Almost three years after the release of the original version of the game, Square Enix released Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn last week. I started this review yesterday, talking about my experiences with Marauders and tanking, unlocking Job classes, and the way FFXIV: ARR handles Story Quests. In Part 2 I jump back into Duty Finder for more of ARR's dungeon offerings, fight the epic struggle called "Logging Into the Game", and finally wrap everything up and say what I think about SE's second attempt at bringing Eorzea to life.

ESports has come a long way in the past couple of years, with tournaments and seasons becoming a core part of gaming culture. For the incredibly popular League of Legends, that change hasn’t come about by accident. I caught up with Dustin Beck, VP of eSports, to discuss how Riot Games had reached this point, and how it would continue to grow.

Beck himself is an eSports fanatic; when we met at Gamescom he was avidly watching the international wildcard tournament, with the winning team clinching a spot in the League Championship Series (LCS) Season 3 World Championship. The European playoffs and Season 4 qualifiers later that week were a huge deal for fans in Cologne, with an enthusiastic audience dominating most of Hall 8

Almost three years after the release of the original version of the game, Square Enix released Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn last week. I’ve already talked at length about the game’s mechanics, gathering and crafting systems and dungeons, but that was all during the various beta weekends. This time the game’s live for everyone to join and there’s no cap on how far I can progress, so it’s time to see just what FFXIV: ARR has to offer for MMO players. While there’re still a number of quests I’ve yet to complete, classes I haven’t touched since Closed Beta 3 and dungeons I haven’t unlocked let alone run, I have seen enough of the current content (both new and updated versions of what I saw during beta) that I feel confident giving my opinions on the game.

Less than two weeks ago we announced the launch of XIVwiki and the launch contest that went along with it. We received some fantastic contributions that have helped the wiki to flourish. The five winners of the contest are:

1. PreWarp
2. AnnaRhae
3. Casey
4. Kardall
5. Varmin

If you're one of these five lucky winners, make sure you check over on XIVwiki for more information on obtaining your prize. Thanks to everyone for their awesome work!

The Elder Scrolls Online is an interesting proposition. Not quite an MMO, ZeniMax Online hopes to bring that single-player RPG feeling to the online world in a whole new way. For studio general manager Matt Firor, it’s a challenge that’s multiplied by bringing the game to PC, Mac and next generation consoles.

This, however, isn’t Firor’s first rodeo. After working in online gaming for the past 25 years and titles like Dark Age of Camelot under his belt, he was picked by parent company ZeniMax Media in 2007 to head up ZeniMax Online. Since then, his team has been working away on a new way of bringing Tamriel to life.

There are two sides to Gamescom. On the public side there are bright and colorful stands with big screens, loud music and precious stations demoing the latest games. When the expo gets going, there’s nothing that compares to the throng of people, all congregating in the Kolnmesse to celebrate the games. This is where you’d find people playing WildStar, either diving into the Chua lowbie experience, or beating each other to a pulp in Whitevale’s open-world PvP.

On the other side there’s the business center; a sanctuary away from the dull roar of the show floor. It’s here that Olivia Grace and I caught up with executive producer Jeremy Gaffney to talk about all things WildStar, from the business model announcement to the release window shift. That said, other incredible things also emerged in the conversation: Combat Mounts, the Million Idiot March and remote control raid bosses. Even though we’d covered a laundry list of topics over lunch last month, there was still plenty of new stuff to astound me.

FFXIV:ARR is rather popular.

This is news to no one after the past few days of servers being rammed with log-in attempts by eager players. What is news is that Square Enix, in a move to try to limit the current server overload, has suspended sales of new digital editions of Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn.

There have been a few hiccups along the way, but hundreds of thousands of Final Fantasy XIV players will be scampering around Eorzea as the relaunch of Square Enix's MMO arrives today.

Many will be logging in—or remaining logged in from Early Access—to revel in the wide expanses of a lush new world. It's always exciting to jump into an MMO on day one to see just what's on offer, but just what does FFXIV bring to the table?

I’m staring down a metal tube, waiting for the launch signal. The brief respite gives me a chance to look around, and get a feel for the cockpit that surrounds me. I’ve sat in this seat before and, this time, I’m going to kick some ass. I might not know what lies outside the carrier’s launch bay, but I’m certain of one thing: there are noobs that need pwning, and I aim to deliver.

The klaxon sounds and, like a flash, I’m out there. Everything seems clearer, from the asteroids rushing past to the Caldari carrier spewing fighters of its own. I grin, punching the missile lock, and pivot my head to point at one of them. With the reticule switching yellow, I let loose a firestorm of missiles. Two more volleys and he’s toast. This is going to be easy.

Tucked away in a quiet corner of Gamescom lurked something that could completely change the landscape of online gaming. Since its debut at SOE Live earlier this month, EverQuest Next has grabbed our attention with promises of destructible terrain, intricate AI and new gameplay.

Some news from the week-long German festival has already emerged, such as the time-lapse videos and Adventurer class. Digging deeper, I spoke with senior producer Terry Michaels during a roundtable session about some of the finer details surrounding that announcement. We also went a little further into Rallying Calls and how it’ll feel to take part in them.