It is a sense of pride, honor and duty that has led to this point. After Yoichi Wada, President and CEO of Square Enix, decided to remake Final Fantasy XIV (FFXIV), the team has been instructed to “stop at nothing” in creating a new version. Since that announcement, Producer/Director Naoki Yoshida has shepherded the current version through a number of updates and revisions, while planning for its eventual replacement in A Realm Reborn.

It’s this new game – not an expansion pack or content update – where Square Enix hopes to make good that unspoken contract between the studio and its fans. At Gamescom I had the chance to see it for myself, as I was taken through some of the early areas and shown the revamped interface. First impressions are fantastic: A Realm Reborn has that snappy animation and exaggerated combat that is the hallmark of any Final Fantasy game.

From Yoshida, I also got this strong sense of loyalty to the community. As I interviewed him about the transition from FFXIV to A Realm Reborn, I was surprised by just how much of the original game the team had decided to scrap in order to make the new experience better. The changes aren’t superficial, but run through every aspect from server systems to story presentation.

Fancy yourself a designer? If so, SOE is opening the door for you.

We were being teased on twitter last night by John Smedley and now we know why.

It was announced just moments ago via a press release that SOE is launching their Player Studio:

"For the first time in SOE history, players will be able to build and sell their own items, truly creating a unique, customizable online marketplace within our games," said John Smedley, President, Sony Online Entertainment. "At SOE, we believe everyone is a gamer at heart, and our goal with Player Studio is to provide a platform on which our players can further explore their inner gamer while showcasing their passion for the games they love. We are looking forward to seeing our players' creativity come to life in an entirely new way."

Traversing Telara is an exclusive series of articles from Trion Worlds that explores Rift's lore and gameplay mechanics through the eyes of one intrepid adventurer. It's a great read and a fantastic introduction to the world of Telara. Even if you're a veteran of Rift, you might enjoy hearing about the game from another perspective! Read on for Traversing Telara #17: Goblins and Stonefield!

                          Catch up on all the past issues of Traversing Telara here!

After a morning of Linda "Brasse" Carlson teasing the Twitterverse about an EverQuest II announcement today, EverQuest II Producer Holly "Windstalker" Longdale posted a Producer's Letter on the official forums. 

Short verion:

• It's called EverQuest II: Chains of Eternity
• It includes two re-imagined Ethernere overlands based on Feerrott and Loping Plains
• Guild, Adventure and Tradeskill Levels will increase to 95

The full Producer's Letter is available on the official forums or after the jump, below.

It’s never easy when an MMO developer runs into problems, which makes the recent ‘State of the Game’ from Funcom’s Creative Director and Senior Producer very welcome. In an open and frank statement, Ragnar Tørnquist acknowledged the recent difficulties the developer behind The Secret World had been through, in becoming a “cost-efficient live team”. He also nodded at the intense competition in the MMO genre, “from warring guilds to kung-fu-fighting pandas”.

Looking onward Tørnquist was eager to stress that, apart from the two week delay for Issue #2: Digging Deeper, monthly updates will continue as planned. Following from there will be a Halloween update, plus there’s the incredible New York raid that we went eyes-on with at Gamescom arriving in October. The new Tokyo playfield, Ground Zero, is set to sneak into a spring update.

If you haven’t yet tried the game, Funcom has recently launched a three day free trial. And if you're still on the fence, there are our one week and one month in reviews to help you decide.

Although many MMOs these days have troubled launches, it’s great to see The Secret World battle them head-on. With Tørnquist and his team showing no signs of slowing down in the months ahead, we can’t wait to see what else emerges from Funcom’s Wiki of Secrets. 

You can find Tørnquist’s full statement after the break.

Gareth “Gazimoff” Harmer, Staff Writer

Calling PlanetSide 2 a PvP MMO feels almost a little misleading. This isn’t a small-scale arena for frantic fragging, but it’s also not a larger battlefield with rules, objectives and time limits. Instead, Sony Online Entertainment (SOE) has focused on delivering a single goal: all out, large-scale, futuristic war. 

With beta fully underway, it was time to see how well the game lived up to being both a fun first-person-shooter and a great multiplayer experience.  With up to two thousand players spread across three factions on each massive map, there’s plenty of opportunity for strategic, thought out combat. Add into the mix a range of infantry classes, land vehicles and aircraft, and there’s enough flexibility for even the most hardened military commander.

While at Gamescom, I also got the chance meet with Senior Art Director Tramell Ray Isaac. He shared some background on the Forgelight engine powering PlanetSide 2, from origins to future deployment. Isaac also shared his views on why he thinks the unique mass-combat FPS will appeal to a wide range of players.

In the first part of our interview with Lead Class Designer David Williams, we focused on how Red 5 was increasing the depth of gameplay in FireFall by raising the skill cap, allowing highly skilled players to truly shine. We also talked about the incredibly powerful eSports toolkit that went live in the recent patch, and how Armies will form up and organize missions into the Melding. The first half wrapped up with a look at recent class revamps and the reasons behind them.

Concluding this mega-interview is a closer look at how class abilities and unlocks are balanced, and how the revamped crafting system fits into that. We also took a look at the lore that went into crafting the world, and what inspired the manga and overall art direction for FireFall. My discussion wrapped up with Williams explaining the team’s approach to beta and his thoughts on free-to-play.

With PAX Prime opening today, Red 5 has also launched a Founders Pricing promotion, with a 25% discount available on all packages throughout the weekend, even for those unable to attend. We’ve also got a hands-on closer look at the game itself, by our very own Paul Cleveland. And don’t forget to check out Part One of the interview if you haven’t already!

FireFall is a game that tries to struggle out of the conventional MMO straightjacket in every way possible. Californian developer Red 5 Studios threw out the traditional MMORPG model, instead opting for dynamic, action oriented FPS combat. Where you’d normally expect rigid character class restrictions, instead you’re invited to play whatever way you’re in the mood for. 

But how do you get that unique game feel and identity? For FireFall, its latest mega-patch seemed to be a strong push toward that identity. With an emphasis on improving the fluidity and flexibility of combat systems, the team added a range of customization options that are likely to keep players testing and tweaking for months if not years. It’s all been about raising the bar so that player skill, rather than character gear, is what counts.

I recently had the chance to meet with David Williams, Lead Class Designer on FireFall, for an early morning play-through at Gamescom. Our giant interview is so big we’ve had to break it up into two parts! In this section we cover how the team raised the skill cap, revamped the classes and built an eSports toolkit. Part two looks at how Williams tackled class balance, building world lore and the team’s approach to beta and free-to-play. 

Reports of email scams and account hijacking swirl around Guild Wars 2.

If traditional sci-fi and fantasy MMOs are getting stale for you, why not get out there and smell the steam? City of Steam (CoS) finished up this last Alpha test weekend on August 19th, and ZAM was along for the ride. Andrew Woodruff, the marketing manager of Mechanist Games, pulled 20 hour days during the weekend and still had time to show us around. He didn’t drift too far off topic, and his tour and our own playing gave us a chance to check out this surprisingly fleshed-out browser based MMO! Put on your goggles and get ready to dive into this steampunk adventure.