Selecting the Right Server For Me

[TarikD]

I'll be getting started on FF: ARR next weekend.
The only concern I have is looking for a fun, active server.
I'm not a fan of packed crowded servers, but I don't want to find myself in a dead server.

I was looking at server populations, and Cactuar's numbers looked nice. 18.5k. Highest servers having about 25k, and lowest, maybe like 10k.

When I got on their forum for their server, it had the most posts, even though it isn't the highest population server. I don't know if that should mean anything, but I thought that might be a sign that its a very active server. Anyone have any server experiences to share? Any recommendations? I'm open to hardcore play and RP.

Edit: Whatever characters I have now are only from back during beta.

[Bixillarla]

If you are new to FFXIV I would recommend going to one of the new servers that opened up with the PS4 Phase 2 beta:

Zodiark -> EUROPE
Jenova -> USA
Shinryu -> JAPAN

[vanityobscene]

Shinryu -> JAPAN

Not a good idea if you're an English speaker only. If your primary language is English and you're in a region whose ping is best on a JP server, go to Tonberry, not Shinryu, as Tonberry is an unofficial Oceania server and has a fairly large portion of English speaking players.

[DarkForceGod]

Hey guys. I might get into this game soon. I still havent decided if I should buy it. Can someone tell me a little bit more about the game that is not what we are being told on the reviews and trailers over and over again?

[DarkForceGod]

Can I still use party chat ( the one that is from Sony not from the game) on PS4 to talk to others???

[Naria]

There is not an official server for role play so if want that to be an option you might want to check out this site: http://ffxiv-roleplayers.com/. Balmung and Gilgamesh are the unofficial role play servers. If your in Oceania and want an English speaking community Masamune also has a large English community, but its a legacy server so it will be fairly populated.

The weekends can actually be a hard time to create a character as character creation restrictions can be implemented when a large number of players are logged on. The loadstone will have updates a few times a day for current character creation restrictions, but the client will have the most recent list and they do not always match up. If you are having trouble getting onto the server you want I'd try to create a character earlier in the morning or late at night.

Just a heads up the three servers that were introduced at the PS4 launch are currently closed for transfers, so you wont be able to transfer on or off them for 3 to 5 months.

You can use party chat to talk to other PS4 players, but there is no voice chat in the game itself. If voice chat is needed most groups use Vent, Mumble, Teamspeak etc. On the PS4 I'd also recommend getting a usb or Bluetooth keyboard to make communicating with the community easier.