http://ffxiv.zam.com/story.html?story=23007Adventurers coming from Vana'diel will be interested in hearing about what bonuses are in store for them if they decide to subscribe to both games.
Reduced Monthly Fee
XI and XIV Developer Hiromichi Tanaka had previously hinted at a reduction in the monthly fee of Final Fantasy XI and ZAM has since learned that current XI subscribers will receive a $5.95 base discount when both XI and XIV are registered to the same Square Enix Account. This discount will not apply during a free trial of either games and will only be offered to subscribers who pay by credit card. The discount will only be applied to one XI account per XIV account.
Users debating playing both games will only have until January 2011 to take advantage of the discount. If you do, your base fee for Final Fantasy XI would only be $7.00 versus $12.95!
Bonus XIV In-Game Item
A second bonus available to subscribers of both games is a special in-game item called Hermes Shoes.
Described as, "Named after an elder god, all but forgotten in the modern age, these gold-tipped shoes have been crafted with the lightest of leathers, making them optimal for use by heralds and noterunners.”, the Hermes Shoes will be available in your inventory at the start of the game, provided that you have an active XI account linked before your character is created and you must have a valid Content ID registered. The account cannot be in a free trial period.
Transfer Your Vana'diel Character Name
A third bonus to players of both worlds is the chance to transfer your character name over to Eorzea. However, due to restrictions on this feature, it's hard to envision many players taking advantage of this bonus.
Transfers will not be applicable with the following instances:
If the FINAL FANTASY XIV playable character is created before an active FINAL FANTASY XI account is linked
If, at the time that the FINAL FANTASY XIV character is created, the Content ID on the linked FINAL FANTASY XI is invalid or has been cancelled
If the linked FINAL FANTASY XI account is within the free trial period
If no FINAL FANTASY XI character exists on the linked FINAL FANTASY XI account
Character names may take up to 24 hours to be available and will automatically take on the character's Vana'diel server name as their surname.
Example:
FINAL FANTASY XI Player Character Name: Mikhalia
FINAL FANTASY XI World Name: Carbuncle
The resulting FINAL FANTASY XIV character name: Mikhalia Carbuncle
With a potential 24-hour wait on this bonus and the inability to choose your own surname, one would think that players would just as soon simply create the character with the name and surname of their choice immediately.
Update: Bonuses for the PlayStation 3 version will be announced at a later time.