Overpopulated Servers

[Cecil118]

I talked to Caedmon for about an hour (he sent me to jail, but i requested that) arguing the point about population of some of the servers. Hes some of the conversation, didnt get the full thing:



http://www.aborman.com/gm/PICT0012.JPG
http://www.aborman.com/gm/PICT0015.JPG
http://www.aborman.com/gm/PICT0016.JPG
http://www.aborman.com/gm/PICT0017.JPG
http://www.aborman.com/gm/PICT0019.JPG

Please, if you do wish to share it with other boards, keep my name, and redrum.aborman.com (ls website) posted. Feel free to argue away.

Added: I think me and Caedmon will be good buddys, lol. And, about taking are requests and doing events, i even said a lot of us hated events like the gigantoad @_@

[DJplaeskool]

"The servers haven't met their halfway mark for what they are able to hold player wise"


NOW I'm scared...
everything is so inundated with people...and we're not even at the half way point...

[Cecil118]

Exactly what i feared too heh. Check out the confirmation of the expansion with lower level zones heheh :D

[John Doe III]

Originally posted by DJplaeskool


NOW I'm scared...
everything is so inundated with people...and we're not even at the half way point...

Just when I thought my game was choppy becuse of the server population (aka lag)..............

[Rico]

Poor Ragnarok :(.

[Chapel]

Heh, the screenshots taken were about Midgard. THis weekend i think we had at one point over 4600 People online at once. Thats just crazy and we're a relatively new server too. The constant people search/AH search failures and 1k+ recieve in any of the popular leveling spots really make it hard for someone to enjoy their playtime recently.

[l)@RK-l)EVIL]

i use
/sea all
before long time

there was +5000 in ragnarok

[no1_Cloud]

its kinda funny when you search valkurm and find 200+ ppl there.

[Cecil118]

Yea, that was midgardsormr, and I played on ragnarok last year before the US Version came out and thought it was crowded....

[Talonus]

Personally, I don't think its that overcrowded. I'm guessing that he meant hardware-wise the servers can handle more people, which is semi-debatable.

The major problem is that everyone tends to go to the same places, leaving some zones unused. People whore themselves out in Valkurm, but other same level zones go unused. If all of these zones were crowded, then you could say the server is uncrowded, but this is not happening at all.

[Mithrael]

290 people in Valkurm Dunes on Saturday evening. 18 people in Buburimu (all farmers or people soling with /anon). Better utilization of the zones is definitely in order, but S-E can't force you to go somewhere else.

Only real solution I see is to impose limits on the number of similar level people in one area. i.e. in Valkurm, there can be no more than 40 people lv.17-21, and no more than 40 people lv.14-17. In Qufim, no more than 40 people lv.19-25, and no more than 40 people lv.27-30. But all that would do is generate a lot of aggrivation too, so not sure where they can go to fix this :/

[Rekiem]

If you have lag in FFXI, theres two reason, either you have a bad connection or theres many people fighting near you (like 3+ Party). The problem is not the servers, its how each zone is handled. A leveling area shouldn't have more than 36 people in it to insure that no one has lag or lower perfomance. Its very easy to do this and Im suprised that FFXI hasn't done this yet. Basicaly the server create a "clone" of the zone that is currently overcrowded. That area is exactly the same but theres no player in it when its created and once the original zone reach its maximum amount of player, the "clone" is opened and players are able to join a new fresh zone free of lag and plenty of monsters to kill. They could put some requirement in it so the people you are partying with will access the new zone and all sort of things like this to prevent that your not in the right zone or your party is not all scattered in different area. I've seen MMORPG using this and its great because it prevent the areas to be overcrowded. Its a goos system as long as its well handled and people are able to be in the right zone.

Long story short, the problem is not the server but how each zone is handled.

BTW, your pic are way too huge, this thread is unreadable because they ruin the size.

[tongyang]

I can just imagine now.

You just got killed by some Wight trains in qufim. Was really crowded at that time. No one is willing to raise you, so you decided to call a WHM in your LS to help.

That WHM enters qufim, and a "clone" qufim zone appears! :biggrin: So you end up going back to home point instead ;)

[Razz]

Sorry I didn't get that :(

But yeah, I don't put up my PT flag up much during busy times because I know I won't enjoy levelling in an area with 3-4 PTs there.

The solution: Expansion with more levelling spots for ALL level ranges.

[Celeras]

Clone the area? Rofl, are you kidding me? That'd be just like players playing on a different server. Besides tong's example, what about NM's? What if you want to meet someone somewhere?

"Alternate realitys"... worst idea ever:dead:

[Talonus]

The "clone system" that Rekiem describes is similar to instanced dungeons that AO, EQ and CoH use currently and that DAoC and WoW will be implementing. They're quite succesful really, but not exactly as Rekiem described.

[Celeras]

Originally posted by Talonus
The "clone system" that Rekiem describes is similar to instanced dungeons that AO, EQ and CoH use currently and that DAoC and WoW will be implementing. They're quite succesful really, but not exactly as Rekiem described.

Incase you havent realized, 99% of the features in other MMO's have no business being in ffxi.. they just wouldnt work.

[Cecil118]

They just need a hardware upgrade. To put it in perspective, i can have 300 people in my house, and yea, it can handle it, but can you still move around and operate normally? Not really. I had to take pictures with my Dig. Camera since i didnt have a screenshot proggy open at the time, and it worked.

[Mithrael]

A hardware upgrade won't fix the insufficient numbers of spawns needed for that number of people to level. Increasing the number of spawns is not a practical fix either, since almost everything is aggro or link after lv.30. It would make navigating and/or pulling nearly impossible, and would do little to solve the problems. Making them non-aggro or non-link takes most of the challenge out of the game... They would need to greatly change the layout of existing zone to accomodate additional spawn points. The only real solutions have already been said. Create new zones or give people an incentive to better utilize the zones that exist. To use your own example, upgrading your floors to maintain more weight won't fix the problem that there is nowhere to move. You either need additional rooms, or a new floorplan for the rooms you have. I think it's pretty unlikely that they would adjust the maps of current zones to hold more people, but i suppose it is possible.

Regarding cloned zones: I'd be pretty aggrivated if the emperor spawned in a clone zone after waiting for two hours. Or how about Serket? Ooops... too many people leveling at the entrance of the zone. Anybody who can actually kill him can get to him cause they keep ending up in Garliage-C and he popped in Garliage-A. You can't really make it spawn in both zones, or it would defeat the purpose of having an NM with a rare drop. Implementing something like this would cause them to go back to the most basic design elements of the game.

[Stanislav]

Siren seems to have a fairly low population with only 2500 people on usualy except on weekends it jumps to 3000s. Still even at level 72 (No NA my level except the people I level with) we find it hard to find a decent exp place due to the JPN hogging the area. The only time we can exp is when JPN are sleeping and some are still online which if we are lucky can work with our party usualy.

If you servers get 4000+ I am glad I didn't join heh

[Talonus]

Originally posted by Celeras
Incase you havent realized, 99% of the features in other MMO's have no business being in ffxi.. they just wouldnt work.

I call BS. What is the reason behind your reasoning? What makes FFXI special? Oh, there's people who speak different languages playing the game? Big deal, dealt with it in prior MMOGs on a smaller level. FFXI isn't much different than any other MMOG out there period, let alone "99%" different than other MMOGs.

Besides, one of the major reasons to use instanced dungeons is to solve zone overpopulation, especially in a smaller world. Rather than having everyone at one level range in the same area, like ya know is happening in Valkurm, people can choose to group in their own little area. Is it more dangerous? Yeah. Does it solve overcrowding? Most definitely. And that's just one of the reasons behind using instanced dungeons. Guess you didn't realize the value in the system, and why most MMOGs are implementing it in one fashion or another...

[Celeras]

Originally posted by Talonus


I call BS. What is the reason behind your reasoning? What makes FFXI special? Oh, there's people who speak different languages playing the game? Big deal, dealt with it in prior MMOGs on a smaller level. FFXI isn't much different than any other MMOG out there period, let alone "99%" different than other MMOGs.

Besides, one of the major reasons to use instanced dungeons is to solve zone overpopulation, especially in a smaller world. Rather than having everyone at one level range in the same area, like ya know is happening in Valkurm, people can choose to group in their own little area. Is it more dangerous? Yeah. Does it solve overcrowding? Most definitely. And that's just one of the reasons behind using instanced dungeons. Guess you didn't realize the value in the system, and why most MMOGs are implementing it in one fashion or another...

Stupidity at its best. "If you don't know, im not going to tell you."

Ya and in case you didnt notice, all of the avatar fights ARE instanced dungeons. Go ahead and try to make an instanced valkurm, no really go ahead, its a great idea. That way I can hunt VE 24/7 without any competition, in my own little version of valk.

[Jonnyram]

Originally posted by Celeras
Go ahead and try to make an instanced valkurm, no really go ahead, its a great idea. That way I can hunt VE 24/7 without any competition, in my own little version of valk.

That really sums up why you can't have instanced areas... but besides that, think about how hard it would be to find a party if you zone into Valkurm and find there's another 20 instances. Instance dungeons might work quite well for the expeditionary force quests, but I don't think they'd work at all for general use. It might solve over-population problems, by driving the fun factor down and making less people play :thumbsup:

[Talonus]

Originally posted by Celeras
Stupidity at its best. "If you don't know, im not going to tell you."

Ya and in case you didnt notice, all of the avatar fights ARE instanced dungeons. Go ahead and try to make an instanced valkurm, no really go ahead, its a great idea. That way I can hunt VE 24/7 without any competition, in my own little version of valk.

Wait, you won't tell me? In other words, you're just BSing. FFXI is no different than any other MMOG. You're just trying to cover your arse by saying that I'm too stupid to realize exactly how intelligent you are. Yeah, sure.

When did I said cloned zones? That's Rekiem's idea. I said instanced dungeons, which is something totally different. I don't even agree with Rekiem's idea, because an instanced dungeon with a several level spread like Valkurm wouldn't work anyway. The vast majority of the zone would be wasted, and instanced dungeons are just that... dungeons. You're supposed to progress through them, not camp them.

Of course, boss mobs in instanced zones have been done before. If there was a "cloned" valkurm with a VE, I'd love to see you waste your time hunting it.... along with several thousand other people. Hairpin price would drop to nothing incredibly fast, making it a waste to even both with it. But hey, you'd still be sitting on your arse camping it right?

[Celeras]

Originally posted by Talonus
Of course, boss mobs in instanced zones have been done before. If there was a "cloned" valkurm with a VE, I'd love to see you waste your time hunting it.... along with several thousand other people. Hairpin price would drop to nothing incredibly fast, making it a waste to even both with it. But hey, you'd still be sitting on your arse camping it right?

I love it when they pull a 180' and change the subject as soon as they realize they're wrong.:spin:

[Talonus]

Originally posted by Celeras


I love it when they pull a 180' and change the subject as soon as they realize they're wrong.:spin:

Wait huh? How am I pulling a 180? Instanced dungeons are a good idea, and is something that nearly all of the future MMOGs are doing. The "clone" zone isn't a good idea, simply because there's flaws in copying a zone. I've said that all along. In your nice out of context quote, I was just informing you of why you'd be stupid to hunt VE in the case that there was an instanced Valkurm.

Of course, nice job diverting attention from my continuing question about the logic behind your "99% of the features in other MMO's have no business being in ffxi.. they just wouldnt work." Still waiting on that explanation btw.

[Celeras]

Originally posted by Talonus
I was just informing you of why you'd be stupid to hunt VE in the case that there was an instanced Valkurm.

And yet he continues.

[Andry]

instanced dungeons: see dynamis.

[Talonus]

Originally posted by Celeras


And yet he continues.

Still waiting for you to validate the 99% comment.

[Rekiem]

It works, most MMORPG do this. About the NM, theres simply one in each of the area. It doesn't create any problem. Of course theres more rare item that enter the market so the price drop but that means less stupid camping to get phat lewt so its all good.

[Rekiem]

Originally posted by tongyang
I can just imagine now.

You just got killed by some Wight trains in qufim. Was really crowded at that time. No one is willing to raise you, so you decided to call a WHM in your LS to help.

That WHM enters qufim, and a "clone" qufim zone appears! :biggrin: So you end up going back to home point instead ;)

Other MMORPG have solution for this problem, they either allow you to chose which zone you want to enter, give you a priority or a "pass" allowing you to enter the zone you're supposed to going into. People of the same PT, Alliance or LS will always meet in the same zone.

[Yuna]

the only real way to deal with growing populations is to make new areas

actually there are alternatives to valk and quifim, it's only if you have a shallow knowledge of level up areas...

[Trimpton]

They can be instance dungeons, oorrr they can fix the problem by creating new zones that would give more hunting locations to the same level range without more risk and less xp like they do now... or give the high risk areas xp bonous.

Not everything has to be complicated.

[Cecil118]

Originally posted by Yuna
the only real way to deal with growing populations is to make new areas

actually there are alternatives to valk and quifim, it's only if you have a shallow knowledge of level up areas...

Exactly, but the key is to find people that want to come to the zones. So, instead of going there, youre stuck in valk or qufim.

[Lady Kelenae]

http://mysterytour.web.infoseek.co.jp/ffxi/us/hunt/view.htm

There's alot of places to level if you take the time to look up the info...

[Cecil118]

The problem isnt finding the areas, i know some of the lesser traveled, its getting people together to go with you...

[John Doe III]

It's not that on the servers all during the day...tho...the other time it's packed.

[Nodoka]

I tried making a few dunes parties to go to Buburimu instead.. But alot of people are WAY too stubborn to try something new. Then again, it was people from the dunes..

[Celeras]

Its not that bad... people in this thread are exagerating the population x10

[FireMouse]

Originally posted by Celeras
Its not that bad... people in this thread are exagerating the population x10

So the servers only have a few hundred people on at peak?

:rolleyes:

[Elsurion]

The Problem isn't the limited level zones, it is the stupidity and never-move-to-a-new-place mentality of the player.

The dunes are the best example, everyone's there but it exists Bubu and Koroloka, both are DESERTED because everyone's in the dunes.

Same goes with Qufim, Jungle, CN everyone's there and has NO intention to move to another place to level. And if you gonna do the suggestion, naw i don't want to spend (500g chcoo/200Airship/0g Teleport) and it's goot exp here too (~100exp) and lag isn't that much in here (~1500+)

So problem isn't the server nor the areas the problem are the players.

[Elsurion]

also for the ppls online, around 3000 steady now between off pkeaks and 4000 jpn peak.

[Heoki]

Well, I almost left the server becuase of overpopulation but you kinda start to relize that its not just 1 server its all of them except that little server no on talks about. When I was a warrior I could wait up to 2 hours till I got a party anywhere dunes or qufim. Even in kazham I had a hard time getting a party. As a dragoon I don't have nearly as much trouble and we lever pretty fast. It's not a problem of the number of players or spawns. There are other areas to go to no doubt people are scared to go there becuase they or other players are to inexperienced to be able to handle a change. If you are a pretty experienced player fidn another area and take your party to it, if they dont want to go convicne them otherwise.

[Trimpton]

If you want good exp there are very few places to go -- If you want proof look at the mysterytour level chart that was posted.. Here are a few examples..

(These numbers are way off for good xp btw)

57-63 Terrigan - Crabs, Pugils
58-60 Bostaunieux Oubliette - Haunts
58-60 Beadeaux - Sapphire, Darksteal, Plat

Okay now look at your options, you can fight extremely hard to chain beastmen (Ive xped here before to get my PLD friend a coffer key) - Haunts where are going to assume impossible to chain since your most likely to die or take Crabs and Pugils which are easy and crabs have no death blow attack.

There is a reason why people stick to certain zones.. because they are easier xp with less risk. The reason we dont fight in other zones I blame SE, because they did not put NM in the zones at our level that we could kill to get rewards for fighting in the harder locations or if they wanted to fix the problem put xp modifers in the tougher zones to bring more people to them. As is now no one would choose Huants over easy crabs.

[kaiserht]

I dont understand how they can even joke about how the servers can take more people.

If they are only at half capacity, then why did they add new servers last year? For the fun of it? Or was it to handle the influx of new NA users because the rest of the servers simply could not handle it.

I was actually quite suprised to see that there were no new servers for the PS2 NA release.

And the more time that passes, the more full up servers get. To the point where there are so many groups in certain places, its almost impossible to have a good leveling experience. Or anything else for that matter.

Ever tried hunting for Sub job items in Valkurm recently? Ghouls dont spawn often, but now there are 10 times more people trying to get these items than there were back when i started.

Even places like Gustav tunnel which are usually quite unknown as everyone sticks in CN is packed out with 3-4 parties in the first area. Making it almost as bad as being in CN.

Even CN is worse than it used to be, with 5-6 parties all in the secret room let alone anywhere else.

I am sure there are other areas, but as has been said before and they are all good points. Just beacuse it can physically handle it, does not mean it can actually maintain everyone in it.

[Tulen]

Try some of the underutilized zones. May not be the very easiest xp, but at least you can find enough stuff to chain and stop whining. When I was leveling up spent a bit of time in Batallia and Rollanberry, seldom see a xp pt in either of those zones.

Also, way too many people feel they need to fight by the relative safty of the zone line when possable. There are other places in most zones where you can set up camp, just people are too scared to fight there. Just take a mage that can get you out of there if trouble hits and find somewhere deeper in the zone to fight. May be a little more risky, but wont have to compete with 5 other pt for the same things to kill.