Final Fantasy XIV’s first expansion, Heavensward, releases June 23rd and introduces new stories, an increased level cap, a new race, new battles, new dungeons, and new mounts. More significantly, it introduces DirectX 11 graphics, offering better quality visuals at the expense of higher system requirements. To better prepare players for the road ahead, Square Enix is offering a benchmarking tool.
You can download the benchmark tool here.
(Source: FFXIV Press Release)
Final Fantasy XIV is hosting a free weekend to celebrate four million registered accounts. The free weekend begins Friday February 27th at 3am EST and goes until March 9th at 4am EST. Eligible accounts include anyone who has previously purchased the game, with an account in good standing, whose subscription has lapsed.
Otherwise if you haven’t purchased FFXIV yet, you can take advantage of the game’s free trial at your leisure.
(Source: FFXIV)
With the recent release of patch 2.5, Square Enix has announced another free weekend. Players with inactive accounts will be able to log in from January 30th until February 2nd. Who is eligible?
Players who have previously purchased and registered FINAL FANTASY XIV and whose service account is set as inactive during the campaign period.
For more information on patch 2.5, check out the official website.
(Source: Square Enix Press Release)
Patch 2.5 is set to be the last to drop before the launch of Final Fantasy XIV’s first expansion, Heavensward, and it will be split into three parts to better distribute the content. If you have ten minutes to spare, take a look at the trailer below to see what is coming in the first update on January 20th.
Part one of Patch 2.5 drops on January 20th with the next part coming in February and part three in March.
Square Enix held its latest fan fest in Tokyo just last week, wasting no time in revealing new dribble of information regarding Final Fantasy XIV’s first expansion Heavensward. The expansion will be paid, and introduces a wide variety of new content including a new race and new jobs (classes).
The new race is called the Au Ra, a dragonkin race with horns and scales from the eastern continent of Othard. Among the three classes is the Dark Knight, a magic-based tank who wields a greatsword and utilizes dark magic. The second class is the Astrologian, a healer class that uses a divining deck to cast spells.
Finally, the last class is the machinist, a dps class that uses firearms and machines to attack its foe.
Heavensward will also increase the level cap to 60 and introduce new dungeons and missions. Check out further coverage and screenshots at the link below. Heavensward launches Spring 2015.
(Source: MMO Culture)
Playstation 4 gamers interested in trying out Final Fantasy XIV will be able to do just that, as Square Enix today announced a 14 day trial will be available. The trial gives players the opportunity to level up to 20, with certain other limitations, as well as the ability to transfer trial characters over to the full game. As of this publishing, the trial does not appear to be available on the North America Playstation Network.
Those looking to save a few bucks should look into buying the Playstation 3 version (which is generally available at a cheaper cost) and taking advantage of the free upgrade program, currently available until March 31st.
(Source: Square Enix press release)
There is a metric ton of content to play through once you hit level 50 in Final Fantasy XIV, and figuring out exactly what you can do might be a daunting task. Thankfully, user Crabcommander on Reddit has compiled a post detailing the content that becomes available at level 50 as well as the prerequisites required to actually participate in said content.
The list is a pretty big read. If you are currently leveling your way up in FFXIV, or have an interest in what the game’s end-game is all about, I suggest you give it a once-over.
(Source: Reddit)
Naoki Yoshida took some time out of the day to publish a new Letter from the Producer, discussing the upcoming fan festival in Tokyo, Japan, and last month’s implementation of patch 2.4. Released on October 28th, patch 2.4 introduced the Coil of Bahamut, finally bringing its related storyline to a conclusion. Less than a week later, on November 2nd, the first team successfully defeated Bahamut. Defeating Bahamut has proven to be a difficult task, however, as only fifty teams across all servers can say that they’ve succeeded.
While there’s more to FFXIV than just end-game raiding, to those players who practice vigorously every day, aspiring to be the world’s top players?as a gamer you have my utmost respect. I know how painstaking such an undertaking can be, and I thank you for taking such great interest in these challenging encounters. For those of you still making your way through, or preparing to step foot into the Final Coil?only about 50 teams have cleared the entirety of the Final Coil across all servers, so there’s no need to rush.
Final Fantasy’s fan festival in Tokyo will show off yet another glimpse at the MMO’s first expansion, Heavansward.
(Source: FFXIV)
Square Enix has announced a new limited edition of Final Fantasy XIV, set to hit the PC in mid-November. Dubbed the Game of the Year Edition, this box includes a “Book of Diamonds” Grimoire box, five exclusive art cards, and 30 days of playtime, as well as the base game and all content updates. In addition, players will receive an extra card for sixty days of playtime, making for a full 90 days. Players who want to get in now are welcome to give the fourteen day trial a look.
Look for the Final Fantasy XIV GOTY Edition on store shelves beginning next month.
(Source: Square Enix Press Release)
Today’s MMOrning Shot has nothing to do with the title of the article. If you weren’t aware, Final Fantasy XIV is currently in the middle of running several anniversary events. Want to give the event a go and aren’t currently subscribed? You’re in luck, as all players with lapsed subscriptions have had their accounts reactivated until September 1st. If you played in the previous login event, you won’t have much to patch on your client to get back in.
Check out MMOrning Shots every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.
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