Dalamud on collision course

[Jiro]

As the preparation for Final Fantasy XIV's final save maintenance begins, Square Enix have revealed a fun little easter egg. That 'moon' you see up in the sky, casting an ominous shadow over Eorzea, is Dalamud. And it's set for a collision.

The final save maintenance is scheduled between 2pm and 10pm on October 31 PDT, so nothing after that will count towards your characters in A Realm Reborn. But the game will be playable up until November 11, at which point Dalamud is expected to crash into Eorzea and - presumably - wipe everything out!

Make sure you're a part of this memorable moment! Robert Peeler, community manager at Square Enix NA has invited everyone to join him and fellow Square Enix employees in these final moments. It certainly will be a climax to remember!

Following the end of Final Fantasy XIV 1.x, producer/director Naoki Yoshida will be hosting a Letter from the Producer LIVE Part IV, so keep tuned here for comments and coverage of that.

Also don't forget that the Alpha for A Realm Reborn has already kicked off, as well as a showcase of the swanky new character creation mode. The video below even shows it in action!

[Quindiana Jones]

His name's Robert Peeler? That's brilliant.

[Raistlin]

I've been slacking off on actually playing FFXIV due to work and other real life busyness, but I'm going to have to check out the grand finale Yoshi-P teased earlier.

[Ouch!]

I like the assumption that people didn't understand that the GIANT RED BALL OF DEATH in the sky inching closer and closer with every version update for the past few months is actually Dalamud. >_>

[nirojan]

So this might be a silly question, but for those of us who bought FFXIV but don't have an active sub, will we have to purchase ARR? On my SE account FFXIV is still shown as a service and technically I did buy the Collector's edition for the game. So do we have to double-dip in terms of 'initial purchase' for the actual game?

I say this because plenty of MMO's sell the original game and on top of sub price they charge for every expansion (ie. World of Warcraft). So will SE treat A Realm Reborn as an expansion?

[Loony BoB]

I don't know for 100% certain, but I see no reason to not assume that your character will be able to be used in A Realm Reborn. You will probably need to reactivate your subscription and everything from that point will be good.

[Goldenboko]

So this might be a silly question, but for those of us who bought FFXIV but don't have an active sub, will we have to purchase ARR? On my SE account FFXIV is still shown as a service and technically I did buy the Collector's edition for the game. So do we have to double-dip in terms of 'initial purchase' for the actual game?

I say this because plenty of MMO's sell the original game and on top of sub price they charge for every expansion (ie. World of Warcraft). So will SE treat A Realm Reborn as an expansion?

They called a field destroy on the original, so it cannot be played on its own, making this unlike an expansion - so I doubt it will be treated as such.

[Axem Titanium]

nirojan, did your account get "Legacy" status? If so, then you will definitely get a free install of the new 2.0 client when it's released. If not, I'm not 100% certain but you most likely will be allowed to download the new client for free if you reactivate your character. I know a bunch of people who didn't make it to Legacy but are still playing and it would make sense for both these players and players in your situation to have access to 2.0 for free (with monthly sub, of course lol).

[Del Murder]

I like how they are integrating the overhaul of the game with the story. Years from now when the game is more popular there will be a select group of players who could say they were there when the world ended.

[Loony BoB]

Yup! *hugs his Dalamud horn*

[Ouch!]

You don't need legacy status to carry over your character. If--at any point--you had an active Final Fantasy XIV character, upon reactivation you will be able to download ARR as a massive patch just like everyone else who had played version 1.x.

I believe that they confirmed that even had you bought Final Fantasy XIV 1.x but never activated your account (i.e. you're sitting on an unused activation key code), you will be able to use that to download ARR for free. I'm pretty sure I read that on the official forum, but can't be bothered to try and dig through to find it right now.

[Lumos]

Well now that the world is about to end, just figured I'd say ~hello~

[Axem Titanium]

Hotties.

[Loony BoB]

Hiya Lumos.

[Valerna]

Hi, just wanted to let you guys know that SE gave us a little present while we wait for the end of Eorzea. If you go outside of Uldah you hear the song from the Benchmark (remember?). The one with 'go free go free go free, believe'. Also it is rumoured that mobs are attacking outside of Uldah. The weather has changed to, lightningstorms :o