I'm concerned about Dynamis's affect on the new player experience in NA.

[RedLolly]

Snip

So, your expectation is that merging Dynamis with other datacenters will only increase that uniquely toxic mindset towards newer players struggling by on Dynamis because being from Dynamis is some sort of scarlet letter and those servers are primarily full of players that spend their time in roleplay and not combat?

You know maybe this is why the game keeps getting easier.

[CidHeiral]

When I was a new player I was put on a preferred yet populated world in Primal that was full of players running around. Even as a sprout I made friends with random people in cities, joined a FC, and had that feeling of being in a vibrant online world. Isn't this one of the most important feelings to have in MMO? That feeling of joining a community. I'm really glad I got into the game when I did because the thought of not having that experience is depressing.

Dynamis was clearly a mistake made by a company that assumed that covid growth would last forever. They need to let Dynamis die instead of taking desperate measures like locking off Primal.

Your concerns are valid but you're focusing on the wrong cause. Dynamis wasn't the mistake; the mistake was adding DC travel. That is what they need to let die instead of these travel restriction half measures.

[Phookaky0]

So, your expectation is that merging Dynamis with other datacenters will only increase that uniquely toxic mindset towards newer players struggling by on Dynamis because being from Dynamis is some sort of scarlet letter and those servers are primarily full of players that spend their time in roleplay and not combat?

You know maybe this is why the game keeps getting easier.

I feel this conversation won't change your mind about merging, so I'm ending this discussion. Nothing is unique about toxicity, and if you decide to pretty-fie the word to ignore the issue then you are part of the problem by being a bystander. Have a good day

[VeyaAkemi]

Your concerns are valid but you're focusing on the wrong cause. Dynamis wasn't the mistake; the mistake was adding DC travel. That is what they need to let die instead of these travel restriction half measures.

The thing is that DC travel is like flight, it's a Pandora's Box, even if you think it makes the game overall worse, the convenience it brings is impossible to wrestle away from the playerbase, removing it would be the single most unpopular choice in the game's history, it would break up statics and friend groups that were built around the possibility of DC travel, so on.

The only fix that won't cause riots is to double down and give us cross-DC PF/DF, independent of how difficult it is from a technical point of view.

[Absurdity]

I would say, if I were to put myself in the shoes of a newer player... I probably would have been thinking of quitting the game due to the story early on... But if I were on Dynamis it would've been the 'nail in the coffin' so to speak..

As it stands at the moment I can barely tolerate being on Chaos, let alone if I were on a DC like Dynamis.

If I started the game for the first time today instead of leveling back in Heavensward I would've probably quit 3 times over from the gameplay alone.

The ARR story doesn't actually bother me as much, it didn't really back then either, because it does some heavy lifting when it comes to world building. There was of course some rather unnecessary filler, no idea if that's still the case, but both Endwalker and Dawntrail have it in spades too.
Granted that is with the knowledge I currently have and the fact that later expansions have done a comparatively poor job in that regard. But I could absolutely see a new player being bored out of their mind if they don't care much about world building.

So yes, the new player experience is miserable but not just due to seemingly empty data centers.

[Anwar]

I am liking the gameplay.. Sure its not as fluid and fast paced as it was in wow or complex but i like the weaving of abilities and making combos stuff. Really enjoying the story and the leveling experience too so far. But having the road to 90 buff sure helps allot.

Final fantasy makes me feel like i am an adventurer again and going trough a journey of experiences and things to do. A feeling i haven't felt in WoW for years. In WoW all you had to do was reach level 10 and spam dungeon finder until you reached max level.. then get good enough gear to do M+ and spam that too until you had the best gear. That was what the whole game experience felt like in the end and why i left. I feel like final fantasy offers so much more than that. It still has a mmo soul that I've dearly missed.

I guess i am a rare case of new player actually having a good time. I feel like i've upgraded from WoW. and I feel so bad for all the things ive said. and all the predjudice and condemnation ive had towards this game for years now.

[Masha_Awandah]

I am liking the gameplay.. Sure its not as fluid and fast paced as it was in wow or complex but i like the weaving of abilities and making combos stuff. Really enjoying the story and the leveling experience too so far. But having the road to 90 buff sure helps allot.

Final fantasy makes me feel like i am an adventurer again and going trough a journey of experiences and things to do. A feeling i haven't felt in WoW for years. In WoW all you had to do was reach level 10 and spam dungeon finder until you reached max level.. then get good enough gear to do M+ and spam that too until you had the best gear. That was what the whole game experience felt like in the end and why i left. I feel like final fantasy offers so much more than that. It still has a mmo soul that I've dearly missed.

I guess i am a rare case of new player actually having a good time. I feel like i've upgraded from WoW. and I feel so bad for all the things ive said. and all the predjudice and condemnation ive had towards this game for years now.

Good, it's always nice to hear people enjoying the game. I just wish I could say the same.

[Pricia]

Absolutely.

Crazy thought - they should improve their hardware and add a couple of servers to the active data centers, either with free transfers there from Dynamis or from moving the Dynamis servers themselves there.

[RedLolly]

I feel this conversation won't change your mind about merging, so I'm ending this discussion. Nothing is unique about toxicity, and if you decide to pretty-fie the word to ignore the issue then you are part of the problem by being a bystander. Have a good day

Okay then, I'm just wondering why the general assumption is that putting people in a new, different and possibly better situation is only going to make it worse for everyone involved. Since the issue is, as I understand it, low population of experienced players means said experienced players are really burned out and putting the onus of getting through the game on confused newbies, which in turn makes for unhappy newbies. And dropping a population of unhappy player could poison the well.

I've been dealing with flu brain fog for a few days so I was probably being a brat up there and not sympathizing with that. I am sorry.

[CidHeiral]

The thing is that DC travel is like flight, it's a Pandora's Box, even if you think it makes the game overall worse, the convenience it brings is impossible to wrestle away from the playerbase, removing it would be the single most unpopular choice in the game's history, it would break up statics and friend groups that were built around the possibility of DC travel, so on.

I don't doubt that it would cause quite a backlash in the short term and some may even quit over it, but most would get over it in time. A little convenience for some does not outweigh the long term health of the entire game for everyone.

The only fix that won't cause riots is to double down and give us cross-DC PF/DF, independent of how difficult it is from a technical point of view.

Cross-DC PF is not a magic bullet solution to the problems DC travel has caused because those problems are not limited to PF. That's assuming such a system is even possible to begin with which it may or may not be.