A Recent Yoshi-P Post that probably needs to be read (Translation)

[HoolieWho]

I feel that the differences of having these two features [Player and Item search] and not having them is so significant, so much that I feel these are features are the absolute minimum requirements for this game be called an MMORPG.

Glad to see this said. And thanks for the translation.

[Anapingofness]

This is the part that everyone really needs to pay attention to. It doesn't matter which side of the Pay-Debate you are on.

To paraphrase, "...In order to keep the servers open and operating we need to renew subscription fees."

Summation: $$$ = Servers stay up.

No $$$ = No Servers...or rather fewer servers. That will be up to the accounting department.

Hence the "pitch" from Yoshi P: (paraphrased)

..."We want to allow those of you who enjoy the game as it is now to experience the changes in store for Eorzea. We have special events and storylines planned that can only be experienced before v2.0 goes live. We hope you will choose to stay with us through these exciting (and challenging) times and as always we value and rely on your continued feedback..."


It is certainly possible (and plausible to boot) that if they don't get enough subs, they may just shut down till 2013.

However, I think they will do all they can to avoid that.

We all realize that they need money. However, that still doesn't excuse them to change the players for an incomplete game.

If they have at the very least offered -50% off the monthly price then it wouldn't be so bad. It would have sent a clear message that yeah, they need money, but they're not going to shaft their fans. In addition to that you're asking your fans to trust you with something that is turning into a rather shiny WoW clone or worse yet, that may become another giant flop. D=

Also, maybe it is better that they do shut down until 2013. They're losing a lot of people over this and even if they have 50k (and they don't, but we'll say 50k for ease of math) players world wide that is still pretty bad... Really bad actually.

50k players / 18 servers = 2800 players per server (I'm rounding up). I remember that just before they took out the ability to see how many players were on a server it was down to like 800-1200(roughly). That little update was a while ago my friend...

Either way you look at it they don't have the numbers to sustain much of anything...

[Zumi]

Why does the so called "Content Finder" (aka Dungeon Finder) have to be cross server? Why can't we use it only for that server so that it doesn't destroy the community?

Obvious answer is lower queue times and much larger pool of players to pick from and this easier for the matchmaking tool to make a group with the correct levels and class roles. How does it destroy the server community when people on their own server don't really do anything outside their own click of friends?

Why do they have to for the WoW version of PvP and not use better version of Ballista?

Ballista was terrible and nobody played if after the initial couple weeks. Having an contested battlefield area where different factions or companies in FFXIV's case fight over is pretty standard in any MMO now.

[Shneibel]

Therefore, we will let our customers decide at the point where 1.20 is released - or perhaps even when 1.21 or 1.22 is released, it doesn't matter - if they want to pay the bills for this game or not by deciding if this game is fun to play or not at their current respectable states.

P2P ofc ? we all know how bad the game can be if it is F2P , right ?

[Dreadnought]

Funny enough, this mentality is exactly why we generally don't bother using even limited English. Those who entered the international business world (like me) know English a lot better than those who only did their High School requirement and stopped caring for it.

It's the same for people who only speak English, you wouldn't join a german MMO on german servers -- you'd go for the US/UK servers because there's a better chance you'd be with other english speakers, wouldn't you?

You seem to come from the time frame where western people truly believed "JP only" meant only Japanese people, when in reality it was Japanese language, which Elmer even stated a lot meant by it. Don't reference something and only reference part of the story.

i dont know the specifics and i love japanese people and their culture, but man, japanese people sure did like saying "JP ONLY" when creating XP parties. there really were times when i could have leveled faster if they didnt care who they played with.

[Dreadnought]

Obvious answer is lower queue times and much larger pool of players to pick from and this easier for the matchmaking tool to make a group with the correct levels and class roles. How does it destroy the server community when people on their own server don't really do anything outside their own click of friends?



Ballista was terrible and nobody played if after the initial couple weeks. Having an contested battlefield area where different factions or companies in FFXIV's case fight over is pretty standard in any MMO now.

QFT.
no one played ballista. i played for about four years and i literally never once saw a single player take part in those system messages about ballista starting lol i still remember riding my chocobo seeing those messages wondering wtf the battle even looked like.

as for cross server parties, how the hell does that destroy any community? i was in some really awesome parties in cross server groups in WoW, even took some screen shots of some cool ass people and we kept in touch for a few months. that sounds like community building to me.

[3Jane]

Language-specific servers. If /when this comes about, I will be leaving.

[Kibo]

I'm under the impression that Japanese people strongly dislike inconveniences, and therefore would like to have JP only servers. I find it hard to relate to this as I'm a European living in a country heavily promoting ethnic diversity (For the better or worse, but that's besides the point). But I fail to see how some of you Americans wag your fingers at the Japanese playerbase for being "xenophobic" when you scream your mouths off in APB:R (Just to pick an example of another multi-regional "MMO") when someone speaks something other than English.

In Japan they don't need any other language than Japanese to get by in life, much like you'll never need any other language than English. Due to their current cultural isolation I will not judge them for not wanting to speak or learn English. They simply have no reason to. It's a shame, but that's the way it is.

And thus, they don't want to deal with the language barrier since they are very much unable to do so. You could argue that they should make use of the auto translator which was created for this very purpose, but that thing, however neat it is, is a very ineffective way of communicating.

Have you ever been affected by the language barrier? Sometimes it can take such a great toll on you it's almost to the point where it's physically exhausting, not to mention mentally.

I've only met one Japanese individual who was willingly speaking English before Japanese, and that was only because she wanted to improve outside of the game as well. For this very purpose she even joined an American LS. But like I said, she only inconvenienced herself for educational purposes. If that wasn't the case she'd probably have conformed to Japanese speaking communities only. Just because she could.

[PjofBumblebee]

Language-specific servers. If /when this comes about, I will be leaving.

If it happened I wouldn't leave... probably, but I'd still be seriously disappointed and I must say quite sad...

I'm in linkshell with chinese, german, french and japanese players (and I'm italian...) and I find playing with all of them one of the most fun things about this game and MMORPGs in general. It is true that language can sometime be a serious problem (sometimes I wonder if my ls friends are speaking behind my back in some kind of secret code consisting of english mixed with words I can't understand <.<), but still I find it incredibly amusing and, maybe foolishly, a nice learning experience.

P.S. I have always despised "ghetto" linkshells on FFXI and I don't think "ghetto" servers would be any better...

[Wynn]

If it happened I wouldn't leave... probably, but I'd still be seriously disappointed and I must say quite sad...

I'm in linkshell with chinese, german, french and japanese players (and I'm italian...) and I find playing with all of them one of the most fun things about this game and MMORPGs in general. It is true that language can sometime be a serious problem (sometimes I wonder if my ls friends are speaking behind my back in some kind of secret code consisting of english mixed with words I can't understand <.<), but still I find it incredibly amusing and, maybe foolishly, a nice learning experience.

P.S. I have always despised "ghetto" linkshells on FFXI and I don't think "ghetto" servers would be any better...

If all those guys and gals you play with want to continue to have the experience you do, they won't leave the global servers so you don't have anything to worry about. It isn't as if SE is going to herd the German/Japanese/French/English speakers into specific servers like chattel.