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    Have a guide, tips, boss strategy? Have some cool FFXIV fanart you want to showcase? Submit your resource and we'll get it posted. Depending on the complexity, length and validity of the resource, you will also earn Gil. Gil can be used to cash out for real money or later purchase items from the store! Learn more.

What Server Should I Play on?

Not sure where to start your character?

  1. Fuzz
    So how do I chose a server to start playing on? The simple answer is; it doesn't matter! However, there are a few things to consider.
    1. Are you new to the game or have you played the 1st installment of the game, Final Fantasy XIV 1.0? The reason this is asked is because there are a few servers designated specifically for the FFXIV 1.0 players, namely called "Legacy Servers". These servers exist to help keep the in-game economy stable since many of these legacy players already have an established wealth and access to resources, it wouldn't be fair to have them mixed in with all of the newcomers. The Legacy servers in North America are Balmung, Excalibur, Hyperion and Sargantas.

    2. Do you have any friends you plan on joining or expect them to join in the future? Obviously if you have friends that are already on a specific server, just click on their server and join! But Wait! As of the time of writing this (October 21, 2013), there are still new character restrictions on quite a few servers in North America, such as: Excalibur, Hyperion, Moogle, Odin, Ragnarok, and Shiva. If there is indeed a character restriction in place on the server you wish to play on, just try again in a few hours. Square Enix updates the server restriction list about every 4 hours. You can always go the The Lodestone News section to find out more.

    3. The location of where your server is can also be taken into consideration. If you are in North America but decide you want to play on a server located in the Japan data center, please be mindful that it will take a bit longer to ping the servers across the globe! Although most of them we are talking in milliseconds (ms), you may begin to notice some latency in heavily populated zones and cities within the game.

    4. Are you into Role Playing? If so, the unofficial role-playing community has chose both Balmung (Legacy) and Gilgamesh (Non-Legacy) as their respective servers. Some enjoy watching and reading the role-playing while they play the game while others may hate it and find it as a distraction.

    5. Are you involved or care about any of the large gaming websites? If so, you may want to consider what servers they reside on! For instance, I know that the server "Gilgamesh" is the Reddit server of choice and many on the ZAM network can be found on "Ultros". You may wish to check into this as some of these online communities can promise to be very helpful both online and offline.
    Ultimately, it really doesn't matter what server you are on as the game experience is about the same regardless, however, it is nice to take in some of the aforementioned factors if any of them slightly effect you.

    Final Fantasy Addicts and The Final Fantasy both reside on the North American server, Ultros. If you care to join a friendly Free Company that respects all members and loves to help, please send me a tell in game to Jaime Lannister. ;)