Tag: Final Fantasy XIV

Pre-Order FFXIV: Stormblood Today


Final Fantasy XIV’s next expansion is nearly among us, so long as you don’t count June 20th as too far in the future, but you can make that time go by faster by pre-ordering your copy on PC or Playstation 4. In fact, pre-ordering will make it come faster, since Square Enix is offering a few days of early access as an incentive. Also coming with your pre-order is a pair of earrings and a wind-up red mage minion.

For $200, the collector’s edition will grace you with a rather hefty Zenos yae Galvus Figure, a cloth map of Eorzea, Stormblood art book, and three in-game items. It’s worth mentioning that all of the items in the collector’s edition are real, physical goods (except for the in-game items). You can check out the figurine at the Square Enix store. The store does note that for the PC version, Steam users must purchase the expansion through Steam, otherwise it will not work on their account. There is no Playstation 3 version as that version is sunsetting.

Screenshots: Final Fantasy XIV Patch 3.5


Final Fantasy XIV is set to launch patch 3.5, The Far Edge of Fate, and Square Enix is sharing a ton of new content screenshots. Seriously, the few that I have curated are just a sample of the massive amount of media that Square has released. Topping the list of new content is Dun Scaith, a 24 player alliance raid requiring level 60 in any disciple of war or magic, as well as an unknown item requirement and completion of the Freedom of our Skies quest. A major update to the party finder will allow players to group up with players on any world on the same datacenter, it will be possible to change the color of your egi, and you will go head to head with the final pillar of the Triad, Zurvan the Demon (req level 60, eight players, and completing Balance unto All.).

If you head over to the Final Fantasy website, you can read numerous previews of patch 3.5, coming later this month.

(Source: Square Enix Press Release)

[Column] Final Fantasy XIV’s Patcher Is Still Busted Garbage


busted

For the record, I wanted this article to be an MMOments on how Final Fantasy XIV has been coming along, what changes have been made to the game, and what I did with my extra time allotted thanks to the welcome back campaign currently ongoing. I really did, I love Final Fantasy and XIV is one of my favorites, and yet here we are. Complaining about how the patcher is still utterly broken on a game developed and published by a company as large as Square Enix, and that is utterly pathetic.

Even more depressing are the hoops that Square Enix forces its customers to jump through in order to get the game working, assuming it even does once you jump through said hoops. Among the various Steam, FFXIV, and Reddit threads I’ve seen with players working out how they got their patcher fixed, workarounds include downloading through a mobile hotspot, taking your PS4 to a friend’s house, connecting to a VPN service, taking your computer to someone else’s house, and the list gets even more absurd from there down to just relaunching the client upwards and occasionally more than a couple dozen times while praying that it eventually just works. What ever happened to the days of shutting off your anti-virus?

According to the ever defiant fanatics on the various forums, this is my fault, or my ISP for that matter, and nothing that can be traced back to Square Enix at all, totally. These people have no real technical knowledge or evidence to back their claims up, nor do they seem to agree with each other on the exact explanation, but it’s important to know that it isn’t Square’s fault. Evidently installation is like the one inch curb that, while thousands and thousands of other games, websites, and services have no problem passing over with no issue, Final Fantasy XIV on the other hand can’t handle the step without tripping and breaking its neck.

And I find myself sitting here, scratching my head, looking at every game I own on Steam, Origin, uPlay, etc (at this point probably somewhere over 1,000 titles) and thinking “I don’t have this problem on a single other game, I have never had this problem with a single other game.” None of them make me connect to a VPN, tether my computer to my phone, add domain exceptions to Internet Explorer, take my computer to a friend’s house, and I’d like to point out that this is with the PC version. The PS4 version is having the same problems. It’s a console, you boot the game up and it’s supposed to just work. Why is it that apparently Square Enix is the only company to not have figured out the horrifically complicated enigma code that is building a functioning patcher?

I really want to know, and I want Square Enix themselves to tell me. Let’s go on a limb and say that it is actually a problem that the ISP is causing, and I’m not being sarcastic. Let’s say Verizon is the cause of this issue because I am on FIOS. Why is it that Square Enix seems to be the only company triggering this reaction? What is so unique about this patcher that it can’t clear the hurdles that every other game I have played, be it downloaded directly or through P2P sharing, has managed to work around? Could it be because the service providers hate Square, or is it more likely that through a combination of bullheadedness and incompetence that Square’s patcher doesn’t work where everyone else’s does? On second thought, it’s probably easier to blame the ISP so you don’t have to fix anything.

Ultimately the only entity that loses out here is Square Enix, considering the countless threads I ran through from the past few months of people who had bought the game through Steam only to be unable to play it, then requested refunds, or those who had resubscribed or returned for welcome back campaigns only to immediately quit again because they couldn’t pass stage 1 (installation). These are people who aren’t going to come back, Square, the kind of disgruntled customers who, in later times, will look back on their last experience and not want to deal with that again for the hope that maybe you got your stuff in order in the meantime. These are people who will go to the other MMOs that don’t have that problem, or as I like to call it, all of them.

Other than that I have no opinion on the subject.

Final Fantasy XIV Teases Deep Dungeon


498f86d8acb4d44925b3f83e96c82c85a550f9a0_1

Final Fantasy XIV is gearing up for the release of patch 3.35, which introduces the Deep Dungeon. The Palace of the Dead is a (to start) fifty floor, randomly generated dungeon that can be explored in groups of up to four players. Your progression in the dungeon is separated from that of your normal adventurer, starting everyone over at level one and granting experience and equipment as you fight.

Rewards from the dungeon include experience, cosmetics, tomestones, and gil. Rewards useful outside of the dungeon are based on what level your various jobs are going in.

Players who do not own the Heavensward expansion are limited to the first forty levels. Given the messaging behind the patch notes, it is safe to presume that more stages will be added to the initially fifty in the future.

(Source: Final Fantasy XIV)

Final Fantasy XIV Sells Character Licenses


ffxiv_pub_pach2.4_08

Final Fantasy XIV isn’t just making bank in terms of box sales and subscriptions, it’s also making good on licensed products. In Square Enix’s latest financial report, the company praises FFXIV and its first expansion, Heavensward, as being behind a bump in sales of goods derived from characters and soundtracks.

During the three-month period ended June 30, 2015, sales of character goods derived from the Group’s own IPs increased, primarily due to the release of the first expansion disc for “FINAL FANTASY XIV.” The Group continued to distribute and license items such as character goods and soundtracks based on the IPs while also strengthening its character goods lineup with additional products from third party IPs and overseas expansions.

Luckily the MMO is good for something more than just selling toys and music. Square reported that sales from FFXIV and Dragon Quest X are making “favorable performances.”

(Source: Square Enix press release)

Square Enix Apologizes For FFXIV On Mac, Offers Refunds


ffxiv_pub_pach2.4_08

Direct Naoki Yoshida has posted a letter to Final Fantasy XIV fans, apologizing for issues with the mac client. The mac version of FFXIV launched on June 23rd, and it became immediately apparent that the game was not running properly on many systems, even those who met the minimum requirements. According to Yoshida, in the chaos before the launch, the wrong system requirements were posted, leading to players purchasing the game who would be unable to play it.

I believe that the biggest problem with the Mac version release was the significant discrepancy between the performance of the product our development team produced and the expectations our customers had for it, which was due to the lack of information available on our product when sales commenced, as well as other issues. I would like to explain in detail how this happened.

For players who purchased FFXIV and cannot play it, Square is offering refunds. This includes refunds for those of you who purchased game time cards. You can find the rather lengthy explanation at the link below.

(Source: FFXIV)

Return To Eorzea This Month: Get High Level Gear


ffxiv_pub_pach2.4_08

Square Enix is gearing up for the launch of Heavensward, the first expansion to Final Fantasy XIV, out June 23rd, and now so can you. For players who left FFXIV but plan to come back for the launch of Heavensward, Square Enix is offering ten silver chocobo feathers that can be swapped for iLevel 120 equipment. The offer only applies to those who haven’t been active since before April 1st.

Players who have subscribed to FINAL FANTASY XIV prior to March 31, 2015 and have not logged into the game between Wednesday, April 1, 2015 and Sunday, June 7, 2015.

(Source: FFXIV)

League of Angels Using Assets Lifted From Final Fantasy XIV


League

League of Angels developer Youzu Interactive Co. Ltd (or whoever is responsible for their advertising) is directly stealing video and audio assets from Final Fantasy XIV for use in promotional materials. This revelation isn’t particularly new, it’s in a footnote on the game’s Wikipedia article. Follow the link in League of Angel’s advertising and it takes you to a Start Game page that will show either a direct rip of Final Fantasy XIV’s Heavensward trailer or the End of an Era trailer alongside the Answers song.

I reached out to both GT Arcade, whose website hosts the videos, and Square Enix, and haven’t received a response from either. I’m going to assume, given Square’s protective nature of its assets, that the usage has not been approved.

Youzu Interactive and GT Arcade are both headquartered in China.

league2 league3

league4league5

Benchmark Final Fantasy XIV: Heavensward Update


Final-Fantasy-XIV-Heavensward-620x350

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)