If you've played Square Enix's Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn and you grew up with the console games, you've probably noticed a fair number of callbacks and hints of nostalgia mixed in here and there. Popular character names reused, familiar monsters to fight and some tidbits of lore drawn from other games. In general though, that's as far as it goes - "inspired by" but rarely "taken from". The new world event starting today is an exception to that rule. In "Lightning Strikes in Eorzea", worlds collide of FFXIV:ARR as Lightning, the main character of Final Fantasy XIII and the upcoming game Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII, appears in the land of Eorzea.

BlizzCon 2013 is over and this year’s event will be remembered for many reasons. Not only did Blizzard announce details of the next World of Warcraft expansion, Warlords of Draenor, but information was also released on future plans for the immensely popular Hearthstone, due to go into open beta next month. 

Blizzard surprised World of Warcraft players this BlizzCon with an announcement that Garrisons would be coming to the game in Warlords of Draenor. Player housing is something WoW players have been asking for, for almost as long as we've been begging for improvements to the inventory system, and I am pleased to announce that this is also something Blizzard came through with.

The Nightmares Within, the latest content patch for Guild Wars 2, comes with 10 achievements plus the meta achievement. The meta achievement requires 10 achievements to unlock, which can be obtained through any combination of the Living World achievements plus the once daily Living World daily achievements.

EVE Vegas: the largest fan-organized EVE Online gathering of the year, and a great opportunity to talk one-on-one with the developers from CCP Games. As a result, I had a chance to interview David Reid, the man whose decisions shape our perception of gaming's most enigmatic journey.

Today's chat, part two of two, mostly examines the link between CCP's games in the EVE Universe.
We also answer a few miscellaneous questions along the way. Once again, let's dive right in!

It's been over three months since Square Enix officially launched Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn. In that time players have combed the countryside in search of FATEs to grind, dungeons and raids to clear and classes and jobs to level to 50. Even after finishing my review for the game back in September, I've found myself spending much of my spare time in Eorzea. Normally with other MMOs and that kind of time, I'd be at level cap with some sort of tank class, looking at endgame dungeons, discussing boss mechanics and possibly raiding. My FFXIV character? Well, he is at level cap with two different classes... just not with any that can kill things.

UPDATE 2:50pm ET: US servers are now up!

UPDATE 1:20pm ET: Latest word is that "There are still a few last minute things being tested but I've been assured things look good and should be available within the estimated time frame." (forums)

UPDATE 11am ET: Pre-orders have begun processing, we just got an email confirming ours!

All servers came down at 7am PT today for the Tears of Veeshan (GU68) patch. Estimated downtime is currently "less than" five hours. The full patch notes are after the jump and we will keep you updated as we hear server status news.

Your dedicated ZAM staff brings you our coverage of the expansion material to help guide you with the new content and features!

• Vesspyr Isles Quest Series & Zone Guide
• Tears of Veeshan Tradeskill Quests
• Channeler Class Guide
• Mercenary Slots
• ToV Interviews Part One & Part Two
• ToV Previews: Crafting & Adventuring
• All ZAM Coverage

You can check out the ZAM and EQ2Wire Beta image gallery by clicking the picture below!

Qeynos and Freeport are under assault by the forces of the Awakened. Kerafyrm has possession of the Tear of Veeshan. The commander of the New Combine army lay in his grave, with his daughter, Antonia Bayle, grief-stricken and alone.

The darkest days are coming to EverQuest II. Ages End is just around the corner.

Over the past month your EQII ZAM team has toiled away on the Beta server, working to bring you the coverage you’ve come to expect. We would like to offer our thanks to the assistance we received along the way. One ZAM contributor, Ratagnan, invested much of his time and energy into filling in missing quests, Advanced Solo zone walkthroughs, crafting information and much more. Heroes of Test was as awesome as always, having a fully equipped Tier 4 guild hall and members willing to lend a hand. Finally, our thanks to Feldon of EQ2Wire for sharing some of his dungeon screenshots with us!

Now, on to the good stuff...

Tradeskillers rejoice! EverQuest II's next expansion, Tears of Veeshan, has a lot of great tradeskill content. The Far Seas Trading Company is finally taking note of the Ethernere and needs your assistance, and we got all the details!

Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn has some unique attributes compared to other well-known, recently launched MMORPGs. Namely, the game refreshingly offers a multi-platform experience: Playstation® 3 players are able to play, mingle and interact with PC players in the same servers, and Playstation® 4 compatibility expected to come in Q1 2014.

Generally speaking, Square Enix is considered to have "got just right" the controls and user experience of a console version. Combat, the cornerstone of any role-playing game offering advancement, skills, traits and levels to its players, has been adapted around this platform diversity.

Let's discuss combat, its features, feeling and fluidity, and attempt to answer the question:

How is combat balance affected by the developers' design decisions?