SE, please designate a Role Play friendly server!

[Rowyne]

I fully support this thread. I strongly believe that there is a need for SE to officially designate a roleplay-friendly server.

FFXIV's roleplay community is made up of an established and loyal customer base. They enjoy an additional aspect of the game via player-created story. This sandbox element isn't dependent upon a steady stream of new content (which benefits the devs), and it breathes life into their surroundings (which benefits the local community). But this is dependent upon one crucial factor, and that is like-minded individuals being able to come together in one place.

Why do we need SE's help to do this?

For Roleplayers:
While current players may have the knowledge that Besaid has been established as the unofficial RP server, new players should not be expected to know this. Though that knowledge made front-page news during the hype of launch, it has since fallen quiet. Plus, if SE goes ahead with their original plan to force everyone to choose a new and anonymously numbered server this March, the new RP hub may not even be called Besaid. New players who actually take the time to research and read the old news may choose Besaid in error. This could be avoided if a server was designated in-game as RP-friendly during the server selection screen.

For The Roleplay-Friendly:
Believe it or not, there are many people who don't actively roleplay themselves, but still enjoy playing on roleplay servers. They choose RP servers due to the fact they generally tend to foster a more friendly, helpful and mature community. Plus, many say that roleplay is fun to witness, even if they do not actively participate, because it adds extra flavor and life to their game environment. Again, designating a server RP-friendly would help these people find the enjoyable experience and atmosphere they're looking for.

For The Non-Roleplayers:
There are those who do not wish to be exposed to roleplay in any way, shape or form.

If you've spent any reasonable amount of time playing on Besaid, you will know of at least one story like this one: One night I wandered into Ul'dah to hear someone going on in /shouts in a very annoyed tone, wanting to know what was up with all the roleplay on the server. This was met with the response that Besaid was the RP server, and that they should expect to run into it from time to time. This person was genuinely surprised and even angry to learn this. They said they would have NEVER created their character on Besaid had they known!

These are the people that will most likely not research server types, and will be most surprised to find themselves unknowingly on a RP server. If this information was made available at the server selection screen, those who do not enjoy roleplay would know which server to avoid.

If nothing else, I would repeat the quote from last October's Eorzepedia interview where Yoshi-P recognized the need for a designated roleplay server:

GamerEscape: You told Famitsu that you are thinking about making new servers focused on different languages. Are there any plans to designate roleplay servers? I know the players on Besaid would love to be officially recognized as an RP server.

Yoshida: We do recognize a need to set up a designated roleplaying world. We will look into this in a proactive manner!

French/German speaking players are being granted an officially recommended server so their community has the opportunity to congregate in one place. This is only asking for the same thing. And now is the perfect time to provide it.

I support an officially recognized roleplay-friendly server!

[TessaJalloh]

Rowyne, thank you for gathering everything up into a calm, well written, well sourced post.

I'll never fully understand the hate against rpers, but that's people's choice and their right. I fully support the idea of a world being marked as RP friendly, and greatly hope to hear a response from a Community rep, or from Yoshi-p himself via a community rep.

We don't want to be on a server all on our own, not the point at all, as pointed out. We just want a place that rpers can easily recognise as the place where they'll find more of us. It's a community building thing more than an 'we want our cool club' thing.

Right now, even with besaid as the unofficial server, i know people spread over different servers who didn't know that, but have put in too much time to switch over now. And have small rp communities of their own over on their respective worlds. I'd love for them to be able to come together too.

[Rhomagus]

I fully support this thread. I strongly believe that there is a need for SE to officially designate a roleplay-friendly server.

FFXIV's roleplay community is made up of an established and loyal customer base. They enjoy an additional aspect of the game via player-created story. This sandbox element isn't dependent upon a steady stream of new content (which benefits the devs), and it breathes life into their surroundings (which benefits the local community). But this is dependent upon one crucial factor, and that is like-minded individuals being able to come together in one place.

Why do we need SE's help to do this?

For Roleplayers:
While current players may have the knowledge that Besaid has been established as the unofficial RP server, new players should not be expected to know this. Though that knowledge made front-page news during the hype of launch, it has since fallen quiet. Plus, if SE goes ahead with their original plan to force everyone to choose a new and anonymously numbered server this March, the new RP hub may not even be called Besaid. New players who actually take the time to research and read the old news may choose Besaid in error. This could be avoided if a server was designated in-game as RP-friendly during the server selection screen.

For The Roleplay-Friendly:
Believe it or not, there are many people who don't actively roleplay themselves, but still enjoy playing on roleplay servers. They choose RP servers due to the fact they generally tend to foster a more friendly, helpful and mature community. Plus, many say that roleplay is fun to witness, even if they do not actively participate, because it adds extra flavor and life to their game environment. Again, designating a server RP-friendly would help these people find the enjoyable experience and atmosphere they're looking for.

For The Non-Roleplayers:
There are those who do not wish to be exposed to roleplay in any way, shape or form.

If you've spent any reasonable amount of time playing on Besaid, you will know of at least one story like this one: One night I wandered into Ul'dah to hear someone going on in /shouts in a very annoyed tone, wanting to know what was up with all the roleplay on the server. This was met with the response that Besaid was the RP server, and that they should expect to run into it from time to time. This person was genuinely surprised and even angry to learn this. They said they would have NEVER created their character on Besaid had they known!

These are the people that will most likely not research server types, and will be most surprised to find themselves unknowingly on a RP server. If this information was made available at the server selection screen, those who do not enjoy roleplay would know which server to avoid.

If nothing else, I would repeat the quote from last October's Eorzepedia interview where Yoshi-P recognized the need for a designated roleplay server:



French/German speaking players are being granted an officially recommended server so their community has the opportunity to congregate in one place. This is only asking for the same thing. And now is the perfect time to provide it.

I support an officially recognized roleplay-friendly server!

As usual with Rowyne's posts, I'm in complete agreement. She explained it even better than I could. The logic is rock solid to the point where not officially suggesting a roleplay server at least at some point in the game's life cycle could only be summed up as just plain ignorant.

From a technical perspective I couldn't think of an easier thing to do. It really is just as simple, at least this time around, translating and editing some text into currently existing HTML.

[*suggested Role Play server]

I've already got 1/4 of the work done. Just copy and paste that. I would attempt to translate it but that's a bit too much work for me (lol).

Including it on the server selection screen is another thing. I'd imagine it wouldn't be that much more difficult. Such a simple change that would help so many people.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kjrUOlK2714

[Brigandier]

For The Non-Roleplayers:
There are those who do not wish to be exposed to roleplay in any way, shape or form.

If you've spent any reasonable amount of time playing on Besaid, you will know of at least one story like this one: One night I wandered into Ul'dah to hear someone going on in /shouts in a very annoyed tone, wanting to know what was up with all the roleplay on the server. This was met with the response that Besaid was the RP server, and that they should expect to run into it from time to time. This person was genuinely surprised and even angry to learn this. They said they would have NEVER created their character on Besaid had they known!

These are the people that will most likely not research server types, and will be most surprised to find themselves unknowingly on a RP server. If this information was made available at the server selection screen, those who do not enjoy roleplay would know which server to avoid.

This. As someone who loathes RP, I agree 100%. At risk of people bawww'ing about turning the game more into WoW, if I recall they have RP servers clearly marked on the list when making a character, and I dodged them very heartily.

[Rowyne]

Rowyne, thank you for gathering everything up into a calm, well written, well sourced post.

As usual with Rowyne's posts, I'm in complete agreement. She explained it even better than I could. The logic is rock solid to the point where not officially suggesting a roleplay server at least at some point in the game's life cycle could only be summed up as just plain ignorant.

Aww, thanks! I just hope it helps to get the devs attention.

We don't want to be on a server all on our own, not the point at all, as pointed out. We just want a place that rpers can easily recognise as the place where they'll find more of us. It's a community building thing more than an 'we want our cool club' thing.

Absolutely. I don't think anyone is saying that there should be a RP server that's exclusively for RPers only, where you are required to be in character all the time. Nothing like that. Just a place where those who wish to RP can find others they can engage in that activity with. To do so, it is necessary for them to have a hub. Plus, in many MMOs that officially designate RP servers, you'll find many people who play on them who say, "Oh, I don't really RP all that much, but I like being on RP servers." For many, it's just an enjoyable atmosphere and you'll tend to find like-minded people who are generally more into quests, story, lore, etc, so it may also help you find a good match for your playstyle. It's an environment that offers a more immersive experience to anyone who chooses to take advantage of it. Again, you don't have to be a RPer, but you should expect that while playing on a RP server you will run into it from time to time.

Right now, even with besaid as the unofficial server, i know people spread over different servers who didn't know that, but have put in too much time to switch over now. And have small rp communities of their own over on their respective worlds. I'd love for them to be able to come together too.

Very good point! I wish I had stated that in my original post. I had suspected that there were RPers that got scattered across the servers, despite the fact that, for most, it's common knowledge that Besaid is the unofficial RP server. Still, there's no way to really know that for a new player when creating your character.

This is what I'm hoping will happen: Yoshi-P goes with server merge idea ②, and Besaid is pronounced the official RP server ahead of time. This will give current Besaid residents (and those who will be merged into the server) an informed decision of whether or not they wish to stay, plus give RPers on other servers a chance to come join us!

[OskarHelvig]

Thanks for bringing it back around Rowyne!

SE, still need a response!

[ssppiikkeeyy]

could maybe see about trying out a pvp server something like wow where ur only safe in ur town...

i would love to go out see my mate cutting down a tree and go hi man what's up BOOM "Dead" tehe and run away laughing be gd times but we will see what happen's

I don't see him making a PVP server mainly because it prob wouldnt work to well with the game itselfs but all we can do is wait and see what happens.

[Sfarzoso]

That's cool but I don't see much RP for one. RP server needs world RP.

[OskarHelvig]

Unfortunately the number of active RPers has dwindled, just like the number of players overall - hence the serverpocallipse in the first place. Then there are some who prefer NOT to RP publicly (or avoid it best they can). That's probably why you can't see it currently on the unofficial RP server. But, this isn't on an RP server, there /is/ no RP server currently, only the unofficial one, which is kind of a major oversight on SE's part from the get go since every major MMO nowadays has an RP server, if not a handful!

However with the little RP tag next to the new server, we would get an influx of RPers from other servers, and just general excitement from the community. I bet you will see a lot more of it once we actually have that official recognition.

[BruceyBruceyBangBang]

Merely suggesting one server to be "RP Friendly" would ultimately translate to an RP server to most players when choosing a server. You might as well call it an RP server. As I'm sure many NA/SA players will be sure to avoid server 10 as it's suggested membership goes against their interests.

I'm sure you've taken this into consideration as a valid point in opposition. Not exactly trying to deter the RP community. I actually quite like a bit of light RPing when playing the game myself. Hardly enough to think of myself as part of that community. However, I understand it's place in the MMO world especially structured in a PvE environment. This could be a way in for you while the development got knocked down over the incredibly unintelligent final decision made regarding server merges. Unlikely though.