Square Enix: FFXI players may be able to keep their names in FFXIV
Good news for Final Fantasy XI players looking to make the jump into Final Fantasy XIV in 2010 -- you may be able to keep your existing FFXI character names in the upcoming title. At least, you will if Square Enix Producer Hiromichi Tanaka has his way. Tanaka and FFXIV Producer Sage Sundi were interviewed by the PlayStation Blog's Chris Morell at GamesCom 2009, when they were asked if name transfers between the Final Fantasy MMOs will be possible.
Tanaka said, "It hasn't been confirmed yet, but we would like to give incentives to the players. First of all, FFXI has 32 worlds, and they may have the same name across different worlds [...]. However, when we have FFXIV, we still don't know how many worlds there's going to be yet, but players might have the same name if they all move to the same world, so there may be conflicts."
Square Enix's solution, if implemented, is to have a surname system where players can keep their original name but pair it with something else unique in a surname. While the ability to import character names into FFXIV isn't confirmed, it's still good news that Square Enix is considering offering this to their long-time fans in Final Fantasy XI.
[Via Joystiq]
