Merge the servers, and kill the game in the gaming comunity.

[Kaizlu]

SE has made some bad decisions regarding this game, and the gaming press already knows that. I'm sure that anything they do know pre-2.0 can't make things worse.

Look it like this: merge the servers now and make your current customers happy, or keep the servers the way they are and take a gamble on losing your customers and another one on 2.0 being a good game in the eyes on the press.

Well, at least that's how I see it.

[Zanfire]

SE has made some bad decisions regarding this game, and the gaming press already knows that. I'm sure that anything they do know pre-2.0 can't make things worse.

Look it like this: merge the servers now and make your current customers happy, or keep the servers the way they are and take a gamble on losing your customers and another one on 2.0 being a good game in the eyes on the press.

Well, at least that's how I see it.

all the bad press, to the guys at the top and any investors they have, just make this game less appealing for them to want to continue funding. It might be a good idea for the current players, but it just adds to the bad taste everyone else has of the game. The more negative storys, the more people see them, get turned off by it, and completely disregard anything the game does, even the big 2.0 overhual. First impressions are everything, its just how the world works.

[BruceyBruceyBangBang]

I've been playing the game for about 22 months now... And yes I know the game has only been out for about 15 months!

I've seen the game go throw some major changes. Most of them good, some bad, and some that make me think WTF?!?

I'm still going to play the game, and see how things go. But I do think Square shot them self's in the foot by announcing vr. 2.0 and making there current player base pay for a Alpha/Beta, knowing that the REAL game isn't going to be out for another 10-12 months.

Now I know that players want Square to merge the servers, so we can play on worlds with more people and get groups to do the LV 50 missions. Now looking at this from an outside point of view. If a company merges there serviers it shows investors, Gaming websites, magazines, people that sell games at countless stores, that the game is dyeing. If you have to merge servers since you have a low player base after a little more then a year, you have a major issue.

I checked the to see how many people are on the server I play on (Melmond), and we're at 377 players. So lets say that there's 400 people on right now and times that by 18 servers. 400 X 18 = 7,200 players. I've just check a different online game (No it's not WoW, or Star Wars) and they have over 55,000 players logged in at this typing. Keep up the work Rune Scape!

I'm not going to post my wish list, on what I think needs to be done to make the game better. I normally send feedback to Square on what I think needs to be done to make the game work better. We all should. Just posting it on the forms is ok... But go to the support site and file a feedback!

Needless to say the next two - three months will show how well the game will live or die.

Wow. No one has written a OP like this before.

[alexi14]

They should just make a HUGE massive world with like 50 different starting towns, and 3 huge towns, and move everyone onto one server. That would be so awesome

[Katt]

Reading some of the comments from the post and I wanted to post a few replys

the game has more then 7200 players server merge will no kill the game can not expect the game to be free forever, they had to start charging at some point.

I know the game has more then 7,200 players. (Active players could be questioned but lets move on) I was using the quick math and comparing it to another online game that had almost 8 times the players online at the game time.

You are worried about the games reputation in the media now!? lol its already ruined and tained. A merge will do nothing, in fact it might make some relief that people can actually do stuff because servers will be crowded, rather than being a wasteland.

Game doesnt need to worry about looking bad in the gaming community, its already there due to September 23rd 2010.

If the company cares and IF the PR department is doing there job, they should care what the reputation is at all times. I fully agree that merging the servers will help the players that stayed, but when you only have 18 servers at the start for you new MMORPG, and you're cutting back... Gaming websites and magazines will see the blood and go for it, and vr 2.0 won't save them.

all the bad press, to the guys at the top and any investors they have, just make this game less appealing for them to want to continue funding. It might be a good idea for the current players, but it just adds to the bad taste everyone else has of the game. The more negative storys, the more people see them, get turned off by it, and completely disregard anything the game does, even the big 2.0 overhual. First impressions are everything, its just how the world works.

I FULLY AGREE!

[Delsus]

Reading some of the comments from the post and I wanted to post a few replys



I know the game has more then 7,200 players. (Active players could be questioned but lets move on) I was using the quick math and comparing it to another online game that had almost 8 times the players online at the game time.



If the company cares and IF the PR department is doing there job, they should care what the reputation is at all times. I fully agree that merging the servers will help the players that stayed, but when you only have 18 servers at the start for you new MMORPG, and you're cutting back... Gaming websites and magazines will see the blood and go for it, and vr 2.0 won't save them.



I FULLY AGREE!

You were comparing it to another mmo that has 8 times more players and? alone this fragment means nothing except we need a server merge, SE WILL NOT get more players paying or atleast not enough to warrent the extensive cost of running 18 servers 24/7.

The reputation will not get better if they keep the server number and people have trouble finding groups what will the websites and magazines say "SQUARE ENIX DO NOT CARE THAT PEOPLE HAVE NOTHING TO DO IN FFXIV BECAUSE THE SERVERS ARE SO UNDER POPULATED" yeah reall good for PR.

What would look better is "SQUARE ENIX MERGE SERVERS." Square enix have noticed that until the V2.0 rerelease that thier servers are under populated, therefore by the request of the players, have decided to merge thier 18 servers into 10 servers to ensure the players remaining loyal have something to do ingame while they eagerly await the V2.0 patch."

Ignorance or caring about players, choose which is best.

If they do not merge the servers more players WILL leave, which will bring no money in and there is one thing thier investers hate more than bad press and that is no money.

[Jynx]

It not only helps current players have a larger player base to interact with, it also costs SE less time/money on upkeep of these servers.

There is 0 need even PR wise to keep the other servers open at this point, doubly so that when 2.0 comes out we will be running on NEW SERVERS anyways.

[Nikita]

I didn't even see that many sites report on the FFXIV 2.0 announcement. Something makes me think that they could not care less if there was a server merge. In fact, I am sure they were even expecting a server merge quite a long, long time ago.

From where we are now, this game can only go up. Don't get me wrong, this game has improved dramatically since when it first launched. However, I don't think they should screw over the player base they managed to keep for the sake of keeping a few sites from reporting on server merges for a game that most assumed was already dead.

E3 this year will be their miraculous rebirth in the eyes of of the media, until then, I think they should do their best to keep their paying player base happy.

[ChiefCurrahee]

@ Kat and Zanfire,

Who are these Investors you keep siting?

Final Fantasies are created and funded soley by SE. SE didn't lobby people with deep pockets to fund this game. They paid for it themselves.

A single games failure won;t make or break SE. They are a HUGE HUGE HUGE company.

This might be a bad analogy but SE is like Toyota.

If Toyota made only 1 type of car and that car was a bust, it's over for toyota.
But Toyota makes many different types of cars. Sedans, sports cars, Luxuray cars, Minivans, coupes, ect ect.

If SE made soley MMO games, XIV would have been a nail in the coffin.
But SE makes a lot of games, and owns a lot of game studios.

Toyota has put out some crappy cars they are still making cars.

SE has put out some crappy games, they are still making games.

Now, to focus on XIV. This MMO is created and funded by SE exclusively. This dev team only answers to the chairmen of SE they don't have to have quarterly meetings with vested interests. I read all over the internet, especially with MMO games about stock values and investors. It's a bunch of hyperbole. SE is a publicly traded company their stock will fluctuate over time. You will see a small surge in value before a huge game is released, and then a decline after. But it's no indication of how 1 paticular game is doing. Unless said compnay exclusively creates MMOs. Which SE doesn't.

So a long story short:

SE is investing in themselves. There are no outside vestors who are dictating the funding of the game. Find yourself a different avenue to approach when you state merges are bad financially for this game.

[Zanfire]

@ Kat and Zanfire,

Who are these Investors you keep siting?

Final Fantasies are created and funded soley by SE. SE didn't lobby people with deep pockets to fund this game. They paid for it themselves.

A single games failure won;t make or break SE. They are a HUGE HUGE HUGE company.

This might be a bad analogy but SE is like Toyota.

If Toyota made only 1 type of car and that care was a bust, it's over for toyota.
But Toyota makes many different types of cars. Sedans, sports cars, Luxuray cars, Minivans, coupes, ect ect.

If SE made soley MMO games, XIV would have been a nail in the coffin.
But SE makes a lot of games, and owns a lot of game studios.

Toyota has put out some crappy cars they are still making cars.

SE has put out some crappy games, they are still making games.

Now, to focus on XIV. This MMO is created and funded by SE exclusively. This dev team only answers to the chairmen of SE they don't have to have quarterly meetings with vested interests. I read all over the internet, especially with MMO games about stock values and investors. It's a bunch of hyperbole. SE is a publicly traded company their stock will fluctuate over time. You will see a small surge in value before a huge game is released, and then a decline after. But it's no indication of how 1 paticular game is doing. Unless said compnay exclusively creates MMOs. Which SE doesn't.

SE isnt ran by people who want to lose money, its run by big business men that will look over each project and see if its worth putting that much more time and money and people into. All companys, funded in or out have games scrapped, even close to done because the big guys dont think its worth it. Do you think they will keep this game going with a tiny playerbase and constant bad press?

noone does this purely for the sake of doing it, they do it to make money, and right now FF14 is not making them jack shit (even with these payments now) and has a good chance of not making it when 2.0 hits (like i said, first impressions are the biggest, many people wont even take a second glance at this game ever again)

and its also been a "shit stain" on the FF name, which this is their bread and butter, they dont want to hurt it.

in the end they cant win. Merge servers...more bad press, leave them up, tick off more players and waste more money. If they kept it free until 2.0, they could have avoided this very likely, but we all know someone on the top wanted to make some sort of money off this game, so Yoshi was stuck doing it. I can bet you its the last thing he wanted to do until 2.0 was ready.