Are they really adding cross-data center visit?

[usernameuwu]

I mean... its a good and bad thing. I'm not sure how I feel about it. What is the purpose?
I left crystal to get away from that vibe. What is the purpose of spending 18$ on transfers then?

[ReynTime]

Visits come with restrictions. Data center visit was already hinted to have even more restrictions.
And it's also not going to be as smooth. The process requires logging out IIRC.

Anyway visit =/= transferring.

[Puremallace]

WEll being a wanderer you are limited from joining FC's and I think other stuff. Mu guess is Square Enix has realized they stand to make more money off happy people staying with the game vs trying to milk them for money. I mean technically like literally every other MMO developer they could charge just to goto another server much less a data center.

[Daeriion_Aeradiir]

The purpose is to create more interconnectivity & playability within the fanbase by effectively creating mini-mega servers within their architecture. I have plenty of friends on Crystal & Primal that I cannot interact with outside of alts due to the fact I can only bring my main to servers within aether with the world visit, which makes it hard to play with them on every content since unlocking things like Zadnor take a while and can be a chore to do more than once. With cross world data-center visit, I'd be able to bring my main to any of them and hang out with them in any content. it would also make it easier for players to find statics for raid content as they'd be able to raid on any datacenter without having to physically move there, etc.

Basically, a win all around for playing with friends.

As for actual server transfers, if you want to:

-Join a specific FC
-get Eternally Bonded to someone on a specific server
-get housing on a specific server

You still need to have your character on that specific server as your home world, which the $ cost server transfer will give, so it'll still have plenty of uses.

[cheolsu]

yes, though yoshi said in the recent live letter that at first it will be limited to region. so no visiting from NA to JP >.> but if you're asking what's the point, that's the point! at least for me. i've been waiting for this since they first announced it. for someone like me, that's like visiting japan (i don't like to travel in rl). in fact, the only alt i have is on jp server for that reason, but then i have to level it separately etc.

[Jojoya]

What is the purpose?

To let players play with all their friends, not just friends on the same data center.

Only you know why you spent $18 on a transfer. The game is the same on all data centers. The only advantage to being on Aether is there are more groups listed in PF that can potentially carry you. If you don't need to be carried, you could have found a static on Crystal. They do exist and do clear content regularly, they're just fewer in number because Crystal has fewer players who care about high end raiding.

Why do you think data center travel is a problem?

[Jeeqbit]

• There was a data center split, that tore friends apart and SE wanted to find a way to bring them back together.
• Some people play on a server not ideal for their ping and want to be able to visit other data centers for a better ping, then come back to play with friends.
• Some people have friends on multiple data centers but would rather not have multiple characters to play with them.
• Some data centers are known for RP and some data centers are known for raiding and being able to visit them will make it easier to do both things at once.

[Katie_Kitty]

• Some data centers are known for RP and some data centers are known for raiding and being able to visit them will make it easier to do both things at once.

This is the big one imo. Imagine how DC travel will open up the raiding scene in this game. It'll be amazing having the ability to seek out members and statics from all datacenters in the region. Gone are the days when you have to choose between Primal, Aether, and Crystal. That's assuming you can join parties and run duties while DC visiting, which hopefully you can because otherwise there really is no point.

I hope they consider the implication on the community when they start combining data centers. Watering down the community for convenience is arguably what started the problems with that other game whose players currently flood the FF XIV data centers. I can't speak for other servers, of course, but getting anything done has, so far, never been an impossibility in FF XIV so the need for the feature seems...questionable at this point, at least from my limited perspective.

And yes, I'll be the first to admit I wouldn't be able to play at the level I did back then (ooof, has it been really that long?) without the conveniences offered by the likes of automated cross-realm LFG, which I'm OK with if it means a healthier game overall.

Huh? There's no downside really. And you don't seem to be considering the impact this change will have for the high-end raiding scene, which could be an immense positive impact. Restricting people in data centers has never been a good thing for the game, why would it be now?

[marelooke]

Huh? There's no downside really. And you don't seem to be considering the impact this change will have for the high-end raiding scene, which could be an immense positive impact. Restricting people in data centers has never been a good thing for the game, why would it be now?

I do. I was around to see the change in "that other game". If I hadn't been I wouldn't see any negatives either.

[Katie_Kitty]

I do. I was around to see the change in "that other game". If I hadn't been I wouldn't see any negatives either.

Nobody cares. Leave other games in other games. I'm really tired of people like you bringing your obsessions with that other game into ffxiv.