Last month after the finale of Final Fantasy XIV 1.x and sever shutdown, the worlds were brought back up so that people could still play on the 1.x servers while waiting for the highly anticipated relaunch of Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn (albeit with everything done after that point not brought over to ARR). There was one condition: that 30% of the active subscribers log in every month. If not enough people played the game, the servers would be brought back down again.

The Lodestone is now reporting that all Final Fantasy XIV 1.x worlds will be shut down on December 31, 2012 at 6:59 AM PST (2:59 PM GMT), this time apparently for good. No reason was stated, but a link was posted for more details to the previous update that discussed the aforementioned conditions for the servers to stay up. It looks like not enough people logged on over the last month, and so the servers are being shut down again.

So be sure to log in and have fun while you can, and say goodbye for FFXIV 1.0, ...

The developer’s blog for Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn has received a few updates recently, but today’s update is the coolest so far. Fernehalwes, the pseudonymous updater of the developer’s blog, first reminded us of previously leaked concept art of an armor set for chocobos:


If you recall from previous updates, players will be able to equip chocobos in ARR with armor sets. Well the design for this particular armor set is well underway, and we have been treated with a picture of the design-in-progress, which looks even scarier than the concept art.


The blog entry also implied that this armor set was designed after Behemoth. No surprise there! Behemoths were confirmed to appear in A Realm Reborn in a trailer released over the summer.

So how terrified would you be to see that running down on you in game? ...

Amid rumors that layoffs had occurred at Square-Enix’s Los Angeles office and how they might impact current MMO games, SE’s Senior Director of Public Relations, Riley Brennan, confirmed yesterday that layoffs did occur, but that customers will not see any negative impact. Brennan emphasized that the decision to lay off some unknown number of employees “will not have any impact on the operations of MMO titles,” and that the upcoming launch of Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn will not be affected. It’s currently unknown what specific departments lost employees, but Brennan’s assurances seemed to apply only to the MMO departments.

The layoffs seem to corroborate last week’s report about the disastrous original launch of Final Fantasy XIV and its continued financial impact on Square-Enix. Hopefully the upcoming relaunch of Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn will allow the company to bounce back so that this trend does not continue.

Source: Massively. ...

Today, Square-Enix released a new video preview of the gameplay in Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn’s alpha phase. This one focuses on showing off the new gathering and crafting interfaces.


The video starts with gathering. The character is presented with a list of the items that can be gathered, as well as the chances of success for each. You simply select one at a time until the resource is used up.

Then the video cuts to a crafter. The crafter’s log lists all of the available recipes. You simply click on the recipe you want, and then are then given the option of using certain skills to complete the item. Each skill impacts the item’s development differently, and the item must be completed before its durability runs out.

Gathering looks a bit tedious, but what else is new? It would be nice to have a feature where you could select one item for the gathering process to repeat automatically (without having to click again and again on the same thing you want to ...

Recently, Final Fantasy XIV Producer Naoki Yoshida admitted that another failure like FFXIV’s original launch could doom the company. This was not just hyperbole. A recent financial report from Square-Enix only confirms Yoshi-P's prediction, and this one is straight from SE’s Chief Financial Officer, Yosuke Matsuda. Despite being released over two years ago, the financial impact of FFXIV’s horrific failure are still being felt throughout the entire company.

Final Fantasy XIV was meant to build off of the huge success of Final Fantasy XI (the most financially successful Final Fantasy ever), and be a constant and safe source of income. In short: it wasn’t. Instead, FFXIV’s original failure meant that MMO as a category of games for SE is still yielding no money and operating at a loss -- which has resulted in a “negative chain of events” that impacted the entire company. Matsuda pointed to the delay in development of new HD games as just one example of this impact, and elsewhere in the report it’s noted that Square-Enix’s ...

Square-Enix just released some new concept art for Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn, featuring Bahamut. Check out this badass:


There’s also concept art for Bahamut-related gear: a wicked looking helmet, a weapon, and some head pieces.


Now I want them all. ...

Today, Square-Enix released a new gameplay video for Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn, this one featuring quests and combat. Check it out below!


Throughout the video, you see a character accepting quests and returning with them completed, which gives us a good look into the new quest system and UI. Everything looks more smooth and streamlined than the old version, including the dialogue. There’s the Duty List on the much-less-cluttered side of the screen where you can simply click and be shown a separate map with your quest targets. The screen looks cleaner, and navigating the options is quicker and easier.

The video also shows instances of characters in combat against multiple foes. Unlike the original combat, the player is not simply sitting there the majority of the time. Instead, the player is constantly clicking and targeting, waiting only for abilities/spells to recharge, which takes much less time. New changes include weaponskills being usable to initiate a battle, and ...

We're all aware of the fact that Final Fantasy XIV bombed at release. It was catastrophic, up there with the crash caused by The Spirits Within. In fact, Naoki Yoshida says that another flop like it would probably destroy the company. With a mountain of pressure on Yoshida, it's comforting to see the constant updates through the Letters from the Producer as well as the new dev blog for A Realm Reborn. These updates are allaying fears and showing fans that the game is in good hands.

So what went wrong the first time? Yoshida puts it down to the lack of vision shown by the original development team. Their goal to just create a game that was different to Final Fantasy XI was a misstep, and one which put the team in a bad position. Despite the poor reception Final Fantasy XIV received during Beta testing, the game was pushed through to be released on time. All in all, it was a bit of a mess.

...

Naoki Yoshida has announced a new developer’s blog for Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn. The first and as of now only post teases some future behind the scenes info as well as other rare inside scoops of FFXIV’s development. Future updates of the blog, according to Yoshi-P, will be done primarily by the project managers, meaning we should see more detailed, technical information, along with all the pretty screenshots.

In closing, the inaugural blog entry posted some artwork of a baby chocobo and what Yoshi-P referred to as a “super-deformed bomb.”


Also: as mentioned in our last update, the last stage of Alpha has begun today, with another round of alpha tester invites being sent out internationally. Good luck to all of those who applied! ...

The latest Letter from the Producer went live today. Unfortunately, there are no pretty pictures this time around. The discussion focuses almost exclusively on the progress and future for alpha testing. You can read the whole letter here.

The main takeaways from the article are as follows:

• We are currently in phase three of the alpha which will end December 2.
• The final alpha phase begins December 3. Thousands of new applicants are expected to be invited to join.
• Approximately 1/4 Japanese applicants, 1/6 North American applicants, and 1/3 European applicants have been accepted so far.
• Phase four will see the addition of a third world for alpha testing and will involve stress tests for server mergers. New alpha testers are encouraged to join the new server (existing servers are Chocobo and Moogle).
• Each world is designed to allow up to 5,000 simultaneous connections.
• A Realm Reborn features approximately 40 areas, each of which can support approximately 1,000 active players at a time.
• Alpha

...

Last time, we were taken on a tour of Gridania. This time, the development team for Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn has given us a look at the forested area that surrounds the city-state: the Black Shroud.


The environment looks great, as usual, and you can tell they’ve been really working on immersion. You see the characters jumping over fences, climbing on top of rocks, standing next to a waterfall, and exploring every aspect of the environment. We also get to see an aetheryte camp, which looks pretty cool, and it also has a moogle hot air balloon. At the end, one of the characters explores an underground dungeon area, where the lighting really helps set the atmosphere.

An important feature in this video is that for the first time we see a previously discussed change in action: the world map will only reveal itself by your character actually exploring it. This is to encourage player exploration and discovery of little known parts of the world. Currently this revealing of the map seems ...

Yoshi-P announced a while ago that the 1.x servers will come back online after the finale, with all data simply unsaved for A Realm Reborn. And it has just been disclosed that this will happen… tomorrow! Well, at midnight PST on November 21, to be exact (8 AM GMT).

The game content will revert to patch 1.23b (released on September 13, 2012) but some bonus content from the finale mini-patches will remain in effect, including an increase in the anima recovery rate, the gear repair cost reduction to 1 gil, the chance of obtaining a special weapon on login from an inn room, and certain relaxed quest requirements.

As was previously reported, if the login numbers for 1.x drop down below 30% of active subscribers, the servers will be shut down again, and the numbers will be recalculated every month. So if you’re interested, you should make sure to login every month.

Source: FINAL FANTASY XIV, The Lodestone ...

In the down time between the epic finale of Final Fantasy XIV and the opening of A Realm Reborn, we're going to be bringing you all the latest news and updates on how things are progressing. But, judging from what we've seen so far, it's shaping up to be a much tighter experience. Join us here and share what you're looking forward to most!


For me, the exploring of the newly created world ranks very high up in my list. I really love how they've implemented the fog of war so that you have to explore to unveil the map. Can't wait to die many times over while trying to get to awkward corners. xD

Beyond that, housing is a massive thing for me - particularly LS housing rather than personal housing. I want to make our LS the most awesome place there ever was. Probably won't be the best place on the server or whatever, but dammit, it'll be ours, and that makes it amazing in it's own right.

Of course, another massive ...

After last night’s finale, Final Fantasy XIV producer Naoki Yoshida sat down on a live Youtube video feed to answer some player questions about A Realm Reborn. The official video is not up yet, but it was all in Japanese anyway; instead, you can find a full list of the questions and answers here. Here are some highlights:

With regards to the ongoing development, the first stage of the alpha test has been completed, and if all things go according to plan, the global alpha test will start on November 26, 2012. According to Yoshi-P, this development is behind schedule, but quality is the first concern above rushing to get things done, which I would certainly hope so after the original debacle. Currently, the hope is that the beta test will start in late January/early February. A new development roadmap will be released in late November/early December.

Yoshi-P also detailed more information about two new dungeons: the Crystal Tower and the Great Labyrinth of Bahamut (the latter of whom was a highlight of the 1.x finale!). The Crystal Tower will be a raid encompassing an alliance, which ...