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/blush

Instancing is when you take a template of a zone and dynamically create a new zone on the server for that specific group, when that group leaves the zone is collapsed and deleted from memory. FFXI server code can't do that, instead it just use a single large zone that has content loaded into it.

The key difference is that with a static zone you can't dynamically load balance what's happening inside it while with dynamic zone creation allows you to shift new zones to different nodes in the cluster. FFXI's server architecture was designed back in the days of EQ when MMO's were basically graphical MUD's. I mean they could fix it by updating the server baseline but I just don't see them doing that at this stage of the game.

Doesn't FFXI basically do that, except without the creation/deletion part (and instead just has a bunch of copies of the zone that stay empty until they're needed)? That's defined as instancing too, no?

He just loves arguing semantics because he has some sort of need to portray himself as correct/more knowledgable. Unless he actually works at SE, he isn't in any position to say how they do it and from what can be observed client side it's instanced. The first events to use that system were in middle aht urgan, late 2006, well after the technology was known.

BCNMs aren't, but that's a different story entirely.

Haters gonna hate

I'm sorry, am I missing something? Do you work at SE? Where in the available data are you able to prove they don't have collapsible instances?

The way in which they use them as well as their performance hints otherwise, but again, there's no firm data. You're taking an assumption, running with it, and using that to assert that you're correct and knowledgeable. Plenty of people here understand server architecture, the only thing setting you apart is that you assume things are one way and then state it as fact instead of acknowledging you can't know everything without actually viewing their code.

Yes you are.

Please, let's see some technical data to support your hypothesis. You seem very certain that it's the way you're claiming, but have provided absolutely zero evidence of any sort other than repeatedly stating that you're correct.

Saevel confirmed for Camate in disguise.
"They really DO see non-SE forums guys!"

They might have some limit on the number of instances they can create at once (for instance, it was impossible to enter MMM during JP primetime for a while due to Salvage II's popularity), but there's absolutely no reason to believe they aren't "true" instances that are created on demand.

Saevels gotta saev faec.

The funny thing here is that they're just ignoring that the english version of these also completely forgets to mention the attack+20 on them

All participants in Legion are in the same zone. It's a single zone running on a single server just dividing up battle spaces for each group. The critical difference is dynamic load balancing, with actual instancing you can dynamically allocate new zones to different nodes, when the zone is emptied it's destroyed and all it's resources are unallocated. A static zone persists across multiple use's and the monsters are just respawned when the script calls for it. SE has a very long history of doing this. Now compare this system to any real instanced games like WoW or one of it's clones. It's one of the reasons why they can do cross-server raids, when the zone is created it can be shared among whomever is involved and then destroyed when it's done.

Hell if anyone wants to see instancing used extensively just mess around with DDO where everything is instanced even outdoors. The only static area's are the towns which act as hubs for adventures to group and meet, then get transported into the instanced zones for their adventure. If someone wants to walk outside the city and solo around the countryside they can and the entire zone is dynamically created just for them, when they go back into the city it's destroyed. The benefit for doing stuff that way is that you can use a single set of shared nodes to host all the instanced content instead of having to statically allocate resources at server load time.

SE's basically hacked a pseudo form of this by continually using static zone allocation but then using dynamic content creation. You get ported into the zone, and then based on the event that ported you it determines the content to spawn and scripts to run. When your finished the battle area is reset for the next group but not unloaded or destroyed. From the players point of view it seems to be instancing but it's not and the limits of static zone allocation become extremely noticeable as congestion. If Legion was actually instanced then there would be no congestion or extremely limited congestion as the server could just spawn two dozen or more copies. It could do that because the other server content isn't being used and those resources would be free. Yet since it's not using dynamic zone creation, each set of content has static resource allocation and it's possible for one content to easily run out of resources even while the rest of the system is under-utilized.

Short Answer:
FFXI was designed in 2001~2002 long before dynamic zone creation was really a thing. That generation of MMO's all had static zones where the content was meant to be conducted as an open group. Any engine from that era would have a hard time adapting to dynamic zone creation without first being rebuilt. Some of them were, most weren't.

All I'm seeing is a whole lot of assumption and speculation with absolutely 0 in-game evidence. That's certainly a way it could be coded, maybe even the most probable way, but you've given no examples to support it.

The limit to number of instances exists, sure. However, attributing it to a problem with the instancing instead of a hardware limitation is silly. We know firsthand that they frequently lose packets and stutter with their instances. With 20 salvage runs going in the same zone, linkshell chat shows up as much as 30 minutes late. All evidence I've personally seen points toward the bottleneck being hardware capability.

Now, if you assume hardware capability is the problem(you won't, because you're very stubborn, but let's pretend for the sake of people who are actually curious).. the logical response is that it shouldn't be. This means their code is inefficient or their hardware is incredibly outdated. Neither is a simple problem to solve, even if their instance code is capable of generating more instances it will still need to be hard capped based on hardware capability with current performance.

And yes, instancing is still instancing even if they don't have a streamlined back-end capable of load balancing between servers. It may not be ideal, but I know you're going to cling to that because you're mentally incapable of admitting that you're wrong.

tldr; you have no evidence, you cited nothing to back up what you have to say, the barrage of what you consider to be absolute truth means nothing to anyone else

would go for both, and at this point they have no incentive to actually undergo the amount of effort it'd take to make any sweeping changes to any system/game systems really. can't be more than 5,000-10,000 active subscriptions right now including alt accounts. they aren't even willing to spend extra money on their new prize pig (XIV), which is telling for the fate of XI in terms of future development resources.

isnt it/or didn't it just get a new expansion? (i dont follow XIV news, that game is just awful)

June 20th is Storemblood.

They're starting to do XI style mix and match dungeons now there too in Place of the Dead.

As for instancing, if XI can't make new instances, what are the chances of didicated servers designed to hold instances for whatever new event they come up with.

So participating in an event moves your part to a new server for that fight then you get moved back.

Apparently XIV only has 200k~ active subs atm.

Not surprised. It is unfortunate but the vocal minority on forums always made that game sound great.
The silent majority always knew the game had no staying-power. There's only so many times you can reclimb the ilvl gear grind ladder without asking yourself "wtf am i doing this for?"
The combat system becomes repetitive. There's no real social environment. But whenever anyone voiced these opinions on the official forums the whiteknights would come out and shout them out.
Yoshida never had a vision for the game. He was just a patch-me-up/fixer.

I just hit a point where I realized I liked the game better at 1.23.

327,976 Active Players in XIV according to this unofficial census.

I played FFXIV for a while. It was fun and then got old fast. It's like the game is some sort of barbie dress up. All of the best gear is a mix from 2 places: current top tier raid, and tomes. So for 6 months at a time you farm the same 4 fights over and over, and you run the same dungeons over and over to cap your weekly tomes. That is literally it. Anything else you do simply has cosmetic rewards (which while I could care less about - a lot if the players there seem to love it).

FFXI's end game of Ambuscade/Omen/Escha/HTMB/Unity is so much larger and diverse, and I find it way more fun chasing down gear pieces to improve yourself. You can even get useful items from SR, Vagary, and Skirmish. The nature of gear itself is also way more interesting.

I find a vocal minority claiming the game has no staying power. And yet it's getting a second expansion and hasn't gone the way of every other subscription based MMO released after WoW.

So, y'know, y'all might be a bit off.

Lol

Riveting commentary.

Maybe give bonus hallmarks based off the amount of time you wait in queue to enter? Something like 300 hallmarks every ~5 min. (basing that off a decent group should be able to clear regular VD in that time) Or maybe just 100 extra hallmarks per page you wait. Keeps the time sync about the same. Void this for parties of 3 or less to make sure people can just get hallmarks for soloing VE and waiting in line.

Maybe giving out a seal with the daily tally would help too.

Or based on how long you take!!! <5 minutes you get a bonus >10 minutes you get a penalty. Suck it people who spend the whole 30 minutes in there

ya more trusts so we can keep soloing cp without campaign! Its been months since last cp campaign, come on SE!