Originally posted by Suplyndmnd

There is something i think needs to be said.  For those who just absolutely want to go find the highest population server there are some things you need to keep in mind outside of just finding parties and doing missions/quests.

 

More people increase your chances of party.  It also greatly increases the chance of any/all party spots are taken which means you gotta go somewhere either A.) New and/or B.) Untested.  This can lead to becoming frustrated and dead or both.  

More people increase your chance of getting help when you need to kill a NM.  It also greatly increases the chance of that NM being heavily camped as well.  And there are some that are almost a requirement for their drops and i dont know about you i'd rather fight 3-4 other people than 10 others on an NM that could take 2-20 hours to spawn and isn't 100% drop rate either.

More people increase your chances of your items being sold quickly.  It also greatly increases the number of items being sold period and you will run across lower prices on the lower gear and having to undercut and undercut as you keep getting out sold.

 

I say all this as just a few examples of drawbacks to this mentality people seem to have that "More is better".  About 2000-2500 during peak times already starts causing issues for partying spots and i cant imagine what 4000 can do.  I highly suggest people check out other servers before thinking "Oh, this has more people on it so i'm going there".  That's a bad mindset to have as resources in this game are not nearly as abundant as other games you might be coming from (WoW for example) and will make it harder later to fight over them.  And trust me, it gets quite personal sometimes.

Am I saying Odin is bad because it's got a huge population?  Not at all.  But you have to realize that for every plus there is a minus.  I'd rather find a better balance than an easy solution.  I play on Bismarck, we generally have about 2200-2300 on weekends and about 1200-1500 during the week on a very steady pace.  We dont generally have a "peak" time as i think we are almost evenly divided between JP/NA/EU players.

So please, people, look at more than just a population when you are choosing your home.  This game is never going to be that simple and choosing your home is no different. 

Servers I play/played on that i would reccomend: Ifrit, Bismarck, Pandamonium.  Just be careful on Pandy as there is this Mithra that runs around and annoys the hell out of low level players.  She's generally seen around Windy.  Just be careful around her.  lol  (That mithra knows who they are.)

Good points, all. I've always thought the idea of the highest population server  being the best is a bit overrated - and over-stated.

I've been on Pandemonium since I started playing and aside from the rare off-day, I've never had trouble finding a party, getting access to resources, etc.

As Suply said, a high population server is great in terms of "more people to group with". It also translates into "more players to compete against" in terms of NM spawns, camping spots, etc. So there is a balance there.

As for that trouble-making Mithra... I shall dilligently defend my domain from such dastardly deviants!!

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