How to use Final Fantasy XIV’s new Data Center Travel feature
Check-in on old friends.
The best part of MMOs is that you can play with friends. Raiding, farming mounts, and just hanging out and sipping tea are just a few of the many activities you and your friends can get up to in Final Fantasy XIV. If you don’t know FFXIV is the critically acclaimed MMORPG with an expanded free trial which you can play through the entirety of A Realm Reborn and the award-winning Heavensward expansion! The player base is massive and spans nine different data centers, which host several servers to play on. As of July 5 (with patch 6.18) players are now able to take advantage of the new Data Center Travel System!
Here’s how to use the new feature so you can finally go hang out at the Quicksand on Balmung.
How Does Data Center Travel Work?
To start the Date Center Travel process you will choose the character you want to log in as from the Character Selection screen. Click the submenu and you can select the new ‘Visit Another Data Center’ option. You will then select which Data Center and World you want to travel to.
The selection menu for Data Center Travel.
Once you confirm and click ‘Proceed’ you will be returned to the title screen and the process will begin.
Servers are loaded so you may wait a while.
Once Data Center Travel has completed you can then select the Data Center and World you want to log in to.
Which Worlds Can You Visit?
As of now, you can only visit other Data Centers and Worlds from your region. The nine data centers in the game are divided into four regional sections: North America, Europe, Japan, and Oceania. If you are on Primal in North America, you can visit any server on Crystal and Aether. Here is a helpful list of the regions, their data centers, and worlds.
North America
Aether: Adamantoise, Cactuar, Faerie, Gilgamesh, Jenova, Midgardsormr, Sargatanas, Siren
Crystal: Balmung, Brynhildr, Coeurl, Diabalos, Goblin, Malboro, Mateus, Zalera
Primal: Behemoth, Excalibur, Exodus, Famfrit, Hyperion, Lamia, Leviathan, Ultros
Europe
Chaos: Cerberus, Louisoix, Moogle, Omega, Ragnarok, Sagittarius, Spriggan, Phantom
Light: Alpha, Lich, Odin, Phoenix, Raiden, Shiva, Twintania, Zodiark
Japan
Elemental: Aegis, Atomos, Carbuncle, Garuda, Gungnir, Kujata, Ramuh, Tonberry, Typhon, Unicorn
Gaia: Alexander, Bahamut, Durandal, Fenrir, Ifrit, Ridill, Tiamat, Ultima, Valefor, Yojimbo, Zeromus
Mana: Anima, Asura, Belias, Chocobo, Hades, Ixion, Mndragora, Masamune, Pandaemonium, Shinryu, Titan
Oceania
Materia: Bismarck, Ravana, Sephirot, Sophia, Zurvan
Cross-Region Data Center Travel is an oft-requested feature from fans, especially those playing on the new Oceania Data Center who had to leave the regions they had played on to have a better connection to the servers. In a January blog post concerning the Data Center Travel system, Naoki Yoshida said “due in part to differences in-game economy and values. We’ll be paying keen attention to the opinions of players as we consider whether or not to introduce cross-region travel in the future.”
Nothing beats hanging out with your buds in FFXIV.
What are the Data Center Travel restrictions?
Data Center Tavel has the same list of restrictions that the World Visit System has. You won’t be able to access retainers, the Moogle Delivery Service, or the ability to sell anything on the Market Board. In addition, you can’t participate in any Ceremonies of Eternal Bonding, housing lotteries, or Triple Triad tournaments. A full list of all restrictions can be found in the official patch notes.
If you are part of a Free Company or Cross-World Linkshell chat, you won't have access to that while using the Data Center Travel System. Like World Visit you will have the ‘Traveller’ title.
Is Data Center Travel Overloading the Servers?
Looking for group.
Like the World Visit System before it, the launch of the Data Center Travel System has led to some servers being packed. An update to the Lodestone after the launch of Patch 6.18 reads “we are currently experiencing technical difficulties causing the Data Center Travel system to be unavailable. The issue is currently under investigation, and additional information will follow as the situation develops.”
“We have received over 15,000 visit requests per minute and confirmed that the servers are unable to keep up with the high server load.” reads a follow-up post made two hours later. “We will temporarily suspend the Data Center Travel system and gradually open this feature as we monitor the situation.”
For the time being the service is down, but while you are waiting you can do the new Hildibrand quests! The most up-to-date announcements on whether the Data Center Travel System is up or not can be found on the Lodestone.
