n order to improve the player experience, we will be merging Worlds on Tuesday, March 27, 2012. After the merge is completed, there will be a total of ten Worlds, down from the current eighteen.

To ensure that the World merge is fair for all players, character transfers will be required for all existing characters. Players must select a new post-merge World for their characters, and will be reassigned automatically should they not do so by the established deadline. We urge you all to review the World Merge Summary and the Notes Regarding the World Merge.

This World merge is intended to improve the player experience during the period up to the launch of FFXIV Version 2.0. New Worlds may be added in the future, for example after the relaunch or when player numbers increase.
[World Merge Summary]

Key Dates
March 1 (Thursday) to March 19 (Monday), 2012: Character transfer selection period. *
March 27 (Tuesday), 2012: World merge maintenance to be carried out.

Details of the Merge

The current eighteen Worlds will be reorganized into ten, and existing characters will be transferred into the ten new Worlds.
Before:
Cornelia
Kashuan
Gysahl
Mysidia
Istory
Figaro
Wutai
Trabia
Lindblum
Besaid
Selbina
Rabanastre
Bodhum
Melmond
Palamecia
Saronia
Fabul
Karnak

After:
New World 01
New World 02
New World 03
New World 04
New World 05
New World 06
New World 07
New World 08
New World 09
New World 10 *
* World recommended for
German/French-speaking players

Information regarding the time required for the merge maintenance process and other details will be released at a later date.
* The character transfer selection period will consist of two stages. For details, see Selecting a Transfer Destination below.


Details of the Merge
The current eighteen Worlds will be reorganized into ten, and existing characters will be transferred into the ten new Worlds.

ew World 10 is recommended for German and French-speaking players. German and French-speakers form a minority within the total player population, and this should improve their playing experience and make it easier for them to get together and form parties. However, it is a recommendation only. The World will not be restricted to German and French speakers, and players from other regions are free to transfer to the World.

* The new Worlds shall inherit the names of the ten most popular current Worlds. Name assignments will be announced after the transfer selection period has ended.


Selecting a Transfer Destination
During the transfer selection period indicated below, players will be able to select a destination World on the World Transfer Application Page. Players who do not select a destination World during this period will be automatically distributed across the Worlds.
* The World Transfer Application Page is scheduled to be available from March 1.

Transfer destination selection period: From 8:00 GMT, March 1 (Thursday) to 7:59 GMT, March 19 (Monday), 2012.
* Transfer selection period will consist of a first and second stage.

First Stage: From 8:00 GMT, March 1 (Thursday) to 7:59 GMT, March 12 (Monday), 2012.
- Players will still be able to change their destinations, even after making a selection.
* Players will not be able to select Worlds that have already been filled. Players can, however, move from Worlds that have been filled to other Worlds.

Second Stage: From 8:00 GMT, March 12 (Monday) to 7:59 GMT, March 19 (Monday), 2012.
- Worlds that have been filled will be locked, and players in these Worlds will not be able to transfer to other Worlds.


Restrictions on selecting a destination
To select a destination, an existing playable character must be associated with a player’s service account. As long as a player has at least one usable character, a destination World may be chosen for all characters in the service account, including characters that have not yet been paid for.
* To view and change your subscription details, visit the Square Enix Account Management System and click Select Service on the left-hand menu, and then select FINAL FANTASY XIV.


Notes Regarding the World Merge
All character details will be transferred, with the exceptions described below.

Character Names
After the merge, if two or more characters with the same first and last name exist in the same World, only one character can keep the name, based on the order of priority below.

1. Characters that are playable on both March 26 (Monday) and March 27 (Tuesday), 2012.
2. Characters that were created first.

If your character name must be changed because another character's name takes priority, please do so by following the on-screen instructions when you first log in after the World merge.
* After you enter a new name for the character, the change will also be reflected on the Lodestone.

With this World merge, all character names that were kept after participation in the previous Open Beta test will be deleted.

Retainer Names
If retainers with the same name exist in the same World, only one of the retainers can continue using the name, based on the same conditions described above for player characers.

If you are required to change the name, please do so by following the on-screen instructions when you first log in after the World merge.

About Linkshells
Linkshells will not be carried over to the new World. They will be deleted automatically during the merge
* Linkshell community pages on the Lodestone will no longer be accessible after the merge.

Because linkshells will be deleted, you may lose contact with linkshell members. However, your Lodestone follow list will survive the World merge unchanged, so we recommend that players who want to stay in touch follow each other before the merge takes place.
* The "follow" will persist even if the character's name is changed.
* You can follow characters through the linkshell list or via each character's own page.
　Players will be able to follow characters through the linkshell list starting today, February 9.

Friend List/Blacklist
All friend list and blacklist data will be deleted during the merge.

Character Info on the Lodestone
The World name displayed in character pages, diaries, and histories (including finished histories) will change to the new World name after the merge. If the character name changes, that will also be updated.


New Subscriptions during the World Merge
Players are free to create new FINAL FANTASY XIV Service Accounts and new characters during the merge period. However, depending on the timing of the new subscription/new character creation, players may not be able to select a destination World.

1. Until 7:59 GMT, March 19 (Tuesday), 2012
After subscribing and creating a new character, follow the steps above to apply for a transfer to a World. If you do not apply for a transfer, the character will be automatically allocated to a World.

2. From 8:00 GMT, March 19 (Tuesday), 2012, until the World merge maintenance is completed
Because the World transfer application period is over, you will not be able to select a destination World. Characters created during this period will be automatically allocated to one of the new Worlds. If you wish to avoid being automatially assigned to a new World, we suggest that you create your character after the World merge maintenance is completed.

■World Merge Specification Overview Details■

The following are the specifics of the World Merge concept and specification overview. There is a lot of text, but I’ve made the explanations in-depth so that you can properly understand all of the information. Please read over everything when offering feedback.

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■World Merge Concept ■

The main purpose of the World Merge is largely based on the idea of providing a suitable community size to all active and currently playing players for every bit of content. In other words, the goal is to make each World’s population adequate so that parties can be formed sufficiently in each time zone.

The important factor here is not the total number of active players (= number of characters), it is the amount of people from each time zone that can gather together.
Even if the number of active players is large, FFXIV is operated on global servers, so we need an environment that will allow players from each of the three time zones (Japan, North America, and Europe) to gather together.
(Though the total number of active characters for a world may seem the same, looking at it for each time zone, the number of peak players changes.) The facilitation of making each population the proper size is the main objective of this World Merge.

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■World Merge Method ① - Basic consolidation-■

Below I will explain about the basic World Merge using letters. The below is an example.
(A-R　= Existing worlds 1-1
・A + B　⇒ New World 1
・C + D　⇒ New World 2
・E + F　⇒ New World 3
・G + H ⇒ New World 4
・I + J ⇒ New World 5
・K + L ⇒ New World 6
・M + N ⇒ New World 7
・O + P ⇒ New World 8
・Q + R ⇒ New World 9
・Create New World 10 (*World recommended for those in EU time zones)
By consolidating existing Worlds, each time zone’s community size will be made appropriate. With the consolidation of the existing worlds into 9 Worlds plus the addition of one completely new World, FFXIV will operate with 10 Worlds.

The newly constructed “World 10” will be a totally new World and will be the world that we recommend to the small sized community of EU time zone players. (Of course this is not a world only for the EU time zone and it will be possible for players of other languages and other time zones to choose it.)

How Worlds will be consolidated and which Worlds correspond to the new World will be announced on Topics in the coming days.

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■World Merge Method ② - Community Preservation - ■

In the case of merging two Worlds together, the problem has been that it was not technically possible to preserve one of the world’s Linkshells, Friend Lists, and Blacklists; however, during tests that took place alongside the exploration of specification adjustments, we gained solid technical proof that it will be possible to completely preserve the communities of both Worlds.

In other words, regardless of the number of currently active characters on the World that is formed after merging 2 or 3 Worlds together, it will be possible to preserve the below community information for every world.
・Current Linkshell information
・Current Friend List information
・Current Blacklist information
With this, those players who elect to do nothing during the World Merge will be able to continue playing within their community as before even after they merge. Also, the same will be true for those players who are not currently subscribed.

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■World Merge Method ③ -Freely select world to transfer to-■

Along with the basic merging of Worlds, all player characters will be given the opportunity to transfer Worlds within a certain time frame. In other words, players will be able to either remain in their current World or apply to transfer to a different World.

Players will be able to request a transfer to any World, not just the newly created World 10.

However, once a World Transfer is requested, players will not be guaranteed the ability to return to their original World. For example, suppose a player decides to try to return to his original world after requesting a transfer, but the number of players in the original world exceeds the limit, that player will not be able to return to their original World.

Also, when a player transfers Worlds, the player will be removed from all Linkshells they were a part of in the original World and will also have their Friend Lists and Blacklists cleared.

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■World transfer requests and the world character limit■

World transfer requests will be handled during 2 different periods, in a method similar to the method posted in a previous Topics article.

1. World Transfer Period A (Possible to re-select a new destination World as many times as desired)
2.World Transfer Period B (Players in Worlds that have reached the limit cannot re-select a destination World)

The development and operations teams will determine a maximum number of active users per time zone for each World. This number will represent the total players from a specific time zone, rather than total players overall, and will differ for each World. The extent of player migration in each World will be represented by the following symbols on a special page on the Lodestone:
○= Possible to transfer to
△= Possible to transfer to, but the limit is fast approaching
×= Not possible to transfer to

By setting maximum limits for active users in each World, we would like to even out the populations on each server as best possible. Populations will be monitored by the development and operations teams, and players will be notified whether or not it is possible to transfer to each World.

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■The recommended EU time zones server and other special measures■

World 10 will be the recommended EU time zones server, but it is not limited to players in the EU time zones. Players from other time zones, as well as players who speak languages other than French, German and English can still freely transfer to World 10. I would like to make it clear that this server is not set up for players who all speak the same language. Rather, we would like players in Europe to consider joining World 10 in order to be able to play with fellow players from similar time zones.

Since World 10 will be a new World, some players may worry that this world will be severely underpopulated if few players desire a transfer to this world. With that in mind, we decided that as a special measure, we will look into either allowing players to transfer another time or merging underpopulated servers, in the case that there is a significant disparity in the numbers of players on each server. Therefore players should have no worries when considering World 10 as a potential destination.

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■Absolute reform of world names■

Until now, Worlds were named after historical towns/cities from the FINAL FANTASY series, but heading towards the release of 2.0, we decided that this World Merge would be a great opportunity to change the names of all Worlds.

The World names currently in use may be unfamiliar or difficult to understand for those who are not hardcore players, so we wanted to change these names to be more familiar to casual FINAL FANTASY players, as we approach the release of 2.0. Also, as we look to expand FFXIV, some of our visions for the future, such as releasing content based in Worlds from previous FF titles, will require us to use names previously reserved for Worlds as names of cities and other locations instead. (For example, we feel like Midgar has too powerful of an image associated with it to be used as a name for a World. Also, we would like to reserve the name Gold Saucer for the casino, not a world.)

With that said, we would like to select the names of Worlds from the “Legacy Item List” which represents the history of the FINAL FANTASY series. Here are a few world name candidates:
・Ridill
・Excalibur
・Ragnarok
・Aegis
・Balmung

We understand that there are players who have a deeper connection and attachment with the current World names, but we hope you understand that we decided to change these names with the future development of FFXIV in mind.

We will reveal the new World names along with the Topics announcement for the revised World Merge specifications.

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■Clashing of character and Linkshell names due to the World Merge■

With the World Merge, it is possible that characters and linkshells with the same name end up on the same world. Here is how we will be dealing with these cases:
1. Character name overlap
The character that was created earliest (based on creation timestamp) will retain the name. All other characters with the same name will have to choose a new name.
2. Linkshell name overlap
The linkshell with the most active characters at the time of the world merge will retain the name. All other linkshells will be temporarily renamed to have a number (such as “01”) at the end of their current name. Players can then request to have their linkshell renamed through GM support.

We understand that the above issues can cause a severe inconvenience for players, but we will do our best to handle these cases as smoothly as we can.

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■Conclusion■

That is all for my explanation of changes to the World Merge specs.
Due to these changes, it is possible that our planned schedule for the World Merge will be pushed back a few days. We will let you know on Topics when we have a finalized schedule.

We are very grateful that we received lots of feedback from players all over the world.

In order to improve the player experience, we will be merging Worlds on Tuesday, March 27, 2012.

We have reevaluated the World merge system based on the large amount of user feedback we received in response to the World Merge and Character Transfers update of February 9. Now that the details of the new World merge system have been decided, we recommend that all players review the World Merge Summary and Notes Regarding the World Merge and World Transfer.

This World merge is intended to improve the player experience during the period up to the launch of FFXIV Version 2.0. New Worlds may be added in the future, for example after the relaunch or when player numbers increase.
[World Merge Summary]

Key Dates
March 1 (Thursday) to March 19 (Monday), 2012: World transfer application period. *
March 27 (Tuesday), 2012: World merge maintenance to be carried out.

Information regarding the time required for the merge maintenance process and other details will be released at a later date.

* The World transfer application period will consist of two stages. For details, see World Transfer Application below.


Merge Details
The Worlds will be merged according to the system below. The new Worlds will be named after the merge has taken place.

Current Worlds New Worlds
Selbina -> Ridill
Wutai + Gysahl -> Masamune
Rabanastre + Cornelia -> Durandal
Melmond + Figaro -> Aegis
Istory + Mysidia -> Gungnir
Saronia + Lindblum -> Sargatanas
Fabul + Besaid -> Balmung
Trabia + Kashuan -> Hyperion
Karnak + Palamecia + Bodhum -> Excalibur
Ragnarok *
* Recommended for European time zone players.

Ragnarok will be recommended for players in the European time zones. This should improve the playing experience for European players, who form a small minority scattered across the Worlds, and make it easier for them to get together and form parties. However, this is a recommendation only. The World will not be restricted to European players, and players from other regions will be free to transfer to the World.

Please note that if we determine that the new Ragnarok does not attract enough players to deliver a satisfying game experience, we will consider options such as reopening World transfer applications or merging with another World. We therefore encourage players to keep it in mind as one of the options.


World Transfer Application
During the World transfer application period indicated below, players will be able to select a destination World on the World Transfer Application Page.
* The World Transfer Application Page is scheduled to be available from March 1.

World transfer application period: From 0:00 a.m. PST, March 1 (Thursday) to 0:59 a.m. PDT, March 19 (Monday), 2012.
* The World transfer application period will consist of a first and second stage.

First Stage: From 0:00 a.m. PST, March 1 (Thursday) to 0:59 a.m. PDT, March 12 (Monday), 2012.
- Players will still be able to change Worlds even after applying for a World transfer.
* Players will not be able to select Worlds that are already populated with the maximum number of characters, but players will be able to move from such Worlds to other Worlds. Note that if a player leaves one World to transfer to another World, and in the interim the first World is filled with the maximum number of characters, the player will no longer be able to transfer back to the original World.
* It is possible that some Worlds will reach the population limit very soon after World transfer applications begin.

Second Stage: From 1:00 a.m. PDT, March 12 (Monday) to 0:59 PDT, March 19 (Monday), 2012.
- Worlds that are populated with the maximum allowable characters will be fixed and locked.
- Locked Worlds cannot be selected as a transfer destination.
- As well, all players in locked Worlds will no longer be able to apply for World transfers.
　For this reason, we recommend that players complete their World transfer applications in the First Stage.

(Example)
If Hyperion becomes populated with the maximum allowable number of characters:
- Players cannot apply to transfer to New Hyperion.
- Characters who have already applied for Hyperion can no longer select another World to transfer to.
- All characters in Trabia and Kashuan who have not already applied for a transfer to another World can no longer do so.

Conditions Required to Apply for a World Transfer
To apply for a World transfer, an existing playable character must be associated with a player's service account. As long as a player has at least one usable character, a destination World may be chosen for all characters in the service account, including characters that have not yet been paid for.
* To view and change subscription details, visit the Square Enix Account Management System and click Select Service on the left-hand menu, and then select FINAL FANTASY XIV.


Notes Regarding the World Merge and World Transfer
All character data will be transferred, with the exceptions described below.

Character Names
After the merge and transfer, if two or more characters with the same first and last name exist in the same World, only one character can keep the name, based on the order of priority below.

1. Characters that are playable on both March 26 (Monday) and March 27 (Tuesday), 2012.
2. Characters that were created first.

If your character name must be changed because another character's name takes priority, please enter a new name by following the on-screen instructions when you first log in after the World merge maintenance has taken place.
* After you enter a new name for the character, the change will also be reflected on the Lodestone.

With this World merge, all character names reserved for use from the Open Beta that have not yet been assigned to characters in the release version will be deleted, and thus no longer able to be carried over.

Retainer Names
If retainers with the same name exist in the same World, only one of the retainers can continue using the name, based on the same conditions described above for player characers.

If you are required to change the name, please do so by following the on-screen instructions when you first log in after the World merge.

About Linkshells
Carrying over linkshells
All linkshells shall be carried over to the new merged Worlds.
* The Lodestone linkshell pages will also be carried over.
* Players who transfer from the new merged World to a different World will be removed automatically from all linkshells in the current World.
* If the linkshell master leaves the merged World and transfers to a different World, the master will no longer be a linkshell member, but the linkshell itself will continue to exist in the merged World.

Linkshell names
If two or more linkshells end up sharing the same name in a merged World, the linkshell with the most active characters will keep its name. For linkshell names that must be changed, the game will automatically add numbers such as "01" and "02" after the name.

In this case only, players may use a GM call to change the linkshell name after the World merge maintenance is completed. Because linkshell names may be rejected due to the use of forbidden words or other reasons, players should submit multiple candidates when making the GM call.
* Only masters can change linkshell names.

Friend Lists/Blacklists
Friend lists and blacklists can be carried over after the merge, but players who leave the merged World to transfer to another World will lose their friend lists and blacklists.

Character Info on the Lodestone
The World name displayed in character pages, diaries, and histories (including finished histories) will change to the new World name after the merge. If the character name changes, that will also be updated.