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One Shots: Luck be with you
For the last little while, players have been enjoying holiday content in Final Fantasy XIV while the development team has been working to improve the overall user experience. Meanwhile, today's One Shots contributor, Holden H., has been trying his best to capture a particular in-game scene to share with the rest of us. Triumphant, he sent this gorgeous vista in to us and writes: "Holden H. is the name, Final Fantasy XIV is the game, and this is nothing more than a clear day out doors of Ul'dah. I stumbled up here in the middle of a sandstorm to talk to an NPC and when it was time to turn around and head home, the storm had cleared. I've been trying to take panoramic screenshots of the desert for a while now. The visual level I play at is good for short range but bad for taking pictures of long-distance visuals. As a result I have to log out, turn up the settings, and log back in. I haven't been having that much luck with it: Usually by the time I get back in game, the sun has set or a sandstorm rolls in. This time things worked out." We're always looking for great screenshots for One Shots. Want to help us out? It's easy to do. Just email your image in to us here at oneshots@massively.com along with your name, the name of the game, and a description of what we're seeing. We'll post it out here on Massively and give you the credit for sending it in. %Gallery-112285%
Massively's guide to Valentine's Day festivities
Ah spring! 'Tis the time when young men and women's thoughts turn to love -- or at least scoring some nifty holiday-themed loot! This year there's quite a bit going on. Some events are old familiar ones that have stood the test of time. Others offer new twists and things to do for those who have been there, done that. If you aren't feeling the love bug biting, there's even the odd anti-Valentine's-type event, perfect for those who would rather rain destruction down on the head of anyone foolish enough to approach him with anything heart-shaped or pink. Curious as to what's going on? Check out our listing below -- and feel free to chime in if you know of a fun event others should check out! Rip out your Fallen Earth character's heart for Valentine's Day (February 11th-13th) What's better than surviving a nuclear holocaust and wandering your way across a blasted brown landscape rife with societal collapse? Why, sharing said wanderings with someone you love, of course (or at least, someone you lust after in that we've-got-to-do-this-for-the-future-of-mankind sort of way). In a novel spin on the traditional mid-February holiday, Icarus Studios is presenting Fallen Earth's Valentine's Day Massacre event, and clones everywhere can literally offer their hearts as a sign of affection (and a +3 stamina buff). Vindictus spreads the love with new update and holiday (February 1st-15th) Quirky events have quickly become one of Vindictus' staples. Right now players can participate in V-Day events for special rewards. If fishing and chocolate hunting isn't your bag, you can simply purchase a Valentine's Package at the Supply Depot for "sexy Valentine's themed Inner Armor." Cute undies, in other words. Valentine's events will end after the 15th, so players are encouraged to partake sooner rather than regret it later. Time for love in Final Fantasy XI (February 1st-15th) Valentine's Day is almost here, that special time of year when you attempt to distill the essence of a romantic relationship into chocolate form. And if you were hoping to escape from the day within Vana'diel, your efforts are rather misdirected -- Valentione's Day coincides nicely with the holiday in the real world, with just as much saccharine summation of liaisons in Final Fantasy XI.
This week on The MMO Report
This week on The MMO Report, Casey takes us on a free-for-all ride through the MMOGverse, scratches an itch in Uncle Casey's Mailbag, and shares a timely lesson just before World of Warcraft: Cataclysm launches. Listen and learn, for lo, there is wisdom to be had on this mythical (and not-so-mythical) topic. This episode starts off with a look at All Points Bulletin, which has been pulled back from the grave by GamersFirst, and hopefully will get more of the features it was supposed to actually have when it launched. Moving on from there, Casey touches on the recent opening of Ministry of War as a browser-based MMORTS. Some of the staff here dig it, being a bunch of Civ fiends. Mind you, if we start seeing boob-infested flash ads for the game popping up everywhere, we're going to deny ever hearing its name. In other snark news, Casey takes a look at the continuing saga of the Final Fantasy XIV free trial, which is being extended yet again in an attempt to keep fans happy. Looks like Square-Enix will have a title out for the holidays* -- which might be when this one actually becomes fully playable. Finally, the last bit of news wraps up with a mention of DC Universe Online's new trailer showing off a police station which is strangely devoid of donuts. Guess glazed pastries just don't mix with skin-tight spandex. You can find this week's episode behind the cut and of course every week at G4TV. * Note: 'Holiday' is used here to refer to any/all holidays in a given calendar year. Could be Christmas, could be Arbor Day. Who knows?
One Shots: It's dangerous to go alone
While One Shots is generally full of bright, vivid scenery, some folks find other vistas can catch their eyes and fire up the imagination. Today's murky, shadowy area was captured recently by a reader who likely felt the oncoming storm offered visual interest and mystery. This image comes to us from Gabe C. who stumbled across this scene in Final Fantasy XIV and writes in to tell us a bit more about it: "[I] had just logged on to do some levequests on my little Thaumaturge. When I got to the camp, I was stunned by the site of Ul'Dah in the distance during a sandstorm. Everything in this game continues to amaze me." If you'd like to share your adventures from time to time, we're always looking for regular contributors! All you have to do is email a screenshot to us here at oneshots@massively.com along with your name, the name of the game, and a note to tell us what's going on in the image. To become a regular submitter, just send your pics in every so often and keep us in the loop on what you're up to. We'll post your images out here on Massively and give you the credit for sending them in! %Gallery-85937%
One Shots: A productive day
Sundays are great days for getting those real-life tradeskills leveled up -- as well as relaxing in various worlds! After all, there's something to be said for squeezing in a bit of fun during that inane laundry grind. Today, we offer up an adventurous screenshot from the Final Fantasy XIV beta, courtesy of Jon C., who writes in: "After a long day of exploring and harvesting trees I started marching my way back to Uldah so I could start crafting, when I ran into this great image of the city as the sun went down. I'm having a great time in beta counting down the days until release." If you're taking part in a beta -- with the NDA down, mind you -- why not snap a screenshot and send it to us? We're always curious what players are excited about in terms of upcoming titles. All you have to do is email them to us here at oneshots@massively.com along with your name, the name of the game, and a description of what we're seeing. We'll post it out here and give you the credit for sending it in. %Gallery-85937%
One Shots: A starry night, kupo
We're glad to see that players are taking us up on our invitation to show off worlds we don't often get to see here on One Shots. Yesterday we were treated to the bizarre fashion stylings of a flying ninja, and today we're given a look at nighttime in Final Fantasy XI. This star-filled screenshot comes to us from Focant, who writes in to tell us a bit more about this scene: Nighttime in Jugner Forest during the calm between Orc attacks on the outpost held by San d'Oria. The sky in the most recent expansion Wings of the Goddess is by far the most vibrant in the game to date. Rarely will you journey into the past and not be in awe at the beautiful land that also happens to host the bloody and horrendous Crystal War.If you've spotted a screenshot here that showed off one of the cool aspects of a zone, but somehow missed another part you think is pretty cool too, why not send your own viewpoint in? We're always on the lookout for more screenshots - especially of games we don't see as often as we'd like. Just email them to us at oneshots AT massively DOT com along with your name and what game the image is from. We'll do the rest, and you'll get the credit!%Gallery-9798%
E3 2009: Massively's day 2 roundup
We thought the first day of E3 2009 turned out pretty well, with announcements for Star Wars: The Old Republic, Final Fantasy XIV, and All Points Bulletin. That's in addition to the packed interview schedule we lined up so we'll have plenty more to show you in the coming days. While the Massively team frantically taps their fingertips down into little bloody tater tots to bring you more fresh E3 goodness, have a look at some highlights of what day 2 of E3 2009 brought in MMO news. Massively's day one video from the E3 floor In-game footage from The Agency Platform release info for Final Fantasy XIV The Dares concert in Free Realms sets Guinness World Record Hands-on with Global Agenda Friends fix coming to Free Realms Want to see more? We've got E3 galleries to flip through for these titles and events after the jump.
Square-Enix security tokens on sale Tuesday!
If you've been waiting to get your hands on one of those Square Enix authenticator tokens to keep your Final Fantasy XI account safe and sound, then you're in for some great news. Square Enix has announced that they will start selling their security tokens on Tuesday, April 7th in Japan, North America and Europe. These new tokens will cost $9.99 US and will be available for purchase through the PlayOnline viewer. Also, if you opt to pick up one of the security tokens, you'll get a special in-game bonus item called "The Mog Satchel." Apparently this nifty new item will grant you additional inventory space equal to a character's Gobbiebag capacity - up to 60 slots! Additionally, it will "benefit all characters on the PlayOnline account(s)". Now as to whether that means shared communal space between all the characters or just the ability to have one on each character, they didn't explain. Square Enix did note that the bag would be able to be accessed from anywhere; the Mog House or while out running around adventuring. For $10 to ensure your account's security and to score up to an additional 60 inventory slots? We know we'll be making that investment, kupo.
Xbox 360 outsells PS3 in Japan for fourth time, Four Horsemen draw closer
The Xbox 360 has only outsold the PlayStation 3 several times before, so we're reticent to bring the Four Horsemen out of their winter hibernation. However, if Japanese hardware sales tracker Media Create is to be believed, the 360 not only outsold the PS3 in Japan last week, it handily trounced all competition, with sales just over 25,000 units (compared to nearly 17,000 units for Wii and just over 16,000 for PS3). Considering Star Ocean: The Last Hope was released this past week and is outselling every game on the chart by a margin of at least 3:1 (162,232 units, folks -- in one week!), we're taking a stab in the dark here and saying 360 sales had something to do with that. After all, the last few times we put out a call to the horsemen, two other JRPG titles were to blame: Infinite Undiscovery and Tales of Vesperia. Can you remember the other game that put 360 on top in Japan for a week? Hint: It involves fire and liberation and ... fighter jets. Give up? Too bad! We're still not telling!
"Return Home to Vana'diel" is back, and Squeenix hopes you will be too
The last "Return Home to Vana'diel" campaign ended in February this year, making the decision of whether to return to Final Fantasy XI a lot easier. Now, Square Enix is running the promotion again, giving former players the chance to restore their characters and making that decision a little less clear-cut. The campaign officially kicks off at midnight on Thursday, the 18th of December, and ends at 1am on April 15th. After that point, you'll be stuck with two choices: waiting for the chance of another campaign, or starting from scratch if you wish to resubscribe.To sweeten the deal, re-subscribers will be able to obtain an Anniversary Ring which provides a 100% experience bonus. However, there are a couple of eligibility requirements:- Characters who did not receive an Anniversary Ring during the Adventurer Appreciation Campaign in May 2008.- Characters who were created before Wednesday, May 28, 2008 and have logged into the game at least once since then.*Note: Characters meeting the above requirements are able to receive an Anniversary Ring even without participating in the Return Home to Vana'diel Campaign.That's right -- if you're already a subscriber and don't have an Anniversary Ring, this will be your chance to pick one up as well (this offer also ends on April 15th). Be warned though that deleting your current ring doesn't mean you can get another one.This is a great opportunity to get back into FFXI, and we can't deny that there's a lot going on in the game right now -- but such a campaign would not be necessary if characters weren't deleted after 3 months. Is such a practice acceptable for today's MMOs?
Final Fantasy XI to receive mentoring-esque Level Sync system
Square-Enix is taking another step towards making Final Fantasy XI a little bit more playable for the masses by implementing what it calls the "Level Sync" system. The feature resembles the mentoring systems found in EverQuest II or Age of Conan in that it allows higher level players to drop down to friends' levels and adventure with them while gaining experience.In its announcement of this feature, Square-Enix went out of its way to emphasize that it has built in the system safeguards against abuse by powerlevelers and gold farmers. There are also some reasonable limitations intended to keep the game streamlined, fun, and balanced. For example, equipment-based stat bonuses will scale down with each level a player drops.There are explicit details at the official Final Fantasy XI website about how experience gains and equipment scale. We approve of this addition (as if you needed us to); in fact, we wonder why certain other games still don't have it. Being able to play with friends regardless of their time commitment and experience is a big positive, and we can't even think of a substantial drawback.[Via Allakhazam]
FFXI's September update will add new relic gear sets
Square-Enix announced that the September update to Final Fantasy XI will add the relic gear sets for the Blue Mage, Corsair, and Puppetmaster jobs. The FFXI team considered adding new content that would lead to the gear. However, the team finally decided to do it the old way. That means Blue Mages, Corsairs, and Puppetmasters will be working Dynamis and Limbus like everyone else.Drop rates and entry item costs for those two areas have been altered to make everything nice and smooth for all the folks who will be working at acquiring this new gear. Yeah, we know that's vague! But Square-Enix didn't say anything specific about the drop rate changes.It did, on the other hand, specify that the Timeless Hourglass entry item will drop in cost from 1,000,000 gil to 500,00, and the Cosmo-Cleanse will drop from 30,000 to 15,000. That's half off! Nice.[Via WarCry]
The Sale Ends with You [update 2]
E3 news is still trickling in, but we wouldn't be the DS Fanboy you know and love if we neglected to tell you how to buy cheap games.The latest hot sale is something we've seen before -- The World Ends with You at Amazon for $29.99. Yet, that offer quickly went out of stock way back when, and many of you poor, unfortunate souls didn't get a chance to nab it at the time. In fact, from what we understand, the game is still hard to find at certain locations.You can still get the title minus the "Square Enix tax," though, thanks to Amazon's revisiting of its previous sale price. This is a game that's actually worth all $40, too, so $30 is definitely a bargain.[Update: Well that lasted a good ... half hour. Those of you who are set on the sale, it might be worth it to keep checking in at Amazon throughout the day. As of this moment, though, it seems that the price has gone back to $39.99.][Update 2: Well, what do you know, the price has gone back down to $29.99 again. That's one small step for man, and one giant "woot" from mankind. Once again tipped by supa_s -- we think he must have the magic touch.] Gallery: The World Ends With You [Thanks, supa_s!]
This Chrono Trigger trailer speaks our language
We posted a trailer a few days back that let us bask in the glory that is Chrono Trigger DS, and it was wonderful. There was just one, teensy weensy problem, though -- it was in Japanese. Yet, now you can enjoy the trailer in English by watching the video above, or head on over to the official (North American) website to see it in higher quality. Normally we'd say it's not worth the effort for a few text changes here and there, but then again, we're not normally writing about Chrono Trigger DS.We recommend that those of you who find yourselves chronically obsessed with Chrono Trigger sit down and give it a watch.[Thanks, T.J.!]
Metareview: Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo's Dungeon
Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo's Dungeon is warking on over to the Wii today, and this excites us for two reasons. For one, we're entirely ready for the cuteness overload that is sure to engulf us while playing the game. Seriously, dressing up Chocobos in cute little class outfits? We're not even sure we can handle that level of adorability. The second reason is that it's a roguelike RPG, and we can definitely use some more representation for this niche genre on the Wii.We don't want to play a bad game, though, so we're interested in seeing what the critics have to say before giving Square Enix our hard-earned $40. If you are, too, then look no further:1up (B+) found many redeeming qualities about the game, as long as you're willing to embrace the roguelike challenges: "It's difficult, and it's often controller-throwingly infuriating, but the challenge is fundamentally fair -- and the game looks and sounds so good that you'll keep playing to see what comes next. The dungeons are surprisingly pretty for randomly generated affairs, boasting colorful corridors and flashy graphical effects. And the soundtrack is nothing short of amazing, a collection of lush rearrangements of Final Fantasy standbys."IGN (84/100) thought that this title had a lot of polish, and that Squeenix fans should run to pick this one up: "On the surface, Chocobo's Dungeon appears to be another watered-down entry with its kid-friendly presentation and seemingly simplistic gameplay. But spend a little time with it and layers of depth slowly reveal themselves. This is one of the most engaging, challenging experiences on the Wii, proving that a kiddie presentation doesn't have to mean shallow gameplay."%Gallery-9664%
Relax in Chocobo's Dungeon with screens and videos
We're one day away from the release of Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo's Dungeon, which can only mean one thing: media blitz. Not that we're complaining; the graphics for this title aren't anything too special, but you can't deny that the Square Enix polish makes the game look pretty. Normally Squeenix charges a little extra for that polish, but not in the case of Chocobo's Dungeon -- the game is retailing for only $39.99 (shock, gasp!). So, we'll look at the shiny new images in the gallery below to our hearts' content.In addition to screens, Square Enix also gave us some videos to peek at. If you want to see a handful gameplay action (and, more importantly, the Chocobo looking adorable in different class outfits), then just click on the shiny blue "Continue reading ..." link below. %Gallery-9664%
Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Sale of Fates
Some of you may be tired of hearing us moan and groan about Square Enix's inflated game prices, but that doesn't mean we're going to stop -- paying $40 for a DS game is a cruel practice. Now, though, you can pick up Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Ring of Fates at an almost normal DS game price, since it's currently on sale (or perhaps marked down) at Amazon. The game will still set you back a cool $33.99, but when it comes to Square Enix, we'll take whatever deals we can get.A few watchful CAGers have also noticed a handful of other titles that were marked down a dollar, mostly from Atlus. One dollar isn't immense savings, we know, but in case that's enough to push you over the edge for a purchase, check out Amazon's listings for Rondo of Swords, Drone Tactics, Luminous Arc, Summon Night: Twin Age, and Advance Wars: Days of Ruin. Strangely enough, we think Amazon might be having a bizarre $1 off sale throughout its gaming department, as we noticed this "mark down" with Super Smash Bros. Brawl, too. That leads us to believe you can probably find more goodies slashed down a dollar, if you feel so inclined to look -- after all, one-hundred pennies saved are one-hundred pennies earned.[Via CAG]
Snippets of FFTA2 gameplay show some tactics
While we're waiting for Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grimoire of the Rift to release (very soon), we're pretty much powerless to do much but look at screens and websites. Now, though, we can at least immerse ourselves in some videos of the upcoming game. Unfortunately, most of them are only short (and tiny) clips teasing the battle system, but it's still nice to get a sense of what the gameplay will entail.Above, the video delves into a part of the story, although put out of context it's not very telling. After the break, you can watch a few forty-second battle clips, showing three different characters using their attacks, skills, or summons. Gallery: FF Tactics A2
My Life in the Everyone's Kingdom website
My Life as a King fan, are you? Then you'll be happy to know that Square Enix created a love-fest site for the game, in which you take a break from being the king and become the adventurer instead.When you first enter the site (assuming you've logged into your Square Enix Member's account), you'll be greeted by a quiz that will determine your job (this blogger sadly conjured up the lamest of the lame jobs, the white mage). Once you have a job and a house, you can dally around the town.Different places in the virtual kingdom let you do various things. At the castle, you can write questions, comments, or thoughts about the game to its developers. Throughout the town you can also check out the bulletin to see the "king's behests," download some goodies (like screen savers), see other members' "houses," and other random stuff.The website is a nice idea for fan service, but to be honest, there's no reason to spend more than five minutes there at the moment. Hopefully Square Enix will add some more neat things to it soon.[Via Destructoid]
Dragon Quest trilogy also headed to PAL territories
Is today the DS day of awesome for Europe, or what? The latest trio of games announced for the continent are none other than the Dragon Quests. We only reported this morning that Dragon Quest IV, V, and VI were North American bound, so hearing about a European (and other PALs) confirmation so soon afterward was a pleasant surprise. Not only that, but DQIV will be releasing in PAL nations this September, too -- maybe Square Enix really meant it when they said they were aiming for simultaneous worldwide releases. (Yes, we know it came out in Japan ages ago.) Together, these three games combine to form the Zenithia Trilogy. There's no word on when to expect Dragon Quest V: Hand of the Heavenly Bride or Dragon Quest VI: Realms of Reverie, but that's okay. We're just glad to know they're coming. Also, check out our brand-spanking-new Dragon Quest IV: Chapters of the Chosen gallery below if all this Squeenix news has you gushing. %Gallery-23400% %Gallery-12146%
