New data centers

[Enla]

As bad as it is, I only have two words for it: blame Balmung. I'd argue that this is all happening because players on crowded servers like Balmung don't want to leave their servers for various reasons.

Really not just Balmung anymore. The issue is that Aether has the three most populated servers in the entire game. Balmung at 17k according to LuckyBancho, Gilgamesh at 12k, and Mateus at 14k. A quick check at the other servers on Aether show similar signs of being larger than their Japanese or EU counterparts as well, with even our smallest servers dwarfing theirs by a couple thousand players in some cases. Which all combine together to create massive server strain.

[GomJabbar]

the Aussie playerbase should've banded together and conquered a JP datacenter, or at least a couple of servers on the same datacenter.

Isn't that pretty much what they did with Tonberry?

[Kazrah]

Really not just Balmung anymore.

Gilgamesh, while definitely a crowded server, not once has ever been deemed a "congested" server despite being the prime hub for hardcore players.

Meanwile, Mateus is only as crowded as it is because it's Balmung's overflow server. That's how I know that it's not a problem with Aether as much as it's a problem with Balmung.

Isn't that pretty much what they did with Tonberry?

I thought so too, but I've been seeing more and more Aussie players on NA servers, so I wasn't sure these days.

[Aramina]

Gilgamesh, while definitely a crowded server, not once has ever been deemed a "congested" server despite being the prime hub for hardcore players.

Meanwile, Mateus is only as crowded as it is because it's Balmung's overflow server. That's how I know that it's not a problem with Aether as much as it's a problem with Balmung.



I thought so too, but I've been seeing more and more Aussie players on NA servers, so I wasn't sure these days.

Gilgamesh was closed the first time along with Balmung. So it *was* a congested server, it just did not continue to be one.

[Enla]

Gilgamesh, while definitely a crowded server, not once has ever been deemed a "congested" server despite being the prime hub for hardcore players.

Meanwile, Mateus is only as crowded as it is because it's Balmung's overflow server. That's how I know that it's not a problem with Aether as much as it's a problem with Balmung.



I thought so too, but I've been seeing more and more Aussie players on NA servers, so I wasn't sure these days.

You're ignoring my point about the entirety of Aether even so. By all means look at the census numbers on Lucky Bancho. With almost any server you click, the numbers reflected show that Aether simply has more character than any other data center. Balmung and Mateus might have the biggest numbers but the data center itself is bloated beyond capacity. Hence why I said it's not /JUST/ a Balmung issue anymore. At no point was I absolving my server of facing an overpopulation problem.

Also like Aramina said, Gilgamesh has been closed before and was for a fairly decent time before reopening.

[linay]

At least on the NA side, it is interesting that, alongside Balmung and Mateus, new datacenter Crystal will have all the servers that SE has currently designated as preferred worlds earlier this year as well as my own server which has enjoyed a long run on and off (mostly on, but currently off) as a preferred world. To think that new players would most likely be directed to a datacenter with balmung on first login going forward, at least at the start.

[BambooShoo]

Honestly the main baffling thing is that they're splitting EU.

Last I saw, EU already has one of the lowest populations, and now they're splitting it in half, effectively making the game worse for everyone that plays there.

[linay]

Honestly the main baffling thing is that they're splitting EU.

Last I saw, EU already has one of the lowest populations, and now they're splitting it in half, effectively making the game worse for everyone that plays there.

They're probably adjusting for peak potential. Were EU servers affected by the problem at the beginning of Stormblood? Did EU servers had to use instances on lochs and possibly other SB zones?

[BambooShoo]

They're probably adjusting for peak potential. Were EU servers affected by the problem at the beginning of Stormblood? Did EU servers had to use instances on lochs and possibly other SB zones?

I understand that that's probably the reasoning, but it's a flawed way of actually solving that problem.

Because what happens 3 months after launch? Surprise surprise, the EU servers are a barren wasteland because SE took away 50% of the population.

I wouldn't be as worried if they could at least promise compensation for when this does occur, or a promise to merge the data-centers again.

Just a pure split is probably the laziest, and most harmful way to actually "fix" this.

[Driavna]

I understand that that's probably the reasoning, but it's a flawed way of actually solving that problem.

Because what happens 3 months after launch? Surprise surprise, the EU servers are a barren wasteland because SE took away 50% of the population.

I wouldn't be as worried if they could at least promise compensation for when this does occur, or a promise to merge the data-centers again.

Just a pure split is probably the laziest, and most harmful way to actually "fix" this.

IMO looks like SE plan is to allow cross duty/party finder between data-centers at some point in the future. Will be like macro servers but without merges so everyone can keep their house and names.

At least is the next logical step.