Made by
RipsChainThis thread is a compilation of info pulled from different sources containing everything that is vital to the knowledge of FFXIV:ARR
mainly for people who have played back at the launch of “version 1.0” in September 2010 and have since quit within the last two years and now wish to receive more information on what is going on with the game development and/or what this completely rebuilt version of FFXIV:ARR (Version 2.0) will be like.To be blunt, many people including myself are starting to get excited again for the prospect of the FFXIV we all wanted from the beginning to finally materialize but have questions and concerns that seem to be sprawled out all over the Internet.
This thread will serve as a hub for those questions and concerns. I will update this thread as often as I can with any content you feel that should be added in addition to an ongoing FAQ section.
OP Note: I have worked very hard to compile this information and sort it in an organized manner. Please send me a message if you have any concerns / advice to fix it. I really want consumers & players to be informed on the changes that are happening on this game and for FFXIV:ARR to be successful. I’m sure if you’re following all the changes you’ll easily see it will be, especially with this new development team.
Important foundational information to know before we start: FFXIV is being re-launched and re-branded into FFXIV: A Realm Reborn, a game focused on the element of “rebirth.”
90% of the game is brand new (lore, maps, zones, questing/leveling, content, story, customizable UI, game engine and client.) This game will be a complete metamorphosis to its original state. The familiar 10% is the name of zones, basic NPC's,and partial layout of cities.
It now has a brand new development team that has bloated to 250 members with featuring a new head producer that everyone seems to love: Naoki Yoshida “Yoshi-P.” This man is experienced in the MMO market and seems to know what he’s doing.
When Yoshi-P, the new producer, came into play as the new lead for FFXIV:ARR back in 2010, he released “Letters from the Producer” every few weeks which served as a platform of communication for the players. In these letters he would tell us about upcoming patches and the progress of 2.0 along with other relevant information. Sometimes, a “players poll” would be released with these letters asking us numerous questions as to what we would like to see in the future game (new classes/jobs, enemies, end game content, etc..) Let me make this crystal clear: Yoshi-P has done an EXCELLENT job in communicating with players and addressing their concerns. There are official Lodestone Forums where his staff posts with the players as well. It’s because of this man people are restoring their faith in Square Enix.
The new game carries over all of your old progress from V.1.0 and puts it into the new FFXIV 2.0 where us players will have the opportunity to choose if we wish to carry on with our old data on an "old" server or start fresh on a "new" server.
Table of ContentsPart I – History of Development Over the Past 2 Years
Part II – End of FFXIV v.1.0 and Transition to FFXIV:ARR
Part III – Summary of Changes / Additions to come in FFXIV:ARR
PART IV – Official Alpha Footage
PART V – FAQ & MISC Q&A
PART VI - Beta Information
PART I – History of Development over the past 2 yearsWhat happened to the original game:Current state of the new game: Pretty much everyone blamed Hiromichi Tanaka for the fail of FFXIV v.1.0. Here’s what SE had to say about the flop of FFXIV when they came out in October 2011 and announced a brand new remake of the game followed by an official apology from the company:
http://lodestone.finalfantasyxiv.com/pl/teaser/index.html (Read this over for the official announcement and to view the official and comprehensive roadmap to the games completion.)
After everyone pretty much quit FFXIV and the 2.0 roadmap was released, a series of patches were implemented over the months to add to the “base of the game” that would tie the player base over until the transfer over to 2.0 in 2013 :
PART II – End of FFXIV v.1.0 “End of an Era”Fast forward to this November 2012 after all the patches are complete:On November 1st, Square Enix did a final save of all character data. This means that all old data from launch September 2010 to November 1st 2012 was saved and will be carried over to FFXIV:ARR.
The new head producer, (nicknamed “Yoshi-P”) has a plan for the new game. Instead of 8 giant dead zones (including the 3 city states) the maps/world had to be redone into a metamorphosis to create a whole new Final Fantasy experience, but it had to make sense. They couldn’t just shut down servers and pop up a whole new world. To transition to the “Eorzea 2.0,” the main story of FFXIV 1.0 (remember that snooze fest?) would conclude with the protagonists vs. the enemy fighting in Mor Dhona while Meteor (Dalamund) approached crashing into the planet thus completely changing its landscape for the future version. (A Cataclysm similar to WoW.) On November 11, the servers shut down completely at JP time midnight with the impact of Meteor and ended with a
FANTASTIC cinematic that has got everyone hyped again for 2.0:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=playe...d&v=39j5v8jlndM And to that, the main story of Version 1.0 and its lameness came to an end! The servers are currently offline. PART III – Summary of Changes & Additions to ComeFFXIV “Version 1.0” General Additions between September 2010 & September 2012:• Spirit Bonding and Materia System (similar to FFVII) where you can equip gear, it has a “spirit gauge” bar and when it maxes you can break it down into material you can equip which boosts your stats.
• Grand Companies for each city which serve as a main focal point for story quests (also issues your Chocobo)
• Primals and Weapons (Ifrit, Moogle King, Garuda)
• Airships between cities
• Auto-Attack
• Quests that grant EXP
• EXP parties with exp chains
• Jobs, Artifact Armor, Relic Armor
• Fatigue System is LONG gone
FFXIV:ARR “Version 2.0” Additions Coming It really is best to read up on past interviews and letters to fully grasp the scope of how the game is being changed, but I’ll do my best to reiterate here.
•
Complete transformation of all adventuring zones. Limsa Lominsa, Thanalan, The Black Shroud, Coerthas, and Mor Dhona were zones in v.1.0. In v.2.0 they are REGIONS split into different zones (just like FFXI) To fully grasp the complete transformation of these lands, reviewing the footage below in PART IV is necessary. (City States don’t change that much, although reports read that Ul’dah has changed the most, then LL, then Gridania. Still remains to be seen.
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Entirely new server infrastructure designed to support massive open-world content (similar to Guild Wars 2). Zones will now be independent, meaning there will be zoning points between areas (improved latency). This is similar to FFXI, GW2, and lots of other MMOs.
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An entirely new graphics engine, optimized to run on a range of differently spec’d PCs. Includes new animations, countless virtual assets, etc. (No lag whatsoever when fighting / selecting items / pushing skill bar. (Actions are INSTANT!)
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An entirely overhauled system of character creation, which includes much greater options and both sexes for all races and ability to rename character (maybe)
•
Regional data centers tied to specific servers (in order to reduce latency, although a player is able to play on whatever server he or she wishes).
Two new extremely well designed UIs, one for PS3 one for PC, adjustable. • Version 1 had 8 zones.
Version 2 will have over 40 AT LAUNCH.•
Brand new adjustable User Interface designed for PC that is very fluid. One for PS3 as well.•
New Graphics Engine and Client so PC’s can better handle game.•
DX11 Support
• 2.0 Musical OST Score•
The Free Company system. Think of these as Linkshells (FF equivalent of guilds) taken to the next level. The details are scarce at this point, but things such as company bases, company summons, and other large, cool stuff of that nature has been hinted at.
•
Instanced Housing System (3 sizes, small, medium, large. Medium and Large cost high amounts of gil.) – Need to read more on this. Comprehensive Info.
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Adjustment to Gil Retention (All costs were brought down, so you will have less gil when you start.) Example: V.1.0 You had 10,000, now have 1 less numerator = 1,000.
•
Auction House (...Finally)
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Chocobo Augmenting / Gearing the Chocobo/ Fights with you out in battle / Can call it anywhere outside of cities•
New mounts (Courels, Drakes)
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PVP (this will be contained to two main areas; one for small-medium scale encounters and other for much larger, objective based encounters.)
•
Delivery Box (Mognet?)
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Jumping Function•
New summons (Titan and Odin)•
Rebalanced/new class abilities and traits.•
Redesigned combat / Limit Break System•
New notorious monsters (rare enemies; small and large varieties) and new enemies/monsters.
Armory System / Job System (Classes & Jobs)You start the game as either a Disciple of Magic or Disciple of War. These are classes you can start as. At level 30, you can advance to the designated class job, which grants you more skills, power, and equipment.
Gladiator > Paladin
Marauder > Warrior
Pugilist > Monk
Archer > Bard (P.s. Archers don’t need to buy arrows separately anymore)
Lancer > Dragoon
Conjuror > White Mage
Thaumaturge> Black Mage
*NEW* Arcanist > Summoner
Artifact Armor / Relic WeaponsEach job has a set of artifact armor (AF) that you can start gathering through a string of quests starting at level 30.
Relic Weapons have a string of quests that are much larger in length. (Anyone who played FFXI knows this)
Leveling / Experience Points / QuestsGone are the days of grinding. Side quests, game content, and the main storyline grant you the majority of your experience points for your job to level up to 50. There are NUMEROUS side quests. Quests pop up over NPC’s heads and have a “Where to go” feature on mini map.
Main StorylineThe main story is brand new in FFXIV:ARR and the main storyline alone can get you from level 1 to 50.
End Game•
CROSS-SERVER dungeon/content finder (Automatically matches you up with those that are seeking the same content.)
•
Crystal Tower This is an endgame area which will feature raiding for parties of up to 24. It's assumed that some of your best gear will come from this area and be central to the main story. Little information is on this at the moment.
•
Bahamuts' Labyrinth See Crystal Tower.
Light Parties = 4 People
Full Parties = 8 People
Alliance = 3 Parties (24 people for End Game Runs)
PART IV – Official Alpha Footage
Letter from the Producer LIVE III (Lots of battle content)/www.youtube.com/watch?v=TnFLSH2jkjw
Letter from the Producer LIVE IV (Lots of running around)/www.youtube.com/watch?v=gAa7DFkjBos
FFXIV: ARR – Gridania (WATCH THIS) http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=playe...d&v=AQb_t5zkfoYFFXIV: ARR – The Black Shroud (WATCH THIS)http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=playe...d&v=asqskpLYwrIFFXIV: ARR – The Black Shroud Part 2 (WATCH THIS)http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=playe...d&v=7rduwq-Of9YFFXIV: ARR - Questing and Combathttp://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...&v=zjDnM0uf0O8FFXIV: ARR - Gathering and Craftinghttp://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=playe...d&v=a-v8WeZX4QQFFXIV: ARR - Levequests and Party CombatFFXIV: ARR - Instanced Dungeons http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=playe...d&v=fe09gta0WAwPART V – FAQ’s & MISC Q&A’sQ) Will I have to buy the new game again to play FFXIV:ARR?
A) No. If you purchased the game before you will be able to download the new client and use your old login information for free.
Q) Will I be able to use my old account on the new game?
A) Yes. All content was transferred over as of the final save on November 1st, 2012. If you want to use your old account, you will have to start on an “old” server as opposed to a “new” server.
Q) What are the “new” and “old” servers? What do they mean?
A) New servers are where everyone starts from the beginning. There is no transferring of v.1.0 accounts to these servers. Everyone starts from scratch. Old servers allow the transfer of your old account. The reason these are split is in order to maintain balance and fairness for new people who have never been in the game before to have a fair shot at the market and so old players can’t manipulate with their millions of gil they have acquired over the two years.
Q) Is this game now F2P (Free to play) or still P2P (Pay to play)?
A) It is P2P with a monthly fee of $12.99 and $9.99 for legacy players. However, everyone who has purchased the game before will have 1 month free time to play to test it out themselves.
Q) When is Alpha? Beta?
A) Alpha began late November and is finishing up “end of December.” Beta will begin “late January/early February.” Beta applications will probably go up second half of January and you must have purchased FFXIV v.1.0 to apply.
Q) When is the release date for FFXIV:ARR?
A) It was supposed to be Q1 2013 but is now slated for Summer 2013 as it the producer has decided a Q1 release date for the game would be too soon.
Q) What is “Legacy Status?”
A) Legacy Status is a status on your account indicating that you played (and paid for subscription) for at least 3 months post Jan. 2011. It was created in an attempt to keep FFXIV v.1.0 players paying and playing while the new game was being made. Legacy players will enjoy paying $9.99 a month instead of $12.99 when subscription fees start. They will also be allowed to create up to 40 characters on their account as opposed to 8 for a regular account.
PART VI - BETA INFORMATIONThis post has been edited by shojikun: Jan 11 2013, 11:49 PM 
Jun 22 2012, 02:48 PM, updated 13y ago
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