Square-Enix posts

The Egg Hunt is hatching on Final Fantasy XI

by Eliot Lefebvre Mar 19th 2010 at 9:00AM

Filed under: Fantasy, Final Fantasy XI, Events, in-game, Humor

It's that time of year again for Final Fantasy XI -- the time for running about spewing letters of the alphabet, frantic searching, and egg-scrutiatingly bad puns. Yes, the Egg Hunt is here again, a celebration of all things related to spring and denying birds easy access to their offspring. And while not all of the puns and tongue-in-cheek humor will go over easy, the official announcement has both a short humor piece and instructions to keep you from getting fried.

The short version is that as you scramble about Vana'diel, you can make a point of talking to the event moogles or trading them eggs. They'll offer up one lettered egg per day for free, and more if you shell out additional eggs. Assemble the first three letters of your character's name for the simplest prize, or go for a more challenging collection like seven of a kind to get even better rewards! While it's one of the sillier and less lore-filled holiday events in Final Fantasy XI, the Egg Hunt should still provide ample opportunity to enjoy some quality time with fellow adventurers. Read the full announcement for all the details, and possibly to prepare yourself for the onslaught of puns. (We've even laid out a few to help.)

Tags: egg-hunt, ff11, ffxi, final-fantasy, final-fantasy-11, final-fantasy-xi, humor, in-game-events, spring, square-enix, xbox-360

More on Final Fantasy XI's VanaFest prize and March update

by Eliot Lefebvre Mar 16th 2010 at 9:00AM

Filed under: Fantasy, Final Fantasy XI, Patches, Consoles

Although VanaFest 2010 is moving into the memories (fond or otherwise) of Final Fantasy XI fans everywhere, there are still bits and pieces that remained unanswered questions. For instance, what exactly are the prized Chocobo Berets going to do when players get their hands on them? Thanks to Corinth on the popular fan translation site JP Button, we finally have our answer: they turn players into chocobos. Using the hat turns everyone in the party into an egg which, when hatched (by removing the buff), will temporarily turn a player into an adolescent chocobo that improves their movement speed somewhat. High time to start making friends with attendees or trivia contest winners for that.

The translated information also points to the hats being available with the March version update, which looks to be going live on March 23rd. The VanaFest site has a full breakdown of what's due with the update, but in short it's set to include the penultimate parts of the Wings of the Goddess storyline, job adjustments, and the long-awaited Odin and Alexander summon spells. It's also introducing the new "Trial of the Magians" quests. so the end of the month promises to be very busy for Final Fantasy XI -- even if you're not waiting to hatch from a hat-induced egg.

Tags: alexander, chocobo, chocobo-beret, ff11, ffxi, final-fantasy, final-fantasy-11, final-fantasy-xi, march-version-update, odin, square-enix, summons, vanafest-2010, wings-of-the-goddess, xbox-360

Official Final Fantasy XIV site updated

by Eliot Lefebvre Mar 14th 2010 at 4:00PM

Filed under: Fantasy, Classes, Game mechanics, News items, Final Fantasy XIV

The official site for Final Fantasy XIV follows several Square-Enix site traditions, by being designed entirely in Flash and having an obnoxiously slow update schedule. Thankfully, an official update has just hit the site, both in the form of several new screenshots (including the lovely in-game shot seen above) and more solid ability information about several of the game's disciplines. Much of it mirrors what we'd seen in early leaks from Japanese magazines, but the abilities and spells of each class shed more light on how the game will play.

Conjurers are apparently going to play similar to Scholars, with both traditional black and white magic spells in their arsenal, as well as unique tricks such as being able to cast while moving. Thaumaturges, meanwhile, inherit several Dark Knight draining/sacrificing abilities along with several status ailments. And those are just the two casting professions -- each of the five physical damage professions seem poised for a wide variety of ability combinations, along with a heavy emphasis on position. The beta information for Final Fantasy XIV still seems to be restricted, but the game is already looking intruiging for both fans of the series and general MMO players.

Tags: class-mechanics, classes, conjurers, dark-knights, ff14, ffxiv, final-fantasy-14, final-fantasy-xiv, official-site, scholars, square, square-enix, thaumaturges

The Mog Log: Those grapes were probably sour anyway

by Eliot Lefebvre Mar 13th 2010 at 12:00PM

Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, Final Fantasy XI, Game mechanics, Grouping, Opinion, Consoles, Final Fantasy XIV, The Mog Log

So, guess what beta I didn't get an invitation for. You can go consult with the instant replay if you want, I can wait.

I know that everyone is stunned. I certainly was. Of course, I assuaged my sadness by telling myself that I didn't really want to be in their stupid beta anyway, because I bet it smells bad and it sets my computer on fire. That line of reasoning worked real well. I don't honestly think my column got me kicked from the running for a Final Fantasy XIV beta slot, but it's a bit more reassuring than the idea that I just didn't get picked for some other reason. (I'm putting money on Square-Enix not knowing I exist, for the record.)

All things considered, I can live without the beta, even though I'm chomping at the bit to play the game. But I'm not the only person, place, or thing not currently darting about the world of Eorzea. And as long as I'm on a streak of making long-winded predictions, why break with formula? There are three other things that I suspect aren't in the beta either, and I intend to make a guessing game out of seeing how close I am to the truth.

Tags: beta, dps, featured, ff, ff11, ffxi, ffxiv, final-fantasy, final-fantasy-11, final-fantasy-14, final-fantasy-xi, final-fantasy-xiv, game-mechanics, grouping, groups, healers, parties, party-structure, partying, square-enix, statistics, tanks, testing, xbox-360

Advance leaks from Famitsu and Dengeki shed more light on Final Fantasy XIV

by Eliot Lefebvre Mar 10th 2010 at 8:30PM

Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, Game mechanics, News items, Consoles, Final Fantasy XIV

The first round of testing is just around the corner, and for some people that means that Final Fantasy XIV is holding much more mental real estate than the just-released Final Fantasy XIII. All things considered, information is likely to start coming fast and furious as soon as the testing opens, but some advance copies of Famitsu and Dengeki Playstation have made their way into the hands of people who just can't wait another day. FFXIVCore has helpfully translated the information available, which already paints an interesting picture of how the game will play.

Fighting is confirmed to be on the move, with a strong emphasis on positioning and MP conservation. We've also got some picture of how the classes will play, with Pugilists inheriting a workalike to Provoke and Gladiators inheriting Phalanx and Shield Bash, albeit with different characteristics. There's also talk about Miners and Blacksmiths working in parties, pointing out utility for gathering or crafting disciplines in groups. We've also got a little information on the Illusionist, meaning most likely that an official site update is on the way. With testing beginning soon, expect Final Fantasy XIV information to become more and more available -- but what we're hearing so far definitely sounds like a good ride.

Tags: class, class-mechanics, classes, dengeki, dengeki-playstation, famitsu, ff14, ffxiv, fight-mechanics, final-fantasy-14, final-fantasy-xiv, news, square, square-enix, translations

GDC10: PS3 FFXIII gives you an extra shot at the FFXIV beta

by Kyle Horner Mar 9th 2010 at 12:00PM

Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, New titles, News items, Final Fantasy XIV

Big news for Final Fantasy XIV fans today, especially if you're biting your nails waiting to get into the beta. The official PlayStation Blog has announced that the initial production run of Final Fantasy XIII on the PS3 will come packaged with a special offer for an in-game item, and an extra shot at a potential beta spot for Final Fantasy XIV.

While it doesn't guarantee a beta key, anything that increases your chances of playing the game sooner is a good thing. But act now, because once those launch copies are gone, so is the offer.

Tags: beta, breaking, closed-beta, ff13, ff14, ff14-beta, ffxiii, ffxiv, ffxiv-beta, final-fantasy-13, final-fantasy-14, final-fantasy-14-beta, final-fantasy-beta, final-fantasy-xiv, final-fantasy-xiv-beta, final-fantsy-xiii, gdc, gdc-2010, in-game-item, open-beta, special-offer, square-enix

The Mog Log: Not the happy fanboy

by Eliot Lefebvre Mar 6th 2010 at 4:00PM

Filed under: Fantasy, Final Fantasy XI, Culture, Events, real-world, Events, in-game, Game mechanics, Opinion, Final Fantasy XIV, The Mog Log

Imagine, if you will, that a nice man comes up to you and tells you about a fantastic room. He leads you to this room, and at the far end of the room from the door is a cake. That cake is clearly delicious, and you're told as much. Unfortunately, in order to reach said cake, you have to walk barefoot across an entire room full of rusty nails, broken class, and scorpions with a serious hate-on for human beings.

But then another nice man runs up to you. He says that he has excellent news for you about this cake, that it will make you very happy.

"So I don't have to walk through all this broken glass and stuff?" you ask.

"Oh, no, you still have to," replies the man. "But we've made the cake at the end taste even better. Isn't that awesome!"

And at this point, anyone in the world would turn around and walk away. I don't care how much you like cake, that cake just isn't worth the trouble.

That, in a nutshell, is how I felt while looking at the announcements for VanaFest 2010. Because they're going to make that endgame cake taste ever better, and that's great. But that's all the way over there.

Tags: community, eq, everquest, featured, ff11, ff14, ffxi, ffxiv, final-fantasy, final-fantasy-11, final-fantasy-14, final-fantasy-xi, final-fantasy-xiv, jeuno, pet-food-alpha, pfa, rant, ranting, square-enix, unahppy, vanafest, vanafest-2010, xbox-360

The Daily Grind: How do you feel about 2010's MMOs?

by Kyle Horner Mar 6th 2010 at 8:00AM

Filed under: New titles, Opinion, The Daily Grind

The year is still young and lots of MMOs are on schedule to release before it's over. So far, we've been able to see what Star Trek Online has to offer, but many people continue to look forward to LEGO Universe, All Points Bulletin and Final Fantasy XIV. However, we would like to know how you feel about MMOs this year. Does it seem like a pretty good year or are you thinking perhaps 2011 is going to be the big year for the genre, and why?

It certainly seems like this year has already been pretty decent, given that Black Prophecy has a publisher now and we've yet to encounter any saddening shutdowns or cancellations of titles still in development. Plus, the free-to-play market is really starting to come into its own with great news for Dungeons and Dragons Online and a recent-but-remedied Allods Online hiccup. We're taking a positive outlook, but how about you?

Tags: 2010, all-points-bulletin, allods-online, apb, apb-game, atari, black-prophecy, cryptic, cryptic-studios, ffxiv, final-fantasy-xiv, gpotato, lego, lego-universe, netdevil, reakktor, reakktor-media, realtime-worlds, square-enix, star-trek-online, sto

Fantasy Earth Zero beta beginning March 3rd

by Eliot Lefebvre Feb 28th 2010 at 4:00PM

Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, Events, in-game, News items, Free-to-play, Fantasy Earth Zero

It's been a long and winding road getting Fantasy Earth Zero over to western markets, but the wait gets shorter every day. The game was announced not too long ago as being due for our shores, and the release is even closer than we might have guessed. Not only is the beta beginning on March 3rd with the client now available for download, players can look forward to a variety of in-game events to celebrate the participants.

The most obvious benefit is that testers in the open beta will receive a code for a special weapon, done up in gold and silver with turquoise inlays. A contest is also being held for the "best" bug report, with the top prize worth $30 in the unfortunately-named potcash and a special hat. As if that weren't enough, there will be special GM-hosted battle events and question-and-answer sessions with the GMs, offering assistance in learning how to play and how to get the most from the game. Gamepot is throwing quite a bit behind the launch of the game, so if you're looking for a new free-to-play title you may wish to give Fantasy Earth Zero's beta a go.

[ Thanks to Evan for the tip! ]

Tags: beta, beta-event, betas, bug-reports, bugs, contests, fantasy-earth-zero, fez, gamepot, gamepot-usa, gm-battle, potcash, square, square-enix

The breakdown of Final Fantasy XI's VanaFest 2010 announcements

by Eliot Lefebvre Feb 28th 2010 at 11:00AM

Filed under: Fantasy, Final Fantasy XI, Classes, Events, real-world, Game mechanics, News items

After a month of heavy anticipation from the fans, VanaFest 2010 finally has come and given us all the information that we could want about where the game is heading from here. And the show did stay focused upon Final Fantasy XI -- the only mention of Final Fantasy XIV was the announcement that its first wave of beta testing will start on March 11th with a limited number of participants. That left quite a bit of show left to detail all of the changes coming to the game.

And there was certainly a lot of news to be shared. An increase in level cap, new add-on zones, job reviews, conclusions to existing content, server merges, new seasonal gear -- there was no shortage of surprising announcements. Continue on past the cut for the short version of what came out during the show and what players can expect.

Tags: breaking, breaking-news, campaign, class-adjustments, class-balance, content, ff11, ffxi, ffxiv, final-fantasy, final-fantasy-11, final-fantasy-xi, final-fantasy-xiv, job-adjustments, level-cap, march-version-update, missions, quests, server-merges, square-enix, vanafest-2010, xbox-360

The Daily Grind: Feeling jaded on MMOs?

by Kyle Horner Feb 28th 2010 at 8:00AM

Filed under: New titles, Opinion, The Daily Grind

Reading the comments around Massively, sometimes we wonder if any of our readers are feeling jaded with the current crop of MMOs. In fact, we often wonder if even the upcoming titles like All Points Bulletin, Final Fantasy XIV and Star Wars: The Old Republic are of any interest to many of you.

And, if nothing out there is really doing it for you, we'd like to hear what would. Of course, we're far more interested in hearing what isn't appealing to you and why. It's an unpredictable world out there where games like Perpetuum look to meld open economy/PvP with giant robots in the future. So why wouldn't anyone elses' crazy MMO idea have a shot at taking root?

Tags: all-points-bulletin, all-points-bulletin-game, apb, apb-ea, apb-game, bioware, bioware-mmo, bioware-mmorpg, bioware-star-wars, bioware-swtor, ea, ea-all-points-bulletin, ea-games, electronic-arts, electronic-arts-all-points-bulletin, ffxiv, final-fantasy-xiv, lucas-arts, lucas-arts-mmo, lucas-arts-mmorpg, perpetuum, realtime-worlds, square-enix, star-wars, star-wars-mmo, star-wars-the-old-republic, star-wars-tor, starwars, starwars-the-old-republic, sw-tor, swtor, the-daily-grind, the-old-republic

The Mog Log: You've got questions, we've got deflections

by Eliot Lefebvre Feb 27th 2010 at 4:00PM

Filed under: Fantasy, Final Fantasy XI, Culture, Events, real-world, Leveling, Opinion, Final Fantasy XIV, The Mog Log

It's time to kick off one of the features that we're hoping will become a regular standby on The Mog Log -- community questions and answers. It's a chance for you to all ask the questions about the game that you'd like answered, and a chance for me to shuffle awkwardly and stare at my feet. Kidding aside, if you have a Final Fantasy XI or Final Fantasy XIV question that you'd like answered, send them to me, and I'll happily answer them to the best of my ability. It's all the edification of research without the actual research part.

We'll start with a question from Simon:
"Are we sure about when the beta for FFXIV is going to start?"

Nothing is certain, least of all what Square-Enix decides to do. Right now, they're content with not filling us in on the start date of beta, but they might very well share that tomorrow at VanaFest. On the flip side, they might hold on to that tidbit until after the stateside launch of Final Fantasy XIII, just to keep excitement up for the title. Keep your eyes peeled tomorrow, we should know then.

Tags: character, expansions, featured, ff11, ff14, ffxi, ffxiv, final-fantasy, final-fantasy-11, final-fantasy-14, final-fantasy-xi, final-fantasy-xiv, gender, grind, mitoqe, roedegyan, soloing, square, square-enix, the-mog-log, wings-of-the-goddess, xbox-360

Rumor: Final Fantasy XI's March update may be the last for the game

by Eliot Lefebvre Feb 23rd 2010 at 7:00PM

Filed under: Fantasy, Final Fantasy XI, Events, real-world, Patches, Rumors, Final Fantasy XIV

It looks like we're getting another version update to Final Fantasy XI in March. The update's existence was broken by the official site today, promising more information when VanaFest rolls around in only five days. All we know at the moment is that it will feature expanded missions and improvements across the board, which is more or less standard fare for the game's large updates.

Of course, that means the update certainly isn't the big news that's promised at the upcoming fan festival. But there's a rumor flying around that we might want to enjoy this update a lot. Square-Enix, it's hinted, won't have the game slowly bleed out as Final Fantasy XIV comes into its own -- they're going to outright shut the game down. An employee posted and then retracted a statement implying that the venerable game would shut its doors to make way for Final Fantasy XIV.

Confirmed? Not by a long shot. Square has stated they've got more in store for the game, and more than a few players are hoping that a new expansion is the big secret to be revealed at the fan festival. Still, we'll find out soon enough what the future holds for Final Fantasy XI... and perhaps we'd best treasure our time with it now, just in case.

Tags: ff11, ff14, ffxi, ffxiv, final-fantasy, final-fantasy-11, final-fantasy-14, final-fantasy-xi, final-fantasy-xiv, march-version-update, rumors, shutdown, square, square-enix, vanafest-2010, version-update, xbox-360

Catch the VanaFest bug with Final Fantasy XI trivia

by Eliot Lefebvre Feb 21st 2010 at 10:00AM

Filed under: Fantasy, Final Fantasy XI, Contests, Culture, Events, real-world

With a little over a week left until VanaFest 2010 commences, long-time fans of Final Fantasy XI might well be taking the opportunity to think back on the memories the game has produced. If those memories happen to include some obscure facts, you might be in luck with the VanaFest 2010 trivia contest, yet another chance for fans not in attendance to enjoy some of the spirit of the event. And just to prove that Squre-Enix is an old dog fully capable of learning new tricks, the contest is on the now-ubiquitous Twitter!

Running from the 23rd to the 27th of this month, the contest will have an official question asked on the official feed. The first five players to answer the question correctly will get to take away something very special: the Chocobo Beret! Yes, the same hat given away to attendees, a celebration of Final Fantasy XI's long tradition of hats that look like things. Read the full rules on the official VanaFest site, and get ready to start tweeting some serious trivia. After all, even if you don't win you'll be getting up-to-the-minute information on all the big news, and isn't that prize enough?

Tags: contest, contests, ff11, ffxi, final-fantasy, final-fantasy-11, final-fantasy-xi, hats, square, square-enix, trivia, vanafest-2010, xbox-360

The Mog Log: Know your roleplay

by Eliot Lefebvre Feb 20th 2010 at 1:00PM

Filed under: Fantasy, Final Fantasy XI, Culture, Opinion, Consoles, Roleplaying, Final Fantasy XIV, The Mog Log

The Final Fantasy XIV Roleplaying Coaliton is now officially open to the public. If you want my opinion, you should head over there and register, but as one of the charter members I may be just a wee bit biased. Scratch that -- I'm a lot biased, because I tend to think that roleplaying is one of the most important parts of MMOs as a whole.

Unfortunately, it's an important part that all too often gets mired in a lack of understanding, and so it falls on me to abuse my saopbox and elaborate. Because there's a picture of roleplayers in the minds of the non-roleplaying public, one that involves speaking in a parody of the early Dragon Warrior games at best and questionable romantic practices at worst. There's even a sense that most game companies assume roleplayers will just make the best out of the situation no matter what the game is like, making anything added just for roleplaying a pointless addition.

These assumptions are incorrect. And considering how much Square-Enix has already done in favor of roleplaying in Final Fantasy XI, I have high hopes for Final Fantasy XIV. We need roleplayers, and even if you don't consider them a big deal, odds are good you've felt the influence from them.

Tags: ff11, ff14, ffxi, ffxiv, final-fantasy, final-fantasy-11, final-fantasy-xi, final-fantasy-xiv, mog-house, mog-houses, player-housing, roleplay, roleplaying, roleplaying-coalition, rp, square, square-enix, storylines, xbox-360