Final Fantasy XIV cross-region travel tests have finally arrived for Oceania, the region that needs it the most. For those looking to travel there and those who call it home, there are a few things to note before Warriors of Light from around the world descend on the Materia Data Center.
Launched in 2022, the Materia DC was the solution to significant latency issues for some players in the JP region—specifically those living in Oceania and parts of Southeast Asia. In hopes of a better gaming experience, many gave up their in-game housing, dissolved Free Companies, and left friends behind to start anew.
At the time of writing, Materia’s five servers are underwhelmingly populated, so players must coordinate PvP queues and ask for help in the game’s major cities or Party Finder to complete specific dungeons. Although only one-way, while the gates are open, dungeon and PvP queue times will significantly improve, allowing the region to rely on the Duty Finder feature again. More importantly, Oceania will become a global intersection for the next few months leading up to Dawntrail, leaving its residents with mixed feelings.
How to prep for FFXIV’s OCE regional Data Center transfer
All regions will be able to visit OCE, so be sure to update your language preferences via your ‘Search Info’ and use auto-translated messages if you encounter any language barriers within your party. Remember, English may be a second language for many players you’ll interact with, so please be patient with one another.
Party Finder is a great way to see what’s happening currently. Check the ‘Other’ tab and bring life to some of the RP events players have worked hard to create, which may have their own unique rules or viewpoints compared to other regions. Oceania also has its own Eorzean Aquarium on Sophia, which was featured in Fishfest.
Concerns With Cross-Region Travel
Conversations with players on Materia revealed many hopes and concerns regarding cross-region travel. A Sophia-based player is more worried than relieved. "Personally, I don't feel like cross-region travel will be good. I can see why it would be something people want, especially people from Materia, but I also feel like it'll cause a long period of absolute chaos and possibly even stronger hostility than ever before."
Residents also don't want to feel trapped or restricted to their region while others enjoy the freedom to come and go as they please. Raiders like Snowcloud Servf worry that allowing OCE to travel to other regions could spell the end for the Data Center itself. "If they enable travel out of OCE, I feel we're going to have the Elemental Party Finder problem but way worse given our tiny population. People will travel to the most active DC, leaving our own PF dead. That also ruins things for people who are in OCE for the ping. If SE enables that, then I'll be watching to see if I should transfer out should it become untenable, even though I've been here for two years, and the OCE community is all I've ever known."
Players also state that The Hunt community on Materia could benefit from more conductors but also fear increased griefing and harassment with the influx of players.
Like all regions, OCE is home to several sprouts, and there may be more than one might realize. "We have a lot of sprouts on Materia and a lot of them are over-leveled because of the Road to 80 [buff], so some of them aren't quite used to being synced down in content." Kyrie Overdrive, owner of the Eorzean Aquarium on Sophia, explains. Since the DC currently relies on Party Finder more than Duty Finder, free trial players often need help completing the Crystal Tower series, while many have only seen it once.
Potential Solutions for the Economy
While the official announcement highlights the development team's awareness of cultural differences and the impact of cross-region travel on the market board economy, it didn't specify if Oceania's market board or trade feature would be accessible.
Each region today has its unique circulation of gil. For instance, some of Japan's servers often have prices so low that RMT (Real Money Trading) and bot activity are virtually nonexistent. This could lead to mass buyouts from larger gil circulations, resulting in inflation across worlds.
If Square Enix decided to implement a Cross-Region Market Board Tax, it could be a potential solution to retaining the current balance. When applied in this manner, increased tax rates can also contribute to creating more gil sinks, similar to how Square Enix increased teleportation fees in 6.0.
Without regulation, Oceania could also become a hub for gil trading across NA, EU, OCE, and JP. Limitations on trading gil, item purchases from mannequins, and player retainers should also be considered for the future of cross-region travel.
FFXIV might not be ready for regional Data Center travel
The opportunity to make new friends is always exciting, but this experiment has fans wondering how long it will last. This isn't the first time the FFXIV community has been eager to explore a new destination. The release of the Dynamis DC saw a massive community response, with players from all over parading the streets of Ul’dah, including many stunt doubles of the Scions and other notable characters. I’m looking at you, Fandaniel Hermes.
However, after a while, things became quiet. Too quiet. What needs to be added is an incentive to keep players visiting low-populated areas. Oceania and Dynamis could offer improved EXP rates for visitors to help promote faster queue times. There must be a reason to visit beyond the allure of "the new cool thing."
Many advocate for a region-wide queuing system to address issues like those in Dynamis, but this wouldn't affect OCE's single DC. So, a specific incentive for visitors is essential to sustain visitorship. According to Materia's residents, the introduction of Xbox players has helped, and OCE will act as a load-balancer for Dawntrail queues. But is it enough?
Constructive player feedback on the forums during this testing period will be crucial to what we see in Patch 7.0 and beyond.
