I know, but in theory having servers in other side of the planet would have more sense than in NA when its much closer to JP servers. That being said NA community is probably bigger than EU. NA servers would be an improvement too. Would drop my ping by half probably.
Is ping really such a big deal when you only get a chance to react every 350ms to begin with? The game plays like turn based regardless.
In my experience, not usually No. Just like you said, you generally have plenty of time to react to most things that happen in the game however there are some forms of content where having a dampened Ping really messes your stuff up.
Perfect Example being the Meeble Ambuscade: You have a Very Limited window to read the Breadwinner (or was it the Housemaker?)'s attack and then apply the appropriate Bar-Spell to stop it from crippling the party. This fight in particular caused a some debate on these forums about the use of React to stop it because in that particular fight it was the only sure way to stop it and proceed with the fight if you lived in US or EU. If you were in or near a Primary Server, you were likely fine but anywhere else? You were SoL.
There are some other Niche things here or there where the Reaction window is set too tight for Global Ping ranges but these are probably more far and away.
Dynamis Divergence Total Mob Parse. For some reason, there are some people who genuinely feel the Trash Mobs should be a part of the total parse of the entire run. Ping drastically impacts one's ability to engage each trash mob, especially when they all die at First Person Shooter speeds with a proper group.
Tefenet's "Blink of Peril"If I remember correctly has a very fast charge - kill.
Other examples that I can't remember at the moment but probably less than 10 or 15 cases. But when these cases come up you're put in a position where it's impossible to react to them with normal reflex.
Other than that though, Ping doesn't usually mess with very much. I actually wonder if the game feels too easy for JP players now or those living very close to the servers.
--Azrael readies
"Light of Death"
--Player next to server just stunned with ease: "Why do people have problems stunning this? it gives you a whole 4 seconds to stop it."
--The opposite end of the world: "OMG why is that so GodDamn Fast!?"
There aren't even US servers.
Wait, I thought there was a server set in California? or is that only for PoL?