Letter from the Producer XXXV: Going Alpha

Final Fantasy XIV Producer Naoki Yoshida released another letter today to discuss the game, focusing on the upcoming alpha test and “grand finale” for this version of FFXIV. For starters, Yoshida has assured us that this time, they plan to get things right:

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The alpha test has yet to begin, and the beta is still a bit further down the track. This time around, we want to make sure we’re fully satisfied with the content before sending it out into the big, wide world. Beta won’t start until I’m 100% happy things are ready for that stage, and we won’t go live with the final version until after we’ve had the chance to consider and implement feedback from the beta.

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The development team will be looking for alpha testers soon, and they will put up a tester recruitment site with all of the details. We’ll be sure to update you when that goes live.

As for the grand finale of FFXIV 1.x, Yoshida informs us that the last save maintenance for current character data is scheduled for November 1, 2012, with the downtime of all Worlds starting on November 11. Additionally, at 10:00 AM GMT (2:00 AM PST) on November 11, Yoshida will run a live version of a Letter from the Producer.

All character data will be preserved for when A Realm Reborn goes live, after which the plan is to permanently close the old version of the game. However, that can change depending on player response, as Yoshida mentions that the team could be persuaded to open up the current version again – with players that have an active subscription as of September 30, 2012 playing for free. If you want the current version of FFXIV to remain open after the November maintenance, make your opinion known.

Lastly, the Final Fantasy 25th Anniversary event begins tomorrow, and Yoshida has promised even more FFXIV information for us!

UPDATE: For those interested in FFXIV Playstation 3 details, Famitsu revealed this week that we should expect information about the PS3 release during the Tokyo Game Show, which starts on September 20, 2012.

Source: Letter from the Producer, XXXV (08/30/2012)

I wonder if there will be anything that won't carry over into A Realm Reborn?

There are a number of events and activities in the game that will not be available in 2.0 by simple virtue of the things changing (for example: current achievements for unlocking all the aetherite gates in a given region will no longer be obtainable because all the maps are changing). There's a full list of which achievements will no longer be available (from which you can draw conclusions about which activities will not be available).

As far as player data? All of it--so far as we know--will transfer. That does not mean that it will all have the same value. Given that abilities are being reworked, many classes may play slightly different. Additionally, because numerous gameplay mechanics will be changing, you can expect the value of certain things carrying over to change. Whether this shift in value will be negligible or dramatic is very much up in the air. At this point, though, I'm refraining from spending any great deal of gil in game on any gear since there's no way to know how much stats will change.

Given how so many of the stats currently make almost no god damned sense or have very little appreciable value (things like crit rate +1 or enmity +1 only actually represent a 0.1% observable increase), I expect that a lot of the math going on in the background could change. So while your awesome triple melded belt might totally be worth the few million for the next 50-odd days until they take down the servers, you might wish you had that gil back in your pocket when 2.0 kicks off. Irrelevant for those who haven't joined yet, but it's something to consider for people who are already at endgame. That said, your triple melded belt could also suddenly be worth significantly more. I expect a great deal of re-balancing under the hood to accomodate for a lot of the changes they're rolling out.

Regarding items, it is still uncomfirmed whether or not 'Dated' items (ie, the ones that were to be phased out) will be removed or not. They have mentioned this in the forums as something they want feedback on before making a final decision.