Quote Originally Posted by Skivvy View Post
Some history for the masses. Back in 2010, there had actually been a poll amongst the players to try and figure out which server to name as the unofficial RP server. Besaid won the poll.

When ARR launched, Fabul and Besaid merged to create Balmung, bringing the unofficial RP server title with it. So there you have it. It's not so much that we suddenly began declaring ourselves anything, it's that the early players of XIV 1.0 had put the decision to a vote and settled on Besaid, which eventually became Balmung.
Besaid and Fabul merged into Balmung before 2.0 launched, not for the launch. It was around 6-12 months before the servers shut down IIRC.

Edit: Looks like around Feb of 2012. 18 months before 2.0 launched.