Surnames may help FFXI-FFXIV character name transfer, says Tanaka

Surnames may be introduced help character name transfers between Final Fantasy XI and Final Fantasy XIV, producer Hironichi Tanaka told VG247 in Cologne two weeks ago.

"We're trying to find a way so people can transfer their names to FFXIV. However, for FFXI we had 32 worlds, and each character had to have a unique name in each world, so if they move to XIV there might be a conflict, so what we're trying to introduce is surnames for the characters so people can keep their original names but add something else to it to make it more unique," said the developer.

Tanaka also told us that FFXIV isn't Final Fantasy XI-2, but steps are being taken to ensure vets from the older MMO can make an easy transition, should they wish.

"FFXIV is not going to be like the second version of FFXI - we're trying to make a totally new game," he said.

"However, to help the people that are playing FFXI, we're introducing similar races... so they won't feel total strangers to the game."

FFXIV's out for PS3 and PC in 2010.