When you first load up Final Fantasy XIV, you'll be tasked with finding a World and Data Center for your character to play on. The options may seem endless when choosing one, but you'll still want to pick one that suits your playstyle and personal requirements.

Depending on the server, players may not be able to create a character on some Data Centers. For example, at the time of writing, the entire Crystal Data Center is considered overloaded, meaning that players cannot create characters on Crystal. They must choose one of the other three North American Data Centers.

Each datacenter has a vibe, but whichever one you choose, you’ll find players that fit your playstyle. For example, in the North American datacenters, Aether is seen as a place where more hardcore players can gather, while Crystal is for more casual players who enjoy roleplaying or the social scene.

Now that Data Center travel is a thing, players don’t have to weigh their options as much as they used to. As long as it’s within the same region, players can jump into Data Centers if the world they’re traveling to isn’t maximized with players online. That likely won’t be an issue unless patches come out, with more players returning to finish the story and Data Center travel grinding to a near halt. Wait times are typically somewhere between one and three minutes, but wait times can stretch to 10 minutes or more when new updates and expansions come out.