Why is the Solar separate instance from Waking Sands / Rising Stone?

[Sotaris]

cause zone would probably crash on patchday / expansion launches

[Enkidoh]

cause zone would probably crash on patchday / expansion launches

This is the exact reason - back when ARR was in Beta/launched, the Solar was actually indeed just part of the rest of the Waking Sands that everyone could freely enter at the same time... which ended up as well as you would expect. It became as crowded as Grand Central Terminal in rush hour for months afterwards, it was so bad at times it was outright impossible to target Minfilia or any other npc while in there half the time due to the huge throng of players clustered around her, to say nothing of all attempts at immersion going out the window when a room that is meant to be mostly empty save for yourself and Minfilia...is crowded with adventurers.

So after a few months or so SE redesigned it in a patch so that the Solar was changed to become a seperate instanced room from the rest of the Waking Sands that only the player themself could enter, and this has continued with the move to the Rising Stones (and the Intercessory in Camp Dragonhead - Haucherfaunt's so-called 'Falling Snows') also being instanced too.

It's not too much more time spent loading into it really, it's the price that is paid to ensure smooth gameplay.

[Sove92]

So after a few months or so SE redesigned it in a patch so that the Solar was changed to become a seperate instanced room from the rest of the Waking Sands that only the player themself could enter, and this has continued with the move to the Rising Stones (and the Intercessory in Camp Dragonhead - Haucherfaunt's so-called 'Falling Snows') also being instanced too.

The Solar has always been behind a locked door. SE always knew the zone is going to be crowded so they put the door in there to act as a camera barrier so players on the other side are not rendered.

SE never put in a patch note that says when they stopped sending other player data in these zones, but it was somewhere between 2.1 and 2.2, because you could still see other players during the early days of Rising Stones (which is why it's designed the same way).

[Enkidoh]

The Solar has always been behind a locked door. SE always knew the zone is going to be crowded so they put the door in there to act as a camera barrier so players on the other side are not rendered.

SE never put in a patch note that says when they stopped sending other player data in these zones, but it was somewhere between 2.1 and 2.2, because you could still see other players during the early days of Rising Stones (which is why it's designed the same way).

No it hasn't, it was freely able to be entered (although it did have a door you had to click on, it was not an instanced zone only you inhabited, it was a seperate section of the Waking Sands that all players could freely access together as the one area and would cluster around, I should know, I was in the Beta test from the beginning and early access of the game where it became very much a problem, so SE changed it very early on.

Also incidentally, they don't state every change or alteration they make in patch notes, some are just listed as a generic "Other changes and alterations were made" or something like that stated right at the end of the notes, as they simply do not have time or space to list every change they make to the game, it's simple pragmatism.

And, as proof the Solar was an 'open' zone multiple players could enter freely, here is a screenshot taken not long after launch (early September 2013) early in the main scenario questline in the Solar...



Notice all the players clustered around Minfilia's desk. That simply does not happen anymore.

[Sove92]

No it hasn't, it was freely able to be entered (although it did have a door you had to click on, it was not an instanced zone only you inhabited, it was a seperate section of the Waking Sands that all players could freely access together as the one area and would cluster around, I should know, I was in the Beta test from the beginning and early access of the game where it became very much a problem, so SE changed it very early on.

Also incidentally, they don't state every change or alteration they make in patch notes, some are just listed as a generic "Other changes and alterations were made" or something like that stated right at the end of the notes, as they simply do not have time or space to list every change they make to the game, it's simple pragmatism.

And, as proof the Solar was an 'open' zone multiple players could enter freely, here is a screenshot taken not long after launch (early September 2013) early in the main scenario questline in the Solar...

Notice all the players clustered around Minfilia's desk. That simply does not happen anymore.

If you were in the solar, players in the rest of HQ were not being rendered and vice-versa, because the door is blocking the camera. That was the point I was making. It's always been a single zone.