As a gamer and writer with a penchant for the dramatic, there is
something to be said about a compelling story. The tale of Final Fantasy
XIV's lifecycle is a very dramatic one, to be sure, with the hype and
subsequent letdown that caused many people around the world to cry in
frustration at the seeming demise of the Final Fantasy brand.
I do
not discount those feelings. I myself felt a distinct sense of
disappointment at the Final Fantasy XIV game experience in the early
days. As I've watched the game and come back to it from time to time,
however, I've come to realize something about Final Fantasy XIV and the
Realm Reborn reboot: its eventual release by Square Enix should be a
cause for celebration as a momentous occasion. Below, I will tell you
the reasons why.

Ruin as the Road to Rebirth
The
in-game story of FFXIV is one of the more intriguing aspects of the
game, by virtue of its ending being a foregone conclusion ever since A
Realm Reborn was made known. It's also intriguing because that same
story acts as a sort of allegorical parallel to the troubled history of
the game itself.
In the story for FFXIV, there is a cycle of
apocalyptic proportions going on: there have been six “umbral eras” for
the world of Eorzea: giant cataclysmic events that resulted in the death
of every civilization preceding this story. The story goes that there
were supposed to be no more umbral eras past the sixth one, ushering in
an untold time of growth and prosperity for the world, except for one
thing: the recent prophecy of a seventh umbral era that supposedly can
be prevented by worthy heroes.
The
story of Final Fantasy XIV in its current state is tragic, because
heroes (players) did come and take arms to defend Eorzea from beastmen
and the Garlean army, but nothing could prevent them from really taking
on one of the world's moons from crashing into the planet and ending all
life, even after the formation of the Grand Company storyline and the
defeat of endgame bosses.
The world of Final Fantasy XIV, as a
story that was told, will fall under a crushing, immense weight that
could not be stopped despite ill portents. Final Fantasy XIV, as a game
that was developed, was nearly crushed by seemingly antiquated game
design choices and the displeased fanbase of the game and the Final
Fantasy brand, which left in droves after being disillusioned.
The Cautious Process
One
of the main reasons why you should not discount Final Fantasy XIV: A
Realm Reborn is due to the cautious, yet open, discussion Naoki Yoshida
and the development team has had with the MMORPG community.
In
addition to numerous Letters from the Producer that has detailed many
aspects of the development process with the community, the FFXIV: ARR
team has also produced live video discussions addressing questions sent
in by people regarding the direction of the game. The most important
letter they've come out with was probably the one from September 27 (Letter from the producer LIVE Part III) which came with a lot of clarifications regarding the development of A Realm Reborn.
Yoshida
and company wanted to explain what was already being developed and what
was in the pipeline or set aside for later development, and so most of
the above-linked video and translation is careful in informing people of
the realistic limitations their already-stressed development team is
managing, as well as tidbits regarding what's being focused on and
actual concept art for their creations.
All in all, unlike the
early advertisements made for the game and the attempts to explain away
the necessity of things like the levequest fatigue system and the
rehashing of map assets that created a bland-seeming game world, this
lack of PR speak and hype for a major brand-name game from a large
gaming company is immensely satisfying to see.
10 Truthful Statements
There's
still probably a subset of individuals who are convinced that FFXIV is a
lost cause based on outdated information, so let's talk about truth.
Below are truthful statements regarding what is currently known so far
about Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn, based on a variety of reports
and the Producer's Letter mentioned above.

1. A Realm Reborn is using an entirely new game engine and client (“...we’ve redesigned the game from the ground up.”).
   For all technical intents and purposes, assume that FFXIV: ARR is a
   separate game from FFXIV, and will have a different set of technical
   requirements from FFXIV. That said, this new game is designed to work on
   more systems and a benchmark-slash-character creation tool will be made
   available closer to launch.
   
2. A Realm Reborn will feature a PC
   version and a PS3 version that will have a UI and control scheme that
   works well with the specific version you're playing. Quoting the
   September 27 letter, it was also mentioned that “PS3 players and new PC
   players will be able to select any world when making a new character,
   including currently existing worlds.... It will absolutely be possible
   to play together.”
   
3. The Realm Reborn graphic engine will not
   be DirectX 11 compatible at the offset. They have mentioned, however,
   that “After launch, our next big milestone is DX11 compatibility. Once
   we achieve this, there will be a further improvement in graphics.”
   
4. 
   A Realm Reborn will not feature a levequest fatigue system (this XP
   fatigue system was removed in patch 1.18 in FFXIV), and levequests will
   not be the primary means of gaining experience in the new game. Quests
   will play a larger part in the game's experience system, though
   levequesting is still available for players that want to do more things.
   
5. 
   Classes are being reworked for A Realm Reborn in varying degrees.
   While the Armoury and Job system is still a big thing, how certain
   disciples and jobs play will be changed due to changes in the combat
   system. One example mentioned in the September 27 letter was that the
   Pugilist and Monk would be undergoing the most change, with the retooled
   focus being about chaining skills. As stated in that letter, “Not only
   monk will change, mind you - all classes and jobs will be different come
   ARR.”
   
6. A Realm Reborn will feature instanced housing. They've
   not really shown too much of it, but the explanation is that you can
   buy a plot of land in an instance, and then build and develop a house
   and a yard, as well as purchase, create or earn building materials and
   decorations that change the appearance of the house and add potentially
   useful stuff to the yard. This will also be developed further in future
   patches after launch.
   
7. There will be a currency redenomination come FFXIV: ARR.
   What this basically means is that A Realm Reborn will have one less
   zero in all gil prices, and as such, existing characters' gil will be
   “reduced to 1/10 of current values” to make sure that everyone has the
   same purchasing power, yet with one less zero in the values. (an 800 gil
   chocobo rental becomes 80 gil, and your 100,000 gil becomes 10,000 gil
   in A Realm Reborn.
   
8. Connected to number seven, certain
   consumables such as ammo and fishing lures will be removed in A Realm
   Reborn, inventories limits will change, and certain items will either be
   removed, retooled, made retrievable or unobtainable, or otherwise
   converted into gil.
   
9. A Realm Reborn will have additional
   classes and jobs, though it hasn't been mentioned what they are or when
   they'll be made available, aside from the Arcanist class and Summoner
   job, which is supposed to be out at launch. You can also create Female
   Roegadyn and Male Miqo'te in A Realm Reborn.
   
10. Crafting and
    Gathering is being reworked to be more manageable while maintaining a
    certain level of complexity that makes it interesting. New characters
    will also start off as a battle class in A Realm Reborn and get the
    chance to craft and gather as those appropriate classes after completing
    a set of tutorials, which will let players learn the basics of the
    revamped game and reach level 10 in that chosen battle class.
    

History in the Making
At
this point in time, when no one outside of Square Enix's employ has
really tried A Realm Reborn, speculation exists that FFXIV: ARR will
essentially be World of Warcraft with the Final Fantasy universe.
While
some of the information may lead to that sort of conclusion, I want
people to not discount FFXIV because of such hearsay, or even because
they don't think Final Fantasy XIV deserves a second chance. Rather, I
want people to judge the game based on the finished product that A Realm
Reborn provides gamers. Above, I've listed statements that may garner
interest in the revamped game based on what we know, and whether it
turns out well or badly for Square Enix, I want to be there to
experience it.
Why? Because it's a momentous occasion for gamers and for Square Enix.
The
momentous occasion of FFXIV: A Realm Reborn lies in its potential: the
potential this game has to revitalize a flagging brand known as Final
Fantasy or destroy the possibility of Square Enix, a significant player
in the worldwide gaming industry, ever releasing an MMORPG ever again.
I
want to ride a chocobo, build a house, and build new friendships in a
world that is an amalgamation of Final Fantasy concepts. I want to lay
the deathblow on a Marlboro by stabbing it with a spear. I want to jump
in Eorzea (Jumping will be in A Realm Reborn) and give a reborn world a
shot at surviving another umbral era with my help.
More than
anything else though, I want to be there to see if Naoki Yoshida's
vision for the game and the development team's hard work on A Realm
Reborn was really worth the heartache that came with watching the
struggles FFXIV had to become worthwhile.
That's a momentous
occasion that should make any gamer quiver with excitement: A Realm
Reborn may very well be a defining moment in the history of MMO and game
development. It's history in the making, and it all depends on whether
or not we give it a chance and decide its future fairly.

Soooo who's gonna give this a 2nd chance XD?
Cuz this time I don't belive any of the yabadababladiebla they spitting out anymore

I'd be willing to beta test or resub a month, simply because of the time put in previously. Not having high hopes of a vast improvement though.

Looks more like the original FF11. If i wasn't playing GW2 I'd think about it, but been burned once already...

elr give me a review after u test. if good i will come back :)

I'm gonna go back for the 2nd try, hopefully I can stick to it.. Always been a fan of square enixs / Final fantasy lol.

tell me how it goes also fors hehe

"Leaders of the Eorzean Alliance have issued a clarion call, petitioning
all able adventurers to lend their strength to the battle that will
determine the fate of the realm," says Final Fantasy XIV's Lodestone website.

It sounds pretty serious, and we guess it is, given the fact that A Realm Reborn is almost upon us. To mark the occasion, Square is throwing open FFXIV's
gates to all account holders regardless of whether or not they possess
an active subscription. Beginning early tomorrow (3:00 a.m. EST, to be
exact), you can log into FFXIV and say your goodbyes to its
current incarnation. Don't delay, though, as the opportunity expires
along with the original servers early Monday morning.

Be aware that "any progress made will not carry over to A Realm Reborn."

All Final Fantasy XIV account holders can log in for free this weekend

Considering I've wiped FFXIV from the HDD a few months ago, that's quite a bit to download for a weekend apocalypse.

*Edit* Well, shit. That was fast. Client fully redownloaded, will pop in later. For others wanting to log in, you have to manually re-enable your FFXIV account through the management system. No fee attached, as promised.

Eleven hours to shutdown.

Final cinematic for server shutdown: http://lodestone.finalfantasyxiv.com/pl/meteor/index.html

Eir wrote:

Final cinematic for server shutdown: http://lodestone.finalfantasyxiv.com/pl/meteor/index.html

Awsome thats an epic way to end the server, makes me want to play FF. Reminds me of what FF should be like!

agree its was a very epic video only square can do that :p

now i wonder what they gone do P2P B2P ore F2P

they sure now they must find a way to get alot off players

with most p2p going free ore semi
and gw2 is doing good also atm

gone be hard for square ^^

That Video was awesome!!!

If only they'd put as much effort into the game as they did with the cinematics ~

Snow wrote:

If only they'd put as much effort into the game as they did with the cinematics ~

Totally agree!

how was the new version elr?

watching the video make me wanna play again lol

Shu wrote:

how was the new version elr?

Not yet, Shu. It was still the old game with the unresponsive and bloated UI right at the end. Beta for v2 starts next month for selected JP subscribers IIRC.

ah ok so free last min event just to let ppl join in end of a server :)

we still need wait for new server for 2.0

They have reopened the v1 servers for those who still want to play for whatever reasons. Any progress will not be saved so it's probably only ideal for tourists.

--

Restoration of Game Servers (11/20/2012)


Server Restoration Date
Wednesday, November 21, 2012 0:00 (PST)

* Login numbers will be measured at the end of each month. In the event that numbers drop below 30%, the servers will be shut down once more. An announcement will be made at that time.

Login Requirements
Only players with service accounts that have a listed “End Date” of September 30 (Sunday), 2012 or later (including free periods) are eligible to log in.
* To confirm the “End Date” for your service account, please visit the Square Enix Account Management System site and click Select Service under Service and Options, then select FINAL FANTASY XIV.

Link: Square Enix Account Management System

Game Content
Game content will be rolled back to Patch 1.23b (released on Thursday, September 13).
Selected updates made from Thursday, November 11 onwards will remain unaffected:

Increase in anima recovery rate
Reduction of all gear repair costs to 1 gil
Chance to obtain job-specific weapons on login for players who logged out in an inn room
Relaxed requirements for participating in “Bowl of Embers (Extreme),” and for undertaking the quests “To Kill a Raven” and “Living on a Prayer”

A Note on Character Data
Any progress made after November 1, 2012, including progress made following the restoration of game servers on November 21, 2012, will not carry over to A Realm Reborn.

Support Services
Support services will be available for all issues, excluding those that concern item restoration or in-game bugs.
* Please make a support enquiry if you are unable to play despite fulfilling the login requirements, or if you are experiencing trouble with character data that existed prior to the world servers going offline.

The Forums
In keeping with the policy outlined in Support Services above, the In-Game Bugs category in the forums will be locked.
* All other categories will remain open for posting.

do they mention they redoing new class system or keep old multi class one?

Don't think there are any plans to rehaul the classes.

For those who have already dived on the chance to apply for the FFXIV A Realm Reborn Alpha application, it seems you might have something waiting in your email:

"We have recently begun sending notification e-mails to players
accepted as alpha testers for FINAL FANTASY XIV: A Realm Reborn. For
those who do not receive an acceptance notification this time, fear not!
There will be need to fortify our ranks as time goes on, so your chance
to take up arms in battle may come yet.

Those who have yet to apply, be sure to visit the alpha test application site."

Good luck!

Final Fantasy XIV producer Naoki Yoshida says Square can ill afford another disaster like the game's late 2010 launch. Speaking with Kotaku in a wide-ranging recent interview, Yoshida says that his misgivings started as early as FFXIV's beta.

"When I heard that it was going to go on sale as planned, I thought,
that will probably be a big mistake," he explains. He also points out
how Square's pre-cursor Final Fantasy XI MMO was influenced by EverQuest and posits that a mish-mash of FFXIV and World of Warcraft would have worked out better.

Regardless of all the hindsight, though, Yoshida concludes that A Realm Reborn is on the right track. "We won't make a mistake like FFXIV again," he says. "If we did, it would be like at the level of destroying the company."

Shu: i sign for alpha already ^^

"You must have an active FINAL FANTASY XIV account to apply."

:(