Final Fantasy XIV merging servers in March

FTP will be back soon ... just wait

To be expected really but there are few stings in the small print of these transfers

"About Linkshells:
Linkshells will not be carried over to the new World. They will be deleted automatically during the merge"

Eeek this is going to take a bit of organising so that active LS'es stay together and all move to the same world so that they can reform the linkshell.

Pity SE are unable to manage a linkshell transfer in a similar fashion to Rifts guild transfer option when Trion merged servers .... um sorry ..... converted servers to trial servers. That way at least an LS need not have the extra worry someone may steal the LS name on top of hoping that the world they choose doesn't get locked before all members have transferred to it.

Will be interesting to see how this pans out once the dust settles on the transfers.

Almost halving the servers within a month of the effective launch (it really having been no more than an extended beta up till then) must be something of a record.

Shame, and I hope they can make a go of it for the sake of the loyal FF players, but their hope of persuading non-veteran FF players to try the game was always difficult because of the peculiar language (things like linkshells, for example) and the game needed a smooth launch to stand any real chance in a hugely competitive marketplace.

@(Unverified)

Well, it *IS* a good thing for those who are playing and that's been expected (and needed) for months already.

Of course, everyone on the internet will blame sub fees when it's not really the case (server populations have been low for a long time already, as I've said) and proclaim the death of the game as they have been since a year ago and yet the game is still there.

Heck, SE themselfs care not about how many people are playing before 2.0, and Yoshi-P already stated they will be increasing the number of servers again when it hits.

So, in the end, this is a good thing for those who are playing and just more bad press / doomsday signals for those who are not.

That said, SE is handling the merger in a incredibly retarded way, as expected of the company.

@(Unverified) People get to actually group while they rebuild the game. Once the game relaunches they will relaunch new servers. This is obvious. L2Troll noob.

@fatedruby
I'm willing to bet a lot of people didn't bother trying the game while it was free, because we've always known subscriptions were coming. If they actively rebranded this a F2P game, interest would be a lot higher.

As it is, interest in the game has been minimal and I don't see it getting any better.

@Snowblind

"I'm willing to bet a lot of people didn't bother trying the game while it was free, because we've always known subscriptions were coming."

This is completely true and surely one of the reasons for the low interest over this period, but it's not the only one.

After the failed launch and the initial "we screwed up and will now try to fix the game" messages, they completely put marketing to a halt and are making no effort to bring new people to check the game. If it weren't for MMO news sites such as this one, most people wouldn't even know the game is still up.

Heck, they aren't even doing some simple stuff that could help bring interest (putting a FFXIV song in the new 3DS rhythm game could surely make a few people check out the game forums to see what's going on, for example) .

It's a bit hard to make people want to check out the game when the only news that are easily found are stuff like "We're now charging fees" or "We're merging servers". Heck one of the most common questions of newcomers are about the fatigue system, which has been removed months ago.

I really hope SE realizes they *need* to work on the game reputation way before 2.0 hits and not just one month before, because changing the gamers' conceptions about the game is what will ultimately save or doom it..

This game was really bad at launch. I'm really surprised that it has stayed afloat this long. More power to them to try and make a game of it. If only Sony had done this with SWG (support the exisisting game pre cu) instead of revamping the whole game to kill off it's existing player base.

They really need to transition to the free to play market. With all of the AAA games going F2P and making an absolute killing because of it (most recently L2's 800% pop increase and 400% revenue increase).

I mean seriously. So many people have a bad taste in their mouths with this game that hardly anyone will touch it now. It is doomed to follow the same path that Vanguard went down. After its horrible launch it could never get back on its feet again.


Please SE, do yourselves and your customer base a favor. Figure out how to transition back to free to play and save what is left of your game.

Good news to people still playing (which includes me).

Bad news press wise.

I'm enjoying my time in XIV, and will stick with it till it's shutdown. Why? No other game has it's main draws. All classes on one character, storylines, nice graphics, nice music, crafting that actually matters, a more in depth gathering system, etc.

The game does have it's flaws, but tbh the population isn't nearly as bad as people on this site make it out to be. Once the servers merge, the game will have 10 servers with ~800-1200 people on around all times (besides the German/French preferred server).

@Snowblind
why do you feel entitled? you are interested in the game or you would not have posted, well hate to break it to ya, se will let the game die before it ever goes to f2p, you had a chance to play a true free game for a year, the game has made great strives, and will focus on a good game not geared to some item shop, sorry your mom wont let you sub

Well being that I bought the Collectors Edition of this piece of no good dirt game, I won't be shedding any tears over it's demise.
Don't like the idea of buying each and every new toone you want.
Don't like the surcharge to the EU to play.
Didn't like anything about the game play.
So I will never return and once the end comes then will be happy to uninstall off my drive. Only leaving it on for now because there is a friend that plays when he comes over.