Quote Originally Posted by Niwashi View Post
The difference is likely where we're at in the patch cycle. Our last major patch came out at the end of September, so if you tried rolling a new character in say, early October, you would have hit the big crowds that new patch excitement draws. Right now, we're at a mid-patch lull, three months since the last major patch and two since a minor one. Crowds tend to thin significantly. Though people sometimes complain about that effect elsewhere, here's an instance where it's actually kind of helpful. If someone wanted to make a character on Balmung (or Gilgamesh), this is likely a good time for it.
Yeah, it was also Christmas week, so I can see not as many people being logged in for whatever reason too.