When Final Fantasy XIV‘s patch 5.1 was released, it added a new feature called “fellowships.”
They allow players to communicate and exchange information via polls and notices.
Players in Final Fantasy XIV come from a wide range of backgrounds and cultures, making it a truly global experience.
So many activities are available, and there are a lot of people looking for other adventurers to join in on the fun.
While the majority of the game’s multiplayer activities, such as dungeons and trials, do offer matchmaking, these parties aren’t permanent. It’s possible that you’ll never see these players again.
Some players, on the other hand, prefer a more intimate setting.
In order to keep in touch and form groups without being in the same free company or world, fellowships were introduced.
What Is the Difference Between Fellowships and Free Companies?
Fellowships are much more laid-back.
Your character can only be in one Free Company at a time, but they can be in up to ten Fellowships altogether.
Fellowships are basically extra social networks that you can join in addition to your Free Company. They can still be tailored to specific activities.
And you can have a Fellowship no matter what world server you play on. As long as all of the worlds are in the same data center, they can belong to any number of them.
Fellowships are a way to bring together all of your FFXIV friends who play on different Free Companies or worlds.
Fellowships lack some of the most important things that Free Companies have. They don’t have banks, can’t buy estates, and can’t use Company Actions to make everyone stronger.
So the focus is only on the social side, which could make them even better for networking, finding allies, or buying materials without going through the market board.
For example, your main goal might be to clear high-end content. In that case, your Free Company will likely be built around that.
But sometimes you’ll want to relax and do something different, like crafting, gathering, or looking for glamour items, and your FC won’t have the social resources to help you.
Fellowships usually come in at this point, making it easier to talk in-depth with other players who have similar goals.
Fellowships can have up to 1,000 members, while Free Companies can only have 512 members. This makes it possible for some very large communities to exist.
Members can also use the message board (so questions or important information don’t get lost in the chat window), make polls, and send messages to everyone in the group.
Growing With Fellowships
When I initially started playing Final Fantasy XIV, I joined a friendly Free Company and met some wonderful people.
In the end, I had a large enough group of real-life friends playing that we had to form our own FCs, and the Fellowship function allowed us to communicate and assist one another even though we weren’t in the same FC.
There are Fellowships for in-game activities, for fandoms outside of the game, or even just to meet new people and have fun together.
They have a wide variety of applications and can be extremely beneficial.
What Happens if I’m Using the Trial Version?
It’s all good! Free trial participants are unable to join Free Corporations, however, they can join Fellowships in place of this constraint.
It’s not all bad, but there are a few limitations.
Free players are not allowed to form Fellowships of their own, nor are they allowed to be given administrative duties in Fellowships they are a part of.
Once they have been in the Fellowship for fourteen days, they will also be able to post on the message board.
The Fellowship’s features and discussions are available to free trial users without any restrictions.
Fellowships can give you a taste of what it’s like to be a member of Free Company while you’re still deciding whether or not to join.
