Dead Server Syndrome?

[Tagus]

SE's probably going to have to start mergers soon. Even Phoenix (with it's endgame drama in full rage mode recently and all of the server transfers we've been getting) has a population average at about 75% of what it was six months ago. No reason to think that will stop. Plus, when you consider the nature of the game, it's only natural to think about a server change when ppl's friend lists are 90% quit or sold and the majority of endgame shells around at this point are botters or revolving door "attendance based" favoritism nonsense.

[Not Kuno]

Bahamut is a fucking ghost town.

[Dezzimal]

Sadly things are probably going to have to get a lot worse before square considers it to be a problem and takes action through server mergers.

[Chen]

'dead game' comments are almost despressingly stupid.

pretty much same as many ppl have already said, server merging would be awesome, especially if it brought two dominant HNMls's together onto one server.

or if ppl like feiwong got brought to phoenix!

[dejet]

Server A: 2200 players prime time
Server B: 2200 players prime time

make them server C: 4400 players prime time, you run into them hitting the *cap* or close to it. This is the reason I think SE has not moved anyone yet. It will happen id give it a few months when servers hit 1000-1500 prime times.

[Spungy]

Well, it's not a ghost town at FoV books. Someone ought to let these guys know the game is dead so the competition would go down.

There is always a healthy pile of people waiting at the Nyzul entrance too.

The AH is slowing down though, I had to wait 4-5 days for a Harpe to pop.

[Colenzo]

server mergers needed fo rly

[Yabby]

Why is it a bad thing to have less people at king camps? If people are having a lack of crafters on their servers, level that craft. Nothing is more enjoyable then going to a king camp with only your LS there. But this is coming from someone that only XP's with friends, does any event with friends, and has or has a friend that as any craft at 100.

[Midnightjade]

What if they make BST really party-friendly, but the server population drops so low you HAVE to solo? Talk about ironic.








[I'm kidding]

[ronin sparthos]

Server A: 2200 players prime time
Server B: 2200 players prime time

make them server C: 4400 players prime time, you run into them hitting the *cap* or close to it. This is the reason I think SE has not moved anyone yet. It will happen id give it a few months when servers hit 1000-1500 prime times.

I'd kill to see 4400 players on during any fucking time of the day, lol.

Why is it a bad thing to have less people at king camps? If people are having a lack of crafters on their servers, level that craft. Nothing is more enjoyable then going to a king camp with only your LS there. But this is coming from someone that only XP's with friends, does any event with friends, and has or has a friend that as any craft at 100

You explained it yourself.

High populations are bad when you're camping anything but the feeling of an MMO is ruined when you can't anything done.

If people log on and cant get anything done without an innermost circle of friends, that speaks to the health of the overall game. One could say PUGs are an indicator as to how well the game is doing.

[Klaatu]

Here's a thought. Break up servers into 3 time groups. JP, EU and NA. And create merge servers accordingly. This will have a healthy boost to over all playability and reduce the amount of servers required to maintain for SE. Doubt that will ever happen though.

Peak hours are very server specific, but overall case is the same. Don't forget that JP, EU and NA time frames are differentin terms of population. Depending on which "peak hour" you're talking about it may vary from server to server.

The JPs, especially on Bahamut are still about 60% of overall population if not more, but NA peak hours have slowed down and we barely get over 1k people. That's not excluding AH bots in WG and Jeuno, fish bots in other zones and bazaars all over the world.

[Baelorn]

And this is where i think you are wrong. You are eyeballing numbers in your timezone, but it doesen't give you an idea how full the server actually is.
If the total numbers were that much down, the server would already be open again.

The number of active characters on the closed servers have dropped significantly since the servers were closed. Phoenix now has more active characters than Bahamut or Odin but they are closed for transfers while Phoenix is open for transfers. SE is just being lazy.

[Klaatu]

So basically what you're saying is that you want a new server to migrate to you.

No. The least I expect from SE is to open Bahamut and Odin.

[drwaffles]

Break up servers into 3 time groups. JP, EU and NA.

This is a bad idea. Many people like the fact that the servers contain mixed nationalities, it adds a new dimension to the overall dynamic. Also just because someone lives in a particular time zone doesn't mean they necessarily play at that zone's peak time (e.g. people who work at night). I suppose the option to choose a specifically NA, EU, JP or mixed server would be nice, but then what happens when someone's lifestyle changes in such a way that for three months they're forced to play at a time when everyone else on their server is asleep?

Not to mention I personally wouldn't be happy playing on a server with just EU players... oh dear God no...

[Siniroth]

This is a bad idea. Many people like the fact that the servers contain mixed nationalities, it adds a new dimension to the overall dynamic. Also just because someone lives in a particular time zone doesn't mean they necessarily play at that zone's peak time (e.g. people who work at night). I suppose the option to choose a specifically NA, EU, JP or mixed server would be nice, but then what happens when someone's lifestyle changes in such a way that for three months they're forced to play at a time when everyone else on their server is asleep?

Not to mention I personally wouldn't be happy playing on a server with just EU players... oh dear God no...

I think he means merge them according to those numbers, IE, mix two servers that one has a high JP population and low NA population, and one with a low NA population and high JP population

[Klaatu]

Not exactly. What I meant to say is allow players choose the time frame according to their own schedule on which server they would prefer playing. Example being someone is EU, they would rather be on a server that is most active during EU peak hours. Same for NA and JP. What this will create is strong active player population on each server during those time frames.

[Nymphadora]

I haven't noticed lower player numbers really effecting anything yet, at least not for me. I'm not surprised that populations have slacked off so badly on the locked servers though, I'd have probably eventually left due to the fact you can't create a mule if you need one, or some random annoyance like that. Still, 1500-2500 isn't exactly a population problem lol.

I think it could just be school starting back, people are busier with that these days and the populations will eventually spike back up once students get more free time or the new starts to wear off of Aion. As far as NA populations declining, that could honestly be due to a significant number of NA credit cards no longer being accepted by POL/wierd bannings that happened over the summer. No reason to expect SE to take any notice of declining active accounts til next year's Vana'Diel census, tbh.

[jimbobsonofgod]

There are people out there, that have stopped playing, but continue to pay for their account, they just haven't logged in, in about 2 years. If there are enough of those accounts around it will delay a server merge. Even though they are not actively logging in, the account is still active and Square gets their numbers from accounts active (since that's where the money is) not characters logged in.

I think in the end instead of server merging then finally shutting down. Square should just release FFXI-Offline, where they throw in General Zaarg in every zone to fight your mobs with you, and you get all the drops.

[BerenTebogo]

I think in the end instead of server merging then finally shutting down. Square should just release FFXI-Offline, where they throw in General Zaarg in every zone to fight your mobs with you, and you get all the drops.

I would play this game.

[Riki]

The number of active characters on the closed servers have dropped significantly since the servers were closed.

Yeah. That was the whole deal of closing them in the first place.