Final Fantasy XIV's Oceania Server Unites Australian Community

Australia's Final Fantasy XIV community has undergone a significant transformation since the launch of the Oceania data centre in January 2022. The new server has united players across the region, providing a smoother and more enjoyable gaming experience.

Prior to the Oceania server's arrival, Australian players faced challenges playing on Asian, American, or European servers. Those on the Asia server struggled to find fellow English speakers to tackle the game's notorious super-bosses. Players on American servers found the in-game Golden Saucer amusement park sparsely populated during twilight hours in their time zone. Meanwhile, those on the Europe server experienced "input lag" that delayed gameplay actions, risking failed quests and disappointed teammates.

Lin, a Melbourne-based Final Fantasy XIV community organiser, was astonished by the scale of the local player base after the Oceania server launch. "When they finally released a server where our ping [internet connection latency speed] was manageable, we were like, 'whoa, there's thousands of people here'," they said. "It took 30 minutes just to get into the queue. You no longer had to guess if we could speak the same language or understand the same lingo."

Pat, another Melbourne community organiser, was drawn to Final Fantasy XIV due to the series' legacy. "I love the Final Fantasy series. That's the one I grew up with," they said.

The Final Fantasy series has sold over 212 million copies. The game's community primarily exists online, with the Limsa Extreme organisation hosting in-game events, including award shows, theatre productions, and musicals.

The annual Final Fantasy XIV community meet-up at PAX Australia is a highlight of the calendar. This year's event, held at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre, was standing room only, with attendees from across Oceania. Some players cosplayed as their game characters, including a Moogle and several wearing green sprout headbands indicating new players.

Two popular Final Fantasy developers, localiser Michael-Christopher Koji Fox and global community producer Toshio Murouchi, attended the event. Murouchi was greeted with enthusiastic cheers, barely getting to say "Hey" before being drowned out.

Mark Withers, a Newcastle-based streamer and event organiser, said, "I'm still a bit starstruck." He added that it's encouraging to be recognised and seen by the game's developers.

Koji Fox discussed the localisation process, involving a global team, including two longstanding Australian translators. The team is responsible for localising a game script that's now twice the length of the Bible.

The Australian influence on the series dates back to the early 1990s when Australian translator Richard Honeywood founded Square Enix's localisation team. Koji Fox, hired by Honeywood, noted that the medium's transition to spoken dialogue has reduced some overt Australian influences.

Koji Fox said, "The one thing that we don't let them do is do anything that requires rhyming, because Australian words don't rhyme [with the game's medieval style of British English]." He recalled an instance where they tried to rhyme "hyper" and "paper" but ended up with "hypa" and "paipa".

Ben Wu, a Perth-based player, attended the Final Fantasy XIV Fan Festival in Berlin, where his team, Team Fish, took first place in a regional championship tournament. Wu attributed their success partly to the Oceania server's arrival, which allowed them to practise against North American and Japanese teams, hiding their strategy from European teams.

Murouchi agreed that Final Fantasy XIV's sense of player ownership is crucial, saying, "Players tend to feel Final Fantasy XIV as their own game. It's not an import from Japan: it's your game."