The scary paradigm shift of Balmung.

[Vrankyl]

As a former Balmung resident from early HW to early ShB I agree that the current state of Balmung is courtesy of World/Data Center Travel. The tourists turned it into the very thing everyone meme'd about. What was once a small contained corner of the server took over the whole joint making legit RP places harder to manage. I moved to Mateus and honestly... it gives me the same vibes old Balmung used to. Hells, our Quicksand has actual RP going on inside of it like Balmung's used to. Hope on over to Buscaron's Druthers? There's a good chance you'll find RP there. Hell one time a friend and I started RPing there and all of a sudden a whole ton of people were. It was amazing. It's sad that Balmung has become something else these days.

[Illianaro]

As a former Balmung resident from early HW to early ShB I agree that the current state of Balmung is courtesy of World/Data Center Travel. The tourists turned it into the very thing everyone meme'd about. What was once a small contained corner of the server took over the whole joint making legit RP places harder to manage. I moved to Mateus and honestly... it gives me the same vibes old Balmung used to. Hells, our Quicksand has actual RP going on inside of it like Balmung's used to. Hope on over to Buscaron's Druthers? There's a good chance you'll find RP there. Hell one time a friend and I started RPing there and all of a sudden a whole ton of people were. It was amazing. It's sad that Balmung has become something else these days.

I’m increasingly tempted to move over to Mateus as I’ve heard good things about the RP scene there. The biggest thing that has stuck out to me on Balmung lately is how insane shout chat has become in places like Uldah. It’s always been active, but now it’s just off the rails. Forget actually RPing in the Quicksand.

[Bonoki]

Balmung has always had an ERP problem. It was the go-to RP server back in Legacy 1.0. Gilgamesh briefly took the crown as the RP hub in 2.0, but that collapsed due to internal RPC drama, and everyone migrated back to Balmung. Then it briefly shifted to Mateus before inevitably gravitating back to Balmung; now, it's spread everywhere. Just look at Party Finder venues for proof.

World and Data Center visits made it worse—not just for Balmung but across the board. Again, check the number of venue listings in PF; it's no longer a Crystal-exclusive problem. The ERP presence has grown game-wide, regardless of server. That said, Balmung today is a bit worse than in ARR.

And here's the kicker: you probably wouldn’t believe me when I say I get more unsolicited RP offers on Aether than on Crystal. As someone currently living on Balmung, I can tell you from experience that if you avoid the Quicksands, keep your search info completely free of RP references, and play a male character, you’ll significantly reduce the amount of tells you might receive. Adding something like “No Mare” or “No ERP” in your search info also helps; there are so many “fish in the sea” that people will move on to an easier target.

I’m increasingly tempted to move over to Mateus as I’ve heard good things about the RP scene there. The biggest thing that has stuck out to me on Balmung lately is how insane shout chat has become in places like Uldah. It’s always been active, but now it’s just off the rails. Forget actually RPing in the Quicksand.

The shout chat is a huge issue. It's so bad that we have a whole website dedicated to it.
https://thequicksand.live/

[SkankyRoe]

And here's the kicker: you probably wouldn’t believe me when I say I get more unsolicited RP offers on Aether than on Crystal.

I think it depends on what race/gender you play as tbh. I've gone to Balmung Quicksands a few times and rarely get any spontaneous interactions, but I get plenty whenever I go to Faerie Limsa while on my hroth alt. I don't get much solicitation in general tho, most tells I get are compliments or tame conversation starters.

[Astronis]

I think it depends on what race/gender you play as tbh. I've gone to Balmung Quicksands a few times and rarely get any spontaneous interactions, but I get plenty whenever I go to Faerie Limsa while on my hroth alt. I don't get much solicitation in general tho, most tells I get are compliments or tame conversation starters.

This is the truth. My friends who play catgirls have Stories to Tell, while I think I've gotten two weird RP tells in several years. More often I get weird interactions where I get the feeling someone expects they'll get free stuff out of me just because my avatar is male, though that doesn't happen a lot either.

Mostly I get what sounds like sincere compliments on my glamours.

[Shezza]

This is the truth. My friends who play catgirls have Stories to Tell, while I think I've gotten two weird RP tells in several years. More often I get weird interactions where I get the feeling someone expects they'll get free stuff out of me just because my avatar is male, though that doesn't happen a lot either.

Mostly I get what sounds like sincere compliments on my glamours.

Its true its far nicer to play a male character because the interactions you get are actually genuine.

[Jeeqbit]

The biggest thing that has stuck out to me on Balmung lately is how insane shout chat has become in places like Uldah. It’s always been active, but now it’s just off the rails. Forget actually RPing in the Quicksand.

I have hung in Ul'dah many times on Balmung. It was always off the rails even like 8 years ago. But there was a good side to this... there was actual conversation. Something that active (in a non-RP way) was usually only found in the Novice Network.

Balmung has always had an ERP problem.

In my entire time on Balmung (7 years), I never once encountered it. The most that happened was when I was a new player, someone sent me a /tell and it was quite similar to what someone would say at night who is looking for "work". I really only came across genuine RP ever, and that sort of RP can cross over into being intimate but I mean it usually wasn't their whole reason for RPing and they were just doing what was logical for the story of their character.

I think the first time I actually saw it was on Malboro after World Visiting was a thing.

The ERP presence has grown game-wide, regardless of server.

I've noticed that. The venues are all across the game now and many of them are 18+.

And here's the kicker: you probably wouldn’t believe me when I say I get more unsolicited RP offers on Aether than on Crystal.

I do believe it. Just based on PF alone it was easy for me to see that the RP outside Crystal was either of that nature, or setting up a venue where this could potentially occur.

Welcome to the internet.
Every MMO has this.

No one is saying that the game doesn't have it. This is about Balmung specifically and how the people interested in this have shifted it from what it once was.