I’ve come to realise that materia needs help

[Supersnow845]

I strongly debated if I actually wanted to post this or not because the last thing the data centre needs is more doom posting but I think at this point awareness is worth it

I was a day 1 migrator of my legacy main to materia; I wanted the server to flourish and I knew that would require effort on the part of the experienced playerbase to get the server up and running, however what I began to notice in my time on materia is that once people got to a sufficiently high level they would flee to JP or NA in order to be able to clear a wider variety of content (for those who have never experienced materia, peak time is roughly about 3 hours and that peak time will generally only let you complete required content, even in the middle of weekend peak you will need to party finder eden normal raids and half the time they won’t even fill)

This has now gotten worse with the new data centre travel, for better or for worse for people not on aether/mana/light the ability to travel means that you now have the entire region to fill your queues, I chose to move back to my old home of jenova and I queued for euphrosyne at 3am NA time Monday night and it procced in about 15 minutes, I couldn’t even get euphrosyne to proc at peak time week 2 on reset day on materia

If you can’t get anything to pop outside of the MSQ and you are forced to unsync PF basic duties are you really even playing the game anymore

I appreciate all the work the materia discords and FC’s do (I worked with a lot of them to try to bring people into eureka and Bozja since they are my passion) but I kinda eventually realised it wasn’t working

So that’s why I kinda came to realise that with another expansion unlikely to reach the level of EW that materia desperately needs help, I don’t think the server will die because it generally gets a good inflow of newer players but with its capped playerbase fleeing constantly I think something needs to change

I don’t know what that change exactly would be, if they added data centre travel to say NA then you would just be obligated to travel to aether to do anything; they could bump up incentives but what can you offer a capped older player to move to a quest data centre

I really don’t want to sound like I’m dooming the data centre because if it came back and ended up like say….crystal before data centre travel I’d move back in a heartbeat but I just can’t continue to play on materia as it is

[Koros]

Solution: Community outreach, OCE specific events and promotions... Oh what am I saying, they can't even deal with the forums.

[Iscah]

I'm stubborn; I queue my alt characters into duty finder for clearing content. It takes some patience and usually results in "wait, this isn't Snowcloak/Alexander/Thornmarch..." but I get in there.

[Supersnow845]

I'm stubborn; I queue my alt characters into duty finder for clearing content. It takes some patience and usually results in "wait, this isn't Snowcloak/Alexander/Thornmarch..." but I get in there.

I’m considering levelling up an alt so I don’t feel like I’m abandoning the data centre but as someone who’s favourite content in the game is optional content I just couldn’t do it any longer

[Iscah]

I’m considering levelling up an alt so I don’t feel like I’m abandoning the data centre but as someone who’s favourite content in the game is optional content I just couldn’t do it any longer

I do optional content on all my characters, to varying degrees – they're primarily for playing with glamours, so I'll do any content with outfits I want for them. I like replaying the story a few times anyway, although if I'm not in the mood and start skipping things, raid unlocks and such are only a few minutes between fights.

[VelKallor]

The problem is not the datacentre. The issue can be boiled down into two words:

Critical mass.

Materia is isolated from every single other data centre. Even with new worlds elsewhere, they are attached to established datacentres and servers with large, burgeoning populations. It is noted that JP has its own large English speaking population which will, to some extent at least, serve to address the language barrier issues.

Even with lower population on Zurvan for example, foot traffic from connected servers and datacentres will ensure an ebb and flow each day.

Materia is self contained, which in itself is an anomaly as it is the ONLY datacentre not connected to anyone. Why this was done, whether this was intentional is unknown. The planned intent of regional DC travel may have been a factor.

What we may be seeing is an unintended developement owing to regional DC travel being either delayed or cancelled outright. Without further communication, there is no way to be certain.

Until some redress, some kind of adaptation to allow interaction with much larger server populations is implemented, the problem remains unresolved.

Further to this, the two hour "window" when content can be completed is not an answer, is not feasible, and to all intents and purposes may very well be an example of why Duty Support has evolved to its current form and scope.

People want to address and complete content at all hours of the day, limiting group focussed activities to a small timeframe is a self defeating exercise. I would expect that an extension of the duty support system to cater for raids and trials will eventuate.

Whilst I have seen a lot of pushback on the so called "focus on single player experience" for FF 14, the fact remains that a lack of population or available groups at all hours is one reason the duty support system is being expanded.

The solution is to either implement regional data centre travel as originally planned, or to connect Materia to existing datacentres. NA may be an option, the latency differential notwithstanding.

I am well aware of sentiment against the latter, however this may become necessary if Materia is to remain a viable concern.

[Zexhar]

Well, not sure about the state of the data center, but I've been trying to queue for Void Ark since finishing HW (now I just finished Doma Castle) and never actually seen it pop off once during my play session. Sometimes I wonder if people in OCE actually run Alliance Raids at all besides occasional Crystal Tower for MSQ.

[ChrysOCE]

Well, not sure about the state of the data center, but I've been trying to queue for Void Ark since finishing HW (now I just finished Doma Castle) and never actually seen it pop off once during my play session. Sometimes I wonder if people in OCE actually run Alliance Raids at all besides occasional Crystal Tower for MSQ.

There might be some doing it. I rarely touched Alliance Roulette, cause I just can't deal with CT any more. You will have more luck in setting up a PF for it.

[ChrysOCE]

100% agree. I don't understand why they introduced the DC, to have it go stand off on it's own with no link to anywhere else. I love being in Materia with other AU/NZ people. I love the banter and humor, that is particular to our region. But it is getting increasingly frustrating, with how low the overall pop is. And while there are those willing to help and join any PFs that show up, if you aren't current, it can be hard to get others through the older content.

I would have an alt, but Square don't like us having them, cause we can't carry anything over. I'm not going to grind again for hairstyles, emotes, titles. So the only other option is to leave Materia, which I don't want to do yet.

Just give us DC travel, we'll deal with the ping. I don't see any other viable option.

[VelKallor]

Chrys, I am going to comment on this and bear in mind I am working from what I know, which is very little.

The past two years have been extremely trying for Square Enix. It may indeed be possible that regional datacentre travel was planned.

However, what may have eventuated is the system itself was not ready for implementation. It is also very likely that system errors and issues made it not possible without extra work and error resolution.

Imagine a player losing an eight year character in transit and not recoverable. Worst case scenario, I grant, but the fact remains that testing may have identified a high percentage of errors, or that further testing needs to be completed in order to eliminate identified issues.

That leads us to the option of datacentre connection, however I know nothing of what technical limitations may be involved without possibly relocating the actual datacentre. It may be the case that Materia CANNOT be connected to JP or NA without physical relocation. The logistics involved are unknown to us. Cost may be a factor but this is conjecture only.

Without further communication on the issue, the problem will remain unresolved.