV to try this content. If they find it inaccessible they'll say 'lol' and forget about FFXIV forever.

yep.
i truly wonder where they got their servers. i dont care how graphically intense this game is, your servers should accommodate those graphics. if your nutrients are stronger than your light source then you get bad bud..... this is whats currently going on it seems.

[VydarrTyr]

lol wow did you guys not read anything?
you are incorrect sir.

Slow your horses there, Vinny. You're getting snarky, but that quote actually supports what I said. In fact, if more than one party could be in the same dungeon, then this entire discussion would not make sense because no one would be waiting in lines. Everyone would just enter the same dungeon.

"Instanced" content -- by definition -- means that every party spawns in its own dungeon. It means SE's servers are running a separate program of the dungeon for every party. In other words, your party and my party can be in the dungeon at the same time, but we're in completely separate dungeons (i.e., separate "instances").

Here's a definition of "instance dungeon" from Wikipedia:

In massively multiplayer online games, an instance is a special area, typically a dungeon, that generates a new copy of the location for each group, or for certain amount of players, that enters the area.

Don't trust Wikipedia? Here's a definition of "instance" I pulled from Google:

Each instance of a program is, by definition, a separate process, as a process is merely an instance of a program, and thus each instance has a unique PID (process identification number).

And here's one from PC Mag that says the same thing.

There is no sharing of dungeons. My party can be running the dungeon at the same time as your party, but we wouldn't be in the same dungeon. We'd be in identical dungeons with completely separate mobs. Think of it like, when the instance starts, you're transported to an entirely separate world, where your party is the only one that exists in that world. We're in identical dungeons, but on separate worlds. So every mob that spawns can only be killed by your party, because your party is the only party in the dungeon.

And like I said in the previous thread, if everyone was just transported into the same dungeon and we were all sharing the same mobs, then no one would be waiting in line. We'd already be in the dungeon. So this entire discussion wouldn't make sense.

So yes, I do read. But you have to read it with an understanding of what "instance" means.

[Dreadnought]

Slow your horses there, Vinny. You're getting snarky, but that quote actually supports what I said.

lets just say i 'work' on video games as a side project, i know very much what instances are and how they work.
i took back what i said and changed my entire post because i realized the context of what they were saying was off.
since they use their own quirky technology and do things differently than i would it really wasnt surprising to me that theyd just create several of the same zone with multiple routs and just call it an instance... i really was expecting that.

oh and i also apologized

[Starlord]

I wanna watch "My Cousin Vinny" now... lol