Repopulating Gridania and Limsa Lominsa (how can we spread out?)

[Overkill9000]

But to answer the main question in my own opinion, I would say linking the wards would do it very easily.

the wards are filled with too much lag already. it's like rolanberry fields on crack..... and oh a search function. mind you, i'm all for independent enterprise but they have no benefits that an entrepreneur would gain nor any benefits of a corporation.... (that i was waiting for; i thought that was the premises behind companies >.> stupid me thinking it had anything to do with the economy).... thus, they better make the market wards more market-like or follow suit of their current actions and over-simplifying everything and pleasing the 90% ffxi population.

[Picoman]

I am against Market Ward merger at this point as there may still be other options to try first.

It would be a little scary if Wutai's Ul'dah population were spread equally through Limsa and Grid, the game would feel so empty, just not enough people to go around.

If the servers population was 3x bigger then people would have no choice but to move to another city. The recent increase in the Ul'Dah Market Wards was baffling.

[CptnGamble]

When looking at the maps of the cities it looks like the aetheryte plazas, market wards, and adventure's guilds are close to one another but it feels like Ul'dah is alot more convenient; plus the repair npc is right outside "The Quicksand" which creates a disadvantage for the other two cities.

I don't know maybe I'm just crazy 'cause I haven't seen anone else bring this up.

[Laughlyn]

I wouldnt worry too much about it after we get chocobos & airships.
And hopefully, the release of the PS3 version will bring around a few more players.

But ya, Gridania & Limsa could use some spicing up.

Maybe additional leves, more leves per day maybe, espcially for gatherers.
City ranks, much like in FFXI gaining region points from wich you can trade in for gear / items etc.
(Forgot what it was called)
City / Region based BCNM fight's.

[Esk]

On Besaid the population has moved around (I miss the nice quite forest where i knew most of the people i would run past)

But I would agree a lot of factors are holding people in UL, The best fix for this is a better party/recruiting system imo.
So we can find people no matter where they are and with airships/cholocobs travel will be much better after 1.19.

But having a market hub will always happen, and it suite the lore for that to be in UL.
So i personally would like that to stay the same.

[Anty]

get a linked AH, wait for grid area to get overhauled should do it.

[neizero]

Back in September-November, Uldah was packed (much more so than it is today), but Limsa and Gridania were *also* packed with people bazaaring, crafting, @leve counter, etc. so in my opinion the main thing that has changed is the overall decrease in population of most servers.

And when there's less people overall, being in any city other than the central one is less "useful", ie I can't find anything in the markets, I may miss a recruitment "shout" for something I want to do, since there are not many groups being formed in the first place AND the party recruitment system is awfully designed and rarely used, and so on.

As for solutions, I would go for all of the below:
- Market wards merge - really what's the point of having 2 cities' MW that are almost completely empty.
- Server merge - to increase density of population and allow people to naturally spread out without feeling "alone"
- Shout across all cities (aka trade chat)
- Completely redesign party recruitment UI and usability. Introduce LFP flag, etc. so I don't feel like I have to be glued to Uldah to have any chance of finding a group.

[Shika]

I hate to use it as a reference (because yes I know this is not FFXI), but I actually found myself using Jeuno and Whitegate less and less as a main "home". I based myself in Sandy (my starting home nation) because I could easily access my Outpost warps, pay a small fee to get to Whitegate if I needed to or even catch an airship if I had time to spare in order to get to Jeuno. I was RDM and WHM mainly so of course I also had tele's to get around.

With the server search function for players seeking etc, it didn't matter where you were really trying to put a party together- just set a place to meet up before heading off.
And yes, I would really like to see linked market wards so that Ul'dah is not necessarily seen as the main hub for buying and selling.

I think personally if there was a designated "Home Nation" mission/quest strand similar to FFXI where you could change your allegiance and complete all three, this may encourage the completist players to try all three cities and spend time there.
We only have Anima to get around right now, but I know for a lot of people this doesn't last. Once airships and chocobos are introduced (soon!) this will help to improve the situation.
But, I would also like to see some sort of "Conquest" events for your Nation put in- i.e. node/outpost warping for a fee once you have been there or done a supply mission (similar to FFXI), points you could build up for fighting with your Nation's seal on to buy items or buffs, and maybe even a Garrison event (but better) to try and inspire some feeling of loyalty to the town you choose as your Home.

As with FFXI this still will not entirely solve the problem of trying to repopulate "disliked" places, but with more dungeons/events spread out with their entrance near each different city it might help a little to redistribute players across the map.

[Perrin_Aybarra]

Like many other said

Linking the Market Wards would be a huge help in letting people live in the city they wish to.

The second thing that will help that is a proper "looking for group" tool and/or a common chat channel when you are in a city. That way you can be in the city you want or feel more connected to but still do not miss on the grouping advantage you'd have in Ul'Dah.

[Darkshade]

If this has already been suggested, I'm sorry, I didn't bother reading the entire thread.

Market Wards: SE should make each Ward 2-4x the size and probably just re-design the look and appearance, maybe a "ring" shape. With the size increase they should allow 2-4x the number of retainers in each Ward. They should then link all the Market Wards together. If you enter from Limsa, you enter the same market ward as Ul'Dah or Gridania, but you can only exit from where you entered from.

After 8 years SE finally unified the auction house system in FFXI. For 8 years the starter cities had next to dead markets, often only selling starter gear and consumables at prices often more expensive than the main cities linked AH. They then linked the starter cities with the main cities AH and now it's much more convenient.

XI also had another system like this for the Chocobo Racing zone. You could enter from almost any city in the game via a system of portals, but could only be ported back to the original area in which you first entered from. They could use a mechanic like that to explain the story aspect of having them linked.

I understand that many will hate this idea and wish for diverse economies but I believe this proposed solution would work best over all in the long run and for convenience in the future when even the starter cities become just old abandoned hubs.