Server Transfers - Do we want them?

[Solefald]

I think a lot of you guys are over-anxious about the effects of worldshifting. Midgard had two worldshifts, one going and one coming, and neither had any substantially ill effects on the server's population. The people that immigrated in the most recent worldshift were mostly worthless, but by and large the crappy ones didn't make it into native hnmls; they had to start their own crappy sky linkshells. I forsee pretty minimal effects overall for the endgame scene when worldshifting is finally implemented.

[superfob]

On every linkshell app:

"Did you leave your previous server because your a dickhead?"
[ ] Yes
[ ] No


Oh oh, the only way this will work is if we all band together and make a "Shit player thread to never invite" lol

I could make a database of players & their character IDs you can leave feedback on, so even if they changed their names you'd know who they used to be. :<

Use that who's your lance thread for names. I voted no because the decent players will stay for their friends, and the asshats will migrate making players create a new blacklist.

[jerkbox]

I think a lot of you guys are over-anxious about the effects of worldshifting. Midgard had two worldshifts, one going and one coming, and neither had any substantially ill effects on the server's population. The people that immigrated in the most recent worldshift were mostly worthless, but by and large the crappy ones didn't make it into native hnmls; they had to start their own crappy sky linkshells. I forsee pretty minimal effects overall for the endgame scene when worldshifting is finally implemented.

yeah i have a few wow friends who say wow's server migration doesn't really cause any problems... but then again that's wow

as long as SE copycats wow's migration rules (like they've been doing recently with everything else), all should be good

[Sixtail]

Fuck no. The issues it would create would far outweigh the ones it would help and you have not seen unfettered hell like massive RMT armies showing up on servers where they have little grip. The only thing being able to hop servers would do is help RMT and assholes and I like you Taj, but do you really want the project of tracking server hopping assholes? Ugh.

That said, most endgame stuff on most servers is packed now, allowing people to hop servers would just fuel the troubles.

[Ravenlokk]

I vote no because of the obvious problems that have been addressed. It is far too easy for people to take off with LS property, or avoid the repercussions from being a total douche bag on their present server. It could also potentially disrupt the overall server population if ">>>x" people leave a server and "<x" people go to it- server A now has 5000 people while server B has 1000 total retards leftover(probably not a realistic example, but w/e).

The benefit would be- as was already mentioned- People would be able to move to servers with their friends, if they chose the wrong server from the start.

I think the only way this would really work without disrupting economies is if only RARE/EX items were transferable, and gil up to a certain max. Also, there would need to be some sort of GM discression as to who/what can be transfered(yarite, gl dealing with that overhead). It would still be very tough to stop RMT/THIEF char's from moving priceless items, or mass-gil to profitable servers to cash in on a higher gil exchange rate.

I agree with the previous posters saying server mergers are much more viable than user-chosen server migration. However, if SE thinks FF's profits are going down anyways- it could be a good way for them to cash in if you can transfer your char for like $50 or something in RM.

[Faris]

This is a great idea, lots of MMORPG have this service, its about time that SE provides it for us too. I think this will decrease the account buying just a tad (lots of people i know buy accounts because of the server, specifically because of friends and all). I think it will work out well, plus SE will get more profit since they will charge a fee to each transfer, but i think the service should be limited.

As for LS fraud, and theft...hi, it happens already, we all know that. Just this time, there will be alot of "Player Warning: ABC" threads in here and KI. I think this is good enough information to fuck up the thieves who fled.

[Eaglestrike]

I only see it increasing account purchasing. Now they can buy any character across any server and just transfer it to their server.

[vegetaa]

What about the fact your character's name already exists on the server you're migrating to ? It would be pretty bad to have well-known bad players change server and change name too...you can't really track who they are once their name has been changed, and it can be a big issue.

[Plow]

There's a 20 page thread and another 5 page one (same guy) on my WoW server forum today about a different server guild's main tank for the last year that had the best gear in the guild and transfered to my server without telling anyone in his old guild. Supposedly it's because they weren't progressing fast enough, but they were pretty much on par with the guild he came to so who knows what the real story is. Entertaining threads tho

Anyway lol, for every asshole that took a bunch of loot and bailed on his old guild there's 20 people that weren't happy where they were, not getting into enough raids or whatever and left without any problems to join a different guild or some good friends somewhere else. I don't see any problem with that. If it weren't for my arena teams, I'd have done it in WoW I'm sure. My server has one strong guild and they require 40+ hours a week. Fun stuff

So yeah I voted yes, what it effectively does is to enlarge the recruitment pool for all linkshells across all servers, as well as giving more chances for more people to find a place they'd like to call home.


and you have weakness and I want him baaack! /angryface

[vegetaa]

My server has one strong guild and they require 40+ hours a week.

WoW is serious business.

[Sasarai]

I only see it increasing account purchasing. Now they can buy any character across any server and just transfer it to their server.

Correct.

Voted No, its just a really bad idea on so many levels. If SE have to make it available (despite the fact a clear majority of end game players know they shouldn't, as shown by the poll results) and apparently they do (since ZAMites think its cool), then it should be a one time deal only.

[Faris]

I only see it increasing account purchasing. Now they can buy any character across any server and just transfer it to their server.

i agree with you, this can be a problem.

as for name change of characters to hide their identity, if the guy fled to another server with very noticable gear/item then i dont think people will have a problem picking him out, eventually he will be known.
and like Plow mentioned, LSs will have less stress on the recruitment department.

All in all, i guess it has its ups and downs, but for the sake of more entertainment, I think its a service that should be available.
After all, this is a game, we play to enjoy.

[SephYuyX]

Too easy to get away from a bad reputation.

Take Ryunoire on Midgar (please!). She had a crap rep on another server, came to Midgar, talked people into trusting her/working with her, and in the end did the same thing.

Can we get rid of Coz too?

Sorry, shes yours now :3 Though we'll take back KC.

[ashke]

Grouping 2 Servers together? Maybe.

This is the whole reason I voted yes.

Not b/c I want different people on my server (I know the ups and downs, even if it is Asura) but b/c I'm going to be playing this game a LONG time.

Personally, I think this is inevitable, we're already seeing declining server population. And even the server population is skewed in number of PLAYERS as people seem to hand off their account when they quit a huge % of the time. The % of people w/ multiple accounts is increasing, and the number of players is decreasing. When that player w/ 2-3 accounts quits, you'll see a tremendous drop in number of accounts b/c people w/ 2-3 accounts probably can do whatever they want- they don't want a 4th-5th account.

But I don't know the mechanics of how SE is going to pull it off.

Part of me says the easiest thing to do when servers depopulate is to buy new hardware, and make 2-3 servers switch to the new server. IE, a forced world shift.

The other part of me says they'll give some of the players what they want, allow migration, and keep the aging hardware going as long as they can. I kinda think they'll do this since they already added the 'select ur wurldz' option.

Either way, economies and schedules are going to be impacted, it's a question of whether you want it all at once, or trickling in.





__
but like I said, I wouldn't move personally.

[SephYuyX]

Merging servers would probably be the dumbest thing SE could do. Imagine all the people camping HNMs, it's more than enough now. They'll have to fix the game to accommodate 2x/3x the people first. Seeing how stubborn SE is about changing anything with the three kings, dunno how fast anything will happen.

[ashke]

Merging servers would probably be the dumbest thing SE could do. Imagine all the people camping HNMs, it's more than enough now. They'll have to fix the game to accommodate 2x/3x the people first. Seeing how stubborn SE is about changing anything with the three kings, dunno how fast anything will happen.

I didn't say smart, I said easy.

But I'm talking about another 18 months down the road, not 'world merge now.' which isn't possible population-wise.

But, that long-term thought is kinda why I'd prefer a player-led movement, rather than SE making a decision to merge servers.

Either way, things are screwed up, but in the end we'll be able to play the game longer.

[Charismatic]

I want server transfers.

I want it to be free during the time when they initially release it, then they need to start charging a fee. Sure there will be some drama, but hell, there's never enough drama (for me anyway). So server switching FTW

[Vedder]

Scum moving from server to server? No thanks.

[Charismatic]

Everyone says no thanks to that kinda stuff, but everyone knows they love the drama threads, etc. I'm surprised so many people are against the scum of Vana'diel moving around.

I guess there's few people who truly enjoy FFXI drama as much as I do.

[Thistle]

Too easy to get away from a bad reputation.

Take Ryunoire on Midgar (please!). She had a crap rep on another server, came to Midgar, talked people into trusting her/working with her, and in the end did the same thing.

Sorry, shes yours now :3 Though we'll take back KC.

If the world shifts open up, I'd fall down dead from surprise if she remained on Midgar. She's burnt major bridges here.

You likely won't get her back, but at least she'll probably leave Midgar!