In the old 1.x version of the game, there was no "order of zone progression" as in other MMOs like World of Warcraft or The Old Republic; each starting region has levequests, quests, and monster camps appropriate for players of all levels. There was content appropriate for levels 1-50 in each of the three nations, so it was entirely possible to level all the way to cap without needing to leave one's home region. It wasn't uncommon for various activties (storyline missions, faction levequests, parties, etc) to take a player to Coerthas and Mor Dhona, but strictly in terms of leveling, it wasn't necessary at all.
As this was a particular complaint among many players, all of the zones have been completely redone in A Realm Reborn. All of the regions are broken into smaller unique, more traditional "zones", and provide an intended order of progression as you move through the main story content. Figuring out this order isn't too complicated, as the main storyline and your class's hunting log will both guide you to the proper zones where you can find content appropriate for your level. Here's a rough list:
1-15: Depends on your starting city. Limsa Lominsa: Middle La Noscea, Lower La Noscea, Upper La Noscea; Ul'dah: Central Thanalan, Western Thanalan, Eastern Thanalan; Gridania: Central Shroud, North Shroud, East Shroud
15-20: Dungeons (Sastasha, Tam-Tara Deepcroft, Copperbell Mines); Eastern Thanalan, East Shroud, Upper La Noscea
20-25: South Shroud, East Shroud, Upper La Noscea
25-30: Southern Thanalan, North Shroud
30-35: Eastern La Noscea, Southern Thanalan, South Shroud, Central Shroud
35-40: Coerthas Central Highlands, Eastern La Noscea, Upper La Noscea
40-45: Coerthas Central Highlands, Mor Dhona, Northern Thanalan, Upper La Noscea
45-50: Mor Dhona, Northern Thanalan, Outer La Noscea
Final Fantasy XIV is currently offline; the original version of the game was shut down in late 2012 to prepare for the upcoming remake/update, Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn, which will be released on August 27, 2013. A Realm Reborn will be available as a free upgrade for anyone who purchased the original game.
Since you're already an owner of the original game, you will be able to play A Realm Reborn as long as you have either registered your original FFXIV registration key to your Square-Enix account, or you still have the original registration key in your possession. In the latter case, it will still be possible to register your original key to your account once ARR has been released.
Furthermore, if you already own the Collector's Edition of FFXIV, you'll receive the digital items included in the ARR Collector's Edition for no charge.
From Square-Enix's Lodestone post here:
Players Who Own FFXIV Version 1.0
Players who own FFXIV version 1.0
will not need to purchase the PC version of FFXIV: ARR and will be
able to download the FFXIV: ARR software for free.
- Details on downloading the FFXIV: ARR software will be provided at a later date.
Furthermore, users who have version 1.0 registration codes that have
not yet been registered will be able to register them and play FFXIV:
ARR on PC at the start of the service.
In the meantime, you can still sign up for the ARR beta if you'd like.
Best Answer
Both names are displayed in-game, and both names are required for everything that involves specifying a player's name (for example, sending a /tell, sending a party invite, adding someone to your friends list, etc).
However, through the game settings, each player can choose to cosmetically abbreviate other players' names in certain parts of their user interface to reduce visual clutter. The possible choices are: