I am really happy to see what's been done with this game. Participated in phase 3 and 4 of the beta. As a former WoW player I can see both the good and bad about the game. I do wish it was a little bit tougher to level up in the early stages. Some of the boss fights are pretty easy as it pretty much warns you its about to do a very destructive attack in the immediate area and gives you time to walk away. I am very happy with the way the subclasses are set up they are fun to level up. Only wished phase 4 let us get past lvl 20 but I know they were just testing out a small portion of the game not the further stages so I wont be bitter about that.
While I talked about the game I would like to say something about their customer service. Wake up. Fast. Communication between the beta phases was poor as well as some issues with registering codes to different websites and there was a hell of a lot of people wondering what was going on. There isn't enough help for people that get stuck and I've been on the square enix website for awhile now, there are so many people that get fed up trying to figure out something that should be as simple as put in code here your done.. Instead it's heres a code cant enter it here yet will give you info later on dont freak out.
Ok I think I've said enough I really am excited to start the early access on the PS3 hope to see some of you there!
FFXIV ARR Early Access And Open Beta!
Dates, rewards, apps, and more!
Square Enix announced today the dates for the Open Beta as well as Early Access. Are you ready to brave the adventures of Eorzea?
Open Beta Dates - August 17th - August 19th for New Users (weren't in Phase 3), August 16th - August 19th for Existing Users (partcipated in Phase 3)
Early Access - August 24th - Launch
In other news, Square Enix also announced Veteran Rewards, which are rewards based upon how long you have been a subscriber to A Realm Reborn. There will be bonus items given at 30, 60, and 90 days and if you start with a 90 day subscription you will get all item sets.
Also announced is the iOS App to accompany A Realm Reborn called "Final Fantasy XIV: Libra Eorzea" which is scheduled to arrive a week after launch.
A Welcome Back Campaign is also being implemented giving players who registered Final Fantasy XIV 1.0 a chance to play for free until September 9th.
Some other highlights from the Q&A where the beta was announced:
- Game cards will be made available for those who would rather not use a credit card or Square Enix's Crysta currency.
- World transfer service should be available 2-3 weeks after launch.
- In-game repairs going to a scaling amount rather than a flat rate based on the item. This should encourage players to repair more often rather than putting it off as long as possible and risking broken gear to save money (I *may* be guilty to being this cheap).
- Barbershop should be available in the initial patch, 2.1.
- The Great Labyrinth of Bahamut will be the hardest content at the start of ARR. According to Producer and Director Naoki Yoshida: "It will contain a lot of things such as what happened after the Seventh Umbral event. While I can’t really say too much about the mechanics, there will bosses that can only be defeated by performing certain actions and that have different phases. Without having a party that can deal the proper amount of damage, you won’t be able to move past certain phases. Additionally, there will be shared damage type of attacks that you will need to have 4 people get hit by, as well as have a certain character act as a channeler for the damage. There will be a lot of different elements present."
- Crystal Tower will be 24-player content that shouldn't be too difficult. They've adjusted it to be enjoyable for everyone.
- In addition to the Primal battles, there will be Hard Modes for dungeons.
- There will be an additional reward for doing random content through Duty Finder, namely through additional token drops. This should be implemented once they've added a few more level 50 dungeons.
- You will be able to reallocate your attribute points multiple times, but it won't be something you can do easily.
- Work is still being done on the environment and tools for player-made addons. An update should be available eight months after launch.
To pre-order Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn and gain early access, make sure to visit http://na.finalfantasyxiv.com/product/!
