Quote Originally Posted by Alahra View Post
If they weren't stored locally, the game would have to regularly check with the server to make sure your hotbars were current, which would drastically increase the server load. They're already concerned regarding the amount of character data that needs to be verified (which is the current thing delaying the solution for inventory problems), and this would only increase the amount.

I do wish they had the option to save the data server-side like FFXI had, so you could back them up before reinstalls and the like. (You can sort of do this if you're on PC by making a copy of your character data, but it's not exactly user friendly).
You can make a copy of your ffxiv setting folder that is in my documents and my games and copy it over to your new install without needing to use their back up tool at all.