Originally in Ballista you fought in Jugner Forest, Meriphataud Mountains or the Pashhow Marshlands. Each area had a fight between just two of the three city states. It was Sad d'Oria vs Bastok, or Windhurst vs Bastok, or Windhurst vs Sad d'Oria. Everything was fine until the minimum number of participants could not be found to start the match. Players would show up to a herald to join, and sometimes they would not make it in time, or lack the funds to sign up, or not be a member of the nation participating in the match. This happened more often than not. And so quite a few matches were never started because of silliness. The players and the developer, Square Enix, quickly realized this was a problem. So the developer, Square Enix, relaxed restrictions on who could join the match. They added a guest period where anyone could sign up regardless of what nation they pledged allegiance to, and they did this fairly early in Ballista's lifetime.

HINT, HINT Square Enix.