Yoshida-san - GLOBAL Servers and Balancing Tweaks Instead of Regional Servers

[Risae]

I'm pretty late to this thread, but OP thinks people have no idea how servers work. Really, in this day and age, are people really going to go "Hey that server's a GLOBAL SERVER, it must be inside the CENTER OF THE EARTH."

I have little faith in people, but I know that disguising JP servers as Global isn't going to fool many people.

But i thought japan IS the center of the world...

[Zyph]

I have an even grander idea, and sorry if this has been mentioned before, but I'm not going to sift through 22 pages.

Since people seem to be having problems primarily with instances, what if only the instance servers were separated by region. By this, I mean what if when entering an instance, the game looked at the leader's (or majority of party member's) client region and decided the region of instance server to place the party in? That sounds like a glorious plan.

But I don't know why I'm arguing. SE's made up their mind.

[Duelle]

Nobody is saying it's not going to be a faster paced game, but you guys are the one making the insinuation/acting as if it's going to be some twitch game where every last bit of ping will mean the difference between life and death. Which is ironic considering server architecture should be the top thing everyone who wants better performance from FF14 needs to worry about.

Better server architecture will only go so far because distance from the server itself still counts for something. There's still going to be latency differences, and you can still decide to connect to a server not located in your region. Shall I mention my example of NZ, Ausies and EUs playing on my WoW US server just because they liked playing with us yet again?

Yes, but the degree to which it matters is also largely dependent on how the game mechanics function, which we know nothing about yet.

Which also renders the crying that led to this thread moot, doesn't it?

Of course, in this regard Eve's design as a single-shard game has much to do with it, but this is just to counter your argument that "Better performance is always better", because it isn't, especially once you factoring in the cost.

That would be more a failing of your global community, NOT due to the game's design. The community is responsible for organizing itself at times like this. As I've also mentioned before, the forum communities that were anticipating this game pre-launch organized themselves in such a fashion. They decided the RP server, the Allakhazam server, the KI server, the Eorzeapedia server, the FFXIV Core server and so on. You will get stragglers and people who choose to go their own way, but this is one of those "can't have the cake and eat it too" scenarios.

Whether you like it or not, FF14, much like Eve, has a functioning global community. While you and others may not give two **** about it, there are others that do. You're certainly entitled to want to have better ping at any and all cost, but realize that there are many would consider to the cost to be too great.

Considering that you can still get on servers outside your region and can organize your shells and circles of friends to play on said servers, the "price" you're trying to make this out to be is as close to fictitious as you can get.

[Alhanelem]

Whether you like it or not, FF14, much like Eve, has a functioning global community. While you and others may not give two **** about it, there are others that do. You're certainly entitled to want to have better ping at any and all cost, but realize that there are many would consider to the cost to be too great.

It's quite clear to me from informal polls, reading around outside this forum and talking to people in game that a majority of people are at least content with this change, if not wildly happy about it.Yes, some people may be adversely affected, but there's really no way to please everyone. Just taking a JP server and labeling it "global" isn't going to work.

[Aenarion]

Way to jump in the debate while totally missing the point of said debate At least try to figure out just what exactly we're debating about first.

Better server architecture will only go so far because distance from the server itself still counts for something. There's still going to be latency differences, and you can still decide to connect to a server not located in your region. Shall I mention my example of NZ, Ausies and EUs playing on my WoW US server just because they liked playing with us yet again?

Better architecture in this case means everything, because of just how bad it is right now in FF14.

Which also renders the crying that led to this thread moot, doesn't it?

it goes both ways, it also renders those arguing for least latency at all costs crowd's arguments moot.

That would be more a failing of your global community, NOT due to the game's design. The community is responsible for organizing itself at times like this.

WOOHOO, yet ANOTHER non-Eve players trying to pretend they know what they're talking about

Eve was designed from the ground up to be a single shard sandbox universe, with much of the game's mechanic balanced and tuned over the years to accommodate the resulting emergent playing style, including alliances that numbers well over 5000 characters, and region-heavy powerblocs like the Russian alliances etc. By fracturing Eve into regional shards, you instantly annihilates some of the most fundamental parts of Eve. There wont be a community left to organize stuff together, 'cause you've just destroyed it.

Moral of the story is, don't talk about stuff you don't know anything about.

Considering that you can still get on servers outside your region and can organize your shells and circles of friends to play on said servers, the "price" you're trying to make this out to be is as close to fictitious as you can get.

Those points have been covered multiple times already previously in this thread by other people, I suggest you go read those to see why people have an issue with this.

[Duelle]

Better architecture in this case means everything, because of just how bad it is right now in FF14.

XIV's current state has little to do with the discussion. Better architecture still takes you so far because there will still be latency differences depending on how far you are from the server. That's pretty much a given. It's more a matter of whether it'll stay as is where Eruptions and the frontal cone from Garuda will still hit you even if you move out of the way or whether you'll have a slightly bigger window of time to avoid them because of the better latency with a server in Japan.

it goes both ways, it also renders those arguing for least latency at all costs crowd's arguments moot.

Indeed, and if these threads about the death of the global community were to stop, we would stop bringing up counterpoints as well.

Eve was designed from the ground up to be a single shard sandbox universe, with much of the game's mechanic balanced and tuned over the years to accommodate the resulting emergent playing style, including alliances that numbers well over 5000 characters, and region-heavy powerblocs like the Russian alliances etc. By fracturing Eve into regional shards, you instantly annihilates some of the most fundamental parts of Eve. There wont be a community left to organize stuff together, 'cause you've just destroyed it.

This is very different from a game where you happen to be able to play with people from other parts of the world. Where EVE seems to necessitate a single shard in order to maintain it's community (not to mention overt player autonomy), XIV and XI do not. If what the wiki article is telling me is true, there's dynamics within Eve that don't apply to FFXIV. Autonomy and how PvP work being the two bigger ones, where you would indeed need large numbers of people in order for the model to work as it should. Sounds a lot like Lineage II, which unlike EVE, I have actually played.

XIV is not built around that model and mentioning it is therefore pointless.

The world isn't going to end because of regional servers. Considering XIV is not overly reliant on cramming everyone on a server located in Japan, people will plan, adjust and move on.

Those points have been covered multiple times already previously in this thread by other people, I suggest you go read those to see why people have an issue with this.

I have, and all I have seen is basically petty excuses in the form of a) "but what about my friends' friends?!", b) "but what if they don't all agree on the same server?!", c) "but I don't want to plan ahead for this!". It gets tiring after a while, especially knowing the Japanese players aren't throwing fits about this like some posters here are.

[Colino]

Here's a thought, if you want to play with JPs as an NA, pick a JP server, and do that. Your latency will be the same as before. NA >> Japan.

For the upteenth time. I don't care about playing with the JP, I'm an EU player and I want to play with both my EU and NA friends.

You, just like so many others in favor of regionally labeling the servers, are completely missing the point and making wild and invalid assumptions.

Just taking a JP server and labeling it "global" isn't going to work.

Why do you care? You wouldn't play on it in the first place. Why are you so goddamn hellbent on not having something that would not affect you in any way at all?

[Riv]

Fact of the matter is that even with the lag that exists now, everything in the game is still completely doable as is. Otherwise players would not have relics, etc. I will admit that yes there is lag, but i tend to believe it's more about players' lack of attention and response time that makes people complain about this issue so much (no matter how much they don't want to admit it).

Anyway, i support global servers and would be upset if i can't play with JP players or just a handful of them.

[Kiara]

Hi All,

Perhaps one thing for the Dev Team to consider, to better inform people overall:

* When the Dev Team is happy with the (near)Final Netcode during Open Beta, please consider inviting ALL current Final Fantasy XIV 1.xx Players to try the Open Beta with your Beta Servers in Japan.

That way, we can see just how improved the gameplay is (for something like Ifrit), and decide if it's something worth sticking around for on a JP Server or a more regional server, etc.

I'd still like the "GLOBAL" Tag, but it'd be great no matter what to let all 1.xx Players experience how improved the online play is during Open Beta.

Thank you~

[BruceyBruceyBangBang]

I've gotta ask, is it really that you're afraid regional servers will force players to play in their respected areas of the globe, or is it that you're afraid the JP won't care as much as you do and will forget about you?