@Devs: Please allow us to travel at will between servers.

[Zumi]

I don't mind worldless model gives you more people to play with. They will have cross world instances so its already kind of there.

Major problem with 1.0 was finding anyone to do anything with. So more players to do stuff with is always good.

[Abriael]

At last someone willing to discuss it in a civil manner.

"A Server System Built to Support a Worldless Model
・Party/content matching for players from different World servers
・High-speed searches for PCs, items, player community data
・Changes to the basic infrastructure to improve data transfer efficiency"

Is what you refering too with the worldless thing. Honestly I don't see it the same way you do as they highlighted the big perks of this system as they did with all of the ones prior. It is not a tall assumption to assume that they built this with the intent for a "true" worldess model. SE is prone to bad or confusing wording of their official releases giving players the complete wrong idea of what they are planning which usually is the basis for the heavy let-downs and disappointment. Honestly It could go either way so if you consider that as a tall assumption it is only fair to also consider your point as such too.

The difference is that I don't assume that they built the server technology with this system in mind. I assume it's possible that they did, given the above and the fact that the servers are obviously already build to communicate between each other. And I don't think the possibility can be denied until they themselves confirm/deny it.

with the system (TSW Only and cross server dungeons from many games). As for the cons, well While the community in the secret world may not be the worst ever, it still lacks that "bond" we had in XI and have to some extent in XIV. Most players (which can be true in any MMO) in TSW are all about "me me me me!" while you'll find a few people like myself who will go out of my way those in dire need of a specific role for their dungeon or quest.

IMHO this is a matter of personal experience. While I don't feel that the TSW community is better than the community of FFXI, I do feel it's better than that of FFXIV. I've definitely saw more people going out of their way to help others in TSW than in XIV, where elitism has gotten to unbearable levels (at least on my server, can't talk for others), even because TSW has mechanics in place (something else that is direly missing in FFXIV and many other MMOs) to encourage you to help others even if you already completed a dungeon/quest.

I sure never saw anyone "selling" help for humongous prices like 40+ milllion gil in The Secret World, while in FFXIV it's commonplace.

But alas, in the end correlation does not equate causation. The fact that one or two games may (or may not) have a better community than that of TSW doesn't mean that the quality of the community is a result of the server structure. There are plenty games out there with strictly segregated servers that have downright horrible communities.

There are a ton of factors in place that influence the quality of a community, and the biggest one is definitely the target of the game: IE: the kind of people it attracts.

In the end, I don't think it's very logical to say that having access to more people can automatically lower the quality of the bonds between those people. It's like telling your girlfriend that she can't have friends because you're afraid that she'll care for you less.

On the other hand, having access to more people enhances the chance that you'll find more like-minded people and more people willing to help you (simply because the pool is bigger).

I would definitely see your point when you apply it with a straight and simple cross-server group finder, when you meet people that you have very scarce chances to ever meet again, all sorts of bad things can happen, and there's no real sense of community with them.

But this model facilitates meeting those people again, as you can friend (or block, mind you) them, and meet them anytime you want, and the fact that the server borders are passable whenever you want also increase the possibilities of random meetings.

Since we already know that we'll have a cross server cross group finder, I actually think this system can help solve, or at least alleviate, the community-related problems that cross servers group finders almost always bring (it did from what I saw in TSW), as it removes the no-responsibility approach that's kind of embedded in a cross-server group finder, that normally brings people to believe that everyone from other servers is an ass.

From a community pioint of view, it's just like the whole game was a single big server (even if practically it isn't), more or like like eve online, and IMHO the EVE online community is one of the most tightly knit I ever played in (even if most of the reason, no doubt, is due to the target, as EVE mostly attracts a very mature/adult kind of player and keep the wow kiddies out of the game).

Call it fear of change but I'd prefer this specific feature stay out of XIV and we think of another way

I seriously don't think there's another way, and considering that I've been a promponent of the removal of community borders in MMORPG for a long time, I thought about it for a long time. But hey, I'm very willing to hear other ideas.

Lastly if you think the pros outweigh the cons in this situation it might be true but many peopl play FF MMOs because of a few reasons, Story, Music, Scenery and Community. If one of those were to take a heavy hit due to a feature of convenience a large portion of the playerbase would man torches and be ready to march on SE HQ in hours. I personally would drop the game quick and back to playing MMOs exclusively for friends even though I dislike almost everything about them.

Rather safe then sorry and pissed.

That's your taste, and it's a legitimate opinion like any other. Unfortunately, though, the "rather safe than sorry" attitude will exclude any evolution to any MMORPG community feature, as everything has a potential to influence a community's inner workings.

[Keith_Dragoon]

I guess I would first have to see how SE handles the dungeon finder before I then jump on a the wagon for pushing them to take the "Worldless Server" thing even further. I guess it's because I know SE as a company has a reputation of screwing things up when they deviate too far away from their "norm" to cater to the changing genre.

As far as the Elitism and the selling of things that begins when some arrogant douche-biscuit(they live in every game) publicizes their plans to sell services to players because they can do it and players can't. Currently there is very little in TSW that some people can't do and others can so it rare if not even non-existent.

The rather safe then sorry does not prevent further innovation/advancement cause it only really applies to something that if not added it will not be that big of a deal but if added improperly or the feature itself causes untold issues with some aspect of the game it could very well spell the end. This is why i said you'd do best to win over the faith and approval of your peers cause the more people pushing for something like this the higher the chances. things that receive mostly negative responses may be glanced at and then make a B-line for the trash bin because SE is also playing it cautious.

I have put in my personal feelings about this matter and don't have much else to contribute so I will now wander off into another thread now.

[Abriael]

I guess I would first have to see how SE handles the dungeon finder before I then jump on a the wagon for pushing them to take the "Worldless Server" thing even further. I guess it's because I know SE as a company has a reputation of screwing things up when they deviate too far away from their "norm" to cater to the changing genre.

As far as the Elitism and the selling of things that begins when some arrogant douche-biscuit(they live in every game) publicizes their plans to sell services to players because they can do it and players can't. Currently there is very little in TSW that some people can't do and others can so it rare if not even non-existent.

The rather safe then sorry does not prevent further innovation/advancement cause it only really applies to something that if not added it will not be that big of a deal but if added improperly or the feature itself causes untold issues with some aspect of the game it could very well spell the end. This is why i said you'd do best to win over the faith and approval of your peers cause the more people pushing for something like this the higher the chances. things that receive mostly negative responses may be glanced at and then make a B-line for the trash bin because SE is also playing it cautious.

I have put in my personal feelings about this matter and don't have much else to contribute so I will now wander off into another thread now.

Eh, honestly I have enough faith in Yoshida and the development team to be fairly sure that they have their own brain and can decide what's a good idea or a bad idea regardless of how loud a few vocal people screaming in a half dead forum are.

If they weren't able to do that (In general, not just in this case), the game would probably sink anyway. Game development really isn't and shouldn't be a democratic process.

I would also avoid judging their work according to Square Enix's "reputation", which is something that varies according to personal interpretation, and that some tend to see, in my eyes, in an excessively negative way. SE made some mistakes. I can't remember a single software house that doesn't, but to see them as a team that screws up on a regular base seems excessive to me. To think that they shouldn't "dare" because of that seems excessively conservative. Without "daring", games simply fail to catch a stable audience and die.

And about the elitists, I'm not talking about just a single arrogant douche, but entire guilds. Can't talk for other servers, but the community I have personally seen in Final Fantasy XIV is decent, but not even close to what Final Fantasy XI had.

[Daniolaut]

They wont do this and i dont want it. They already stated they want to keep the 1.0 players seperate from all the new characters that will be created upon ARR's release. Complain all you want, they wont change it.

Actually They said *very clearly* that such a division is temporary.

@Sakasa: You absolutely don't need to "drag" all your data from one server or another. The system can copy over only the essential data, depending on the available bandwidth. You don't necessarily need to be able to access your achievements or item storage in a server on which you're just a guest (mind you, in other games you can, it's just not necessary)

Mind you, you're massively exaggerating the size and scope of even the non essential data. Character data in a MMORPGs is compact enough that MMORPGs can afford having it fished externally via APIs whenever someone pleases (including FFXIV with the Lodestone). So temporarily copying it over to other servers is no problem.

Hey i have a question though. I'm not sure if its been answered. I already spent some time looking for data about this topic, and was glad to find this.

Does anyone know how they will be separating us? Will it be server by server? For instance everyone on the server they are on, will be transferred to a server with the same people on it?

Or will it be 1.0 characters in general will have a choice out of a number of the servers and the new players on the other servers?

Or does anyone know how they are going to import our character data in regards to the sever? For instance will our character already be assigned to a server? or will we be just given our data that is attached to some void entity, and then we'll create the name/features/looks etc. and choose our server?

[ZakarnRosewood]

From my understanding the servers from 1.0 will stay and the 1.0 characters will remain locked to the world they were in when 1.0 shut down (possibly able to transfer between 1.0 servers? I don't know) New players will be allowed to create characters on the old servers if they choose, you you can still play with your friends, but they want to preserve the new servers for a fresh start once ARR goes live. They have stated the restriction to the 1.0 characters on the 1.0 servers will be temporarily, eventually they will allow us to move our 1.0 characters onto the new servers at a yet to be determined date and the first move will be free. The length of time the free move will be available is also yet to be determined.

So far there has been limited information regarding this and the OP's topic. Most information is left to player conjecture based on the tidbits they have provided. In my opinion, regarding the OP, they have not set themselves up for an open server model like it is in Guild Wars(2). What we know so far is the team intends to allow players to use the party search function to create a group for a dungeon/instance from any server, most likely an option you can select. They have stated you can choose language as an option to refine your search or party flag status, other options to this date are still unclear.

Regardless of what is possible out there or what other games are doing, I don't feel that SE will be going the "worldless" route and allow players to change servers with the click of a button. However I will need to wait for more detailed information to arise before stating this as fact.

[VitoScaletta]

Many people don't even want content finder, if you think about it, playing games with content finder makes them appear empty, but I'm not judging ARR until I see how they implement it.

I see where your coming from, but I don't support it. Instead of less of a 'divide'. I think it will create one, you'll see people only wanting to go to one server, or vice versa. It'll create crowding, and emptiness at the same time. The biggest factor is if Yoshi will even consider it, and I think thats a big fat no. Just Yoshis tone in his letters makes it all the more apparent, the guys working overtime to finish whats on his plate, adding more things for him to redefine the infrastructure seems a little irresponsible.

[Daniolaut]

From my understanding the servers from 1.0 will stay and the 1.0 characters will remain locked to the world they were in when 1.0 shut down (possibly able to transfer between 1.0 servers? I don't know) New players will be allowed to create characters on the old servers if they choose, you you can still play with your friends, but they want to preserve the new servers for a fresh start once ARR goes live. They have stated the restriction to the 1.0 characters on the 1.0 servers will be temporarily, eventually they will allow us to move our 1.0 characters onto the new servers at a yet to be determined date and the first move will be free. The length of time the free move will be available is also yet to be determined.

So far there has been limited information regarding this and the OP's topic. Most information is left to player conjecture based on the tidbits they have provided. In my opinion, regarding the OP, they have not set themselves up for an open server model like it is in Guild Wars(2). What we know so far is the team intends to allow players to use the party search function to create a group for a dungeon/instance from any server, most likely an option you can select. They have stated you can choose language as an option to refine your search or party flag status, other options to this date are still unclear.

Regardless of what is possible out there or what other games are doing, I don't feel that SE will be going the "worldless" route and allow players to change servers with the click of a button. However I will need to wait for more detailed information to arise before stating this as fact.

Thanks, thats basically what I had assumed with the given information. If you have any links it would be appreciated, but I personally feel fine in this regard because no matter what happens I'm satisfied. Except of course my data getting lost.. that would not be fun.

[ZakarnRosewood]

Thanks, thats basically what I had assumed with the given information. If you have any links it would be appreciated, but I personally feel fine in this regard because no matter what happens I'm satisfied. Except of course my data getting lost.. that would not be fun.

Some information was from the original roadmap (not sure if there is still any links for it anymore.) and i think there was something about it in the Special Talk session (don't forget to turn on subtitles). Also go through some of this thread, i think there were some links to information as well.

[Daniolaut]

Thank you again. I knew I had a feeling I had read information regarding this before, but i cannot seem to remember where. My linkshell has been discussing this and I was trying to get further confirmation. Ty again.