Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn- Beta and Release Information

Yeah Onion, Ni No Kuni definately has my vote for GOTY so far.

Journey is top notch as well. I suggest playing it with your 5.1/7.1 sound system turned way up or with the best pair of over the ear headphones that you can afford. Oh, and spend enough time to get your white cloak. Trust me, you want the white cloak. If you want to Journey together just send me friend request. My PSNID is in my sig.

Enjoy both of these wonderful games.

As an aside note Final Fantasy XI's seventh expansion pack 'Seekers of Aldoulin' is releasing this year on it's eleventh anniversary. It will obviously be out on the Pc, Xbox 360 and PS2. With it being officially the last PS2 game ever made. I also think the retail version will be part of a mega-collectors addition with all previous six expansions and the original game included.

I won't be getting it due to XIV but just some information for people who are interested. I have great memories of the game which was extremely innovative and challenging back when it was released before the dawn of WoW. 

On a XIV note there's not much to say other than to brace yourselves for the live letter on August 4th.

However for Ps3 users: Some news! 

You now have multiple Square Enix accounts tied to a single PSN one. So if you have family members wanting to play their own copies of the game on your PSN they can now do so.

Also the Ps3 collectors edition has sold out in the USA.

Finally Demon Wall says hello ...



'Deep within a new 4-person dungeon, Amdapor Keep, you might run across someone you know from previous FINAL FANTASY games!'

And here's some more screenshots if anyone wants to look at some. (Or use them  )

Garuda boss fight.



 Ifrit boss fight.



 A Black Mage casting his limit break speciality: meteor.



Odin.



A Marauder and his Chocobo companion in battle.



The Crystal and Dragon infested region of Mor Dhona.



Garuda.



A Black Mage casting a spell.



Titan boss fight.



Cid.



 Moogles in The Black Shroud.



Magitek armour in Mor Dhona.



Costa Del Sol.



A dead Goobbue.



Chocobo stables in the city of Ul'dah.



A Bard playing their harp.



A White Mage casting cure.



A Marauder taking a break in a more tropical clime in La Noscea.



 Thaumaturge overlooking Thanalan.



Sunset in the city of Limsa Lominsa



Night time in the city of Limsa Lominsa.



Miqo'te guides in the city of Limsa Lominsa.



A WildWood Elezen at Treespeak Stables.



A Hellsguard Roegadyn at Sweetbloom Pier.



A Plainsfolk Lalafell in the city of Ul'dah.



A Highlander Hyur in the city of Ul'dah.



A Seeker of the Sun Miqo'te in the city of Ul'dah.



The Adventure's guild in the city of Gridania.



Chocobo Stables in the city of Gridania.



The Conjurer's guild in the city Gridania.



The markets in the city of Ul'dah.



A Gladiator in action against a Marlboro.



A Lancer in action against a Adamantoise. 



An Archer in La Noscea.






 There are more, I will add later. For now enjoy and feel free to use them.

WHY ARE YOU TAUNTING ME. YOU'RE SO RUDE.

Dungeon trailer of the first group of dungeons of the game. Including: Tam-Tara Deepcroft. A.K.A oh sh*t it's Mindflayer

Exequim wrote:WHY ARE YOU TAUNTING ME. YOU'RE SO RUDE.

 'Onion Knight appears confused.'

UPdated OP with Beta phase 4 launch date and the armour showcase and dungeon showcase. I won't bother with the images as a) we've got loads already and b) I think the videos are more important... and I don't want to OP to get too long

But ... but .. but ..  some of those pics on the op are from like phase 2 of the alpha. I meant as in replacing them. But it's up to you.  Also there's a new tour of Eorzea video (part 3 I think) it's probably buried in the thread somewhere!

Edit: I've also got a much nicer, neater world/races/ and lore peace if you want it?

Lol ok I didn't think of replacing... I'm dumb

Sure post away and ill add it in instead of the current one

 
Now it’s time to get down and dirty with the world, people and lore of A Realm Reborn. A Realm Reborn is set in the world of Hydaelyn. This world has life-forms due to the power of the Aetheryte crystals which give everything its form and life-force. Players begin their vast journey upon the continent Aldenard or the island of Vylbrand within the larger region of Eorzea. The story continues from the calamity that occurred at the end of original XIV where the Garlean Empire caused the moon Dalamund to fall from the heavens, unleashing the primal Bahamut. The struggle between the Garlean Empire to the north of Eorzea and the city states within the continent provides a political backdrop to the story of a world being torn apart by mysterious cultists who seem revere creatures of the void.



~Ul’dah
The bustling commercial hub of Ul'dah sits amid the desolate Thanalan desert in southern Aldenard. The city is organized strategically around the dome-shaped citadel at its center. Its towering fortifications and protective outer walls are visible for miles in all directions, and serve as a stark deterrent to would-be besiegers.
The city is home to the Gladiator, Thaumaturge and Pugilist guilds. (Starting city of these classes.)

Economy:

Politics and Religion:

~Gridania
In the eastern reaches of the Aldenard landmass, home to vast, dense woodlands and coursing rivers, lies the forest nation of Gridania. The cityscape is a mosaic of labyrinthine waterways and great wooden structures, so gracefully constructed they seem a part of the surrounding environment.
The city is home to the Conjurer, Lancer and Archer guilds. (Starting city of these classes.)

Economy:

Politics and Religion:

~Limsa Lominsa
On the southern coast of the island of Vylbrand, under the shadow of ancient cliffs worn by the relentless onslaught of the Rhotano Sea, lies the marine city-state of Limsa Lominsa. Said to be blessed by the goddess of navigation, Llymlaen, the city is spread out over countless tiny islands, each connected by sturdy bridges of iron and wood construction, earning her the name the "Navigator's Veil" from traveling bards who have witnessed the city's beauty from afar.
The city is home to the Marauder and Arcanist guilds. (Starting city of these classes.)

Politics and Economy:

Political Strife:

As stated before there are a multitude of different regions which at first can appear confusing. However with time they are quite easy to understand. At launch there will be five different regions in the game all interlinked with each other. You will spend most of your early days clambering, exploring, slaying monsters, getting killed by monsters, looking for resources and riding Chocobos in these regions. Let’s have a closer look shall we …

~Thanalan
The scorching desert of Thanalan is located in southern Aldernard. It’s made up of savannahs, plains, shifting sands, mountains, canyons, ruins, marshy coves and of course the desert itself.

Information and Advice:

Information and Advice:

Upon the island of Vylebrand the region of La Noscea is located. It is home to the city-state of Limsa Lominsa. La Noscea is a beautiful area, containing wild, rocky landscape rife with hills, plateaus, farmlands, ruins, coves, jungles and sandy beaches as far as the eye can see.
 

Information and Advice:

Upon this continent reside a number of vastly different races who discovered and settled in various regions of the continent. Races range from the hulking Roegadyn to the tiny Lalafell, six of them are currently playable with each having two sub-races. Here is a list of the playable and (currently) non-playable races available in A Realm Reborn.


~Hyur~

Background and History:

~Miqo’te

Background and History:

~Elezen

background and history:

~Roegadyn

Background and History:

~Lalafell

Background and History:

Tis' finished. I will do a gameplay, content and classes post another time when I'm free ... till then have a good one guys.

Official wallpapers for PC and official theme's for the PS3 can be found and downloaded here: http://na.finalfantasyxiv.com/alliance/dl/

There is a mix of cg scenes and artwork.

Since I will no longer be here feel free to find me on my youtube here:Onion Knight's Channel

Or alternatively you can find various A Realm Reborn guides and info on my blog here: 
A Realm Reborn Beginners Corner

Take care.

Onion.

Fufu! 15 days!

Phase 4 of the beta finished yesterday. on the 19th. All Progress saved for early access and release.
Early access starts in 4 days time for those who preordered the game. On the 24th.
Release is in 7 days. On the 27th.

A preview of mid-level dungeons.




The devs showcase party play.

Also the new official forums for A Realm Reborn are up and running whilst the beta forums have been closed down.

A Realm Reborn Official Forums

I feel like I don't exactly understand FF or MMO's because I never was really into either, but the main reason I don't like MMO's is because I don't enjoy computer gaming - strictly a console man. So, now that this MMO is on the PS3, I've been highly considering it. 

However, I still approach all RPG games from a D&D standpoint, so ideally I'd either be some sort of Monk, running around faster than everyone pummeling enemy after enemy with my bare hands, or more or less Bronn from Game of Thrones, a skilled archer and swordsman, but with a more dex-based approach to melee combat. Are either of these viable possibilities? 

Typically in RPG's I end up settling on merely being an archer of sorts (in Dark Souls for example, my favorite toon was more or less a wanderer who'd go between a composite bow, falchion and murakumo) because that's the closest I get, but I was wondering, since it sounds like there are a plethora of classes and subclasses, is anything I mentioned doable?

One friend suggested I archer -> bard, but again, coming from a D&D perpspective, Bards are just generally pretty lame in my experience. Is this a solid path and I'm just letting preconceived notions of Bards get to me, or are there others that might entice my taste more?

EDIT: Juuuuust found out there's a monthly fee, so actually never mind.

What a shame.

The new account management system for A Realm Reborn is up (replacing the Square Enix Members system) : Mog Station

There you can create, check and update your account status/subscriptions as well as enter promotional codes into it.

On a related note Prepaid Time Cards are available in the near future for those who are wary of using Credit Cards on the internet. Be warned they will be (in general) slightly more expensive than the subscription fee.

Also trophy support has been add to the Ps3 version. 

And with that ... I'm off back to the game ...

Yeah, I wish I were playing. With PS4, GTA5, DkS2, MGS5, coming out, though, I find it hard to justify spending monthly fees. I was actually pleased to hear the game is only $40 on PS with a free month, but I feel like this is the kind of game where, if I end up only playing for a couple months and saving money, I'm not really getting the full experience of the game. 


It sounds like it's doing great with all the server errors, though (I guess that doesn't necessarily seem great, but I just mean it's plenty popular), and all I can say is I wish I was playin'.

It is being ported over to the Ps4 too at somepoint next year. Probably will be bundled with the first expansion pack too, so if you're holding out then you may actually benefit from it.

Yeah the NA/EU servers have been struggling with the amount of people. I'm on a Japanese server which has been pretty stable for the most part though. Pre-launch they were expecting around 400,000 players worldwide. But I think it's close to or even over 1,000,000 people trying to get in at launch so it's been pretty crazy. They're updating and installing new servers next week to deal with it.

Also some news from the launch event held a few days ago.
-Major content patches can be expected every 3 months.
-Square Enix intends to focus on A Realm Reborn for '5-10' years.
-First Expansion Packs will be 'within 2 years.'
-First major content patch 2.1 will include player/free company housing and  PvP.


Housing trailer.

Also at the event lead producer and director Naoki Yoshida gave a speech.

 I'm tearing up guys.
First of all I want to say that I am sorry for us having to go into maintenance for the NA/EU servers. I want to apologize for taking precious time away from players during early access. From here on out is a long journey. 
Its almost been 3 years since I took over development for FFXIV. At the time I hadn't been involved with the game that much, and I thought that it wouldn't be that big of a deal to remake it. I have always loved Final Fantasy and have always loved MMO's. *starts to tear up again* At the time, I gathered the team together and told them that we were going to remake the game just two days before we announced it to all of you on December 2nd.
I still remember it now, but at the time, we were in a studio like this one, and Souken (current director of game music) was in the background checking my mic levels. I clearly remember him standing there give me a guts pose (one fist in the air, think Rocky) but at the time I had the same kind of worries as the players; how is this really going to turn out?… Isn't this going to be impossible…. *pauses*
But one by one I got support from all of you. It was said in the questions earlier, but normally an MMO takes 4-5 years to create and carefully plan. Earlier, Wada said his role is a tank. I had the same idea of being a tank when making this game. Up until now I have gone through each facet of the game (implies that he also bore all of the responsibility).
But I am not saying that it is just me who made FFXIV: ARR. This was all due to the players around the world, the core staff here, and the hundreds of staff not here today. I came here today planning on not crying, but today we have finally taken the first step with FFXIV: ARR. And it is only the first step. Honestly I don't think we have any time to rest. We are working on patches and expansions.
More than anything I want to thank the players, especially those who started from the original FFXIV, and those that have joined our community. Thank you all for all of your support so far. I only hope that we have released a game that will not bring shame to Square Enix. from here on out there is no finishing an MMORPG. FFXIV:ARR is not a game that we made alone, but a game that we made along with all of you. From here on out we home to keep creating this game from here on out, from this place with you for 5-10 years.
I again want to say thank you for all you have done so far and we hope for your support in the future.

Now that the game is launched more recourse sites for the game are popping up and being contentiously updated. 

Here is a few of the best picks. : 

XIV Wiki
XIVDB
ZAM
XIV Info