Petition to Lift Balmung Server Lock / Impact of Server Lock on FFXIV RP Community

[347SPECTRE]

If the unofficial census is anything to go by, Balmung still needs to be locked down. Yeah stagnation sucks, but until our numbers drop significantly, we more than likely won't see Balmung open up anytime soon. Still approx. 21k active players.

[KaivaC]

Unfortunately, I lack the time to solo a dozen or so uniformed, disinterested internet forum heros who regurgitate tautological arguments and show blind, lemming-like deference to SE's undisclosed business decisions, and who are so unfamiliar with the mechanics and structure of the RP community that they can't begin to even understand how a server lock impacts the RP community.

Reasonable people who can think for themselves are not content to believe a proposition without evidence. At the end of the day, there is no evidence of that Balmung's current population levels are detrimental or excessive. There are no queues or technical issues. The lock is causing stagnation and fragmenting FFXIV's RP community into increasingly isolated communities that will accelerate stagnation. Pointing to a decision made six months ago by your benevolent technocrat under a completely different set of circumstances and declaring your blind loyalty to that technocrat proves nothing other than your own ignorance.

These arguments have been made and repeated several times, and there are simply better things to do than address the same flawed thinking.

Alright...time to bring the big words out.

*clears throat*

As you have made perfectly clear, you have addressed many of the fallacious arguments that you addressed in your original postings with asinine arguments on your own without substantiating the words which you have brought here. Instead, you engage in annular contretemps, and regardless of how much your assumed evidence is, you keep invalidating any response, no matter how reasonable it may be. The truth of the matter is that you are full of bluster and championing yourself as the only person who knows what they are talking about.

*sigh*

In other words, you're just being a complete ass.

Oh sorry...big words.

You're being a jackass.

[Dualgunner]

Alright...time to bring the big words out.

*clears throat*

As you have made perfectly clear, you have addressed many of the fallacious arguments that you addressed in your original postings with asinine arguments on your own without substantiating the words which you have brought here. Instead, you engage in annular contretemps, and regardless of how much your assumed evidence is, you keep invalidating any response, no matter how reasonable it may be. The truth of the matter is that you are full of bluster and championing yourself as the only person who knows what they are talking about.

*sigh*

In other words, you're just being a complete ass.

Oh sorry...big words.

You're being a jackass.

Put the thesaurus down and come out with your hands up.

[KaivaC]

Put the thesaurus down and come out with your hands up.

/sadface

Alright...you caught me....Not!

*jumps out window with thesaurus in hand*

[Oaken]

In response to the “lulz, u crazy, dude, where is ur evidence, SE knows everyting and hasn’t made mistake since 1.0, lulz” line of responses, I’ve edited the OP to address that issue:

There is no reasonable basis for anyone to conclude that there is a population problem on Balmung at the present time. SE has presented no data or information about the current population level. Some posters are acting like SE has released concrete information that supports its decision. It has not, and in many instances SE has struggled to accurately report data or made inadvertent errors (i.e. – “FFXIV has surpasses 10 Million Players press release”; 1.0; Diadem, etc.). If you want to believe SE has correctly continued to lock the server, you need more information to reasonably conclude that at the present time. For example, it could state: “There are X active accounts on Balmung within the last 30 days. A FFXIV server can presently handle Y active accounts before server instability becomes a critical issue. Over the past 3 months, Z active accounts have transferred from the server. At this rate, the server will likely be unlocked in U months.” It is likely that SE may be keeping the server locked based on a metric like total number of characters (without taking into account active accounts). It is likely that SE does not understand the full extent of how the server lock is harming FCs, dividing the FFXIV RP community, and creating stagnation, which will ultimately lead to a loss of subscribers. The point of this thread is to point these issues out to SE and give people impacted by these issues a place to voice their concern.

Just a couple questions Oaken, if you have the time.

Thanks for your post. It poses several good questions. Short on time, so forgive typos and conclusory explanations.

1. First off, on what grounds did you assume the right to speak for the Balmung's RP communities? (Yes, plural, communities. Balmung's RP groups split up into subsections like most other RP locale.)

As much as any other member of the RP community. Most observations made in the OP are derived from the observable state of Balmung. There are no queues or server congestion issues at the present time. Without new players, FCs and groups are finding it increasingly difficult to find new members, and most are continuing the trend of turning inwards. Unfortunately, there are no empirical studies or concrete data. But thankfully, basic reasoning and antidotal observation are sufficient to prove the points in the OP. I’m fully aware advocating forcefully against a SE policy may annoy some in the community who have no vested interest in Balmung and simply enjoy trolling the forums to feel better about themselves. I usually avoid online forums for this reason (see post count). Ultimately, who cares? If SE even glances at this post (or another like it), and decides to at least release more information, it will be worth the minimal amount of time it has taken to draft.

2. Did you truly think for more than yourself when making this thread. Are you aware of who you happen to be representing, intentionally or otherwise?

Yes. I made the thread because the server lock is damaging the long-term viability of the FFXIV RP community and causing stagnation on Balmung. It would have been easier to do nothing. I’m well aware that some consider these types of posts pretentious and annoying. Again, who cares? The important thing here is that SE needs to understand that the server lock is harming the community, and players are aware of no valid reasons why the lock is in place. We have seen no data, heard no responses, or any type of concrete update on the issue. You seem intelligent enough to understand that an individual can never really speak for the community, and forming an opinion about an organization based on the personal views of one of its members is immature and stupid (and quite similar to how many RPers hold prejudicial views towards RPers). The RP community has been the subject of Kotaku posts about brothels and ERP. If this post is the tipping point that destroys its reputation, the risk was worth taking. There is nothing unreasonable about the points made in the OP, and one purpose of this forum is to alert the developers to potential issues with the game.

The RP community should not embrace passive, defeatist attitudes and “live with what they have.” We are paying consumers and have every much as right to voice opinions about the game, especially when the size of the community likely exceeds other discrete sects of the community, like players seriously attempting ultimate raiding. You might be content to sit on your hands and hope for the best. Others are not.

3. Have you considered the possibility of there being better, more fruitful efforts to invest your time?

These posts take minimal time and effort. There are plenty of people making attempts to rally RPers and drum up RP. The absence of threads that address the consequences of the server lock and question the validity of SE's decision, however, is alarming. It possibly stems from the contentment many RPers feel with the status quo, and the fear of speaking out against the quo (as shown as the vitriol and trolling displayed in this thread). Creating plotlines and RP events does not address a systemic issue with the server itself: stagnation arising from an excessive and unneeded population control remedy.

4. Have you considered the notion that it may ultimately be the Balmung Rp Community's Responsibility for its own health?

Yes. That is why this post was drafted and many in the community work hard to support the community. It is unfortunate some members of the community adopt a passive approach to this issue, and forget that they have the ability to question unsound policies and advocate for reasonable changes to those policies. Instead of fearing that others will “beat up RPers” or “give people clubs to beat up Balmung,” it is better to address major problems and inequities head on. We’re all nerds playing a six-year old catgirl simulator, after all, and shouldn’t be concerned with others think of us. If the best thing a few forum lurkers can do is post juvenile memes and mock how someone thinks and types, it should be a sign that someone has a decent point. I’d explain more, but I can’t find anymore colorful words in my thesaurus to use. Sorry.

[Aldotsk]

Oaken. You are the very sole reason and existence why people want this server locked or deleted. Because of your selfish reasons.

Go transfer to different server and start RP community there and make friends. Mateus , Goblin and Omega didn't really need to make petition to have their RP community.

Your laziness should not be dragging others in this.

[Avatre]

Oaken. You are the very sole reason and existence why people want this server locked or deleted. Because of your selfish reasons.

I wouldn't say deleted...thrown into it's own data center where the flood gates can open and crash only itself maybe...but not deleted(unless they open the flood gates and it causes a crash for all the other servers in the data center, then force split and delete)

[odintius]

Just for amusement plz do this the future threads itself be worth it to read all the rage post! I'll make sure to stock up on my popcorn and salt in the meantime.

[Lunemins]

Um you know there's other RP communities in different servers right? It's not hard to find information about these servers and their RP communities it's what people did when stormblood dropped they left balmung to create their own communities or join current ones. Just what I needed in the morning with my cup of joe, Balmung should be it's own data server if you ask me.

[AnaviAnael]

Was fine with the lock when it started. Still fine with it now.