They allow like-minded players to chat and share information through polls and notices. Final Fantasy XIV is a massive game with an incredibly diverse base of players. There are so many activities to take part in, and a ton of people looking for fellow adventurers to do them with. The game does offer matchmaking for most of the multiplayer activities like dungeons and trials, but these parties are disposable. You might not ever see one of these players ever again. And some players prefer something a bit more personal. Fellowships give players a way to stay in touch and form groups, without being in the same Free Company or world.
Fellowships vs. Free Companies: What’s The Difference?
Fellowships are way more casual in nature. Your character can only be in one Free Company at a time, but they can be in up to ten Fellowships in total. Fellowships are basically extra social networks that you can join alongside your Free Company, that can still be tailored to specific activities. And Fellowships aren’t limited by which world server you’re playing on. Their membership can encompass any number of different worlds, as long as they’re all in the same data center. If you’ve got friends who play FFXIV on different Free Companies or worlds, Fellowships are the way to bring them all together in one place. Fellowships don’t have some of the big features that Free Companies do. They don’t have banks, they can’t purchase estates, and they can’t offer everyone buffs in the form of Company Actions. So the emphasis is purely on the social side of things, which makes them potentially even better for networking, finding allies, or buying materials without going through the market board. It might be that your main focus is clearing high-end content, for example – in which case your Free Company will probably be built around that. But sometimes you’ll want to relax and do something different like crafting, gathering, or chasing glamour items, and your FC won’t have the social resources to help. This is where Fellowships usually come in, facilitating in-depth conversation with like-minded players. And Fellowships can support up to 1,000 members, where Free Companies can only accept 512, allowing for some huge communities! Members can also use the message board (so questions or important information doesn’t get lost in the chat window), create polls, and post notifications to everyone in the group.
Growing With Fellowships
When I first started playing FFXIV, I joined up with a great social Free Company, meeting some great people in my time there. Eventually I had enough real-life friends playing that the time inevitably came to start our FCs, and the Fellowship feature allowed us all to stay in touch and help each other without being in the same FC. There are Fellowships for in-game activities, for different fandoms outside of the game, or even just for making friends. They can be extraordinarily useful for a huge range of purposes.
What If I’m Playing The Free Trial?
Good news! While free trial players are unable to join Free Companies, they can join Fellowships. There are still some restrictions that apply to them, though. Free players can’t create Fellowships of their own, or be given admin roles within them. They also won’t be able to post on the message board until they’ve been a member of the Fellowship for fourteen days. Besides those limitations, free trial members will have full access to the Fellowship’s features and chat. If you’re taking some time to figure out whether or not you want to subscribe, Fellowships can give you a taste of the Free Company experience.
