New Player-- Question

[Wrecktangle74]

Hello! Like many players that are here I recently came from World of Warcraft and had a few questions.

I am currently on Zalera. I am getting a double xp bonus. After a little research I see this is for lower pop servers.

Is there a list of servers where this is isnt active?

Also I see that the forums...server forums in particular are not super active. What is the best way to find a Free Company?

Also what servers are the most populated?

Thank you

[Eloah]

I can't say anything about which servers have the bonus. But as for finding a free company, sadly there is no online listing, but some people do post on the forums. If you stay in the starter towns for a little while, you're bound to see some shouts about recruitment. Don't be afraid to ask around either, learn about some of the FCs on your server, and their reputations. Usually the FCs that don't stand out tend to be best, small and close nit. But larger ones aren't bad per se. Just be aware of what you'd like in an FC and finding one shouldn't be an issue.

[Eryna]

You can see the list of preferred servers here:
https://na.finalfantasyxiv.com/lodestone/news/detail/80cd4583bf743600105b947d6906d0909189e479

In a few months SE will create new data centers and give us free transfers for 2 weeks. You can use the Road to 60 bonus to level up on Zalera (the bonus is really helpful to level up crafters and gatherers) and then transfer when the new data center is up.
Keep in mind that we'll be able to visit other servers in 4.57 as long they are in the same DC.

About server population you can have an idea from people who gather data from Lodestone. We don't have any official data from SE.
There's a post on Reddit that shows Lucky Bancho's census but like the title says, it's unofficial.
https://www.reddit.com/r/ffxiv/comments/ab9m7n/lucky_banchos_unofficial_census_january_1_2019/

Anyway, I hope you enjoy the game. Welcome to FFXIV!

[Wrecktangle74]

You can see the list of preferred servers here:
https://na.finalfantasyxiv.com/lodestone/news/detail/80cd4583bf743600105b947d6906d0909189e479

In a few months SE will create new data centers and give us free transfers for 2 weeks. You can use the Road to 60 bonus to level up on Zalera (the bonus is really helpful to level up crafters and gatherers) and then transfer when the new data center is up.
Keep in mind that we'll be able to visit other servers in 4.57 as long they are in the same DC.

About server population you can have an idea from people who gather data from Lodestone. We don't have any official data from SE.
There's a post on Reddit that shows Lucky Bancho's census but like the title says, it's unofficial.
https://www.reddit.com/r/ffxiv/comments/ab9m7n/lucky_banchos_unofficial_census_january_1_2019/

Anyway, I hope you enjoy the game. Welcome to FFXIV!

Thank you for this very informational response. While I understand the “Road to 60” buff is extremely beneficial. I want to play the game the way it was meant to be played. I feel like I am missing out on huge swathes of content because of this fact. Perhaps I am wrong. I like that they reduce your level with the duty’s and instanced quests however I am not feeling any particular challenge at all. I died for the first time at 50 on my class quest.

Is there a way this can be turned off? Or do I need to start a new character on one of the standard realms?

[Eryna]

Is there a way this can be turned off? Or do I need to start a new character on one of the standard realms?

The 'Road to 60' lasts 90 days but unfortunately you can't disable at this moment. Unless they add this feature in the next patch.

If you want to see a more populated server than Zalera you can try Gilgamesh. It's one of the most populated.
If you are a roleplayer then Mateus since Balmung is locked now.

Oh, and if you have friends on other servers take a look at how the new data centers are in this post:
http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/threads/379384-Letter-from-the-Producer-LIVE-Part-XLVII-Digest-%2811-29-2018%29?p=4829920&viewfull=1#post4829920


Good luck! Don't forget to do the daily roulettes because without the bonus you might need some XP.

[MistakeNot]

Thank you for this very informational response. While I understand the “Road to 60” buff is extremely beneficial. I want to play the game the way it was meant to be played. I feel like I am missing out on huge swathes of content because of this fact. Perhaps I am wrong. I like that they reduce your level with the duty’s and instanced quests however I am not feeling any particular challenge at all. I died for the first time at 50 on my class quest.

Is there a way this can be turned off? Or do I need to start a new character on one of the standard realms?

You cannot turn off the 'Road to 60' buff, BUT if you switch between multiple classes when doing quests you can spread out all the experience such that you still do quests and dungeons mostly on-level.
Done properly this lets you have the 'correct' experience while still benefiting from the buff. Unfortunately new players rarely know how/when to do this.

[SannaR]

The amount of xp even without the road to 60 buff is a lot.

[MIxen]

Midgarzomer is pretty populated. I see tons of people in Girdania and Limsa all the time.

[SannaR]

Midgarzomer is pretty populated. I see tons of people in Girdania and Limsa all the time.

Midgardsormr is almost always a prefered so we almost always have the road to 60 buff. There are times where we don't have it like the small window that happned when I made my character. Limsa mostly is populated due to how close the market board is to the aetherite plaza. You'll find that even in Ul'dah if they're not afk at that plaza the other populated area is again the market board. Except during last year's Rising event when we were still playing the guessing game on when the npc would appear.