Final Fantasy XI
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The Mog Log: Class act
It's been an exciting couple of weeks of news if you're a fan of fantasies that claim a certain degree of finality. I could talk more about some of the slated changes for Final Fantasy XI, or I could talk about all of the updates we know about for Final Fantasy XIV... but I've already done the former, and I think I want a little more information before I do the latter. This week, we're sticking with the original plan, and that's talking about the classes as they intersect with the game's lore, because it's pretty blessedly astonishing. Think about it for a second. Both Final Fantasy XI and Final Fantasy XIV essentially let you be any class at any time. You aren't locked into a single selection a la World of Warcraft; your role is maleable based on the circumstance and what you feel like playing at any given time. By all rights, these classes could essentially be throw-away distinctions for abilities, without any sort of larger framework to live in. There's no strict mechanical reason why it would have to matter that a character was a White Mage if he could just as easily be a Warrior or a Scholar after a quick trip to the Mog House.
The Mog Log: Until we run out of road
One of the uniquely fun parts about writing a column on Thursday is that every so often, Square-Enix decides that it wants to completely ruin my day. Case in point: I had an entire column written about the complete dearth of information that we'd been given of late about Final Fantasy XI, the writing of which was immediately followed by Friday's announcement of the road ahead for the game over the next twelve months. So that was awesome. OK, it's a legitimately pretty awesome piece of news, but I can't help but wish that the team had waited until Monday or something. My own griping aside, we now have a clear picture about what's waiting in the wings for Final Fantasy XI. And it's good, but that positivity has some caveats, and there are some issues that aren't getting addressed despite all of the news. I think the current team really "gets it" in a way that Tanaka never quite did, but I think there are also elements that are just so ingrained in the game and its development culture that some fixes we need are being pushed off or ignored.
Road ahead mapped out for Final Fantasy XI
It seems that Final Fantasy XI's development team is revealing all of its major plans in one large rush -- and what a rush it is. Yesterday saw the unveiling of the team's plans for the anniversary of the game, and today has seen the posting of the roadmap for the game over the next year. Among the biggest and most surprising reveals are the plans for a public test server, a feature that's been long-requested but heretofore unseen in practice. Slated for release between July and September of this year, the test server will mark a change in the version update release cycle as well as the rate of content releases. As for actual content, while no expansions or addons were unveiled, the current plan includes a new battle system dubbed "Voidwatch," which is meant to help breathe life back into older areas of the game. The final level cap increases to 99 are also on the table for the next year, along with several job adjustments, two new battle systems with only preliminary names, and the cryptic but enticing promise of "new adventurer growth elements." Final Fantasy XI fans have a lot to look forward to over the next year, and while the game is getting a bit older, it's got plenty of life left in it.
The MMO Report: Surprisingly Commando-free edition
It's the end of the week, and you know what that means! Not only do we get to ramp up to enjoy a weekend full of gaming, but it's also time for the latest edition of The MMO Report. This week Casey takes a moment to look at World of Warcraft's April Fools' Day prank and tackles the discussion of DPS players paying tanks to tag along so they can get into instance groups faster. On a more somber note, Casey notes the layoffs at Sony Online Entertainment, which resulted in the shuttering of three studios and cancellation of The Agency; he also mentions Square-Enix's games coming back online after the recent tsunami in Japan. Also noted is the upcoming Mortal Online: Dawn expansion, which should offer even more gritty, naked PvP fun for all. From there, it's all silliness in Uncle Casey's Mailbag -- complete with some RIFT vs. WoW snaps, yet another edition of strange Schreiner shoops, and more silliness. We're also treated to a quick aside that reveals Casey has awesome taste in music -- much like our own. As always, you can check out this week's episode of The MMO Report tucked behind the break for your sanitary protection or over on the G4TV site every Thursday.
Final Fantasy XI lays out plans for its anniversary celebration
As of May 16th, Final Fantasy XI will have been running for nine years. That's quite a milestone for any game, and it's the sort of thing that deserves quite a celebration. Square-Enix outlined plans today for the full-featured cavalcade of events, starting with the nine-year anniversary art contest that's just kicked off. But players with a dearth of artistic talent needn't worry, as they'll still get to participate in other events, such as the 2011 Vana'diel Census, which will be collecting a plethora of interesting trivia about characters across the globe. Still not enough? Of course not. There's also an anniversary Mog Bonanza around the corner, complete with a variety of prizes as always. And the Adventurer Appreciation Campaign is set to start up on the day of the anniversary itself, letting players who want to celebrate the game's history do so in style. Whether you've been with the game since its launch many years ago or just got into it recently, you can enjoy the many ways Final Fantasy XI commemorates its birthday.
Final Fantasy XI's annual egg hunt returning for another year
Having returned from its temporary shutdown, Final Fantasy XI is ready to herald the spring with a time-honored event. The newest incarnation of the Egg Hunt Egg-stravaganza is due to hit the live servers on April 12th, and as always the announcement comes fresh with a bit of fictional flavor. If you haven't been sufficiently creeped out by the ubiquitous and somewhat domineering moogles yet... well, the story of what it's like preparing eggs for the event will probably push you over the edge, even though it's meant to just be amusing. As always, the celebration allows players to collect letter-emblazoned eggs, with the overarching goal to assemble a number of meaningful letter combinations. Each player must start by assembling the first three letters of his or her character's name... but there are many more combinations that can be unlocked, forcing enterprising players to trade in new eggs to the festival moogle in hopes of more letter-branded eggs. Final Fantasy XI players are likely quite familiar with the mechanics by this time, but who can resist alphabetic egg hunts?
Final Fantasy XI brings updates for adventuring fellows
While Final Fantasy XI's Adventuring Fellows have always been an excellent idea, some of the implementation hasn't been quite as strong. A combination of a short summon time and strict limitations on where your fellow can be active have always hampered the system. The next update for the game is aimed at addressing several of these issues, however, giving players more reasons to call a fellow out and more opportunities to do so throughout the world. Active duration for fellows has been doubled across the board, with new fellows staying for 90 minutes and increasing to 180 minutes at maximum bond. The number of enemies that can be engaged has been increased even more significantly; your fellow will initially engage 50 enemies before departing, rising to 100 enemies at the apex. Combine that with several new areas for Final Fantasy XI players to call their backup NPC, and there's the hope that your fellow will be less of an occasional buff and more of a near-constant companion.
The Daily Grind: What class would you cut from your game of choice?
There's a budget shortage at your favorite class-based game. It doesn't matter whether your favorite game is Final Fantasy XI or RIFT, the fact is that one of the classes has to go. Assume that said class is asking for unreasonable benefits, deferred signing bonuses, shares of the gross profits per expansion, whatever you want. What's important is that one of the classes is getting cut, and it's up to you to decide which one gets banished to the land of wind and ghosts. So in said favorite game, which class gets the axe? Is it a class that you feel gets over-represented anyway that your specific game can live without (Final Fantasy XI's Ranger)? Is it a unique class without enough solid mechanics or interesting elements to keep itself afloat (Guild Wars' Ritualist)? Or is it a solid class that just feels like an unnecessary addition to an already-crowded landscape of different playstyles (Dungeon and Dragons Online's Favored Soul)? Which class seems like it would be missed the least if it were removed? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
The Mog Log: Back in the high life again
The good news is that both Final Fantasy XI and Final Fantasy XIV should be back online as of Friday. (I'm writing this on Thursday, so watch some last-minute wrench get tossed into the works.) The bad news is... well, really, that's all the news over the past couple of weeks. While the team has been working, it seems like improving a video game hasn't been at the top of anyone's priority list in the wake of the earthquake and subsequent devastation. If I hadn't made this clear enough last week, that's pretty much the only reasonable response to what's been happening. It's astonishing that anyone has even been going on and working on the games, much less actively keeping players up to date about the status of the servers. There's the distinct chance that you weren't able to log in as soon as the servers went live again yesterday, and even if you did, it was mostly a matter of checking back in and lounging for a few moments. So let's take a look at some of the ways to re-acquaint yourself with the games.
The Perfect Ten: Death penalties
Death penalties belong in that tier of MMO discussion topics that is reserved for the most controversial subjects, along with skimpy armor and the New Game Enhancements. Death, as we know well, comes for us all with big, nasty, pointy teeth. But for some reason, we are not fans of it, neither in real life nor in online games. One of the reasons death penalties continue to be a divisive subject is that they used to be brutal beyond belief in MMOs back in the olden days of yore. As the MMO genre progressed, the penalties were lightened and experimented with in an effort to avoid driving players barking mad because of them. So we've ended up with two camps: one group of gamers who campaign for harsh death penalties to make the world seem exciting and dangerous, and another group that campaigns for lenient penalties in the interests of sanity. So today we're going to go through 10 of the most-used types of death penalties in MMOs, starting with the most brutal and ending with the most lenient. Stay for the after-column party as well, as you'll get a taste for this debate in the comments section!
The Daily Grind: Are there games that should be PvP-free?
There are certain games in which the existence of PvP is almost mandatory within the setting. City of Heroes, for instance, has plenty of reason for PvP -- heroes and villains fight all the time in comics. (Heck, heroes and other heroes fight all the time, often without a single supervillain in the mix.) On the other hand, some games have a backstory in which developers need to jump several hurdles in order to make PvP seem reasonable. Final Fantasy XI has three different nations that have all put aside hostilities and are united against a group of external threats, making the prospect of combat between players just a bit difficult to swallow. Nearly every game on the market has some form of PvP, ranging from the strictly regimented instances of Star Trek Online to the free-for-all environment of Darkfall. But there are times and places that players coming to blows make sense, and there are just as surely times and places that it doesn't. What game do you feel really doesn't support a PvP presence? Is it a matter of lore, balance, or just personal taste? And would you be happier for the game if developers paid less attention to PvP, or would you like to see the PvP game addressed and brought up to par? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
Final Fantasy XI and XIV servers back online this Friday
Though the real Japan's recovery efforts are ongoing following the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, the virtual worlds of Vana'diel and Eorzea will be back in pristine, explorable condition on Friday, March 25. After taking the servers down for both Final Fantasy XI and XIV as a power conservation measure on March 13, Square Enix announced today that it'll reopen the MMO worlds this Friday. To keep power use down even with the servers running (the servers account for about 11 percent of the power use in the company's Tokyo office), Square Enix has "shut down our air conditioning system (8.8%) and enacted other power conservation measures, such as reducing lighting in our offices, to achieve over 10% in energy usage reductions." You can think of those poor staffers stuck in an air-conditioning-less office with giant, heat-spewing computers while you play the games for free. Yes, Square still plans not to collect any monthly fees for April.
Square-Enix restoring Final Fantasy XI and XIV game services on March 25th
It looks like the lights are coming back on in both Vana'diel and Eorzea in a few days, as Square-Enix has published a press release on its website updating fans and customers on its power conservation initiative. Final Fantasy XI and XIV game servers were shut down on March 13th in an effort to curtail non-essential power usage in the aftermath of the Tohoku earthquake. According to Square, services for both MMORPGs, as well as its PlayOnline portal, will be back online this Friday, March 25th. The FFXIV website also details Square's efforts to reduce its energy footprint, which includes reductions in both lighting and air conditioning usage in addition to the server shutdowns. The company also states that services may be interrupted again if recovery efforts warrant it, and that monthly fees for the April billing cycle will be waived.
The Mog Log: Blackout
It's really hard to find the heart to talk about anything related to Final Fantasy this week. Last week, things went intensely cross-eyed for Japan. If you've somehow missed it, the short version is that a massive earthquake struck, killing a huge number of people and sending Japan's Fukushima nuclear power plants into a crisis that's still escalating as of this writing. There's the very real possibility of the plant's suffering a meltdown, resulting in a disaster some people are likening to the explosion at Chernobyl. And yet the Final Fantasy XI and Final Fantasy XIV teams are working. We've seen communication out of the teams, and while Tokyo wasn't directly hit by the quake, it's hard to believe none of the employees has family in the region. The country faces rolling blackouts and a nuclear threat, and yet the teams keep working at making the games better for everyone. There comes a point when dedication doesn't adequately explain what keeps someone working through a crisis.
The MMO Report: Guilds, crafting, and craft beer edition
It's St. Patrick's day, and what better time to discuss craft beers on The MMO Report than today? Mind you, for those of you who don't imbibe frosty adult beverages, there's also a huge serving of corned MMO news, and the lilting smell of cabbage you're picking up... is probably coming from the mailbag. Shall we move on to the tasty news of the week? Let's! First up, Casey jumps straight on to the Guild Wars 2 news that many have been buzzing about this week: professions! Next up, it's Star Wars: The Old Republic's trailer made of completely delicious in-game footage, as well as the ongoing rush to get guilds set up before launch. Casey zooms straight into Jagex's partnership with Hasbro to create the upcoming Transformers MMO for the West, and he notes that Free Realms on PS3 will probably be just as popular as it is on PC. Casey also takes a moment to note the Final Fantasy XI and Final Fantasy XIV server downtime and asks anyone who can to please donate to help those in Japan. Moving on from there, it's a look into the ever-enlightening mailbag, where this week Casey is both praised and derided for his choice in beers and we are treated to another dose of photoshop magic. Finally, it is revealed that G4TV landed an exclusive fly-over of Perfect World International's new area, Dragon Mountain. As always, you can catch this week's episode behind the break, or every Thursday on G4TV.
Earthquake interruption delays Final Fantasy updates
With the massive earthquake that shut down both Final Fantasy XI and Final Fantasy XIV, players of both games are awaiting news on when service is expected to resume while the nation of Japan struggles to recover. But there have been other repercussions for Square-Enix, and in wake of the disaster, coming patches for both games have been pushed back. Final Fantasy XI's next major update, previously scheduled for mid-April, has been pushed back to a provisional date in May depending on further developments. Naoki Yoshida has put together a producer's letter explaining some of the situation in the country now, noting that while the Tokyo-based employees were unharmed, many of the staff members had family in the affected regions, not to mention power outages rendering several team members unable to get to work. The next two patches have subsequently been delayed until April, with a promise that Final Fantasy XIV players will learn more about the upcoming Grand Companies (formerly called public companies) before too long. As always, we hope that the staff and families of Square-Enix remain safe through this unforeseen crisis.
Japan's earthquake having aftershocks in the MMO world
Unless you've deliberately avoiding learning about what's going on in the world, you've doubtlessly heard of the massive earthquake that hit Japan on Friday. Our thoughts and good wishes go to any and all of our readers, and their friends and families, directly affected by the disaster. But it hits people in many ways, and it's even reaching into the MMO sphere, with both Final Fantasy XI and Final Fantasy XIV shutting down completely for at least a week of service. While the servers for both games had been kept running briefly after the disaster, the massive power failures across Japan resulted in widespread shortages. The service is expected to be down for at least a week from today, and players will receive no bills for the month due to the interruption. Sony Online Entertainment has no games based out of the island nation, but it has also suspended billing for all players in the region and has pointed players to disaster relief centers. We can only hope that other companies follow suit where possible, as a tragedy of this scale demands a response.
Final Fantasy XI and XIV open official forums
When Final Fantasy XI first launched in North America, official forums were not ubiquitous. Some games had them, and some didn't, but their absence from the launch wasn't odd. Final Fantasy XIV's launch late last year, however, came well after an official board became standard practice. Square-Enix has moved with the times, resulting in an event that many players had likely expected to never see happen -- the official forums for both games are now open, with a welcome letter available for each. While each forum is still considered to be in a beta state, players can log in using their Square-Enix IDs and begin posting immediately (any player of Final Fantasy XI still using a Playonline ID alone will need to get a Square-Enix ID and link the two). The shift is being accompanied by a change from game announcements being posted on the main page to postings on the forums, which should help fans of FFXI and Final Fantasy XIV more easily discuss updates and pending changes in a community atmosphere.
The Daily Grind: What sort of challenges feel fair in an MMO?
When I was younger (so much younger than today), I decided that it sounded like a fun jaunt to play through Devil May Cry on the hardest difficulty setting, appropriately named "Dante Must Die." For those who have never experienced this particular joy, playing the game at that level requires an insanely precise level of timing and movement, with several fights ending in instant death if you dodge left instead of right. The game's strategies weren't difficult, but the challenge was all in the execution. Of course, that sort of model can be problematic in an MMO, where a second of lag can turn a successful execution into brutal failure. MMOs have always used a wide variety of different challenges. Guild Wars asks players to make use of positioning and timing to overcome challenges, while Final Fantasy XI's endgame is much more focused on encouraging a good strategy and good team synergy. What sort of challenges do you think are best suited to the group environment of an MMO? Conversely, what sort of content design feels like an unfair challenge in context? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
The Mog Log: Playing in the epilogue
We still don't have a roadmap for the future of Final Fantasy XI, but now seems like a fine time to start speculating. Yes, the February update was nice, but it was only a patch on certain issues -- it makes leveling lower-level jobs far easier without giving players much of anything new to do. And while the game is at an age when running out of things to do is pretty darn unlikely, we're still going to need some content on the horizon, something to look forward to. (Especially since a lot of the older content we can do has been somewhat invalidated.) I've said before that I'm hoping for another boxed expansion, but I've also said before that I have my doubts about whether or not that's actually viable. But even if we just get another add-on trilogy (which seems more likely even if it's not what I want), we're still going to be dealing with a massive shadow that Final Fantasy XI has been living under for a very long time now. To put it very bluntly, we're running out of a resource that's far more valuable than PS2 hard drive space -- story.
