New to FF14

[Pintsizetank]

I am new to ff14, but been playing WoW for over 13 years. I was wondering what servers are the most active for someone on the West Coast of the US. I have a paladin at 70, but looking for an active FC and server. I really want to see what this game offers.

[Enla]

I am new to ff14, but been playing WoW for over 13 years. I was wondering what servers are the most active for someone on the West Coast of the US. I have a paladin at 70, but looking for an active FC and server. I really want to see what this game offers.

Depends on what you're looking for really. Are you looking for a PVP focused server, raiding, crafting? Or just a bit of everything to start out with? According to the census, the most active realms in the US are Leviathan, Gilgamesh, Cactuar, and Balmung. With the least active being Goblin and Zalera, and everything else being squarely in the middle. However even the smallest servers do have fairly active communities, they're just more closed knit than others.
If you're wanting to see what the game has to offer in full, I'd try Leviathan or Gilgamesh first and then branch out from there. Balmung is very active, but we're primarily RP based with everything else thrown into the mix. We have active and fairly decent raiding FC's, but if RP isn't your preference you're better off trying another server.

[Pintsizetank]

Depends on what you're looking for really. Are you looking for a PVP focused server, raiding, crafting? Or just a bit of everything to start out with? According to the census, the most active realms in the US are Leviathan, Gilgamesh, Cactuar, and Balmung. With the least active being Goblin and Zalera, and everything else being squarely in the middle. However even the smallest servers do have fairly active communities, they're just more closed knit than others.
If you're wanting to see what the game has to offer in full, I'd try Leviathan or Gilgamesh first and then branch out from there. Balmung is very active, but we're primarily RP based with everything else thrown into the mix. We have active and fairly decent raiding FC's, but if RP isn't your preference you're better off trying another server.

I would be looking more into raids. I am not a big pvper, and I haven't really done RP.

[Alestorm]

Our server is more of a laid back/casual crowd I'm afraid. Not to say there isn't a raiding/treasure map/hunt/pvp FC on Coeurl. Might want to ask aorund Rhalgar's Reach, Kugane or Limsa about FC's. I'm sure there's one that would meet your interests out there, there are a couple that seem fairly large.

[raffydturtle]

I would be looking more into raids. I am not a big pvper, and I haven't really done RP.

Then it'd be better for you to go into the Aether datacenter.

While good and bad players exist with the same frequency in all servers and datacenters, the sheer amount of people in Aether will give you more options and oportunities.. whether it be pugging or joining a static.

The 3 best server options for you in the Aether datacenter:

Gilgamesh - widely considered to be "the raiding server". Cross-server parties have reduced the significance of being in Gilgamesh, but the large concentration of raid-minded people means it'll probably be easy for you to find a free company that can help you become better raider. The high active population also means that the marketboard is insanely competitive.. which translates to cheaper crafted gear and raid consumables.

Cactuar - the jack-of-all/master-of-none server. Cactuar used to be one of the bigger raiding servers during the first few raid tiers, but was bled out most of its talent when most of the raiders transferred to Gilgamesh. There still is a remnant of really high skilled players who can hit 95th+ percentile performances (*waves*) so it wouldn't be too hard to find people who can help you get better. It's probably the 2nd most active "casual" server (next to Balmung), and as such the marketboard is again insanely competitive. Cheap crafted gead and raid consumables once again.

Sargatanas - this is basically discount Gilgamesh. Amongst the medium population servers of Aether, Sargatanas is probably the most raid-focused one. As with Gilgamesh, it'd be really easy to finda group of like-minded people who can help you grow as a raider. Compared to Gilgamesh and Cactuar, raid consumables would be a bit more expensive but not by much because the server's raid focus ensures a steady supply.

[Pintsizetank]

Our server is more of a laid back/casual crowd I'm afraid. Not to say there isn't a raiding/treasure map/hunt/pvp FC on Coeurl. Might want to ask aorund Rhalgar's Reach, Kugane or Limsa about FC's. I'm sure there's one that would meet your interests out there, there are a couple that seem fairly large.

I do like Coeurl, but it is a laid back server. One reason I am looking around. Plus it does get quiet in the later hours of the day. Thanks Raffydturtle for the info.

[Sylvina]

I love Coerl for its smaller size and nice people, its not a raiding server so if you really want to raid with your FC, coerl isn't for you but if you're ok with a cross server static and want a more close knit community, then it should work. Also its way easier to get housing here.