A Materials Usage License, released with the new Fan Site Kit, went into effect today that releases parts of the beta tester agreement. ZAM has confirmed with a Square Enix representative that testers are now allowed to post screenshots and relay experiences in beta testing. 

"The Materials you may use also includes in-game screenshots captured by you, as well as assets and information posted at www.finalfantasyxiv.com and FINAL FANTASY XIV-specific official websites. Accordingly, Square Enix grants you a limited revocable license to use the Materials and you will not receive any ownership rights to the Materials. For purpose of clarification, your use of the Materials on a website may not display any of Square Enix’s trademarked and/or copyrighted materials other than Materials authorized by the most current version of this license, which currently excludes any FINAL FANTASY XIV in-game video, music or vocal tracks captured by you or any third party"

To be clear, ZAM members are still not allowed to post links to videos and musical tracks of the game.

Feel free to share your experiences with other users on the ZAM forums or take a shot at writing a Disciples of the Pen feature!

SOE has released the press information on Destiny of Velious, and with it the concept art, screenshots and video from the 2010 SOE Fan Faire. 

Following the events of Sentinel's Fate, the twin Swords of Destiny, Soulfire and the Qeynos Claymore, have been drained of their powers, setting the stage for the destruction of the EverQuest universe.  The prophecy known as Age's End begins to unfold in the legendary continent of Velious and it is here where the war for Norrath will arise. For there to be any chance to save Norrath, the Swords of Destiny must be restored. Norrath’s guardians who undertake this burden will be tested by labyrinthine dungeons, the harsh Velious tundra and powerful creatures including the God of War himself, Rallos Zek. To succeed would mean ultimate glory. To fail would mean annihilation

Square Enix has announced, via the official Final Fantasy XIV Twitter, the starting dates for "Phase 3" of beta testing. For those who have yet to get an invite should make sure to check their inboxes for any new testing invitations.

The times for each region are as follows:

19:00 (PDT) Tuesday, August 10th
2:00 (GMT) Wednesday, August 11th
11:00 (JST) Wednesday, August 11th

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Good news for webmasters out there with their own Final Fantasy XIV fansite! Square Enix has bundled together some images and icons for you to use in the freely available Fan Site Kit!

The kit contains official Icons (Title Logo, Guild Symbols, Characters and Flags) and Images (Characters, Monsters and more) which are free to use for any fan looking to spruce up their own little corner of the Internet. According to the Usage License, any of the included files can be used not only on personal sites, but also on blogs, social networking services and "everywhere else on the web."

Click here to download

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Japanese fan site FF14FAN.com has launched an alpha of their own this week. Their web-based Twitter client allows players to sign into their account and post into their timeline.

What makes this useful for FFXIV fans is that the creator provides a number of buttons that correspond to FFXIV-related hash tags, allowing you to quickly view a list of one, all or any combination of their timelines. A "hash tag" is a term added to a post (e.g. #FF14) to associate it with a particular subject, making it easier to find through a search. Currently, the alpha client lists general tags, as well as one for each FFXIV beta server.

Underneath the tags there are a couple recommended lists. Whereas a hash tag gathers all posts with a specific tag, a list is a manually created collection of accounts. There is a list for official Square Enix accounts (SQEX), one for FFXIV Staff (FF14スタッフ) and one for characters from Dengeki PlayStation magazine, who report on FFXI and FFXIV news in Japan (電撃旅団).

The official Japanese FFXIV Twitter account posted an announcement today that 2 soundtrack CDs will be released on September 29th in Japan. "Field Tracks" will contain songs that play while traversing open field areas, while "Battle Tracks" will be filled with the tunes you hear while fighting various monsters and enemies. Each CD will cost ï¿¥1,500 or $17.41 at the current state of the buck.

You can check out the page for the new CDs here, which has links to where you can preorder your own copy. The links are to Japanese online shops, so the Amazon.co.jp option is probably the best bet for foreign players looking to enjoy this music. The English FFXIV Twitter account, which usually tweets in tandem with the Japanese one, has so far remained silent on an overseas release.

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Eorzea - The Making of a Realm continues on the official Final Fantasy XIV YouTube channel! Episode Two gives fans a glimpse at the process of creating monsters both familiar and new. Again, the video is ready for players of every region, with subtitles in Japanese, English, French and German.

Click to visit the FFXIV YouTube channel and see for yourself! Then head back to the Making of a Realm thread!

Attention future citizens of Eorzea!

Have you been waiting for months for an invitation into the Final Fantasy XIV beta only to have your hopes crushed as your inbox remained empty? Fear not, as the staff at ZAM is very happy to announce that Square Enix is offering ZAM members another chance to get into the FFXIV Phase 3 Beta with this quick and easy giveaway!

To enter, all you need to do is post in this thread and answer two simple questions.

Rules:

The deadline to enter is next Wednesday, August 11 at 9 PM Pacific. You may only enter once. If you do not answer the question or post off topic, your post will be removed. Winners will be randomly drawn and notified via email after closing.

This giveaway is for North American Square Enix Accounts ONLY.

Tuesday SOE announced they would be offering a free-to-play service, called EverQuest II Extended (EQ2X), in addition to their current traditional subscription-based EverQuest II (EQ2 Live). On the EQ2X server players will be able to purchase useful items in the Station Marketplace with Station Cash, SOE's virtual currency. Naturally this caused a bit of a stir in the loyal players in EQ2. Is this the oft-mentioned real money transaction “slippery slope” that started with Exchange Servers, or simply evidence that the world is moving on and that change will not kill the games we know, love and obsess about? 

Dave “Smokejumper” Georgeson, EQII senior producer, was careful to let it be known right from the start that they had heard the player base, and that the existing servers and monetization model would not be changing. According to Georgeson the game on the two services will be identical. The major difference, beside the subscription model, is the presence of a “more robust Marketplace” on EQ2X, providing useful, non-fluff items to EQ2X players, for cash.

Square Enix has launched a new video series called "Eorzea - The Making of a Realm" on their official YouTube channel. Episode One focuses on character design and gives an inside look at the how designed the different races and recorded their motions. It's an interesting watch, and Square Enix has graciously made it available with subtitles for all four supported languages: Japanese, English, French and German.

Click to visit the FFXIV YouTube channel and see for yourself! Then head over to the ZAM Forums and let us know what you think!