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Return for a free week and get major discounts during Final Fantasy XI's anniversary event
This fall marks Final Fantasy XI's 12th anniversary, and as part of the lead up to the celebration, former players are invited back for a free week of play! Dubbed the Return Home to Vana'diel Campaign, the event lets all players who have ever previously paid for a subscription to FFXI return from Wednesday, September 10th, at 11:00 p.m. EDT, to Wednesday, September 17th, at 10:59 a.m. EDT. To be eligible, accounts must either be currently canceled or have the "To be Canceled" status as of September 8th at 10:59 a.m. EDT. Starting at the same time but lasting a week longer are special discount offers for everyone. Until 10:59 a.m. EDT on Tuesday the 23rd, players can grab the following digital downloads and services for significant savings: Seekers of Adoulin Expansion Pack -- $4.99 (83% off) Final Fantasy XI: Ultimate Collection Seekers Edition -- $9.99 (75% off) World Transfer Service -- $9.00 (50% off) All deal are through the the Square Enix e-Store. If you've wanted to get back into the game to see what has changed or want to pick it up and check Vana'diel out yourself, this is a good opportunity to dive in.
Final Fantasy XIV throws free week for its first anniversary
Here's a good way to round out your August: by returning to Final Fantasy XIV for a free week courtesy of Square Enix. The studio is celebrating the first anniversary of the game's relaunch (no, there never was a game before A Realm Reborn. You must forget... forget...) by giving a week of free game time to former subscribers. Anyone who previously played FFXIV can enjoy the title from Friday, August 22nd, through Monday, September 1st. Final Fantasy XIV recently released Patch 2.35 with hunting and crafting improvements.
FFXIV extends free game time (again) after rocky launch (again)
After another rocky start for the revamped Final Fantasy XIV, Square Enix has announced that it will be extending the 14 days of free time by another seven days. "Users who have yet to enter their registration codes will receive an additional seven-day trial should they register before 11.59 pm (PDT) on September 9, 2013." Square Enix said in a statement. "Moving forward, we will continue monitoring the servers to ensure that quality service and support are provided in a timely manner." The servers will be taken down tonight at 8pm EDT with an expected downtime of 10 hours. This downtime will introduce new Worlds to increase the number of concurrent logins allowed for each server.
Freesat launches 'Free Time' TV Guide to help you waste yours
Freesat is launching a revamped TV guide to pull together content from your satellite dish and the Internet. Free Time has a unified now and next view that lets you search backwards for shows you've missed that are available on-demand. It currently supports BBC iPlayer and ITV player, with 4OD and Demand 5 due to be added before Christmas -- and while it's still a rumor at this point, we're expecting Netflix to arrive on the platform at some point in the future. The guide will form the centerpiece of the next generation of Freesat hardware, which will be available for £280 when it arrives later this month.
The Daily Grind: Does summer vacation affect your playtime?
Massively readers, being people of excellent taste in entertainment, know there's a lot of fun to be had sitting down and logging in to their favorite MMOs for a few hours of fun. The problem with kicking back and relaxing like this for any period of time is that eventually real life is going to rear its head and you're going to have to step away. (This is a good thing, mind you.) The summer months are here for much of the world, and that affects MMO playtime in one way or another for many gamers. Are you one of those gamers? Maybe school and studying have kept you busy and now you're free as a bird with more time to play. Maybe you're a parent, and now that the kids are out of school, they're keeping you hopping. Do you have a job that changes according to the weather or seasons? How do the summer months affect your gaming time? 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 Daily Grind: What game would you play if you had the time?
There are a lot of MMOs on the market at the moment, and while it can be argued that many of them are drawing inspiration from the same well, there's still plenty of variety available. You can roam in post-apocalyptic Nevada, soar through a variety of spaceways, or slay a truly staggering number of different dragons in the myriad worlds available online. But you are limited by one force no matter what -- you only have so much time during a single day. That means that there's necessarily a game you'd love to play, but you just don't have the time. No matter what, the game you can't quite fit into your schedule is a game you like. It's usually just a case of not liking it quite enough to ditch the game (or games) you spend most of your time on. So what game would you love to play if you had more time for it? Is it an old favorite you've moved past, a new game that interests you, or a title that's long been on your radar but never quite moved into being a must-play venture? 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 XIV players get another free month of playtime
More than a month ago, Square-Enix announced that players of Final Fantasy XIV would be receiving an extension to the free trial period of the game, citing that the game was not as polished as originally hoped and it was only fair not to bill for a cycle. It was a gesture of goodwill without much precedent, but most players should be very pleasantly surprised that the free trial is being extended once again. Another 30 days of free time are being granted to all players, up to and including those who had planned to cancel their billing once the free period wore off. In addition to this announcement, the November version update is being given a tentative date of November 25th, just after the point when most free periods would have expired. This means that early adopters have received a grand total of 90 days of free playtime -- but any account with a character created through November 19th will receive the free trial extension as well. While the free time won't mollify ardent critics, Final Fantasy XIV's players can still enjoy the fact that they can play or not play the game for another month without worrying about subscriptions one way or the other.
Final Fantasy XIV grants players a month of freedom and revamped markets
Player opinions have been strongly mixed on Final Fantasy XIV, something that hardly needs to be reiterated. Even the game's supporters have occasionally been a touch leery about paying for their first month of the game with the current state of polish. Which means that it should be good news for players all around that Square-Enix is extending the normal "free month" to encompass an additional month, placing early adopters out of the realm of billing until November. Aimed primarily at purchasers of the collector's edition with its headstart, the extension will be credited to any and all accounts created before October 19th. Billing will be credited for another 30 days, giving a total of 60 days free time within the game world. The official announcement assured the community that the development team is listening to all the feedback received, and wishes to thank Final Fantasy XIV's players for their devotion to the game. Considering that the game has just seen its first pass of reorganization for the market system and a director dispatch on the game's future, it's a morning of good news for the game's players. [Thanks to Bartillo and FusionX for the tip!]
Microsoft wants employees to code Windows Phone 7 apps 'in their spare time'
You had to know those freebie WP7 devices for Microsoft employees would come with a few strings attached. We imagined the Redmond brain trust was aiming for some word-of-mouth popularization along with a boost in team morale and proactivity, but as it turns out, things are a little more codified than that. TechFlash has what it claims to be the internal memo announcing the free Windows Phone 7 handsets -- from mobile chief Andy Lees, who hasn't been having the best of times lately -- which sets out Redmond's expectation that employees should "evangelize" the product at every opportunity, while also setting aside some spare time before launch to develop apps (but, you know, only if they really want to). The idea, clearly, is to harness Microsoft's massive talent pool to try and get a headstart on populating the Marketplace with compelling content; we're just not too sure the "spare time" bit is going to go over quite as well as the "free smartphone" part. Either way, you'll find the full email from Andy at the source. [Thanks, Mint]
The Daily Grind: Did you return to Azeroth?
With the holiday relaxation & downtime many have had this last week, coupled with the recent offer of 7 days free to previous subscribers, some have gone back to World of Warcraft. After all, it is still the insanely huge gorilla in the MMO room, and with the recent addition in patch 3.3, it's now very easy to get those instance groups you might have needed. Add to that the promise of holiday fun with friends, and it's pretty easy to see why many may take Blizzard up on their offer. On the other hand, there are a ton of games that have either just come out, or are going to come out this next year that could be keeping people out. (Even if just based on the "It's not World of Warcraft" mantra.) Also, there's the sheer fact that many folks are just burnt out. Sure, you might be getting groups faster, but you're still running the same old dungeons you were before. After a while, that sense of same-old-same-old sets in and it gets mind-numbingly boring again for some. Ultimately, we've been curious how many did opt to take them up on the 7 day offer, really. If you did go back for the 7 days, did you wind up resubscribing? Did you log in, see all the idiots in your PUG/Trade channel/etc, remember why you left, log back out, and delete the game? Or did you give the whole thing a pass altogether? We'd love to hear from those of you who got the offer to come back as to what you did. Leave us your thoughts below!
Free play-time given for server trouble
If you're one of the people who tried to play this past Tuesday, you experienced the same thing as the rest of us. The servers, they were just plain dead. Even since then, the instances and world servers have been a little less than friendly. This was all to put in Patch 3.1, but there were definitely some hiccups along the way. The game just hasn't been running smoothly, and some folks haven't been able to play at all.Bornakk dropped by the forums to tell us that they plan on doing something about it. All World of Warcraft accounts in good standing will get one day's free play time. Your account has to be based in the North American, Latin American, or Oceanic servers, but it will definitely show up in your Account Management login within the next few days. Totally classy move on Blizzard's part, in my opinion.EDIT: EU and Russian servers, too!
Vanguard welcomes back former subscribers with free game time
Vanguard wants you to come home for the holidays and spend an evening next to your fireplace in Telon. In conjunction with their holiday events, former subscribers that were inactive for longer than 45 days have had their accounts reactivated until January 31st, 2009. You don't have to do anything to pick up the free game time, all you need to do is run Vanguard and play. Even if you don't have your disks, you can still download the trial client and it will patch you up to the full client when you run it.The free game time will let you check out the new features to the game, like the addition of fishing, a new ship, a new raid, new enhancement slots, the Festival of Gloriann and all the decorations that come with it. So fly back to Telon with Randolph the Flying Reindeer and fight off some evil snowmen. It's free!
Issue 13 brings free weekend for players
Curious about the changes that Issue 13 has brought in, but not sure if you want to reactivate your City of Heroes or City of Villains account? Well, if so, you're in luck! The good folks at NCNC are eager to show off all the new goodies that were added with Issue 13, and have thrown open the doors to Paragon City, inviting back all former Heroes and Villains who have accounts in good standing.All returning players will be treated to a "freespec" - or free respec, as well as a free tailoring session, enabling players to take advantage of the cool new costume options. Beyond that, there's new Cimerora and Midnight Squad story arcs to check out; new powersets; the option to have two builds enabling players to have a "solo" and "party" build - or a PvE and PvP build they can switch between; the Leveling Pact option if you're rolling a new character with a friend; and a bunch more to read over. Of course, there's also the addition of Day Jobs to enjoy, but that works when you're logged out. We're sure you won't want to miss a minute of your free time checking out all the great new content City of Heroes has to offer!
Blizzard gives out a day of compensation for the downtime
Blizzard's been on shaky footing this week with all the downtime, from their forum issues to in-game mail problems, and even their main site has had trouble. But there's good news for those affected by the outages (everybody?): we're all getting an extra day of playtime. Tyren says that they believe the problems are now fixed, and that players will recieve a free day of gameplay sometime within the next two weeks.Personally, I wasn't affected much, but free gametime is free gametime. The real test will be this evening and this weekend -- if Blizzard can keep their realms up even under the pressure of so many people checking out the expansion, it'll be a feat. But odds are that, considering how many players are likely to try checking out Northrend in the next few days, the shakiness is not quite over.
The price of a game time refund
Is it just me or has it been a long time since Blizzard passed out some free game time? Reader Jim T. emailed me about a conversation he recently had with Blizzard's customer service -- he was disappointed with the lag, the queues, and the downtime on his server lately, and checking in about how he might get a refund or credit. The customer rep told him that while they didn't give out individual credit, they occasionally do give out game-wide credit for downtime mistakes.Which is true -- Blizzard will occasionally give out a free day to folks affected by major unexpected downtime or server issues. But while they used to do it fairly often, by my recollection, they seem much less inclined to pull the trigger on a refund lately. On the one hand, sure, Blizzard does a better job than they used to -- last Tuesday's maintenance lasted quite a while, but it wasn't anything compared to the days the servers used to be offline a few years ago. On the other hand, though, there's no question players are being affected -- by queues, by problems logging in, and by lag on the instance servers and elsewhere.Of course, we have no idea if Blizzard has an actual rule for when they give out free gametime and when they don't -- at this point, the criteria for giving players a refund happens to be "when they feel like it." Which is all right, we guess -- it's their company, of course. But it does seem like the criteria has changed -- we used to get refunds all the time, and even with all the problems lately, Blizzard hasn't decided to give customers any game time back.
