Final Fantasy is a diverse series. Each game has its own fans, its own flavour, its own strengths. If there was ever going to be a single, uniting factor though, the soundtracks to Final Fantasy are definitely it. You could listen exclusively to video game tracks or you might throw them on to relax or even to rock out with some nostalgia, but no matter the reason, the FF music is something memorable.

One group of FF fans have combined their passion for music and passion for FF into something great: a Square-Enix tribute band called The World Is Square. The Boston five-piece have put out their first tribute album - No Phoenix Down Can Save You Now - and have been playing live shows all over the place, so you just know they're good.


I had a quick chat with them to find out a little bit more about how the band came to be, what makes them tick and some other quirky facts along the way!

Q: What came first: a love of music or a love of Final Fantasy?
Lauren: Definitely a love of music. We all have pretty varied tastes in music, I'd say music was our all around first passion.

Q: What were the first FFs you guys played?
Josh: The first ones I played were FFVII & Tactics.
Dave: I love Tactics, but mine was FFVI.
Lauren: FFIX, I still love ...

Gobble gobble! Happy thanksgiving to all of our American readers. To everyone else, happy Thursday! EoFF has some fun games going on this week that should be wrapping up very soon that I will link you all to so you can see their outstanding results.

• EoFF continues it's age old tradition of mafia!
• The Fires of the triple triad tournament rage on. The second rounds of the Fire and Firaga Tournaments are underway!
• Our member Sephex continues his livestream of Final Fantasy IV.
• http://home.eyesonff.com/final-fanta...fer-topic.html AKA Forsaken Lover loves forsaken Seifer! Like Seifer? Hate him? Discuss!
• EoFF's coverage of Operation Suzaku's push for FFType-0 continues, with rumors of cancelation? We continue to find out as info is released!
• An EoFF classic has been revived! Ah, behold the power of cheese! Read the hilarious commentary of Cecil and his adventures!

Think something is missing from my weekly reports? Well uh, why didn't you tell me ...

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 ...

Number 4 on our list is the faithful retainer of Doma, a man with the courage and strength of a thousand men. I do of course mean Mr. Thou! ...and by that I mean Cyan Garamonde, of Final Fantasy VI. I would also like to take the opportunity to say FFVI has two representatives in this list, simply because of how astounding the songs are to me. I think this piece is truly underrated among Final Fantasy fans and it saddens me. Let's listen.


It's amazing how this song can convey so many emotions at once. The initial flute and the steady drum beat convey to me a sense of regality. It makes me think of a castle, of Cyan's service to his liege. In comes strings, in a brief transition to the next part, giving you time to pause, and then bam. Out comes the main melody and it hits you. I get such conflicting feelings, that of nobility and honour, but also of loneliness. Then if you listen, you can hear a flute in the background as well, and this short burst is so full of hope.

I know I'm sounding a bit pretentious with this but I truly love this song and it really speaks to me. Cyan perhaps was never one of the major players in ...

[IMG]http://i277.photobucket.com/albums/kk48/nmfloropoulos/1000px-Kain_lean_FMV_DS-1-1.jpg[/IMG]

"All those who challenge me will fall." - Kain Highwind, Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy

Dragoon. Dragon Knight. Lancer. Whatever you choose to call them, the dragoon class is a force to be reckoned with in the Final Fantasy series. ...

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 ...

It's already been eleven weeks of Final Fantasy Fan Arts? Wow, time sure does fly when we're having fun. I am most certainly enjoying holding this showcase for members of our great community to view great fan art, whether the art is from members of our forums, or not. So let's take a look at what we have to offer for this week. Remember to visit the sources to send any compliments to the artists.
...

Sephex has been on a live streaming binge lately, playing countless retro games for our enjoyment. Today he starts one of our favourites - Final Fantasy IV. Things are about to kick off, so click here to join him and watch things unfold.

Cecil will be renamed Sephex, but all the other character names will be up for grabs. Join us in #eoff chat and see yourself as one of your favourite characters! Join us on this magical journey, and don't forget to pack some cheese!

EDIT: The live stream has finished for today! If you couldn't make it, you missed the travels of Sephex, his dragoon pal Futan!, the summoner girl Jiri (that's me!), the wise wizard fOa, the cowardly bard Laddy, and the sexy white mage love interest Proto!

If we're lucky, Sephex might be doing a second session tomorrow, so watch this space!

...

Last year at E3 we saw the beautiful tech demo of Agni's Philosophy. It showed off Square-Enix's powerful new real time graphic engine for their future games called the Luminous Engine. Before they just insisted it was a tech demo to show off the graphics and what they were capable on the next generation's systems. Take a look again at the demo!

Pretty right? Many fans thought that was all there was, some holding out hope for its actual game production. In a recent interview with the CTO of Square Enix, Julien Merceron at Paris Games Week with the french website ffdream.com, let a little information slip about the possible future of Agni's Philosophy.

With the expectation of the next gen consoles making an appearance at E3, ...

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 ...

And I feel fine.

It finally happened. The moon of Dalamud has come crashing down, signalling the end of Final Fantasy XIV 1.x. If you weren't there to witness the of the game yourself, then you're not quite out of luck - I have a video showing the epic climax to 1.x right here. Almost as good as being there, right?
...

Things have been started looking pretty grim for Square Enix in the past few weeks. Dampening the successful updates coming out of Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn are reports that the company posted a half-yearly loss of around US$68 million.

And now, a former Square head honcho has hit them hard.


Hisashi Suzuki, former Square Enix president, slammed the 2003 merger via twitter and said the company lacked vision for the future. Pretty harsh words; will they prove true?

[Sources: Kotaku, siliconera] ...

The finale event for the current version of Final Fantasy XIV will officially commence this weekend: from Saturday, November 10 at 10:00 PM to midnight (PST) / Sunday, November 11 at 6:00 AM to 8:00 AM (GMT). The in-game location is Brittlebark, Mor Dhona. As part of the buildup, it has been announced that the game is now open to all Final Fantasy XIV account holders, regardless of subscription status.

The Lodestone has issued the following “clarion call” to all ready and available warriors to join in at Mor Dhona:

...

Square Enix just released a new video featuring the city-state of Gridania in the alpha version of Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn. Check it out!


The video features characters in the alpha version of ARR running through Gridania. According to a community rep on the official forums:

Were they were successful? Gridania was my starting city, so I have a soft spot for it, and I think it looks great. The revamped look really captures the atmosphere of a wooded town. And a moogle even had a cameo! ...