[11/09] Important details in FFXIV’s 2012 schedule

[C i d]

If you’re a current player of Final Fantasy XIV, you may be aware that Autumn 2012 is going to be a season of deadlines for the game. Billing will cease at the end of this month, and October will mean a free month of play — but come November 1st, character data will freeze to be transfered over to A Realm Reborn. Ten days later Final Fantasy XIV 1.0 will be shut down for good, and Yoshi-P will address fans for the future of the MMO.


Here’s a look at the current schedule:


September 29, 2012 (Saturday, 11:59 p.m. PDT)
- Final Fantasy XIV billing procedures will be suspended until the launch of A Realm Reborn.
- No further account registrations will be accepted until the launch of A Realm Reborn.
- No unused special item codes may be registered until the launch of A Realm Reborn.
- The simultaneous subscription bonuses for Final Fantasy XI and Final Fantasy XIV will be terminated.
(Those wanting to get the Hermes Shoes bonus item for FFXIV will need to claim this by Sep. 29th.)


November 1, 2012 (Thursday)
- Character data (including in-game progress) will not be saved after this date.


November 11, 2012 (Sunday, 0:00 a.m. PST)
- Final Fantasy XIV service will be shut down at this time.
- Letter from the Producer LIVE Part III webcast. (2:00am PDT)


Source: Final Fantasy Network

 

[Martel]

November 12th
- Square Enix issue public apology for messing up new service and ask fans to "please be patient" whilst they try and figure out what they've done wrong with this game THIS time around.

Whenever A Realm Reborn is launched
- Multiple accounts prove to be incompatible for some unknown reason with new service.

I can see something going wrong somewhere down the line. The FFXIV train is one that has been derailed so many times now that it's hard to believe they'll pull all this off without a hitch.

That's a pretty big gap between the Character Data and Shut Down times, as well. I don't play FFXIV, and unless they get their act together for the PS3 release I doubt I ever will, but I'd expect them to cut down that gap by a few days, if I were of a mind to care.

 

[Abstract Debauchery]

To be honest, I can't see them keeping the game up much longer. FFXI still has quite a large fanbase, and a lot of them don't like FFXIV compared to it. With FFXI sitll being updated and even having another expansion coming out, I don't see them leaving anytime soon. Not only that, the Pay to Play model of MMO gaming is becoming a thing of the past. It makes playing MMOs feel more like a chore. You don't really play them for fun anymore. You play them because if you don't, you feel like you just blew $15 for that month.

Not only that, you have TERA that's about to go free to play.
Star Wars: The Old Republic is about to go free to play.
Guild Wars 2 was made to be free to play, but unlike ToR, it succeeded in delivering what they promised.

Why would you want to pay $15 a month for a game that failed once and will probably fail again when you have something like Guild Wars 2?

I hope they can fix their game, and I hope they can manage to get things working. It has a lot of good concepts there; they just failed to deliver them. At least it has an amazing soundtrack. (I'm not bullshitting, FFXIV has one of the best soundtracks in the series, but it's wasted on this game.)

 

[Ohri-Jin]

‘Initial details’ on Final Fantasy XIV PS3 in October
Producer answers user questions in latest live chat.

September 14, 2012 / 11:48 AM EDT / Sal Romano (@salromano)

This might be a bit confusing. Square Enix previously said it will share details on the PlayStation 3 version of Final Fantasy XIV at the Tokyo Game Show next week. But according to producer Naoki Yoshida, speaking in the game’s latest “Letter from the Producer” broadcast, “initial information” on the PlayStation 3 version won’t come out until mid-October.

“We’ll be releasing the initial information [on the PS3 version] around mid-October,” he said. “I believe we’ll have screenshots first, but please hang in there! The actual video is pretty (while looking at the Windows version screen), but the quality is a bit messed up in the broadcast.”
Yoshida also touched upon the game’s new housing system.

“With the new housing system, there are multiple themes such as “wilderness,” “sea,” and “forest.” Players will purchase the land and also the right to own a house. Once you build a house, players will be able to create their unique house by selecting from a list of parts. Also, players will be able to place furniture created by Disciples of the Hand and build a chocobo farm in their yard.

“The housing system will have updates dedicated specifically to housing. I’m sure players will really enjoy the housing system. Additionally, objects within the house can be placed via drag & drop (including the PS3 version).

“Lastly, there are plans to implement huge spaces of land that cost a fortune!”

Read the full Q&A transcript, which discusses the game’s crafting and gathering systems as well as other topics, here.

Read More: PC, PlayStation 3, Final Fantasy XIV, MMORPG, Naoki Yoshida, RPG, Square Enix


Source - http://gematsu.com/2012/09/initial-details-on-final-fantasy-xiv-ps3-in-october

 

[Nocturne]

I hope they keep it subscription based. Id rather pay a set amount every month instead of the risk of the game sucking with F2P and price gouging.

 

[HolyDragoon]

At the moment there is no intent to implement F2P. They have toyed with the idea of a cosmetic store for things like character hairstyle changes or such things in order to generate any possible needed extra income.

With the effort they already made to revamp the subscription model for XIV: ARR, I see no chance in subs disappearing anytime soon. On the plus side if I score a Beta (and depending on NDA), I'll be sure to post my experiences.

Overall I am getting a vibe that this new version will be a lot more modern MMO friendly, borrowing ideas from WoW, Rift, GW, Warhammer, LOTR, etc. They confirmed regional servers as well, so any leftover lag based on global location will be eliminated. (In addition to the redo of the network code from scratch they already are doing).

Where XIV: ARR will continue to be different is in its' Primal system, and FF-esque storyline with cut-scenes. PvE will be the main focus, with PvP being a part of the theme-park for those MMO players out there.

 

[Razberry Knight]

I xant really see it going badly but i suppose it can even with all the new features. Granted it will take time and they will add more.

 

[Master Cat]

Overall I am getting a vibe that this new version will be a lot more modern MMO friendly, borrowing ideas from WoW, Rift, GW, Warhammer, LOTR, etc. They confirmed regional servers as well, so any leftover lag based on global location will be eliminated. (In addition to the redo of the network code from scratch they already are doing).

Wait, the servers are gonna be regional? Meaning that the chance of a U.S. player playing with Japanese players is pretty slim? :/ I guess it's a good way to control the lag, but I think it compromises in the diversity of parties, y'know? On the other hand, it may be easier to find parties because there wouldn't be any time difference issues... Unless I'm taking the concept of "regional servers" out of context?

 

[Ohri-Jin]

HolyDragoon

Im wondering the same thing. Is it going to be region locked or can I choose usa server etc.?
I hate playing with dutch ppl tht is too lame. I need foreign ppl!!!

Otherwise major buzzkill for me.

 

[Master Cat]

Ohri-Jin - It sounds like players will have a choice between various regional servers; North America, Europe, Japan, etc. So, if you wanna decrease lag, you can choose a server that's located within your region. However, you're also free to choose a servers outside of your region if you want.

I kinda like this idea 'cause lag was a big issue for me when I played it a few months ago, but I'm wondering what the major lag difference would be && whether or not it'd be worthwhile joining an overseas server (at least in my case).

Source: http://www.mmorpg.com/discussion2.cfm/post/5298998

 

[HolyDragoon]

I'll chime back in here as Chanteru is right:

They are setting up servers in EU and NA in addition to JP.
Current players will exist on the servers that they are now. They will not be allowed to server transfer for a set time period in order to prevent market manipulation.
Any player creating a NEW character may join ANY region's servers. The only limitation to new players will be joining an old server that is already deemed full.

Knowing how SE handles "full" servers, at launch the current servers will probably be listed as full.

In summary, you will have the option of playing anywhere, restricted by full servers only. I for one am rolling a new character to experience what the differences might be. SE is claiming that lag has been greatly reduced across the board regardless of what server you are on. My current character will stay my main though since I have a pile of friends on that server.

On a side note, in an effort to rebalance the economy they are reducing everyone's gil to 1/10th of it's current value. Then doing the same thing to all NPC related items such as repairs, chocobo rentals, NPC gear purchasing etc. Buying power should be roughly the same due to the cut across the board, but it gives newer people a chance to get into the game if they join an existing server.

 

[Master Cat]

HolyDragoon - Which server are you currently on?

Technically, I have a character already on the Sarantagas (sp) server. I just deactivated my account for a bit so I can wait until I can play the game more fluidly without the constant lag from my laptop (hopefully when the PS3 version releases!)

I'm wondering: Should I create another character on a new server when A Realm Reborn releases? Maybe the newer servers will be full of more active players since they will all be new, y'know? && some of the older "full" servers may technically not be full if some of the players stopped logging on... I'd wanna keep my same character name though.

 

[HolyDragoon]

I'd recommend doing so, if you're not that invested into a character it would be worthwhile to roll a new character on a server that is full of people in a similar situation. As for character names, they are server dependent. Assuming someone does not use your name on another server, you would be fine to use the same name.
I want to experience the clean slate ARR experience from day 1 because so much is changing that is why I'm rolling a 2nd character.

Remember in 2.0 it will be $12.99 for 1 character per server. $14.99 for 8 characters per server. The perk of joining an existing server is that you will guarantee that you can play with people across the globe, but you will have to deal with a large level 50 population. That can be tough if you don't have a linkshell willing to support its' members.

Oh and I am on Gungnir. It has a heavier Japanese player base, moderate NA base, and low EU base. Even if I don't speak Japanese, I won't be moving my main character. I enjoy a global playerbase, and it is one of the big reasons I don't play any other MMOs. The experience of meeting people globally quite enjoyable, even if sometimes there is a language barrier. Now I've ranted off-topic. =)

 

[Master Cat]

Ohh, thank you for the info! I wouldn't wanna join a server that has too many strong players already, although I don't mind having experienced players around to mentor me... lol. && it's great that I can still use my same username (I'm sure no one else has used it before or plans on using it).

I like the idea of having a "global" server with players from different regions, but if those servers have uber strong && leveled players... :/ I guess I'd have to settle for one of the newer servers within a specific region.

Also, I hope that the newer servers will have cool names! Or maybe they can bring back the older names from when they combined servers? Like Linblum + [I forgot, lol] = Sarantagas (sp). So, maybe they could "revive" Linblum?