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[Q&A] Legacy and non-Legacy: What does it all mean?

Aysun

By Aysun,
in FFXIV Discussion

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Aysun

Aysun

Posted
Posted (edited)

With all the confusion and misconception floating around about "Legacy" and "non-Legacy" I figured I'd make a post explaining what these things mean, and what it means to the servers to be labeled as such.

 

Updated 1/2022. There are NO spoilers other than 2.0/ARR revelations about the Warriors of Light in this post.

 

Full disclosure: I am a Balmung player. I have played XIV since open beta of 1.0 continuously and don't venture into other MMOs. I have no life.

 

What's the difference between Legacy and non-Legacy servers?

Balmung is a "Legacy" server. All it means is that when version 1.0 of the game was discontinued, all characters that were created during 1.0 were saved and then transferred to A Realm Reborn on that server. In 1.0 at one time, Balmung was known as Besaid (it was merged with another server during 1.0 to bolster population).

 

What is the difference between a Legacy server, Legacy character, 1.0 character, the Warriors of Light, and THE Warrior of Light? What are the perks?

  • A Legacy server is one that was around during 1.0. These include the JP (Aegis, Durandal, Gungnir, Masamune, Ridill) and NA/EU (Balmung, Excalibur, Hyperion, Ragnarok, Sargatanas) tagged servers.
  • A Legacy character is a character that is on an account of someone who paid for a 3-month subscription during a period of time in 1.0. They have a special Legacy mark on their character (aka the "Mark of the Twelve" in canon), receive discounted monthly fees, a special chocobo mount, and extra character slots at no charge. There are slight changes to the 2.x storyline for these characters, as they are recognized to have completed certain quests in 1.0. There is no longer a way to get this status.
  • A 1.0 character is a character that was created during 1.0 on an account that does not have legacy status. They have the Legacy mark, but do not receive other perks.
  • "Warriors of Light" are characters who attended the Battle of Carteneau and represent all 1.0 characters. Therefore, all 1.0 characters are Warriors of Light OOCly (which is why we all have the Mark), however ICly most 1.0 RPers are not Warriors of Light due to their own preferences. Luckily, the Mark is toggle-able on/off, so those who don't have it IC can easily turn it off to avoid confusion. More on this later.
  • THE Warrior of Light - that is the Player Character who may or may not have gone to Carteneau depending on your own journey with the game (if you played in up through a certain quest in 1.0 or not), but comes to be called THE Warrior of Light due to his or her actions in the main scenario quests reminding NPCs of the original Warriors of Light at Carteneau.

 

Can new characters be created on Legacy servers?

Absolutely! During the first week of Legacy server testing in phase 3 of beta, SquareEnix limited new character creation on Legacy servers to test the stability of the transferring characters' data. Since then, new character creation has been allowed and encouraged on Legacy servers.

However, Balmung and other high-population servers are often restricted from character creation and transfer due to being congested. 

 

What about the economy on Legacy servers?

High-population servers have very active, competitive markets. Things are expensive. Other times things are undercut into oblivion. The biggest hindrance to players on high-population servers seems to be running out of housing plots. There was a lot of concern about the gil coming from 1.0 messing with the markers during 2.0 launch, but this has long since not been an issue.

 

What about the Warriors of Light again?

The Warriors of Light are a unique aspect to Legacy servers and will add a different sort of flavor to the RP there at times. OOC, all 1.0 characters are Warriors of Light and have the Legacy Mark (Mark of the Twelve) to show it. IC, however, most characters did not go to the Battle of Carteneau and thus will not be Warriors of Light (and thus not have the mark) ICly.

The Warriors of Light were those characters that were at the Battle of Carteneau, as seen in the ARR trailer. They witnessed Bahamut's release from Dalamud and were saved by Louisoux by being "teleported" five years, to the release of ARR, untouched by the passage of time.

In the blink of an eye, a Warrior of Light went from the battle field to the new realm, and walked back to the cities. They are unrecognized by people who knew them in 1.0 due to a "fuzzy memory" effect from the Calamity. Those who knew them before the Calamity and have the Echo are able to recognize them, however. This is only really a concern for those of us who RP'd in 1.0 and need to figure out who from 1.0 will remember us and who won't. It also appears that with time, those who knew them can come to remember even without the Echo.

 

What does having to interact with the Warriors of Light mean to a new character?

Nothing, really, unless you want it to mean something! As you are a new character, you have not met them prior to the Calamity, and therefore you don't have to worry about recognizing or not recognizing them! No player of a Warrior of Light that I know will expect any special treatment or recognition from ANY new player because of their "status."

 

Can I be a Warrior of Light as a new character?

Nothing is stopping you! We're not going to be upset if you decide to write your history to include having gone to the Battle of Carteneau. It is a unique experience and I don't blame anyone for wanting to utilize it in their stories. Just remember to say that you have the mark if you ever are in a situation where it could be seen, so that we know. 

 

And who is THE Warrior of Light, then?

The storyline refers the Player Character as being the Warrior of Light as well. The 1.0 characters who went through the Battle of Carteneau are some sort of 'old heroes' type thing known by commoners as the Warriors of Light, and THE Warrior of Light refers to the Player Character as they continue through the storyline.

 

What's this I hear about special cutscenes for Legacy characters in game?

Characters that are Legacy (and reached a certain point in the 1.0 storyline) receive altered/additional cutscenes at certain points in the storyline. That is because our characters went through the story in 1.0, and therefore know key NPCs in ARR as well. The changes are minor and do not alter the overall feel of the game. Our arrival to our starting city shows our character walking in, rather than the scene with the chocobo cart. Key NPCs have moments of "You're familiar" around our characters, but they can't place us, while others (Minfilia, due to her having the Echo) can. By doing this for Legacy players, SE kept continuity and acknowledged that what we did in 1.0 did happen.

Edited by Aysun
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Magellan

Magellan

Posted
Posted

While this is very informative, and I am appreciative of the amount of effort that went into this, it feels like a soft lobby for Balmung, as Gilgamesh and non-legacy, as well as the purposes behind that server are rarely mentioned :/

 

It does help clear up some confusion though. Good luck to all RPers everywhere, even the ones not on Bal or Gil! Happy storytelling to all!

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Aysun

Aysun

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While this is very informative, and I am appreciative of the amount of effort that went into this, it feels like a soft lobby for Balmung, as Gilgamesh and non-legacy, as well as the purposes behind that server are rarely mentioned :/

 

It does help clear up some confusion though. Good luck to all RPers everywhere, even the ones not on Bal or Gil! Happy storytelling to all!

 

The reasons behind Gilgamesh's formation are in each individual's choice to be there, and why people go there instead of Balmung wasn't really the focus of this. I wanted to clear up what all this Legacy nonsense means and doesn't mean, that's all. Thanks, for the feedback, though!

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Demon Fox

Demon Fox

Posted
Posted

i gave you rep because this cleared up my confusion as to what a legacy server actually is, having not played 1.0 i didn't really take notice of the details, i knew the whole "legacy" thing was people who played 1.0 but that's about it.

 

I like this whole "Warriors of Light" concept but i have to say i do have issues with it. you have given people the option to have a Warrior of Light even though they have not played 1.0 and that's awesome, it's very welcoming to people like me who didn't play 1.0 (though i will not be using it)

 

Saying that though, i have a feeling this will encourage the formation of cliques (Which is something i have heard people are worried about on Balmung but this is the only thing that has made me take that thought pattern) cliques are never good for RP. on the one hand you have...lets call them then "Veteran warrior of light" players, the ones that actually played 1.0 and then on the other you have the warriors of light players that didn't play 1.0.

 

With an MMO there is always a wide variety of people, especially when it comes to an RP environment with so many people interacting all the time, it's only a matter of time before we get a "Veteran warrior of light" player that looks down their noses at the regular ones for not actually earning the right to use that title.

 

this could lead that vet to searching out other vets that feel the same way, which in turn forms a clique that could very well shun the regular warrior of light players. i'm not saying it will happen but it's a possibility. another issue would be the "That guy" situation, you know those people that have played a previous game and there for think they have ultimate domain and knowledge over all newbies and see fit to throw it in their faces with such quotes as "I played THE FIRST GAME so I know more than YOU!"

 

The type of person we look at and say "Don't be that guy..." the problem i see here is that you are giving "That guy" a title to solidify his already god-like feelings over the newbies and when someone like that comes a long (and it's not uncommon) the newbies won't feel so welcomed, same goes for the whole "Vet warriors of light" situation i put down.

 

Don't get me wrong, i personally really like the idea but i think it would need something more than just "played the first game" you need to tack on some rules like "i played the first game and i'm not an asshat"

 

I've run into the types of people i've talked about in pretty much every single MMO i've played (Champions Online, The Secret World, Swtor, Guild wars 2 and so on) they are never very welcoming to new players and from what i have seen, this game is getting a lot of people that are not only new to the universe, but are new to RP in general.

 

I know this whole "Warriors of light" thing seems to be designed to be a small thing but there are those players out there that will take this thing in an entirely different light and expect special treatment.

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Tyriont

Tyriont

Posted
Posted

One thing you might want to add, just to clarify utterly - that tattoo can be toggled so that it doesn't display. So a 1.0 character who was not at the battle - such as Tyriont - can choose not to have it ever display on their character.

 

Otherwise, this is great and much-needed information. I'd also just like to throw out a brief counter to Demon Fox's point. Yes, it's entirely true that people who tend to portray "that one guy" tendencies can see the whole Warrior of Light angle as a 'legitimate' way to lord it over non-WoL players. But the thing about that guy? He's a dick. And I, for one, don't like to play with dicks.

 

So no matter how much they try and 'legitimately' lord it over newer players, that won't help them when they very quickly find that nobody wants to RP with them.

 

Y'know, 'cause they're a dick.

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Magellan

Magellan

Posted
Posted

@Demon Fox: I came into this community pretty jaded from situations similar as yours; the old guard that looked down their noses at newcomers, seemingly intolerant to the point of trying to chase new players off (which boggles my mind)

 

My very first post on the RPC was rather snarky and confrontational. Rather than be chastised, several people reached out to me and tried to get me to understand that this community is different. I've seen nothing but evidence to support that since. Will there be a-holes? Absolutely. Does the majority of this community want to see an RP family grow together and nurture each other regardless of RP experience, sex, age, race, and creed? I 100% think that they do, even if we disagree from time to time.

 

Legacy status doesn't matter. Everyone, from the very first RPer on version 1.0, to our newest member signing up now, has a say in the creation of the future of Balmung. I implicitly trust this community, and what they are trying to achieve. I can't wait to meet them in game.

 

By sharing our view points, and working together, I think we'll avoid any sort of elite warriors of light scenario.

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Aysun

Aysun

Posted
  • Author
Posted

One thing you might want to add, just to clarify utterly - that tattoo can be toggled so that it doesn't display.  So a 1.0 character who was not at the battle - such as Tyriont - can choose not to have it ever display on their character.

 

Done! Thanks!

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rynshun

rynshun

Posted
Posted

Great post.  Should totally be stickied or something

 

I second this request. This is an excellent post!

 

Totally agreed with the above post. If not stickied, at least added to the RP handbook or a links list with a q&a section or something to help people locate it easily.

 

Well done and thank you Aysun for posting this out there!

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Selsix

Selsix

Posted
Posted

Great thread, I'm sure it'll clear up a lot of questions newer players may have.

 

My only ONE little tidbit is:

Can I be a Warrior of Light as a new character?

Nothing is stopping you! We're not going to be upset if you decide to write your history to include having gone to the Battle of Carteneau. It is a unique experience and I don't blame anyone for wanting to utilize it in their stories. Just remember to say that you have the tattoo if you ever are in a situation where it could be seen, so that we know. :)

 

 

I'm not exactly sure about this one. I see a lot of people having a problem with the whole "I'm this even if I'm not" thing. It's kinda like roleplaying a halfbreed, or a job that isn't actually in the game. You can't really prove it so a lot of people will likely see it as a one-dimensional kinda thing that is unimportant except to establish that you are a special snowflake.

 

That aside? Great post, a sticky would definitely prove very prudent.

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Sarantali

Sarantali

Posted
Posted

Great thread, I'm sure it'll clear up a lot of questions newer players may have.

 

My only ONE little tidbit is:

Can I be a Warrior of Light as a new character?

Nothing is stopping you! We're not going to be upset if you decide to write your history to include having gone to the Battle of Carteneau. It is a unique experience and I don't blame anyone for wanting to utilize it in their stories. Just remember to say that you have the tattoo if you ever are in a situation where it could be seen, so that we know. :)

 

 

I'm not exactly sure about this one. I see a lot of people having a problem with the whole "I'm this even if I'm not" thing. It's kinda like roleplaying a halfbreed, or a job that isn't actually in the game. You can't really prove it so a lot of people will likely see it as a one-dimensional kinda thing that is unimportant except to establish that you are a special snowflake.

 

That aside? Great post, a sticky would definitely prove very prudent.

 

As someone who has a little bit of a problem with something that people are not....

 

This is represented by a tattoo. A tattoo which isn't even visible all the time I'm guessing knowing how character clothing models go. This isn't like roleplaying a halfbreed or a job that isn't in the game to me because those could potentially have different animations, different things that should be on your character, etc. That said if someone wanted their job to be "I raise goats" even though there isn't a goat raising job... I don't have to pretend all that hard to imagine that. And, I think that's the rule of reasonability.

 

Someone who's magic involves time stopping and shape shifting? Again, there aren't... powers to represent that and that could be a stretch for people and generally speaking the people who would be concerned for that would comment.

 

This is literally a story and a drawing which may or may not appear on your character's body. I think it's safe to say that pretense is fine ;)

 

Also as far as special snowflake... that's a term for when you ask for something that almost no one else has. Playing a mutant with telepathy in this world could qualify. It's sole purpose - when you're really being a special snowflake - is to try and add something to your character expressly to make them cooler than other people that no one else can do for no other purpose (not to advance story, offer a complication, etc.) than to try and get attention. There's HUGE swaths of people who have this history and really all it amounts to is an interesting point of history. I wouldn't call someone falling to "special snowflake syndrome" when it's something that over 30% of the game players could say they have, too.

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Selsix

Selsix

Posted
Posted

Great thread, I'm sure it'll clear up a lot of questions newer players may have.

 

My only ONE little tidbit is:

Can I be a Warrior of Light as a new character?

Nothing is stopping you! We're not going to be upset if you decide to write your history to include having gone to the Battle of Carteneau. It is a unique experience and I don't blame anyone for wanting to utilize it in their stories. Just remember to say that you have the tattoo if you ever are in a situation where it could be seen, so that we know. :)

 

 

I'm not exactly sure about this one. I see a lot of people having a problem with the whole "I'm this even if I'm not" thing. It's kinda like roleplaying a halfbreed, or a job that isn't actually in the game. You can't really prove it so a lot of people will likely see it as a one-dimensional kinda thing that is unimportant except to establish that you are a special snowflake.

 

That aside? Great post, a sticky would definitely prove very prudent.

 

As someone who has a little bit of a problem with something that people are not....

 

This is represented by a tattoo.  A tattoo which isn't even visible all the time I'm guessing knowing how character clothing models go.  This isn't like roleplaying a halfbreed or a job that isn't in the game to me because those could potentially have different animations, different things that should be on your character, etc.  That said if someone wanted their job to be "I raise goats" even though there isn't a goat raising job... I don't have to pretend all that hard to imagine that.  And, I think that's the rule of reasonability.  

 

Someone who's magic involves time stopping and shape shifting?  Again, there aren't... powers to represent that and that could be a stretch for people and generally speaking the people who would be concerned for that would comment.

 

This is literally a story and a drawing which may or may not appear on your character's body.  I think it's safe to say that pretense is fine ;)

 

Also as far as special snowflake... that's a term for when you ask for something that almost no one else has.  Playing a mutant with telepathy in this world could qualify.  It's sole purpose - when you're really being a special snowflake - is to try and add something to your character expressly to make them cooler than other people that no one else can do for no other purpose (not to advance story, offer a complication, etc.) than to try and get attention.  There's HUGE swaths of people who have this history and really all it amounts to is an interesting point of history.  I wouldn't call someone falling to "special snowflake syndrome" when it's something that over 30% of the game players could say they have, too.

 

Well that's certainly fair enough. Forgive me, I come from an RP community on World of Warcraft where players are much less... Let's say, forgiving. I'm used to seeing people catch flak for RPing something that shouldn't even matter, like the issue mentioned above.

 

I once saw 6 people give a girl a hard time because she was RPing an Orc that lived longer than their "natural" life span. ...Yeah. Glad to see the majority of this community isn't so strict.

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Eva

Eva

Posted
Posted

+1 for this being stickied (even if temporarily).

 

It's honest, concise, clears up some commonly-held misconceptions, and informative. Kudos to Aysun for putting this together.

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lady2beetle

lady2beetle

Posted
Posted

Great thread, I'm sure it'll clear up a lot of questions newer players may have.

 

My only ONE little tidbit is:

Can I be a Warrior of Light as a new character?

Nothing is stopping you! We're not going to be upset if you decide to write your history to include having gone to the Battle of Carteneau. It is a unique experience and I don't blame anyone for wanting to utilize it in their stories. Just remember to say that you have the tattoo if you ever are in a situation where it could be seen, so that we know. :)

 

 

I'm not exactly sure about this one. I see a lot of people having a problem with the whole "I'm this even if I'm not" thing. It's kinda like roleplaying a halfbreed, or a job that isn't actually in the game. You can't really prove it so a lot of people will likely see it as a one-dimensional kinda thing that is unimportant except to establish that you are a special snowflake.

 

That aside? Great post, a sticky would definitely prove very prudent.

 

As someone who has a little bit of a problem with something that people are not....

 

This is represented by a tattoo.  A tattoo which isn't even visible all the time I'm guessing knowing how character clothing models go.  This isn't like roleplaying a halfbreed or a job that isn't in the game to me because those could potentially have different animations, different things that should be on your character, etc.  That said if someone wanted their job to be "I raise goats" even though there isn't a goat raising job... I don't have to pretend all that hard to imagine that.  And, I think that's the rule of reasonability.  

 

Someone who's magic involves time stopping and shape shifting?  Again, there aren't... powers to represent that and that could be a stretch for people and generally speaking the people who would be concerned for that would comment.

 

This is literally a story and a drawing which may or may not appear on your character's body.  I think it's safe to say that pretense is fine ;)

 

Also as far as special snowflake... that's a term for when you ask for something that almost no one else has.  Playing a mutant with telepathy in this world could qualify.  It's sole purpose - when you're really being a special snowflake - is to try and add something to your character expressly to make them cooler than other people that no one else can do for no other purpose (not to advance story, offer a complication, etc.) than to try and get attention.  There's HUGE swaths of people who have this history and really all it amounts to is an interesting point of history.  I wouldn't call someone falling to "special snowflake syndrome" when it's something that over 30% of the game players could say they have, too.

 

Well that's certainly fair enough. Forgive me, I come from an RP community on World of Warcraft where players are much less... Let's say, forgiving. I'm used to seeing people catch flak for RPing something that shouldn't even matter, like the issue mentioned above.

 

I once saw 6 people give a girl a hard time because she was RPing an Orc that lived longer than their "natural" life span. ...Yeah. Glad to see the majority of this community isn't so strict.

 

I agree with Koren's special snowflake synopsis. It seems to me that critical to being a "special snowflake" is being, you know... special. But this is more a matter of new players wanting to think that they belong. They want to be a part of something that the missed out on. There *will* be people who protest who get upset. And they will be those who see that tattoo as a badge of honor that they are proud of. It really depends on how you look at it, but I would argue that the people who are likely to have the most issues with a new player pretending to be a WoL are the ones who aren't RPers. They are the players who are most likely to see that tattoo as proof that they are cool enough to be legacy players. Those of us who are hard core RPers? Who understand that it's all about developing the character into fun, engaging personas? I honestly think we're the ones who will care the least.

 

(That's not to say that all RPers will be cool with it. But when people do get upset, I suspect that it will, at its core, have nothing to do with you RPing that you have a mark on your character's body that doesn't show in game, and everything to do with the fact that you are claiming something they consider their own personal badge of honor. In short... they are the ones trying to be the special snowflake, not you. ;))

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neltu

neltu

Posted
Posted

Yea for all the folks worried about the economy, do keep in mind that all Legacy servers will have this problem and that in a matter of fact, Balmung has some of the best people! Heck, maybe some folks will even help create a balanced economy, better than the other servers.

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