Meanwhile: Less Populated Markets Depression

[Yrusama]

Mashing all the markets into one does seem like a fix, but it doesn't make any sense for you to enter the wards in Limsa Lominsa (an island only accessible via airships that cost gil or boats to West Thanalan) and see retainers from Gridania.

I'm on Saronia, which is a pretty small server, and ALL retainers can fit in the U'dah bazaar. Even in the Tailor's Rows I can still call my retainer. The other day I went to Limsa Lominsa and had to call my retainer in the wards to store something, they were COMPLETELY EMPTY! I think maybe one or two retainers are stationed there (none in the section I was in), and probably only because the player called their retainer there for storage but hadn't set them back up in Ul'dah.

==Spoiler Warning==
The problem is that the original main story quests converge on Ul'dah.
==Spoiler Warning Ends==

Over time, the players, and their retainers, slowly did the same. I keep thinking "new content will come out to bring people back to Limsa", but so far it's only become worse because people joined Ul'dah out of convenience. (To Maelstrom's credit, 1/3 of the logged-in players I found on search were from Maelstrom). Ul'dah is in the middle of everything and has some nice guilds like the Weaver's and Goldsmith's guilds to boot, so an island city like Limsa Lominsa, which requires up to 5k gil and 5 minutes of waiting to reach (if not 3 anima) with efficiency in mind, doesn't stand a chance economically. I think Ifrit has ever so slightly boosted Gridania's economy, but until the PVP arena comes out, or some instanced raid in La Noscea, Limsa will remain empty.

On the bright side, I have no in-Limsa temptation to sell the stacks of Mahogany Logs or anything else I got trying for my Logging the Hours: La Noscea achievements, so I've made a gargantuan profit in Storm Seals!