How long until transfers to the big servers return?

[Yahallo]

the locked servers are overpopulated to an absurd degree and should have been completely locked like this years ago. They will not be unlocked until such time as the population shrinks significantly. Which means a lot of people have to transfer out. So I'm gonna go with a conservative estimate of...
Never.

I hope it isn't never. It makes hard to invite friends into the game when they can't get a character on the same server I am, and I am already rather invested into the server with my FC and the friends that are on Gilgamesh and the same goes for them. Sure there's cross world parties, but not being on the same server can suck a bit.

[Areonus]

I hope it isn't never. It makes hard to invite friends into the game when they can't get a character on the same server I am, and I am already rather invested into the server with my FC and the friends that are on Gilgamesh and the same goes for them. Sure there's cross world parties, but not being on the same server can suck a bit.

Which is exactly WHY they'll probably never be unlocked. Unless some people decide to bite the bullet and give up their connections and friends or convince those friends to go with them, the servers will never de-populate. Square should probably keep the locks up for a fair bit after Server populations stabilize so that people become invested in their new server, otherwise everyone that left can/will just transfer back in. This rendering this lockdown an exercise in futility. Yes it does suck. But it also completely necessary for he health and survival of the servers and ultimately this game.

[Yahallo]

Which is exactly WHY they'll probably never be unlocked. Unless some people decide to bite the bullet and give up their connections and friends or convince those friends to go with them, the servers will never de-populate. Square should probably keep the locks up for a fair bit after Server populations stabilize so that people become invested in their new server, otherwise everyone that left can/will just transfer back in. This rendering this lockdown an exercise in futility. Yes it does suck. But it also completely necessary for he health and survival of the servers and ultimately this game.

Then we will have to hope it won't backfire and reduce the number of players entering the game, because people may not decide to bite the bullet. I know I am highly unlikely to give up my connections and friends on Gilgamesh. Not only do I want to maintain these relationships on a personal level, but some of them can be useful in a professional sense as I am in the same field of study as a number of my friends and FC mates.

An easier solution is to transfer off to join your friends on a open server. Not being mean but that is the only answer right now. The population needs to go down and spread to other servers.

Till then it will hopefully remain locked tight.

That's assuming that people don't already have friends and relationships on their current server. I am rather unsure about how effective this will be. Yes, server distribution will end up more even but whether or not it will be to the degree that they are aiming for or if it was the right cause for such a result remains to be seen. It could just end up evening out because new players can't join the locked servers and thus become forced to join other servers thus causing the overpopulation to technically remain.

My other concern is that, if the amount of new players entering decrease due to this, and they join a less populated server while people don't migrate to smaller servers, the smaller communities may not be able to stabilize as people may not stay due to a lack of a stable community in their server. I hope this won't be the case but it is a possibility.

Right now, I am unable to get any of my friends who aren't already playing the game to join FFXIV, and I don't think I will be able to convince them otherwise as long as the lock remains. I hope that this lock does work and the other servers quickly build up a community so that the lock goes away and I can try inviting my friends again, but at the same time I have my doubts onto whether or not the lock will work.

[cactusbees]

Which is exactly WHY they'll probably never be unlocked. Unless some people decide to bite the bullet and give up their connections and friends or convince those friends to go with them, the servers will never de-populate.

Exactly this. Unless SQEX starts moving characters or even full FCs over to other servers with all loot, the people who are going to go have gone. The rest are established, comfy, and have put in way too much time/effort at this point to change.

That said, this would also be an excellent chance for cross-server/lodestone messaging to happen so others can keep in touch with their current friends. Making people be paying players and at a certain level would help cut down on the gil spammers.

[Tsumdere]

I hope it isn't never. It makes hard to invite friends into the game when they can't get a character on the same server I am, and I am already rather invested into the server with my FC and the friends that are on Gilgamesh and the same goes for them. Sure there's cross world parties, but not being on the same server can suck a bit.

It's a damned if you do, damned if you don't situation. I have had two people hyped to play the game, but then say "no" when they find out I'm on a now perma-locked server. They don't want to play on a server seperated from the friend group. I fully understand why servers are locked (you should have seen the rush for the pineapple hair) and I'm not saying they shouldn't be locked, but it is still saddening.

And no - I'm not transfering off. I would only transfer off if my EB partner and best friend linkshell transfers off. And they will only transfer off if their friends will transfer off. And their friends will only transfer off if THEIR friends will transfer off. So on and so forth into oblivion... and the surrounding areas. For this reason, I do not think the mega servers like Gilgamesh and Balmung are going to be unlocked in the next couple of years. It's the sad truth, but it had to be done before the servers literally catch on fire and burn down everything.

[OmegaFlare]

I hope it isn't never. It makes hard to invite friends into the game when they can't get a character on the same server I am, and I am already rather invested into the server with my FC and the friends that are on Gilgamesh and the same goes for them. Sure there's cross world parties, but not being on the same server can suck a bit.

If SE is offering free server transfers, then have the entire FC transfer out together.

[Xiomara]

If SE is offering free server transfers, then have the entire FC transfer out together.

Only issue is that at the moment there is no easy way to transfer an entire FC, including the FC house. For everyone to move, the FC would have to disband (and sell their estate if they had one), move to the new server, then re-establish itself.

So until they solve that issue, I doubt we'll see many FC's move servers.

[Berethos]

So until they solve that issue, I doubt we'll see many FC's move servers.

The good news is this is already on their radar - "For players who own personal housing, we are planning a number of provisions including a reimbursement for the full price of the estate, and compensation for the cost of furnishings which we will add in subsequent updates moving forward. We also plan to accommodate free companies members that plan to move together with or without a free company estate." - Emphasis mine.

Bad news is, no additional details on how thorough these provisions will end up being or a real time table for implementation.

[Rokke]

Wasn't Mateus trying to become the second RP server?

While the "come to Mateus! :)" posts come from good intentions, I don't see a significant number of rpers taking them up on their offer. Mateus is entirely too dead to be a tempting reason to leave the biggest server. I'd rather be locked with the current batch of people on Balmung than transfer to a place that has a fraction of roleplay population, let alone regular ol player population.

And no - I'm not transfering off. I would only transfer off if my EB partner and best friend linkshell transfers off. And they will only transfer off if their friends will transfer off. And their friends will only transfer off if THEIR friends will transfer off.

This is how I feel most people here are weighing in on it.

[Tsumdere]

Mateus is entirely too dead to be a tempting reason to leave the biggest server.

I understand that some people like small communities, but there is a reason the mega servers are as big as they are. It's a classic "city vs country" debate.

But, from what I'm hearing, in Stormblood we're getting cross-realm (so datacentre wide) friends lists (though don't take me for gospel on that, it's interpretation from what I've been reading on the forums).

Cross-realm PF and friends list is a step in the right direction for sure, but there is still quite a few things you cannot share with friends across server. Correct me if I'm wrong, but activities like maps, higher floors of PotD (I have never tried to cross-server this, but I assume it doesn't work), hunts, miscellanous world adventures, housing, and joint crafting and gathering can only be done with people on your server. It is a fair amount of things to not be able to do with friends who are on different servers. I suppose if you only want to do dungeons, raids, and primals cross-server stuff is pretty good though since I know not everyone does the extra things.

Maybe things like cross-world mailing and cross-world FC housing would be a good addition. It would be nice to have somewhere to stand and goof with friends from different servers that isn't a timed dungeon.