Allow me to thank you all for your continued interest in FINAL FANTASY XIV.


One year has passed since the game’s release, and despite the
disappointment surrounding its launch, we have received a wealth of
support from you, the players. Your encouraging words and continued
loyalty have been a source of immeasurable inspiration to everyone
involved with FINAL FANTASY XIV’s development.


In the ten months since the FINAL FANTASY XIV team’s restructuring,
we have put forth the utmost effort into not only improving the game’s
existing features, but also creating a concrete plan to outline the
game’s new direction. Today, I am pleased to announce we can confidently
present that plan to our customers. We fully realize this is but a
single step towards our ultimate goal, and that to meet the high
standards set in the plan, more time is required. In the meantime,
however, we will not waver in our commitment to bringing players
exciting and engaging content, even as the game moves through its
evolution.


With this, it is my hope that we will continue to receive your
support as we will need to bring the unbilled period to a close between
late November and early December 2011, and introduce our
subscription-based billing system. I appreciate that this decision will
not be popular, but it is a necessary step in building upon the
foundation our fans and development team have made together and to
realize the full potential of FINAL FANTASY XIV.


The team will stop short of nothing as they move towards realizing
the new FINAL FANTASY XIV, and as they do so, I humbly ask for both your
understanding and support.







An Announcement from the Development and Operations Teams


This is an announcement for all of you playing FINAL FANTASY XIV,
for all of you who have stopped playing, and for those of you looking
forward to the PlayStation_®3 system version. A year has
passed since FINAL FANTASY XIV service began, ten months of which came
in the wake of major organizational changes to the development team. As
promised when those changes were first made, we have been working
diligently towards bringing you a new FINAL FANTASY XIV. Today, I would
like to tell you more about that, while also laying out details
regarding the release of the PlayStation_®3 version,
explaining fundamental reforms planned over the next several years for
the game in general, and sharing with you some of the results yielded by
our efforts so far.




Conclusion of the Unbilled Period and Commencement of Subscription Billing


The unbilled period has remained in place for the past year as our
development and operation teams of over 250 staff have worked to bring
you FINAL FANTASY XIV. I apologize for the belated nature of my next
announcement, but as significant updates to the game have been released
over the last ten months, a portion of the team has also been
simultaneously devoted to working solely on the new FINAL FANTASY XIV.
This is an essential part of the process of realizing the ideal we have
envisioned. Planning for the new FINAL FANTASY XIV began in January of
this year, and April saw the start of large-scale tasks. Since then,
however, we have made no compromises in the game’s operation and
updates. I believe this is evident if you review the contents of the
updates that have been released thus far.


Every resource possible has gone into this year’s patches. The ideal
that we have for FINAL FANTASY XIV, however, is extremely high, and we
are aware that all of the following changes are still required to
achieve the desired quality of service—redesign and restructuring of
server layout and operation, overhaul of the user interface, reworking
the design and specs of in-game areas, and vast upgrades to the player
community systems.


As we move closer towards this ideal, and as the operation of the
game, the regular updates, and the development of the new FINAL FANTASY
XIV continues, we will introduce our subscription-based billing system.


Following the results of the development and operations teams’
efforts, together with the release of the overall plans for the game’s
future, we will bring the unbilled period to a close between late
November and early December of 2011, and thereafter introduce our
subscription-based billing system. Further details will be sent to the
email address players submitted at the time of their FINAL FANTASY XIV
account registration, and will also be posted on the Lodestone at a
future date.


Needless to say, with the onset of the subscription-based billing
system, operation and development of the game will proceed, and updates
will continue to be released regularly as they have been. Between now
and release of the new FINAL FANTASY XIV, we will do as much as possible
by way of fine-tuning the game and adding new content. Our focus will
be on the theme of a story that can only be experienced in the here and
now, and the dramatic changes to Eorzea will be incorporated into that
storyline. Each update will deliver an unprecedented and unrepeatable
game experience. For those of you continuing to play, I promise that the
release of these updates and the eventual transition to the new FINAL
FANTASY XIV will both come smoothly and seamlessly.


In order to enable us to provide you with an ever-improved FINAL
FANTASY XIV that meets all of our high ideals, I ask for both your
patient understanding and cooperation.





Temporary Suspension of Automatic Renewals for the Subscription-based Billing System


Anyone who has played FINAL FANTASY XIV at any time since its
release is already in possession of a FINAL FANTASY XIV service account.
These accounts are set to renew their subscriptions automatically,
barring deactivation by the account holder. Therefore, if we were to
begin regular subscription billings for all existing contracts, players
who will not see this announcement or who may not currently wish to pay
subscription fees would automatically begin to be charged for their
accounts. To avoid this, we have decided to first suspend all automated
renewals for service accounts. Only account holders who have agreed to
reactivate the automated renewal system will be billed.


Many of you have enjoyed FINAL FANTASY XIV over the past year,
growing accustomed to the service we have in place. I realize that this
is a terrible inconvenience, but we very much hope that you will
continue to enjoy the game. I can only ask for your understanding that
we are determined to allow all users an equal opportunity to reach their
own decision regarding subscription-based billing. Details regarding
precise scheduling will be announced at a later date, as will the
official start of the subscription fees.




The New FINAL FANTASY XIV and the PlayStation_®3 System Version


Between October and December of 2012, we plan to integrate the
current service and the coming PlayStation®3 version into the all-new
FINAL FANTASY XIV. At this time, a second free trial period will also be
offered.


Among our new plans is the fundamental reworking of in-game maps. As
part of this process, there will be a period required for switching
over to a new client and new servers, after which there will be a large
transfer of data when service is brought back online. After the new
client is completed, new software for the PC version will be distributed
online, and can be acquired free of charge. Character data and progress
for players already playing the PC version will also be preserved,
allowing those players to continue using their in-game avatars. Another
announcement will be made in the future as the day on which the new
FINAL FANTASY XIV software will become available for download draws
near, and the PlayStation®3 system version officially released.





A New Decision from the Development Team


As previously stated, it has been over ten months since the
development team underwent significant changes. I apologize that we have
been so long in announcing to all of you the overall future plans for
FINAL FANTASY XIV. But I assure you that all of us here on the
operations and development teams have been putting all our energy into
FINAL FANTASY XIV. We have tackled unprecedented challenges maintaining
the unbilled period, the frequency and scale of patches, and an open
line of communication with the player community—all while completely
remaking the game at the same time.


Again, I have included several files detailing the plans and
progress we have made, as well as our future schedule. I hope those of
you with interest will take the time to look over them.


We will no longer be referring to the “new organization” of the
team. It is now simply the FINAL FANTASY XIV team. We are prepared to
advance to the next stage of FINAL FANTASY XIV’s life, confident that we
can provide a service worthy of the FINAL FANTASY name─a service that
includes both content-rich updates and the renovation of existing
features─and take full responsibility for all that entails.


I promise that we will continue to give all FINAL FANTASY XIV
players our full attention as we do everything in our power to provide a
high-quality service, and as such, would like ask for your continued
encouragement and support.


As always, everything we do will be for our players and customers.

i have kept my main char but cancel all my mule just in case i get a bill shock later on ^_^

I would play if they paid me to.

Still playing my main very casually as well. Since they've increased inventory space to 200, and 150 on each retainer you can pretty much toss everything onto one character. Simplified craft components and all.

meh i might wait until version 2 next year since its a total revamp

and honestly

i REALLY don't feel like recrafting my entire gear set for EVERY r50 DoW and DoM i got since its all frickin *dated gear now.