Something I would genuinely LOVE is if I could "combine" characters...

[Terin]

So, I'm going to be honest for a second:

I actually don't think FFXIV is very enjoyable if you have multiple characters.

The reason is simply that because so much of the game requires you to run around "unlocking" content, and even basic game features, it can be sort of a drag.

I made the mistake of starting a new character when Heavensward came out. See, initially I race-changed my Miqo'te into an Au Ra, but I wound up kind of missing my old Miqo'te that I'd done so many adventures with. So I used another fantasia to go back to his original appearance, and committed to parking the character at lvl 50 and then leveling a NEW character for the Au Ra.

It's a decision I've regretted ever since.

It's honestly a bummer, having completed all this different content between multiple characters. And also, I've completely certain special-events on some characters, but not others. Certain characters have certain content already unlocked, and then others, I have to spend sometimes HOURS googling various requirements and figuring out "where I left off" on certain quests.

If there is one thing that would make me happy with FFXIV, honestly?

It would be being able to "combine" these characters -- whatever quests any of them have completed, ideally whatever their highest level Job was -- into a single character.

I've definitely decided to start playing a single "main character" now, but it's still kind of a bummer knowing there are certain cool items that are locked to my ORIGINAL main. And like I said, just the general confusion of "wait, I KNOW I've already unlocked this thing before... but... which character was it...?"

Anyways, I don't know if that's helpful feedback for the Devs, or if something like that is even POSSIBLE, let alone FEASIBLE. But that's honestly kind of where I'm at. Especially now as I'm eyeballing whether or not I might want to play a Hrothgar, I'm kind of left wondering "well do I get a fantasia, or should I just start from scratch again at this point because EVERYTHING is kind of a mess already".

[Rongway]

This is a big ask. Bad, unexpected, unpredictable things can happen when you start messing with state flags in the ways they would need to be messed with to combine two characters' quest journals into one, and it would require lots of testing. It took them at least two years of work to give us a New Game+ system that didn't involve just resetting every quest flag and making you start fresh.

[MsQi]

This is a big ask. Bad, unexpected, unpredictable things can happen when you start messing with state flags in the ways they would need to be messed with to combine two characters' quest journals into one, and it would require lots of testing. It took them at least two years of work to give us a New Game+ system that didn't involve just resetting every quest flag and making you start fresh.

Yeah, the sheer number of possible errors would keep this from happening. I assume this also means permanently deleting a character in the process. No matter how clear the instructions and number of notifications people manage to make mistakes on such things.

Account wide things would be nice, but that could eat up cash shop profits unless those items were excluded.

[Terin]

Yeah, the sheer number of possible errors would keep this from happening. I assume this also means permanently deleting a character a process. No matter how clear the instructions and number of notifications people manage to make mistakes on such things.

Account wide things would be nice, but that could eat up cash shop profits unless those items were excluded.

I mean, coding is coding. Any sort of new feature is as likely to introduce bugs as anything else is.

As far as deleting characters, I can't imagine that being the route they go, although it's certainly an option. If so, it would need to be an out-of-game option, something with several prompts stressing as much. But really, I think going "Account-wide" with stuff just makes a lot more sense, all things considered. But I'm certainly not glued to the idea, though!

[Rongway]

I mean, coding is coding. Any sort of new feature is as likely to introduce bugs as anything else is.

But we're talking about state flags. Even in a much smaller game I would advise against messing with flags if it can be avoided. And XIV hasn't been immune to unexpected flag side-effects. A year or two ago one of the patches had an unintended interaction with a state flag that caused people to see a dragon from an old cutscene in an unrelated new cutscene (or something like that--I'd need to check the patch notes for the details).

All coding can introduce bugs, but not all coding involves 2^n test cases that potentially need to be checked.

[MikkoAkure]

I don't think they're ever going to allow that. But if they did, I'd take up the offer, even if I had to pay for it.

I abandoned my 1.0 character when ARR came out because I wanted a fresh start with the game and I had admittedly got level 50 on most of my classes through stronghold powerleveling. Though my ARR character has the legacy chocobo, she doesn't have the tattoo, or legacy titles, or the special goobbue, or the piles of dated gear that can be worn on any class. I have no desire to start the game all over on my 1.0 character either, since my new main has holiday items going back to the beginning and I've spent more than I want to know on fantasia and mogstation items.

[Terin]

I don't think they're ever going to allow that. But if they did, I'd take up the offer, even if I had to pay for it.

I abandoned my 1.0 character when ARR came out because I wanted a fresh start with the game and I had admittedly got level 50 on most of my classes through stronghold powerleveling. Though my ARR character has the legacy chocobo, she doesn't have the tattoo, or legacy titles, or the special goobbue, or the piles of dated gear that can be worn on any class. I have no desire to start the game all over on my 1.0 character either, since my new main has holiday items going back to the beginning and I've spent more than I want to know on fantasia and mogstation items.

Oh man, I couldn't imagine that! I was honestly bummed I couldn't qualify for the Legacy items in time myself, but yeah, those are legitimately super cool perks to not have access to (I also wasn't aware of any special gear; even more of a bummer!).

As said, it's maybe too big of an ask. Or maybe there's another solution to this stuff I'm just not seeing, like making content-unlocks and cosmetics account-wide?

[Skivvy]

I understand where the desire is coming from, but SE would lose out on a huge amount of profit if they implemented a change like this. Think of all the fantasia sales they'd be losing, and then all the people buying outfits or mounts on several characters, job boosts/story boosts on those alts, etc. Then the time spent in-game would decrease dramatically for those who have alts (no longer need to work through all those expansions, or levels, etc). Less time needed in-game, less time needing to stay subbed, etc.

XIV as it is lets you do everything on one character, and I love that about the game. I wish more games did this, honestly. But I feel like if you create an alt, you should already know what to expect with the road that lies ahead of you, and expecting progress and everything else to be shared is pushing it a bit. :X

I personally could never make an alt as it's just too much work for my liking. I don't enjoy that type of thing, and it doesn't sound like you do too much either. Perhaps it's time to put one of them to rest and just use the one to continue playing on?

The game would definitely benefit from some sort of account bound system, so if you unlock a mount or a minion on one character then it should be available on every character. Not that I need such a system myself as I only use one character but it's a system that other MMO's make use of already.

GW2 has spoiled me with this big-time. Mounts, glams, costumes, mastery-skills, bank storage, and probably other things I'm missing are all shared, and it's great. But then, that is a game where you can only do one job per character, so in my mind it makes more sense that they are far more generous when it comes to what items are shared.

Also, I don't want anyone to think I'm simply SUPER PRO-SE and that I will accept anything they deign to give us. That's definitely not the case, I feel that they do the players wrong in many other ways, but on this particular request I'm just not seeing the need so much. Would I take advantage of it? TOTALLY! I'd save so much on fantasias. @.@; But from SE's end of it, I don't really see where it would benefit them at all.

[odintius]

I'm hoping for new game+ for aar you could change you city state, but I don't think the dev even consider it ffxi had embassies here to hope!

[Theodric]

The game would definitely benefit from some sort of account bound system, so if you unlock a mount or a minion on one character then it should be available on every character. Not that I need such a system myself as I only use one character but it's a system that other MMO's make use of already.