Do we all need to join the same Grand Company?

I wasnt sure if it would effect anything down the road, maybe world/area PVP ?

I do not think it matters.  Natch's points about the logs make sense.  I will be levelling a lot with Gibsauce, and he will be a GLD out of Ul'dah so I figured I will be all over the place so it does nt bother me so much to be efficient!

That will also give you a great change to explore even more of the world Hex.  And gaming is much more fun when you have a buddy :D

I will for sure be joining Gridania's grand company =p

Like Natch said, I wouldn't worry about it too much at the moment unless you are very serious about min/maxing.

Maybe join a GC that a good friend has chosen, or the one with your favorite emblem? You can always switch later, if you want.

Otherwise...

Hex, myself, and a few others have brought up the point about Grand Company (GC) Quartermaster rewards, and their benefits for each class/job on RaidCall/Vent a few times.

We concluded that prior to Phase 4, it won't matter much because everything will get wiped, and whatever stat differences we may have found in the rewards early on, they were miniscule at best.

However now that we're looking forward to Phase 4, I've decided to try to make a more informed decision as to which GC will be right for me (and possibly for others, if you are interested in item stats).

I'm not worried so much about having to travel around to turn things in, as the world is gorgeous, and it's a visual treat to travel around - especially on a Goobbue mount (warning: FFXIV 1.0 pics may induce fond and/or painful memories)! :D

So I'll be happy to follow Hex to whichever city/faction she chooses for her GC turn-ins/quartermaster visits, even if we choose different ones (Airship flights, and Return are cheap/free if we're in a rush!).

Besides, we can accept and turn in GC leves at any GC Levemete, regardless of affiliation.

Unfortunately, it is difficult for me to effectively theorycraft without both final item stats, and full mechanics disclosure (we know so little about GC v GC v GC atm).

That being said, after a look at the GC Officer Sets at XIVDB, I decided to toss their respective stats into a spreadsheet to see how they stack up against each other.

It was immediately obvious that the sets in their current form favored particular classes/jobs very heavily.

If this stat trend holds true for each GC set through Soft Launch (Phase 4/Early Access), I think I'll be switching from The Immortal Flames to The Maelstrom for my tanking gear needs...

...at least for decent, entry level/filler gear before hard mode/raid loot.

Thankfully, I like their regalia color scheme! ^_^

Here's a snapshot of the stat totals I got from XIVDB, for the level 50, GC Officer Sets, if you're interested:

(keep in mind that these stats could very well change by Phase 4, and are likely incomplete as there are, oddly, no set bonuses listed)

**Addendum: For those that were unaware , "Sanction" can be purchased with GC seals, and acts as a buff that enhances certain GC gear while it remains active.

Item sources:

Ul'dan Officer.

Lominsan Officer.

Gridanian Officer.

Further, I have mentioned this to Hex before and she seems to be in agreement (as is Mr.Happy, if you watched the video Lakshmi posted here), that Ul'dah will likely be the most popular hub on each server...

...at least until Ishgard is available. And if they are the most popular, chances are The Immortal Flames may enjoy a higher, average "win count" early on in GC v GC v GC, if we're too assume population has any say in the matter.

Clearly speculation of course as, again, we have so little information about that side of the game at this time. Eventually it may even out, depending on where the best PVP/WvW players decide to call home, but at this time, it's anyone's guess.

I'm sure we'll be able to make more informed decisions once we have our hands on the release client, and the eager playerbase has datamined/visited quartermasters to spit out guides for this very topic.

We're bound to discuss it again in Echoes' Free Company chat, RaidCall, and/or here in these forums once Phase 4 goes live.

Honestly, I don't think I'm going to try to get gear from the GC for my first class.   I got most of my seals in phase 3 from FATEs, and apparently that won't be a source for seals from Phase 4 onward.  I'm expecting the grind for a chocobo to quite enough to start with! 

/goobuemountenvy   /(;_;)\

Argh...wish ul'dah had more str gear..doesnt make sense to me that its not more evenly split..if you have a class that utilizes the skill starting in that area, why wouldnt it be more!

will have to deal with it for now, Ul'dah is just my town...dont want to have to travel to limsa everytime i wanna get gear or grind mobs.

@ Shmi: are you coveting my goobbue????

I think I will go with Ul'dah, but it also depends what Gibsauce wants to do.  My cnj quests will all be in Grid so it does not matter where I base myself really. Statswise it would be Immortal Flames though.

That is such an awesome table of all the sets!  Really appreciate you putting that together !

Looking at those it can be a toss up for what I want to do because I really liked my archer and conjurer set up leading into the bard.  So some lean more to stats for the archer and the other to conjurer.  If we do chose one to do together I'm not going to really be too upset about it.

Necro'ing this old thread to discuss what we now know.

1. The biggest differences between GCs are flavor, such as story, the color of the bardings and furniture crafting recipes.
2. Yes, there are differences in the gear available but stat-wise it's not much better than the AF gear we get from quests and dungeon drops.
3. PVP segregated by GC is coming pretty soon.

I'll concede 1 & 2 will be important to some folks but I don't really care which GC I join, except that I'd like to be on the same PVP team with guildies if possible.   So who's planning to PVP, and which GC are you picking?

If the stats are correct form data mining, I was gonna join the Ul'dah Immortal Flames. Plus in 1.0, for some reason, I was in Ul'dah all the time, even though my CNJ guild was in Gridania.

I "need" to do PvP - it was injected into my blood by the family in WarHammer and I can't seem to get it out.  I enjoy both PvE and PvP and need both.   I really don't have a preference on GC and plan on being an Arcanist depending on how well they play out - if not I will be a Dark Mage.  Regardless of where I start and where the GC is really matters not to me - I like the challenge of moving around and exploring... so if the family picks one as their "main" GC I will happily join that one and explore the world as I travel :)

When do you have to join a GC - I'm set to play for Phase 4 but might have company during that time (although come what may I will log into to create the character and enter the world - even if it is just for a minute).

Safe Journ all...

Do Different GC's offer different mounts as well?

Don't think the final tier GC rewards are known/finalized yet, Nightfall.

What we do know is that each GC has its own Chocobo bardings, which display their respective coat of arms.

*Natch beat me to it!*

Unique mounts for each GC would be interesting though!

As for PVP, I'll be giving it a chance. I'm more interested in Frontline than Coliseum.

I am fairly worried about balance atm...will have to see what the PVP-specific abilities are like.

If they don't offer some great melee abilities (gap closers, etc), I can already see ranged classes dominating.

I'm really more of a PvEer than a PvPer though I do get out several times a week in WvW in GW2 with Kaytlin's events since it fits my schedule.  I prefer the field battle stuff like the map zones in Warhammer and the Mists in GW2.  The small group things I've never really liked as well for PvP.  Since I have no clue what their PvP will be like I have no idea if I'll want to do it or not.  And if I do it will probably be one of those things I spend doing if I can be with guildies, but not something I'll just jump into very often.

Bump for those looking for the armor stats for GC choice.