NC published the advanced access server list, and it settles something people have been guessing at. A server holds one faction. There's no Elyos and Asmodian on the same server picking fights in the open world, because they aren't in the same place to start with.
When the client opens you choose a region, then a faction, then a server from what that region offers. Your side is locked in before you've seen a character creation screen.
Twenty servers, ten of them Elyos
Every Elyos server has an Asmodian counterpart. You meet that counterpart in shared PvP space like the Abyss and nowhere else.
- SielIsraphel
- NezekanZikel
- VaizelTriniel
- KaisinelLumiel
- SielIsraphel
- NezekanZikel
- SielIsraphel
- NezekanZikel
- SielIsraphel
- SielIsraphel
The names repeat. There's a Siel in all five regions and they're five different servers, so "I'm on Siel" tells nobody anything until you say which region.
Europe gets four pairs, NA West gets one
That's the part worth staring at. Europe has four times the servers of NA West or Asia, and twice NA East or Latin America.
NC doesn't explain the split, and it's a decision about expected population rather than a promise about it. Still, if you're picking between regions on ping alone, the busier one will have the fuller Abyss and the deeper market.
Worth knowing: these are the servers advanced access opened with. Queues on day one were long enough that NC handed out compensation, and more servers went up within hours, NA East and Europe on the 30th and NA West after midnight. A second wave, the Launch Servers, opens on October 5, and players without a Founder's Pack can join these ones at launch if they're still open.
What you pre-loaded won't start the game
Pre-download went live on Monday, and the files arrive encrypted. They decrypt when advanced access opens, which NC says is not a reinstallation, and how long it takes depends on your machine.
So the download finishing isn't the finish line. Budget time on Wednesday morning for a step you can't do in advance.
The servers go down before they come back up
Advanced access runs from 6am Pacific on Wednesday to 10pm Pacific on Sunday. Then maintenance, then the global launch at 6am Pacific on Monday.
| Pacific | UTC | |
|---|---|---|
| Head start opens | Wed 30th, 6:00 am | 13:00 |
| Head start ends | Sun 4th, 10:00 pm | Mon 5th, 05:00 |
| Global launch | Mon 5th, 6:00 am | 13:00 |
That's eight hours dark between the two. If you've booked Monday off to keep playing, the servers are down for the first part of it.
Agree the region and the side, then worry about the name
Pick the region first, because it can't be undone by choosing differently later and it decides who you'll be playing against. Then the faction, because the server list makes that the same decision. The server name is the last thing that matters, and the only one people argue about.
Transfers open on October 14, within the same faction, and free to begin with. Early Access characters can only move to other Early Access servers, not to the launch ones. So the faction is the choice that sticks, and the region sticks hardest of all.
Server list, schedule and the pre-download note are from NC's own announcements of 28 and 29 September.