I am loathe to mention the game I came from previous to this, but while I was trying to log in for the umpteenth time, I came up with a suggestion to the devs regarding lightening the server loads or at a suggestion on how to at least fix the problem.
The idea came from a previous MMO. How they had handled the amount of users was not by adding more worlds which would cause the problem of separating potential fellow players more then it already has, but by adding channels within those worlds. What would this accomplish?
1) Ability to create more characters within one given world so that people who want to play in at least the same world have a chance to play with the friends they had originally purchased the game to play with by switching to the correct channel. Less people would leave the game knowing that they at least have this choice vs. having to purchase a pass to a different world when they had already been limited in the very beginning. I personally would be pissed to have to pay to switch if my options were limited in the very beginning and my friend is on a congested server.
2)Less characters created in random worlds just to play and then join another server that their friend is on thus freeing up more space for creation and saving more space
3)It will handle the queue better, less run ins with the loathed error 1017. Upon logging into the game and in character selection mode, if the channel states the current status on how many players are logged on/or whether or not it is at the limit, people can choose to sign onto a different channel in that world so that they can still get the chance to play and feel as if they are getting their "money's worth".
4)Create a bigger base of loyal players due to the fact they can play with their friends vs. having to create several characters on different servers and then losing all interest due to going through the same steps over and over on a different character. One major strength in this game is that you don't have to relog to switch classes. Make it stronger by allowing people to still use that main character to play with their beginner friends so they can experience the newer class story. This will solve the issue of people having to switch servers just to play and finding out they cannot log back in again due to error 1017
In comparison to creating more worlds, I feel there are more positives and more ways for you guys to save. Not only are you saving customers by solving one main issue ("Waah! I can't play with my friends!! I couldn't log in for the past 20 hours!"), but you are lessening the chance of having to create more worlds in which later on you will have empty and then will have to merge. It will also allow players the freedom to play on channels less populated if they have any issues regarding areas of high player congestion.
I hope this gets to the people who can make this happen and they can see the value in this suggestion. I really want to make this game work out as this is the first Final Fantasy game I have played and actually liked since FF6. I would like to be able to say that Square still has it and you guys definitely still do, its just the unfortunate kinks that all MMOs go through in the beginning that need to be dealt with.
Cheers.
(I wanted to post this in the right forum and now I wish I played during the beta phase so this suggestion could possibly have more weight and probably would have helped. I do not know if this has been suggested before so I apologize if it has. I also apologize if this is the wrong forum for this suggestion as I couldn't figure which one this would have fit in If you would like to see this at work, look at the game mabinogi, as it is the game that I have pulled the idea from. Even though the servers can be heavy with AFKers, even at the extremely busy periods, people have been able to log in to play)