Final Fantasy XIV Forum » General Discussion » Final Fantasy XIV Information

(I did not write any of this, article can be found here)

Is FFXIV MMO?
Yes, Square Enix confirmed that the title will be an MMO during its press conference. SE noted, “Our plan from the beginning was to make the best Final Fantasy game available. That is our vision for XIV. Then we thought, how can we make the best FF game? We came to the conclusion that it would be an MMORPG. It was decided to make the best FF first, and that led to the decision to make it an MMORPG and use that genre.”

From Gamespot "Originally under the code name Rapture, the game is officially the next one in the long-running series and is titled Final Fantasy XIV online."

Playstation 3 Only?
No, the official FFXIV website confirms a simultaneous launch on PS3 and PC. SE has stated that it would keep all options open, meaning an eventual launch on Xbox 360 is possible. It is worth noting that Sony never said the game would be exclusive to the PS3. Jack Tretton (President and CEO of SCEA) said that PS3 was the only console for FFXIV at launch. Though his statement didn’t explicitly say it, his words clearly did not exclude the simultaneous PC launch or a delayed Xbox 360 launch. You can play this on your PS3 or PC at launch.

Is FFXIV a sequel to FFXI?
SE has revealed a few connections to FFXI but maintains that FFXIV is its own game. First, the races revealed so far intentionally are similar to those in Final Fantasy XI so that players of SE’s first MMO would have an easier time getting into FFXIV. Second, FFXIV will feature some kind of job system like the one seen in FFXI, but progression will be different. Aside from those elements, FFXIV is a new game. Characters from FFXI will NOT transfer to FFXIV in any way.

When will FFXIV launch, and when will it be in beta?
The best timeline for FFXIV must be deduced from statements SE has made. The company told the press that FFXIV will launch after FFXIII, a console RPG scheduled to release in Spring 2010, which places that title between the months of April and June in 2010. This means FFXIV could release any time between June and December 2010.

SE also said that it would like to beta test FFXIV longer than it did FFXI prior to release. FFXI was in beta for three to four months. Pick any date between June and December 2010 as launch and go back at least five months to find the possible start for the beta.

Will FFXIV use PlayOnline?
SE will not use PlayOnline, but the company told ZAM that owners of the Square Enix Security Token could use the device to protect their FFXIV accounts.

What races are in FFXIV?
SE has mentioned that the E3 video, viewable on the official FFXIV website, shows races very similar to five players met in FFXI: Hume, Galka, Elvaan, Mithra, and Tarutaru. Additionally, the scrolling mural on the official website may hint at a new race. The far left of the picture shows a group of four people talking. The left-most is a Mithra. The third is Elvaan, and the fourth is either Hume or Elvaan. The person in the second position has horns protruding from her head, which is reminiscent of the Gria race shown in Final Fantasy games based in the world of Ivalice (see Final Fantasy Tactics and Final Fantasy XII).

While this image is not confirmed as revealing a Gria, it opens speculation that other races from Ivalice might be playable too. Those races would include the fan favorite Moogles, the hearty Bangaa, the powerful Seeq, the agile Viera, and the clever Nu Mou.

What classes are in FFXIV?
The short answer is that no one knows yet. SE has indicated that FFXIV will use a job system like the one so popular in FFXI, but the company also said that it would feel different from the one in its previous MMO. Most of the speculation in this area stems from the SE response to IGN’s question about the importance of weapons. SE told IGN that weapons greatly influence character development and that fans should inspect the FFXIV logo for clues. SE further explained that the concept is a “wheel” of warriors trying to cover the backs of their comrades.

Popular theories for the meaning of these clues is that weapons will grant stat bonuses as people use them or that they will define the job of the character equipping them and have abilities that can be learned from them.

The FFXIV logo displays what appears to be a group of casters and support jobs surrounded by allies with short- and long-range melee weapons, prompting speculation that combat may involve a front and rear guard with casters in the middle.

Will the same character be able to learn any job?
The answer to this question is unknown at this time. SE admitted that character development is the main focus of FFXIV and that it will not involve a traditional experience points system. This has led to conjecture that the game will employ a skill up system like the one used in Darkfall or an Ability Points (AP) system like the one used in Final Fantasy Tactics.

A skill up system would result in a character getting better at wielding long swords the longer he fights with them. Meanwhile, the AP system has players earn points to unlock abilities. AP earned while a white mage could only buy white mage abilities.

Does the E3 video have any real gameplay in it?
SE has divulged that a small section of the E3 trailer contained footage generated from the game engine. This portion of the video shows a battle on board a ship. The most popular still from the battle features a Galka with a pole arm squaring off against tentacled sea creatures in the pouring rain. The game engine footage also includes enemies boarding the ship and a group of adventurers encased in a magical sphere.

What will combat be like?
SE has promised a combat system that employs strategical thinking and that may feature many enemies attacking at once.

Where will FFXIV release first?
SE plans a worldwide simultaneous launch of FFXIV with translations in Japanese, English, French, and German.

Will servers be restricted to regions?
SE will evaluate this further during beta. The developer seems to value the interaction of players from all over the world on the same server, but it also notes that players naturally segregated themselves in FFXI anyway.

What is the target server capacity?
5000-6000 users.

Will FFIV charge a monthly subscription fee?
Yes, SE has revealed that it plans to allow billing increments of 30 days. It is assumed that this means players can purchase month-to-month or in any increments of 30 days.

Will FFIV have solo content?
SE vows to have content for solo players and groups. The team knows how much RPG players value a solid story and wants to provide an experience that allows for different play styles and time commitments.

Will FFXIV use level sync like FFXI that allows stronger players to group with weaker ones?
Yes.

Will FFXIV have chocobos?
The E3 trailer features a chocobo. It’s Final Fantasy. It will have chocobos.

Will FFXIV focus on crystals in any way?
Crystals are a common theme in the Final Fantasy mythos, and they look to return in FFXIV. Even so, SE promises they will work a bit differently than in FFXI. This stance and careful inspection of the mural on the official site has led to conjecture that FFXIV may feature material, a type of crystals used to learn skills in Final Fantasy VII.

The mural on the official site presents a belt filled with crystals on a table in the right side of the image. The group of four people on the left that might include a Gria also contains an Elvaan who could be tossing a crystal into the air or causing it to hover above his hand. It’s also possible that the crystal is hovering in the background (there are others back there) and the Elvaan’s hand is raised in a gesture.

 Questions I have:

1. What is the ration of open world to instance?
2. How far along in the production chain is the game?  Preproduction  done?  
3. How long until we see in game screen shots instead of concept art?
4. How long until we see multiple people in game fighting in release videos?
5. Modable UI?

I think that about covers it.  Teaser video looks nice.

Originally posted by Merxion

 Questions I have:

1. What is the ration of open world to instance?  No idea!
2. How far along in the production chain is the game?  Preproduction  done?  No Idea!
3. How long until we see in game screen shots instead of concept art? No Idea!
4. How long until we see multiple people in game fighting in release videos? No Idea!
5. Modable UI?  Hopefully never!

I think that about covers it.  Teaser video looks nice.

Originally posted by Merxion

 Questions I have:

1. What is the ration of open world to instance?
2. How far along in the production chain is the game?  Preproduction  done?  
3. How long until we see in game screen shots instead of concept art?
4. How long until we see multiple people in game fighting in release videos?
5. Modable UI?

I think that about covers it.  Teaser video looks nice.

off the top of my head, might not be the most specific answers but it's something...

1 - no idea, very few details have been given out about game play specifics.

2 - it's been in development for around 5 years and is planned to enter beta testing in the summer and release late next year.

3 - I'm guessing we will be slowly seeing updates over the next several months of new videos, screen shots, and the like.

4 - see above

5 - not sure about this yet either.

other info seen at 1up

www.1up.com/do/previewPage

What's our take?FFXI is a tricky game to judge. MMOs in general only appeal to a certain segment of the population, and FFXI in turn caters to a fairly hardcore subset of that group. People who love FFXI really love FFXI, and Square knows it:

Their ideal situation, they say, is for existing fans to alternate between playing FFXI one day and FFXIV the next. That's probably optimistic, but they're hedging their bets with an additional year of content to support the existing MMO.

For everyone else, though, the team is aiming to make FFXIV more accessible than FFXI right from the start -- a necessity in a world dominated by World of Warcraft. "The way WOW is aimed at casual users is something we want to incorporate, but we don't want to copy it," Komoto says. "The key word is growth, the growth of the character, their development. We'll have the same type of storytelling and same type of graphics [as in FFXI], but we hope to expand on the in-game systems. Through these we'd like to expand the job system into something different from XI's. All the knowledge and experience we acquired from FFXI will be incorporated into FFXIV. XI was designed for parties, but we'd like for XIV to have material for solo players and parties alike from the start."

"While FFXI has changed over time, it's still party based," Tanaka adds. "For FFXIV, if you want to play solo you can. If you want to play in a party you can. If you want to jump in play for 40 minutes or for long sessions you can. We'll offer different play styles for many different people."

While the team won't divulge details on the game's combat system or other fundamental details of the action, they do note that that the massive scale battles seen in the trailer (where multiple parties team up against huge groups of enemies) will be an aspect of the game itself. The team intends to maintain the same worldwide server system that FFXI uses, though this is subject to change based on the pending beta test, as many gamers tend to gravitate toward playing with peers from their own region.