Dengeki Uncovers New Info (8/29)

[Riki]

All you xenophobic people can gtfo.
I'm looking forward to mixed servers.

i am making a new Jp friend. ^_______^;

[BRP]

You morons are out of control. Can't you just make another shitty thread to discuss your shitty debates? When it comes down to it SE thinks global servers are essential to their creation.

Now if you really want to get your hands dirty with your own bullshit, please take it to the threads that have NO redeeming value or just make one. Thanks.

[altwight]

I'll use WoW as an example.

I'm on a CST time zone server on WoW. I'm asleep during the prime hours of the day and night and awake when all the 'normal' (the majority) are asleep such as the wee hours of the morning (2-5am) On days I don't have to sleep during prime hours the difference in being able to get a group for something is HUGE! While trying to get a group for anything at 5am is pretty much impossible.

I'm all for the mixed servers. I would love to be able to play at 4-8am and be able to party with JPs easily.

Now before you say "WELL YOU'RE ON A CST SERVER HAHA NOOOOOB" think about what you said... CST players won't be the ONLY people playing on said server. This is true but the problem still remains a fact for me. Getting a group at 2-5am is pretty much impossible.


Gogo mixed servers.

edit: My point is regardless if servers were based on language only there are normal hours and not normal hours. They happen to fall directly behind or ahead of one another. So regardless the majority of the people would not be on. Thus making it harder to do anything.

[Celeras]

Bold part: I allready said that I'm not gonna play FFXIV if there are ONLY mixed servers.

There will only be mixed servers. You can go now.

[Valkrish]

we love you Elmer, in a most tarutaru way possible.

[Cadsuane]

'You have to play with people who speak other languages' is not a benefit, lmao, that is a requirement, strictly speaking. The language spoken on a server has nothing to do with the times people play on it. If you are suggesting everybody who speaks a language lives on the same schedule in the same time zone then I'll simply tell you you're wrong.

They aren't evenly distributed around the world either, so you do in turn loosely specify region along with a language. Making an english server means you'll have your EST and PST primetime and smaller peaks after that as parts of Europe log in, after which the population dwindles since english players in Oceania aren't about to be compensating for the basement dwelling population of north america. If you're suggesting otherwise I'll tell you to check out the FFXI census.

Also, if you'd read the post you would have known I am arguing to get you to think, which you are obviously having a bit of difficulty doing. You also wouldn't have bothered to mention regions because I specifically, in almost every iteration of my posts, have said that language specific is what offers the benefits, region specific isn't even on the table. I don't see how people can honestly, if they stop to use their brain for a few seconds, not see that a single language on a server only increases productivity. There is no barrier to break down or work around, you also aren't adding a boolean to interaction based on whether or not a person speaks the same language as you because, everybody has chosen the server because they all share a common language. The persons who share a spoken language are naturally going to gravitate to each other and prefer to play with those people whom they are not having to leap over hurdles to speak to.

It's dubious that in a game like FFXI, where pickups are looked down upon so much, and with linkshells that typically abhor fresh off the street new members that haven't been screened somehow, that anyone is really concerned about having a greater pool of linguistically eligible players so they can boost their precious productivity.

Given the choice between having on a server 2000 people I can understand and play with plus 2000 JPs who play mostly at 3 in the morning when I'm sleeping, or 4000 who speak the same language as me, is actually a tough call. There might be 100 among the extra 2000 I find tolerable as human beings, and all 4000 are bustling during my prime-time as opposed to half of them after I've fallen asleep. I will gain two things: more access to pickups and a larger choice of LSs. Except, fuck pickups, and I've got a perfectly fine main LS already. And can't you cram more people in a server anyway if you've got players throughout all timezones using the server 24/7 instead of for a few hours a day at higher intensity?

[Zyuu]

After we published a summary of their interview and the magazine article, we also decided to translate the whole interview (3 pages) 'word by word' and put it up yesterday.

If interested, you can view it here:
FFXIVCore.com - Final Fantasy XIV Fansite

[Spira]

I'm most looking forward to mixed servers. Its a 100% thing cos they said they felt that segragating regions was a step back and FFXI made considerable progress in that area.

Mixed servers is great because it keeps the population of the server normalized at all times. You have someone who would be playing at any time because there is no single 'prime' time. weekends will feel a little crowded, but it does add to the flavor and liveliness of the game.

also, no-regions are good because of the nature of languages spoken in various regions. I live in south-east asia, and my first language is English, but if there are not enough people playing from my region, its possible they might bunch people like me from 'less-established regions' into somewhere else where the majority speak JP maybe. (thankfully I know JP, but otherwise im screwed in terms of communicating with others).
I'd also love to play with my friends from all over the world that I've made over the years from XI who I know will also be playing XIV.

Voice acting for cut scenes - all versions will be in English, other languages will get subtitles

this intrigues me, but I'm also kind of happy that this is happening. Firstly I was quite surprised that there would be VA for CS in the first place. That all versions will have the same language VA will improve the quality of the CS for sure. Lip-syncing is an issue to deal with, as well as contextual intepretation when dubbed in different languages.

Only English seems to make sense, seeing as it is also the lingua franca of FFXI and there is a bias towards the use of English compared to even Japanese in FFXI (eg. mob names are all in English regardless of what version you play). For English players, it is a convenience because we can understand both from reading and listening. Some Japanese players (strangely) also like to hear VA in English because it supposedly adds to the fantasy flavor of the game. I think this is one reason why FF# international versions sell considerably well in Japan.

[Harajuku]

Bold part: I allready said that I'm not gonna play FFXIV if there are ONLY mixed servers.

Like Celeras just said. There will only be mixed servers. You may go now. I don't see why you're wanting mixed servers so bad. According to your sig, you leveled up 9 jobs in FFXI. You can't honestly tell me that a portion of that exp was from playing with members outside of your time zone. We've played with all members from all different parts of the world with FFXI for about 7-8 years? So what's the reasoning for changing it now. Not only does it provide diversability to the game, but many people have made friends from all around the world in FFXI(And outside of it). I can almost guarantee that every person playing FFXI has at least 1-5+ friends that they talk to on a regular basis that don't like within 3 timezones of themself.

Also: Hmm, something different from FFXI's Auction House...Maybe they'll string everyones bazaar/shop together through one menu, and allow you to browse by shop, or search for item, etc? Idk. I can't see how much it can vary from an AH.

[Petitssk]

I dunno what's so bad about mixed servers.

I'd rather play with players from around the globe rather than with only my fellow countrymen, but I guess that's just me.

I think it added an interesting experience to FF XI that was unique to it.

During the five years I was active in FF XI I met many people from all over the globe that allowed me to get an insight on different cultures, languages, habits, etc..
Being from Germany I found it rather interesting to listen in on American political debates during the elections for instance.
Furthermore, speaking with native English-speakers helped me improve my English quite a bit which is why I'm gonna try and improve my Japanese this time around, a game that is fun and can be used for purposes of studying cannot possibly be bad.

I'd hate to pass on all of that which is why I appreciate the servers being mixed again.

pls dont tell me that you dont notice all the emergency maintance on FFXI, not to mention that some servers (odin) are not stable (random R0). Pls stop.

And what does that have to do with mixed servers? I'm not exactly an expert as far as servers are concerned, but I don't think they'll go crashing down because there are people from different countries playing on them.
If there is a problem, it would rather be due to the constant strain on the server, having a somewhat constant player number at all times due to the different timezones, and I'm not even sure about that.
SE usually had many maintenances to do due to buggy content or because of DDOS attacks (back in 2005 I think). After that it was quiet for a long, long time, at least on Odin.

Later on, however, Odin turned into an over-populated server because of SE's crappy server switching policy, not because we had people from all over the world playing on Odin. You also switched to Odin, so you should know about that.
In this case you can blame both sides, like 100 people showing up at a restaurant during rush hour. Who's at fault, the restaurant for not having enough ressources and no "Please stay outside if there are more than 100 people with you"-signs on the front door, or the 100 guys who go in, expecting to be fed?
That being said, the fault certainly lies with SE for not realizing the problems on Odin in time, but if they have learned from the problem with their server switching policy we shouldn't have problems of that kind this time around.

[Vuitton]

That would be a good example, but as I've said earlier, it's a flawed example because your time zone isn't the only time zone English speakers live in. In theory, if an all English server existed, you wouldn't have a shortage due to a time of day. Besides, other games with language specific servers, or even games which are only released in a single language, don't seem to suffer from phenomena I see repeatedly suggested, so I doubt 14 would.

Also, don't misinterpret my stance as resistance to mixed servers. It's far from that. I am simply trying to make people realize that mixed language servers really offer no tangible benefits, whereas language specific servers do. So it's quite frustrating seeing someone get ripped apart for wanting a language specific server option, when if people stopped to consider the facts, they might realize that what they so adamantly supported really didn't have any merit.

Maybe no tangible benefits for you. However, we're not all so unfortunate as yourself. So, please don't make blanket statements such as "no tangible benefits" because you're not involved with those benefits. There are more people on the server besides you. There are other regions of the world other than yours. Lets not chop off our nose to spite our face. No reason to take away the benefits others are experiencing just because you're not capable of enjoying them yourself.

[Maguspk]

Maybe no tangible benefits for you. However, we're not all so unfortunate as yourself. So, please don't make blanket statements such as "no tangible benefits" because you're not involved with those benefits. There are more people on the server besides you. There are other regions of the world other than yours. Lets not chop off our nose to spite our face. No reason to take away the benefits others are experiencing just because you're not capable of enjoying them yourself.

option

Check it.
I'll reiterate stop taking it so personally, I don't care if you think making new JP friends is a benefit, that shouldn't keep others who find it as a hurdle from being allowed the option of an alternative. Also, I'll also say it again since you want to resort to personal attacks that I do not care one way or the other, I am simply trying to get people thinking and it looks like I've done that so stop being so defensive and list the true benefits of a mixed server.

Some food for thought: If you think that having English speaking servers (NA, Europe, etc.) would hinder the productivity of the server, you are suggesting that without JP (the only other significant portion of the game population) the servers would have failed. This is the only counterpoint I see being brought up, but if there was a server like this, would it have really failed? Nah, I don't think so. In fact weren't there a few servers which were new which housed an entirely different balance in the population, mostly Europeans maybe?

This argument is also largely pointless because SE has said they are planning on doing it a certain way and this most likely means all servers will be a particular way, so the next step is people saying 'Well SE is doing <this> so you can leave if you don't like it!'. Please don't resort to that, don't blindly accept a methodology, think of why it's truly better. I really want to hear something new besides the 'odd hours' or 'new friends' argument.

[ringthree]

pls dont tell me that you dont notice all the emergency maintance on FFXI, not to mention that some servers (odin) are not stable (random R0). Pls stop. I dont see a huge disadvantage on Blizzard side keeping all the servers up there for WoW. There is plenty to choose for everyone's taste. Why should a company like SE be incapable (or incompetent) to do something similiar with mixed and region specific servers?
As said its SE's decision what they do, and my decision what I buy/play. I am just talking from personal experience regarding friends (that have quit because of mixed servers), that mixed servers "only" is not the way if you want to attract alot people.

You really don't know much about WoW's server issues.

Anyone that started playing this game then quit because there are mixed servers is a freaking idiot. Anyone that expects them to change their policy is also an idiot.

If you don't like it, then don't play, but complaining about something so fundamental is stupid. Might as well complain about them not having Xbox 360 support.

[ringthree]

That would be a good example, but as I've said earlier, it's a flawed example because your time zone isn't the only time zone English speakers live in. In theory, if an all English server existed, you wouldn't have a shortage due to a time of day. Besides, other games with language specific servers, or even games which are only released in a single language, don't seem to suffer from phenomena I see repeatedly suggested, so I doubt 14 would.

Also, don't misinterpret my stance as resistance to mixed servers. It's far from that. I am simply trying to make people realize that mixed language servers really offer no tangible benefits, whereas language specific servers do. So it's quite frustrating seeing someone get ripped apart for wanting a language specific server option, when if people stopped to consider the facts, they might realize that what they so adamantly supported really didn't have any merit.

Getting a party (doing anything for that matter) on a Tuesday at 10AM is a tangible benefit for an NA player.

Oh, and I don't know any game that makes servers by language, they all do them by time zone or region.

[Trocian]

Oh, and I don't know any game that makes servers by language

WoW?

[ringthree]

WoW?

They are all done by region and time zone, not by language. I know it's the internet but try finishing the sentence before responding.

[Trocian]

They are all done by region and time zone, not by language. I know it's the internet but try finishing the sentence before responding.

What?

The Spanish, French, German, and English EU servers are all in the same timezone, and in the same region. They're based on language.

[ringthree]

What?

The Spanish, French, German, and English EU servers are all in the same timezone, and in the same region. They're based on language.

Mexican players play with players in Spain? There may be some overlap, but generally they are regionalized. NA, EU, Oceania.

[Trocian]

Mexican players play with players in Spain?

No idea.

There may be some overlap, but generally they are regionalized. NA, EU, Oceania.

Some overlap?

When there's 30-40 servers dedicated to different languages in the same region it's pretty obvious they're separating them by language as well.

[njitjk68]

WoW-EU is further separated by language.

World of Warcraft Europe -> Realm Status

It makes no sense to have just region specific servers (unless it is country specific servers) without also having to further sub-divide it into different languages, since different countries in a certain region have different languages. In case of WoW-EU, French, German, Spanish, etc.