There is no doubt that server populations have declined significantly since the launch of FFXIV. One thing that I have been doing since about 2005 whenever I log in is search the world for an estimate of the population. I have always been interested in the health / population of games and being able to search the world in FFXI has helped me see the changes over time. In my server (Bismarck) the average server population back when I quit the game last (i.e., Jan 2013) was roughly about 1200-1500 around peak times. The lowest I ever saw the population - say on a Tuesday at 11 a.m. - never dipped bellow 800 or so players.
When I returned about 5 days ago I immediately did a server search and only 453 players online. Granted it was a Thursday afternoon at 2 p.m. so I didn't worry all that much. When I started to worry was when I returned that same day around 5 p.m. and only noticed 621 players online (I wrote these numbers down). I figured "Okay ... this is just one day ..." So I waited. Friday again 5 p.m PST. 690 players online and 736 players online at 6 p.m PST. What I am getting at is this. I logged in for 5 days, multiple times each day and the closest I ever saw the population to 1000 players was 876.
Essentially, the server has lost what I would assume to be at least 1/3rd if not half of the total players it used to have before the release of XIV. With that said, I am not here to discuss the age of the game or to have a discussion about a potential end to the game. I am specifically interested in server population.
I made an alt character in Siren server during the same 5 days and noticed populations vary anywhere from 900-1300. This tells me that Bismarck's population is significantly lower than that of Sirens. I wonder if Bismarck is one of the lowest population servers when compared to others.
This is why I am asking if you could do me this favor.
Please if you have time, do a world search and let me know what the population of your server is and at what time you did this search. I am considering a potential server migration to a realm with more players and this would help me out a great deal.
thank you very much.
Edited, Jun 16th 2014 10:49pm by Alazardragoonz
Edited, Jun 16th 2014 10:50pm by Alazardragoonz