Data Centers/World Locations Info from the LIVE Letter

[Jamison]

<snip> ... instead of playing the game.

But that's exactly why I would prefer global servers. So I can play the game, not just in primetime, but any free time that I have (which is admittedly some very strange hours). I had a great PT at 6am this past weekend that was a split of NA/JP/EU. We had a heck of a time doing random flights and just hanging out. I will sorely miss that.

As others have said, even though they will offer a choice of which region server you want to be on, that will be most appropriate to (as an example) an English speaker who happens to be living in another country, or vice-versa; or someone who had a non-standard work schedule and regularly plays at a time that isn't their normal primetime.

What this will NOT do is provide for global servers that are active at all times of the day. Even though I really enjoy playing with JP/EU, being on one of their servers will still be to my detriment due to the lack of NA. I don't *gain* anything through that making that choice.

I realize why this is being done, but it still makes me sad that one of the things I (and many others) particularly enjoy about FFXI and FFXIV is going away.

[Starlord]

But that's exactly why I would prefer global servers. So I can play the game, not just in primetime, but any free time that I have (which is admittedly some very strange hours). I had a great PT at 6am this past weekend that was a split of NA/JP/EU. We had a heck of a time doing random flights and just hanging out. I will sorely miss that.

As others have said, even though they will offer a choice of which region server you want to be on, that will be most appropriate to (as an example) an English speaker who happens to be living in another country, or vice-versa; or someone who had a non-standard work schedule and regularly plays at a time that isn't their normal primetime.

What this will NOT do is provide for global servers that are active at all times of the day. Even though I really enjoy playing with JP/EU, being on one of their servers will still be to my detriment due to the lack of NA. I don't *gain* anything through that making that choice.

I realize why this is being done, but it still makes me sad that one of the things I (and many others) particularly enjoy about FFXI and FFXIV is going away.

Random fights you have more of a chance to do things with random Cultures, but when it comes to Primals/Strongholds/Dungeons ( end gameish content) More than likely you will be turned down if you don;t know their language.

Random fights are as they are "Random" thus everyone at a certain point should know what they are doing and shouldn't come a crossed any problems at all. With content that requires Strategy it's a different story, at that point people really need to be Communicative to get things done. If you can't rely the strat to the other Language thoroughly, You will have a rough time getting it done.

Dying is fun, dying too many times is not fun. I understand everyone has different work schedules and what not, thus Global servers are better suited to everyone's needs, however when you look at the broad scope of things and get real thick into the ice, Getting into end-game content with people not of said Language is very tricky and can slow other people down from getting top-gear and all that jazz.

As I said before Global and Regional servers have their advantages.

Global servers= Having time to play with others regardless of time you play ( but suffer Latency if your far way from the server)
Regional- No Language Barriers, No Latency, the only flaw people schedules may conflict with the Regional Prime time.

Some things in life we have to work around things to achieve a happy medium. If they could some how Combine Regional/Global Servers to make it still Global but sill choose a server closest to you and still play with everyone around the world. I would be for that.

But if I had to choose it would be Regional Servers.

[VanillaLatte]

Random fights you have more of a chance to do things with random Cultures, but when it comes to Primals/Strongholds/Dungeons ( end gameish content) More than likely you will be turned down if you don;t know their language.

Random fights are as they are "Random" thus everyone at a certain point should know what they are doing and shouldn't come a crossed any problems at all. With content that requires Strategy it's a different story, at that point people really need to be Communicative to get things done. If you can't rely the strat to the other Language thoroughly, You will have a rough time getting it done.

Dying is fun, dying too many times is not fun. I understand everyone has different work schedules and what not, thus Global servers are better suited to everyone's needs, however when you look at the broad scope of things and get real thick into the ice, Getting into end-game content with people not of said Language is very tricky and can slow other people down from getting top-gear and all that jazz.

As I said before Global and Regional servers have their advantages.

Global servers= Having time to play with others regardless of time you play ( but suffer Latency if your far way from the server)
Regional- No Language Barriers, No Latency, the only flaw people schedules may conflict with the Regional Prime time.

Some things in life we have to work around things to achieve a happy medium. If they could some how Combine Regional/Global Servers to make it still Global but sill choose a server closest to you and still play with everyone around the world. I would be for that.

But if I had to choose it would be Regional Servers.

You're making it sounds like global servers will not have enough of the people from the same regions to form their own end game groups.

Global servers will have that end game groups you're speaking of + the luxury of having an active lively server at any point of time. The only con is the latency, basically.

[Starlord]

You're making it sounds like global servers will not have enough of the people from the same regions to form their own end game groups.

Global servers will have that end game groups you're speaking of + the luxury of having an active lively server at any point of time. The only con is the latency, basically.

End game content hardly has any other cultures, besides that you can get other people with other languages. but when it comes to end game content, you hardly see anyone outside your language.

Edit: Seems like everyone on here knows German/French/Japanese/English... teach me some...

[moriandrio]

You're making it sounds like global servers will not have enough of the people from the same regions to form their own end game groups.

Global servers will have that end game groups you're speaking of + the luxury of having an active lively server at any point of time. The only con is the latency, basically.

As long latency is the con, ppl that wanna do Endgame seriously will go to regional servers and not to a global one. So if they can't fix latency without splitting ppl to regional datacenters you will only have endgame groups in the primetime of the region in wich the server is located at.

[VanillaLatte]

As long latency is the con, ppl that wanna do Endgame seriously will go to regional servers and not to a global one. So if they can't fix latency without splitting ppl to regional datacenters you will only have endgame groups in the primetime of the region in wich the server is located at.

I don't think end game is an issue here. I'm sure it's already the case even in global server that NA groups do their end game in NA prime time and JP groups do their end game in JP prime time.

It's more for the time when it's outside your region's prime time. You'll be able to do non-end-game stuff at any time of the day (i.e. level up, quests, hang around and travel and can see people, doing events that require a large group of people, high level content that's not in the difficulty of the absolute end game content (i.e. moogle)).

And in regards to latency, one thing I'm always confused about is why is reflex the way to make content hard. Can't they think of difficult content that require strategy instead of dodging fire on the ground within 1 sec kind of stuff?

[moriandrio]

I don't think end game is an issue here. I'm sure it's already the case even in global server that NA groups do their end game in NA prime time and JP groups do their end game in JP prime time.

It's more for the time when it's outside your region's prime time. You'll be able to do non-end-game stuff at any time of the day (i.e. level up, quests, hang around and travel and can see people, doing events that require a large group of people, high level content that's not in the difficulty of the absolute end game content (i.e. moogle)).

And in regards to latency, one thing I'm always confused about is why is reflex the way to make content hard. Can't they think of difficult content that require strategy instead of dodging fire on the ground within 1 sec kind of stuff?

As long you have bad latency at global servers ppl will go on regional cause of Endgame. And the time when you didnt have to move during fights (like in most XI fights) are outdated. Movement is part of endgame content and the EU/NA delay can fuck this up.

Its simple, SE only needs to fix latency for EU/NA and ppl will go on global servers.

[Antipika]

You're making it sounds like global servers will not have enough of the people from the same regions to form their own end game groups.

Global servers will have that end game groups you're speaking of + the luxury of having an active lively server at any point of time. The only con is the latency, basically.

Confirmed for playing in NA timezone. It's been almost 10 years since Europe have been screwed up on these so called "global servers". (talking about XI too)

It was hell on XI to find a Linkshell that was right for you, endgame wise. Yes all Worlds had some EU shells, but the choice was really low, especially if you wanted to focus on a specific activity, you had way less choices or no choice at all.

Right now XIV content is fine because it's 8 players max, so it's not as hard to find a decent EU dedicated group, then again, if you're not on Ragnarok it can be really hard.

I don't care about playing on a server active at any point of time. The only thing that matters is the server to be active when I am online. What happen before and after I log out is irrelevant to me. And right now, there is no such luxury for EU players, barely able to play during their own Prime Time.

If we ever get end-game involving 24 players on a regular basis (i.e. like Dynamis or "Raids" in other MMOs), I don't see "Global Servers" having more than ~2 decent EU raids. Which is a problem in itself as even if a group is "EU" their schedule may not be right for you. I play other titles in EU EN only servers and even there, not all raid group suits you.

Parameters to take in consideration:

- Level of progression (cannot join a group that is already too advanced gear wise)
- Schedule (start and end of raid, need to be at home before start time and need the raid not to end too late, start time is usually the biggest issue though)
- Frequency of raids (usually 3~5 nights a week, but some players cannot commit to 4 or 5 nights a week, so it makes it hard to join these group)
- Stance toward endgame (casual, semi-hardcore, hardcore...)

These 4 factors alone filter out easily half of guilds for some players. No need to restrict choices even more by adding timezone differences and languages issues. (I'm not even talking about latency here.)

[VanillaLatte]

Confirmed for playing in NA timezone. It's been almost 10 years since Europe have been screwed up on these so called "global servers". (talking about XI too)

It was hell on XI to find a Linkshell that was right for you, endgame wise. Yes all Worlds had some EU shells, but the choice was really low, especially if you wanted to focus on a specific activity, you had way less choices or no choice at all.

Right now XIV content is fine because it's 8 players max, so it's not as hard to find a decent EU dedicated group, then again, if you're not on Ragnarok it can be really hard.

I don't care about playing on a server active at any point of time. The only thing that matters is the server to be active when I am online. What happen before and after I log out is irrelevant to me. And right now, there is no such luxury for EU players, barely able to play during their own Prime Time.

If we ever get end-game involving 24 players on a regular basis (i.e. like Dynamis or "Raids" in other MMOs), I don't see "Global Servers" having more than ~2 decent EU raids. Which is a problem in itself as even if a group is "EU" their schedule may not be right for you. I play other titles in EU EN only servers and even there, not all raid group suits you.

Parameters to take in consideration:

- Level of progression (cannot join a group that is already too advanced gear wise)
- Schedule (start and end of raid, need to be at home before start time and need the raid not to end too late, start time is usually the biggest issue though)
- Frequency of raids (usually 3~5 nights a week, but some players cannot commit to 4 or 5 nights a week, so it makes it hard to join these group)
- Stance toward endgame (casual, semi-hardcore, hardcore...)

These 4 factors alone filter out easily half of guilds for some players. No need to restrict choices even more by adding timezone differences and languages issues. (I'm not even talking about latency here.)

Right now the issue is no one plays this game thus the low popularity. If ARR is successful and becomes popular, the servers will be populated with players from all regions - unless you're saying very low # of people from EU will play ARR so they all need to unite and play on the same server to make sure EU population is good.

Edit: either way they're making regional servers. You'll get what you wanted and I'll miss the mix of cultures and i'll be prepared to not be able to do events like Atomos outside of peak hours.

[moriandrio]

Right now the issue is no one plays this game thus the low popularity. If ARR is successful and becomes popular, the servers will be populated with players from all regions - unless you're saying very low # of people from EU will play ARR so they all need to unite and play on the same server to make sure EU population is good.

Edit: either way they're making regional servers. You'll get what you wanted and I'll miss the mix of cultures and i'll be prepared to not be able to do events like Atomos outside of peak hours.

You can't expect that all the ppl will suddenly start playing just cause ARR gets released, it will take time to get ppl back into the game. In this time you will have 1-2 EU endgame shells on a global server, and alot ppl will still have the problem that they might not find one that fits for them. Regional Servers will be specially for EU Player something that will help alot.