i really REALLY wanna play FFXIV but it all seems so daunting. Im not a mmo player and have no idea where i'd even start

@dsouvannarath: You can always just plunge right into the free trial. Risk free and it will give you a good idea mechanically whether or not it something you'd even be interested in.

But as with any new player of FFXIV I'll always maintain that it's a Good game from the beginning but it's a hell of a time investment to get to the 'Great' game.

I am so, so close to the end of Stormblood. Super excited to see what everyone's talking about in ShB. I'm glad the FFXIV fandom is generally pretty good about avoiding spoilers. My FC is pretty annoying at times, but spoilers is a line that nobody has ever crossed, even when it comes to old content.

Anytime I've tried to get another server Free Company going it never seems to last. I definitely support getting one going on one of the preferred worlds if someone can manage it. However, even that seems unrealistic at the moment, as every single NA server is off and on when accepting new characters.

Honestly, the problem isn't us specifically being unable to support more people, it's simply that our server wound up becoming the hub for a lot of internet communities. It will die down, but the first few weeks were always going to be rough for new people trying to get on our server during launch week.

We're able to be in up to eight cross-world linkshells now, so as long as someone can manage to get on a Primal world, we can build up one of those for off-world people at least.

been trying all week maybe after the weekend idk sooner or later ima give up shits ridiculous. wanna join the GB group but seems like it just aint happening

Yeah, I was looking into transferring my character over, but this whole situation just seems kinda ridiculous. I play on Malboro, and it's a bummer that that decision has barred me from the communities I've wanted to be a part of.

The way that all works, people can't even make fresh characters on those servers now, right?

On Aether and Primal it's very difficult. I haven't seen any of those open since launch.

On Crystal you can often find openings during off hours.

Yup, it's even harder than I predicted it would be to get on Primal. We're still managing to get a steady stream of people trickling into the free company, so I dunno if most of those were already on Ultros or if they were incredibly determined. The Discord has been blowing up this week, and by comparison to that, I can imagine a lot of people are irritated.

At the moment I don't think anyone can even make a fresh character on any North American server.

Damn, is this type of thing common? Sorry, I know very little when it comes to MMOs. I really want to play with the GB community but if its difficult to even make a new character, I might have to reconsider getting this game.

Only when new expansions drop. Given how smooth the experience was for people playing through, my guess is they prioritized stability over space, as main scenario questlines broke in the last expansion when everyone piled in over server capacity. I assume they'd prefer that not happen again and just locked off the populated or crowded servers completely this time.

The early access period and launch week this time was pretty good this time for people already on playing, not so much for new people just trying to get started.

bought the complete edition but I guess I'm never playing lol

@dsouvannarath: I know its hardly ideal but keep checking in with this https://na.finalfantasyxiv.com/lodestone/worldstatus/ during off hours, usually early in the morning, and you'll be able to find an opening. Even Primal had a few worlds available as of posting this.

@efesell: Thanks! I was up abnormally early today so i was able to make a new character on Primal. Im very excited to play!

Has anyone actually seen Ultros open up for character creation at all lately? I tried waking up early on a weekday but no dice. Wondering if I am wasting time trying to get in but you'd think it would open sometimes for people who want to play with their friends.

Honestly? No. Sometimes a few worlds on Primal open up in the morning, but they were pretty aggressive on preemptively locking our world down a month before Shadowbringers even launched. I can't say whether or not that's a hardline lock as we're still getting new people joining the company on a daily basis. They may have already been here though, there's really no way to tell. Just from personally tinkering around though, I haven't seen Ultros open in over a month.

Just so you guys know how the statuses on https://na.finalfantasyxiv.com/lodestone/worldstatus/ work:

Congested (as a status, as opposed to Standard or Preferred) is a manual hard lock on a server. No new characters can be created on that server at all, no matter the time, until Square Enix reevaluates the server population, which typically only happens during maintenance periods.

This means that Standard, Preferred, or New servers are the only ones that you can create a new character on. These are the servers that will be open or closed to character creation based on the server's current population, so these are the ones that you'll be able to create a character on if you stay up late/wake up early.

So, for example, these are the three NA data centers and each server's status as of right now (7:30 pm EDT). Any server with Standard, Preferred, or New is a server that it will be possible to create a character on if the current server population is low enough, and any server with the green person and + icon to the right of it is a server that it will be possible to create a character on at this moment. Ultros (and all other Primal servers other than Exodus, Famfrit, and Lamia) will not be open to new characters until Square changes the server statuses; the same is true for all Aether servers, as well as Balmung on Crystal. The earliest any of these servers would open up would be after the maintenance for 5.01 on July 15th, but it might not happen then either; it's totally up to Square to manually flip the switch.

Yes, it's a bad system, and unfortunately you don't have many options for dealing with it. You can create a character on another server on Primal and world visit to Ultros, but there are some restrictions on you while you're world visiting (viewable here), with the most notable being that you can't join an FC (i.e. the GB one, to gain access to the FC chat) and you can't do anything with your retainers (i.e. your bank). If you did want to be in the GB FC once Ultros is no longer 'Congested,' you'd either have to create another new character on Ultros, or pay $18 to world transfer from the other server to Ultros. It's up to you whether either of those things would be worth it or whether you'd rather just play other games while you wait out the server 'Congestion' and check back again later. There's another maintenance tentatively scheduled for two weeks from Tuesday, so even if Ultros doesn't open up on the 15th, there's some hope that it might open up towards the end of July.

It almost feels like it might just make sense to make a secondary group on another server for new players

There seems to be enough of us

Anybody know how active we have to be? I typically play on EU servers, but would love to roll on this to play with y'all.

Every world is on lockdown for now. Might as well just start now and visit. Transfer a few months down the line.

Edit: Here is there official status.

https://na.finalfantasyxiv.com/lodestone/worldstatus/

Played this back in 2015 or something and thinking about jumping back in - are EU players able to use NA servers without lag or would I be better sticking with an EU server?

Heads up!

Looks like Ultros is open to character creation.

AHA, IS THIS OUR CHANCE?

Oh man, I just did my transfer. I have been mostly soloing the game on and off the last few months, so i'm excited to join!

I just applied to transfer too. Excited to join.

@fokismoney: As did I! Although i got so excited to join the GB Free company and i didnt really check to see what that means lol. Bonuses?

I just applied to the FC. I have a 39 BLM on Ultros. I might roll a new character though since I've forgotten how to play.

Ultros character creation is open today for anyone who has been waiting.

About 35 hours in but i officially love this game y'all.

Finally made it into ultros I'll be joining the free company if I decide to upgrade from a trial account. Does anyone know what I need to buy? If I do decide to pay I'm going all in so what must I purchase to have all the expansions including the new one?

@jovanny23: The Online Complete Edition on Squares store includes the whole package for $60.

Recruitment temporarily closed?

@aspaceseaman: Currently full, I believe.

Both FC and Server in fact, so you may well be somewhat delayed or very delayed.

@efesell: @zomgfruitbunnies: thanks so much! makes sense - i'm very happy i got into the server when i did

yeah seems recruitment for the free company has temporarily been closed, too many applications waiting for a response?

@jabberwoky_uk: There is a separate thread about this issue: https://www.giantbomb.com/final-fantasy-xiv-shadowbringers/3030-71550/forums/vinco-is-full-1870050/

read a bunch about this game and that and austin walkers recent foray into FFXIV have made me finally decided to give it a shot. I'm going to roll a new dude and try to join up.

I've only got the base game at the moment, since I tried it years ago and didn't stick. Is there an advantage to having the xpacs at level one or should I just play until I finish the main story and then buy stuff?

The only thing expansions really give you at the beginning is the new races. You can’t unlock new classes until you get there in the story(heavensward classes) or get to the appropriate level(50-Stormblood 60-shadowbringers). Otherwise it’ll be content that’s locked behind you doing the story, as is everything really.

and the nice thing is the last quest in "A Realm Reborn" gives you an item that let's you completely remake your character's appearance(gender and race included). So if you end up making it to the expansions and want to switch to one of the new races you can do that without spending more money.

With the whole Corona thing going on i thought i might start again. Looks like i got tossed out because of inactivity any chance i could get a re inv. name is Soulcake anjin in-game.

I believe I was removed due to inactivity, and I would like to rejoin, but the info on the FC profile says that recruitment is closed. Any idea when that might open up again? My in-game name is Character Notfound.

Is there any chance to get an invite? Getting back into this and would always be nice to have a social outlet

Not sure if this is the best place to ask, or if the discord is better, but I'm a lapsed guild member looking to join back up!