Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn – Linkshells and Free Companies explained

Welcome back to our weekly FFXIV update. This week, it’s all about the social aspect of the game. If you’ve played other MMOs before, you will know that with your first dungeon ahead, you may be missing others to explore it with. Of course you could shout through the area for half an hour to find others in the same situation – or you could ask people in your Linkshells or Free Company!

Wait, what? Linkshells?

Now here’s a term that not many have heard of. Yes, Linkshells (or LS, if you’re into abbreviations). The system is ancient, but works surprisingly well. You see, Linkshells are great at producing pearls – Linkpearls. And imagine their surprise when people found out that they could communicate through the pearls that the same shell has produced! It became a very convenient and wide-spread communication method.
How do they work? Well, we certainly could theorize about things like quantum entanglement, but in Eorzea, the reason is far easier to deduce: Magic!
You can have up to 8 Linkshells open at any time, representing eight different chat channels. A lot of servers, for instance, have a Linkshell to notify members when Odin or Behemoth, two legendary and rarely spawning enemies, appear. Each Linkshell can have up to 128 members, and there are three ranks:

• Master
  The owner of the Linkshell. The only one who can completely disband the LS. Can promote and demote other members, as well as exile them, if deemed necessary.
• Leader
  Promoted by the Master, they can invite new members into the Linkshell, and exile others.
• Member
  Normal members of a LS.

Chatting in them is easy as well – you will receive all messages from equipped Linkshells (you can set them inactive, if it gets too much), and you can select the LS you want to chat in by simply choosing it in the chat menu. You can also use a textcommand – /linkshell1 or /l1 will switch you to the according chat.
And if that is simply not enough for you, there is always another choice…

The Free Company – Family away from home

What are Free Companies? If you are looking for a well-organized group of adventurers with the same goals as you, joining a Free Company is the way to go.

In the picture above, you can see the status screen of a Free Company. Quite a lot of information, isn’t it? Let me try to explain the basics.
Every Free Company (short: FC) can have up to 512 members, so four times as many as a Linkshell. When a FC is created, it can be given a name, a tag that will be shown next to the member’s names, and a crest.
Free Companies can rise in rank. You start at rank 1, and for every deed that members of the FC accomplish, it will get Company Credits. The maximum rank right now is 8. With each new rank, you unlock new bonuses for the Company. The cherry on top, however, is the House you can get for your Free Company – better start saving for it from the beginning!
Each FC also has a Company Chest. Here, FC members can store items and money for the good of the whole Company.
The FC can also acquire bonuses for Company credits, such as a 5% experience bonus for all FC members for the next 24 hours, among many others! So, being a member in a Free Company can be very rewarding indeed.
There is also a complete rights system, which you can see below:

Especially large FCs and experienced leaders will find themselves at home here – organising your own FC will be a breeze.
Found someone you play well with and think about joining their FC? Just do a right click on them and check out their FC info – you will be able to apply right there. Alternatively, you can always look for just the right FC in our Official Forums! On the World-Forums you will find tons of FCs recruiting new members.
And that’s it, in a nutshell! See you next week!