[REQ READING:ANNOUCEMENT:IMPORTANT INFO] PHASE 4 TO RELEASE - PLEASE READ - INCREDIBLY IMPORTANT

GUYS!!

I cannot conceivably describe in the english language HOW IMPORTANT THIS IS. During the start of Phase 4 they will be allowing character's to be made on Legacy Servers. During this period it will be incredibly important for you as a player to log in and in the least, create your character. We face a risk of having the server fill up and leave a good portion of us behind, but the risk albeit one, is actually lower than most other legacy servers. There are a few things you should know:

1. The crowded scale as is it relevant to us is:

• Crowded 
• Very Crowded 
• Full

I don't feel like I can properly express how incredibly important it is that you guys find a way to make some time or coordinate with us to get your characters in and created as soon as humanly possible.

In the case 4-5 people get in and the server goes into a "full" state - we do have backup plans and fail safes we have discussed as an officer board to continue moving forward, we will update you all AS we progress. I'm doubting it will happen but in the long run I'd rather plan for it, than not. 

Thanks for listening in guys, please post any questions, comments or concerns in the post below! We want to ensure everyone understands and is on board with what we're trying to coordinate.

Definitely going to be making sure I create my character as soon as I can on the 16th.  I know people who did not play in Beta 3 with their own account will have to wait until the 17th.  Hopefully they do not have a problem, but I'm with you on the planning ahead.  Starting up on a new game can be crazy.  

Worse case scenario is that you might wind up on another server, but I think two weeks after live they open the transferring if I got my info right.  So bare with our wonderful leaders and we'll get it all together.

Praying that we get best case scenario and we all end up on Excaliber without issues.

well being one of the ones who can get in on the 16th. I feel sorta lucky. 

Is there a way to merge accounts together?  I just had my old-old square-enix account (FFXI) reinstated to me, and was wondering if I could merge it together with the account i played Phase3 with in order to keep everything together, and still play early Phase4

What time does server go live/able to login on the 16th?  Midnight PST?  Will be rolling a toon, even if I have to set an alarm and get up at 3 AM. 

Sounds great.. definitely looking forward to this!

Have they mentioned what time the servers are coming up on the 16th?

No time that I know of and of course we still need them to release the client so we can get that set up too.

If a server is too full to make characters on the 17th, I doubt it will be open to incoming transfers 2 to 3 weeks later -- even when other servers are.   That said, speaking as a "day late 17th-er"  I think we're far enough away from full that it will all work out.

As a 17th'er myself - I am not actually anticipating a problem on our server - call it faith or just being blinded by the light - but I know I will attempt logging in as soon as the servers go live on the 16th (who knows - mistakes happen :) ) and then every hour or so thereafter until it lets me in sometime on the 17th.  Also - I live in the PST zone and have no clue when the 17th begins for game.

I have edited Connor's post as I personally will not have time to create characters for people (due to work commitments).  I have a one hour-ish window in which to log on, watch the opening sequences and then trek across the world to meet Gibsauce (as we will not have ports unlocked cos they all got reset).

Gibsauce and I will have one focus during the initial launch, and that will be to get the free company up and running and start inviting people. (As we have level 25+ characters which will hopefully allow us to create it right from phase 4 release).

Players will need to make their own arrangements to log on and spend a couple of minutes making a place holder/name saver toon.

@ Bri: the onus is upon the players to log on and make their characters if at all possible.  We have a back up for emergencies if someone is really stuck and needs help. (Like they are on vacation in Antarctica, and really can't log in). I very much doubt the transfers will be open to crowded or full servers, so would rather people did not rely on that, and made the effort to log on initially and save a space for themselves :)

@ Luskin: I don't think you can merge accounts, that might be one to email to S E customer support in case they can do it. It would be awesome if they could do it for you.

@ Cyeraxe: Not sure on times, but if it follows every other beta it will be at 2am pst.  That is not confirmed though.

I will try to login as soon as possible and check in raidcall to see if the leaders need any assistance that I can provide.

I agree, log in and create as early as possible just in case...but I really don't think we have to worry about  the server filling up until head start probably not even till the day of release.

Thanks for the reply Hex :)  Question, cause I think I forgot something.  They are letting you keep toons you roll up for phase 4 beta right (not wiping)?  Or am I confused?

Clarification:  Where I am going with that question is ....  If you do phase 4 and they don't wipe the toons for early start/launch then you wouldn't have to worry about rolling for early start.  But, like I said, I could be confused.

SE devs have said that they will only wipe phase 4 if serious technical difficulties arise. So I really hope there are not any!

Will be on as early as possible to create 1 or 2 toons.

Question: for people transferring over from their 1.0 characters, will they be there on phase 4? or do i need to save a spot for mine?

So phase 4 starts the 16th at midnight? Hopefully that is still Thursday my time or I might be in trouble.

Go figure that everything starts the weekend I'm being sent up north for work, and by north I mean way the heck up in Uranium city. Conner or possibly Saren: Since I play on the PS3, would either of you be willing to make a char for me if it becomes absolutely necessary? I can send you a pm with my PSN account and SE info.

If not I'm going to have to take my chances and see if I can't still get in Sunday night when I get home.

*crosses fingers*

@ Jessica: Legacy transfers will be on Excalibur (if that is the server you picked!). So we do not have to save a spot.  I would log on and check that your transfer worked though.

Also (and this is super important to note) unless they change it, you cannot rename and re-image your character until early access, and we will all have to remember as it is a onetime change only.  But, the good news is, you will keep any progress you make in phase 4.

@Soren: can anyone log on with your credentials on a pc to save you a spot? or does it have to be PS3? They have not annouced a time yet, but my guess is it will be 2am pst on the 16th, as they started all the other betas at 2am.

I'm not to sure Hex, though I'd think you'd be able to create one on the pc since according to SE, if I were to buy both PC/PS3 versions when it goes live my characters would work for both... might be worth a shot. And no, i don't have anyone around to do it for me - bro/mom/sis are at the lake, boyfriend is up north and dad breaks any tech he touches lol

On a plus note apparently we aren't leaving till 6am on the 16th so if the client downloads before then I'd be ok. I'll just be the most angry temperamental structural tech the mine guys have ever seen. Who  needs sleep any way right ;)

I'll keep you all posted at any rate.

I'd better not make any for anyone then - New Zealand may be bit too far!

The making of characters for others solution is just in exceptional situations where someone (like Soren) is away.  Most people will be able to haul themselves out of bed for 5 mins to ensure their place on the server ;)

I am hoping phase 4 will start during USA evening time, but somehow I doubt it, based on past beta release time.  We shall have to wait and see..

Personally, I wouldn't recommend creating characters for someone else, no matter where you live.  A lot of game companies are now recording and locking in an "authorized IP" for whoever logs into the gaming client first.  Trion is a great example of that, I'm on the same LAN as my wife and if I log in her account from my computer, it "coin locks" it. ArenaNet does something similar and I've heard that a couple other gaming companies have or are implementing IP locking features.

Its just less of a mess to not bother with it, especially when its putting someone else's account at an unknown risk.  A well-meant gesture can turn into a nightmare, I'm sad to say.

If folks are really that concerned about running out of room, maybe a change of starting server might be something that your leadership may want to consider.  I know its difficult with Legacy accounts and transfers, etc., but its a sort of a no-win scenario, just have to choose the between two evils and hope its the best choice.  >_>

IMO... I'm not worried about having room, because I am sure that SE will make things right, somehow.  I will be creating ASAP, just because I can, but I wouldn't be worried even if I wasn't able to.

/agree with your points on ip locking and account security.

With regard to servers, all we as leaders can do is explain the risks that the server may fill up.  If players choose to take a flyer on there being room after the first few days, then that is their call, and not something we have control over.

We already have legacy players who made the commitment to transfer to Excalibur some time ago.  We do not consider it fair to let those players down and switch servers. The risk is very easily mitigated by new players making the effort to log on.  But in the end it is up to them.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing, just like it was in GW2 when we organised the pre-launch and A-net named a server in memory of Roger.  At first, we had no worries and thought we would have a quiet little server with little interest.  Over time, interest snowballed and resulted in SOR eventually being locked for new players for several weeks.  It ended up being a very popular server.

Excalibur initially was averagely popular, with interest being more focused on Hyperion. There was also a real backlash against legacy servers, and new players rolling on them.  So we figured that as the server was nowhere near capacity, and new players had shown little interest in legacy servers, we would be fine. Fast forward to the past few weeks and suddenly every new player and his dog is posting about rolling on Excalibur. 

Our legacy players have no "undo transfer" button, so all we can do is encourage our new players to avoid the potential lock out and get their place on the server early.

I remember very well Fog having to post early on in GW2 and explain that SOR was locked, and it was not a pleasant experience, knowing that some people were left out.  In that situation, the server was unlocked in a few weeks, but for those left out in the cold those few weeks sucked, and they missed out on all the initial events and fun.  I am doing my damnedest to make sure that does not happen here.

I would rather be the person who was over-cautious and had 100% of players in the free company, and everyone laughing about it afterwards, than the officer who ignored the warning signs and said nothing. (You can all laugh at me later!!!)

Leave it to chance and hope SE magically fixes the situation, or exercise caution and guarantee yourself a spot? 

Hmmm....the choice for me is very obvious, hopefully other people wanting to play with us can see the logic and benefits for themselves and get in early! /overthinking post over !

Just to reaffirm, we aren't going to change the initial server we are rolling on period. We have had many meetings as well as personal discussions with many of the members who originally decided to help us build the community around this game, that we are going to roll on Excalibur. The decision was made shortly after the end of phase 2 into the start of phase 3.

Most, if not all of our legacy players took that opportunity to transfer their characters into the server. Out of the options we have, the options being legacy servers, we would be in a nearly mirror situation on any of them as well. We made the decision and stand firmly behind it. If a problem decides to pop up it's ugly head amidst all of the chaos that will be P4, we will handle is as a council and decide what's best. For now, I want to simply encourage people to get excited and make arrangements to involve themselves in the process early on to eliminate the chance for mess up's and do-overs.

Ultimately, This entire operation is AT-WILL...no one is forcing the hand so to speak. We would love for everyone to be here, but by no means does that obligate you to our processes or procedures. We are simply providing "Here is what we're gonna do! wanna come?" if the answer is yes, awesome! come work with us to build something amazing. If the answer is no - We will miss you, and will always be available if you decide to come on back!

AS such, Let's simply hope all of my and Hex's frantic worry is a subject of jokes in the near future concerning all of this!

Updated Server locations for communities.  It looks like Reddit legacy players are hitting Excalibur.  This is nothing official from Square Enix.

http://www.reddit.com/r/ffxiv/comments/1kby3t/officialunofficial_servers_for_different_online/

Hey all. I guess I have a lot to read if I want to play with you guys and girls in FFARR? I haven't been on GW2 much but I did pre-order this game and I will be logging in on the 17th. I'll be reading every post from now until I get to log in

Sorry, I've been ... preoccupied with other issues for the past several weeks and haven't really paid a lot of attention to things.  Ok, so the option of a change of server is out of the question.  I did not understand fully about the Legacy transfer limitations, but now I do.

I'm probably the one who is over-thinking this, because my brain is wired to recognize, examine and prioritize the worst possible outcomes and it just automatically applies itself to any kind of scenario that has potential risks... like player accounts, in this case.  Its often annoying to folks, but its who I am and I won't be apologetic about it, especially since its saved lives in the past.  Plus, I'm almost 50... I'm too old to change, now.  ;)

So, one other thought:  Did anyone email SE support and ask if there were any risks to assisting guild members with creating their toons before the server is locked against new character creation?  SE will most likely will not condone the activity or assist with it, but they should inform of any risks or penalties to involved accounts by their security system.  

There should still be time, and to be honest, it doesn't have to be Connor, Hex or anyone in the leadership.  

If someone needs their character created for them, I strongly recommend asking SE support about any risks to your account from their security systems.  Do it by email, don't make a forum post, those are worthless and read by the wrong people, anyway.

"I'm probably the one who is over-thinking this, because my brain is wired to recognize, examine and prioritize the worst possible outcomes and it just automatically applies itself to any kind of scenario that has potential risks..."

I do exactly that in my job, hard to just switch it off when gaming!  So I completely understand!

heh ty, wish I could do that.

well. my old account seems to have been cleaned. regan is gone and my garlond goggles as well. i cant find them in either of my two service accounts....soooo....i'm stranded it seems. unless regan magically shows up at release!

ok, so it turns out i DO have regan on excalibur (she wasnt in my SE account when i was on the site earlier), BUT i am still stuck in a bind, because i had 3 friends roll on cerberus haha. so i might try to split my time. i cannot at this time roll more characters on excalibur =(

IS excalibur only for people who were in the old FF14? If so, I won't be able to join you!

No, Momo, it's a Legacy server, meaning there will be people from 1.0 on it, but anyone can create a character there subject to the periodic load balancing Square Enix does to try to smooth out population.