How is Crystal data center?

[KatieConnr]

Not sure if this helps or not........

I am not really into the raiding scene, so I cannot comment on that unfortunately, however I can attest to most everyone I have encountered from Crystal has been very nice, and the overall experience has been pleasant

[SereneShiverthorn]

Aether might be the better option if you're into raiding. But I would look into finding or putting together a static raid team over joining random parties.
As for the casual player I think it would be safe to say there is not many differences across data centres, it is very miniscule in difference I would say.
Although we have our glorious Balmung and Mateus

[Enla]

You can still raid here but most of our raiding scene jumped ship with the server changes and we haven't quite been able to recover since. Party finder is still active however and so long as you have patience you'll be able to do pretty much anything you could on both Aether and Primal. Personally speaking having played on both Aether and Crystal the people here tend to be more laid back and nicer.

As for RP just pick a server that seems nice and world visit for the rest. The RP scene isn't restricted to any single server anymore so you can be on Goblin, which is small but does have an RP scene, and still hop over to Mateus or Balmung to join in on their events.

[Theodric]

If you're mostly after RP, it's fine. Though I left recently because the amount of players who were into a broader range of activities dwindled significantly after the server move. You're also highly unlikely to be able to get a house on either Balmung or Mateus. I did also encounter a hefty amount of players prone to drama and flaky, unreliable behaviour during the years that I played there. It was the ping that drove me away more than anything though.

[Barraind]

Crystal is fine unless you prefer to raid late-night.

Statics that want to start around midnight-ish EST are basically impossible to find and party finder for EX trials / Savage is sleepy at night as well.


the amount of bad in roulettes and party finder are pretty much what you'll find elsewhere, though. I've had as many garbage runs on Aether as I have on Crystal, theres just more people at each end on Aether.

[Saefinn]

Balmung has been great for RP, I moved here from Gilgamesh aaages ago. But as folks are saying world visit is such a huge benefit to RP. Then add crossworld linkshells and fellowships, which RP communities are using, it's easier to keep in touch with the community as a whole. There's also Discords for the Crystal data centre dedicated to RP as well as a service that advertises RP social events happening each day in a week. Balmung and Mateus are the bigger RP servers, but I've RP'd with people from Malboro and Goblin. There's loads of RP fellowships out there too and many you can join at once.

The data centre itself, in terms of the quality of people, I've not noticed a difference when Balmung moved from Aether to Crystal, most people I come across are nice enough.

I think if you're RPing on Balmung you're less likely to encounter trolls simply because the majority of people there are RPers, those who aren't don't tend to be a-holes about it and it has been the unofficial RP server since before 2.0 was launched so it has meant people who don't like RPers for the most part have long since left. I don't know what Mateus is like for it in comparison.

Also, due to the population of places like Balmung and Mateus, queue times aren't all that bad in my experience, but I play all 3 roles, so the experience is lesser in 2 of the roles.

[Nucah]

I really like Crystal personally. I've been on Malboro for 3+ years and it's great.

The raid scene isn't as strong as it once was but will continue to grow slowly. If you have friends or an FC you can still savage raid fine and I see pug groups up all the time. Ex trials are fine as well. I also notice that on Crystal, prog parties seem to stick together longer than what I've experienced on primal for example. Meaning that after a wipe or two, the party just isn't going to disband which can be annoying.

The hunt scene is also great on Crystal. Malboro has a great hunt community and Crystal overall is really good.

I don't RP but I always here good things and I have a few friends who do and they enjoy it.

Also, if housing is your thing, you're more likely to find housing on Crystal which is really nice and can also play into your RP goals.

[hynaku]

I like Crystal I've been in Malboro since the start of 2.0 and been there ever since. Malboro has really good hunt train to it if into hunts. I never have much for problems with raids. Crystal also has a huge RP community if into that.

[Ryoutoshi]

I was on Gilgamesh in 2.0 and moved to Zalera when is was created before it was moved to Crystal in the split.

I like that the community often has some chill RP experiences going on you can participate in without too much need to find specific people.

I will say it has been hard for me to find any active and persistent IC RP in Linkshells or Fellowships though.

[Anienai]

It's great since I'm here.