Quote Originally Posted by Intaki View Post
This exact issue has been a solved problem in other MMOs for years. Phasing, sharding, whatever you want to call it, the solution exists and SE simply failed to utilize it.
SE utilized it in 1.0 and it was horrible because you couldn't see more than 30 or so retainers at once in the market ward. It was creepy as heck for them to fade in and out as you walked down the hallway.

The maximum a zone could handle in FFXI was 700 or so. It's got to be at least that much in XIV.