Final Fantasy XIV

The Final Fantasy XIV development team has announced that the game's free trial period for another thirty days. Devs indicated that this was to thank players for their support. Any player who registers an account or purchases a character on or before November 19th is eligible for the extended thirty day free trial.

FFXIVCore.com has let us know about a pair of 'large scale updates' planned for Final Fantasy XIV. The updates are scheduled to go live in November and December and will include a huge variety of bug fixes, enhancements, improvements, adjustments, etc. FFXIVCore.com has the full list of changes coming broken down by those to be deployed in November and those coming in December.

In its latest financial report, Square Enix's earnings were down over 75% in the first half of 2010 as compared to the second half of 2009. Sales were reported down 30% in the first six months of 2010. The first half of 2010 generated $21 million as compared to $85 million in the the latter part of 2009. Sales were slightly better than originally projected, however, due to decent sales of Just Cause 2 and Final Fantasy XIV.

Final Fantasy XIV game director, Nobuaki Komoto, has penned what would be called a 'state of the game' letter on the official site. In the message, Komoto begins the discussion with news that the dev team plans large-scale updates to the game every three months and that they have indeed been listening to player feedback. To that end, Komoto addresses several key issues: UI adjustments, party based battle balancing, server lag, and distribution of enemies.

In her latest feature for MMORPG.com, writer Carolyn Koh takes on the Herculean task of writing about Final Fantasy XIV. Carolyn readily admits that the article is a 'first look' at the game as the depth of FFXIV will require more time to pen an authoritative review. However, Carolyn has some strong opinions about what she's experienced thus far, even going so far as to call it a 'love hate' relationship. Check out Carolyn's thoughts about Final Fantasy XIV and then add yours on our forums.

A new post on the Final Fantasy XIV Lodestone features a look at the unique Battle Regimens and the incapacitation of body parts. Battle Regimens are coordinated battle tactics with several players attacking a single enemy. Successful regimens can weaken opponents by rendering heads or limbs incapacitated.

Now that Final Fantasy XIV has officially launched, MMORPG.com's Carolyn Koh has a first hand preview of Eorzea. In this comprehensive look at the new game world, Carolyn covers basic information about races, classes, the armory system, combat, harvesting, crafting, questing, travel and something called "old school gameplay". Check out Carolyn's impressions of her first day in her Eorzea Preview.

Final Fantasy fans and players everywhere have been waiting for this day for a long time. Final Fantasy XIV has finally and officially launched! With eighteen classes and a huge amount of character customization, there is a lot to look forward to now that the game has arrived. Devs have put together some reading material for those getting ready to head out into Eorzea.

FFXIVCore.com has a newly translated interview with Square Enix developer Hiromichi Tanaka. The interview originally appeared on Dengeki Games. FFXIV Core will be releasing the translated version of the interview in three parts. Check out a snippet!

FFXIVCore.com has let us know that the site has scored bunches of new screenshots from Final Fantasy XIV. The screens feature armor, monsters and other never-before seen screenshots. You won't want to miss these so head to the link above. FFXIVCore warns that there are spoilers so consider yourself warned!

Square Enix has sent over boatloads of new screenshots from Final Fantasy XIV. The screenshots reveal the nation of Gridania and give fans a look at some of the locales in and around the country. Guilds are also features prominently including the Carpenters', Botanist, Leatherworkers' and Lancers' locations. Check out all of the screens in our Final Fantasy XIV gallery.

At the recent PAX convention, MMORPG.com's Carolyn Koh sat in on the Square Enix panel. The discussion, of course, centered on Square Enix's latest MMO, Final Fantasy XIV. The team presented information about player community, quests, boss mobs and more. Keep reading to find out what else Carolyn discovered during the PAX panel.

After the furor over the postponement of the Final Fantasy XIV open beta, Square Enix has revealed that the bug issues causing the delay have been solved. The open beta will begin on September 1, 2010 (that's today!). Here's the full press release.

Thanks to intrepid forumite, Matheous, we have confirmed that the Final Fantasy XIV open beta scheduled to begin on September 1, 2010 has been delayed on European and North American servers. Developers are citing 'critical bugs' as the reason behind the delay.

Square Enix revealed today that the open beta for Final Fantasy XIV would begin earlier than expected. Fans can expect to enter the world of Eorzea beginning August 31st, 2010. Accompanying today's announcement is this latest trailer for the game, which features the game's theme song "Answers" by Susan Calloway.