Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn Servers, Transfers and More ...

Today Square Enix Disclosed a large batch of information about the upcoming transfer of characters from Final Fantasy XIV to the new A Realm Reborn servers that will happen with Phase 3 of the beta, and about the servers themselves.

First of all the new servers will be divided between Legacy Worlds (where all the characters from the first version of the game will find refuge) and New Worlds, that will be host to the new players and characters created with the launch of A Realm Reborn.

Legacy Servers will retain their old (and much cooler) names from classic Final Fantasy weapons while new ones will be named after Final Fantasy enemies. Worlds will be further divided by regional datacenter, even if this is not a restriction but a recommendation, as players will be able to play in any region they wish.

The Legacy Servers will follow their old naming standard and will be split as follows:Aegis, Durandal, Gungnir, Masamune and Ridill will be recommended for Japanese players. Excalibur, Hyperion, Balmung and Sargatanas will be the recommended destination for North American players. Ragnarok will host legacy European players.

New Worlds will come in larger numbers: Atomos, Bahamut, Chocobo, Garuda, Ifrit, Mandragora, Ramuh, Tiamat, Titan and Tonberry are recommended for those hailing from Japan. Adamantoise, Behemoth, Cactuar, Coeurl, Diabolos, Gilgamesh, Goblin, Leviathan, Malboro, Midgardsormr and Ultros will host North American players. Finally Cerberus, Moogle, Odin and Shiva will be the home for those coming from Europe.

Existing characters will automatically be transferred regardless of the status of their account to the server bearing the same name as their old server, their home region will not influence this initial transfer. Those that want to play on a different server will have to submit a world transfer request. Those subsequent transfers will be enacted at the beginning of phase 4 of the beta.

It is to be noted that old characters will be forbidden from joining New Worlds (to avoid them influencing the newborn economy excessively). Since there’ll be no NDA for beta phase 3 everyone will be able to freely coordinate with friends in order to transfer to the same server. Transfer applications will be accepted starting in mid-June.

If two characters ending in the same world will have the same name, one of the two players will be prompted to change his. Legacy Players have first dibs, followed by those that continued playing until the closure of Final Fantasy XIV, and finally characters that have been created earlier.

If a linkshell master transfers to a different world, a new master will be automatically selected between remaining members. Friend Lists and Blacklists will also be transferred over, but characters that moved to different servers will be deleted from them.

Considering that the game sports an entirely new engine (meaning that characters may look slightly different from what they used to look like) and that new race and gender combinations have been added (male Miqo’te, female Roegadyn, female Highlander), players will be given a one-time chance to change every aspect of their characters, including name, gender and race, but this will happen only with the official release of the game. In beta we’ll still have to play with our old mugs.

When old characters will be selected for the first time, they will appear wearing their default racial gear. No need to panic, as their old gear will still be available (even if stats of many items will change). All attribute points will be reset, and the starting city-state will be determined by the starting class of choice.

Old characters will retain all their experience and levels, and will have immediate access to the Armory system and to the ability to change class and jobs. New players will instead have to unlock them. Old characters will still be required to complete the related quests to obtain certain class skills.

Considering that all questlines have been radically changed, old characters will have access to every quest in the new game exactly like new characters, to ensure that they don’t miss any content. Old Final Fantasy XIV quests will still appear in their journal starting with phase 4 of the beta. The only exception is the relic quest, the progress of which has been saved.

Since inventory will be handled in a different way, items that will overflow the new inventory system will be available from NPCs named Calamity Salvagers, that will be found in every city state (I predict a lot of inventory shuffling for a lot of people…).

Old players will be able to rehire their old retainers at the appropriate NPC (displayed below) without needing to complete the associated quests, and those will still have the items they were left with in their inventory. Like for characters, players will be able to change the looks of their retainers at the launch of the game on August the 27th.

Inn armoires for seasonal event items will still be available with all their content, but players will need to complete the appropriate main scenario quest to unlock them.

All items have been reverted to 0% spiritbond and 100% durability, and dated items had their class requirement removed, even if they are less powerful than the new versions. No dyes and Materias can be applied to dated items.

While old characters will be able to use materia from the get go, and the same applies to their old Chocobo (that will retain the barding it had during the final save), but they will have to complete the relevant stage in the main scenario quest to join a Grand Company. Their old rank and seals won’t be lost, though, as they will be restored if the character joins the same Grand Company again.

Ulocked maps, teleport and aetherite locations and macros will not carry over to the new game.

That sure is a lot of info, isn’t it? After all it’s basically an unprecedented event in the history of the genre, so it’s not surprising to see all those caveats and regulations. Have you already decided what server you’ll join at release? Personally, I still have no idea, but there’s quite a bit of time to decide anyway.