So, I doubt many, but some of you may have noticed that I've been...Away...The past few days. The reason, is because I got accepted into the FFXIV:ARR (Final Fantasy 14: A Realm Reborn) Closed Beta and I played the shit out of it, until servers went down at 5AM EST Last night. For anyone who DOESN'T know what this game is, it's a Final Fantasy MMORPG developed by Square Enix. This is the literal Sequel to FFXIV (The original MMORPG of the same name), similar to X-2 or XIII-2. This game is considered to be "canon" FF Lore, and is a full installment in the FF Series. The reason they made a sequel to an MMORPG is because, quite frankly, the original sucked. The combat was dry, and boring, the story quests were bland and lacked any real plot, and the rest of the game was just bleh. This is an entire reboot of the game, with the story being that 5 years have passed since the first one, a great event, the Calamity happened, that caused nearly everything on the Continent of Eorzea (The playable continent) to be destroyed. I'll link the video of the Calamity below, for those interested. For anyone curious about the game, I'd say it's a VERY Solid MMO with more emphasis on Teamplay than games like Guild Wars or World of Warcraft. The main story quest is supposed to take you from level 1, to level 50 (The proposed maximum), and will get you "decent" PvE gear along the way. The game itself costs $30 for the regular base game, or $50 for the Digital Deluxe (Which includes a TON of goodies, including early access). It is crossplatform, featuring servers that can play PC players WITH PS3 players as well (With PS4 release slated for early 2014). It is due for release August 27th, with a 3 day Early Access, and 7 day Open Beta period before hand (So expect it around August 15th). The specs required are not particularly high for PC players, but as usual with MMOs, expect a higher CPU load than most games. I am personally playing on the Server Cactuar when the Open Beta comes out in a few weeks, and hopefully I'll see some more people on with me. Warning: If you played the original FFXIV this may cause sudden and intense feelings of sadness, and possibly tears. Watch at your own risk. The video contains no spoilers (And infact is recommended to watch BEFORE playing ARR). It represents the shutdown of the original FFXIV servers, and the "Destruction" of the Eorzean and Garlean armies. Players can bring their previous characters into ARR as "Legacy" characters, with bonus content for them. [youtube] [/youtube] The game is going to have a $15 per month base subscription fee, with lower prices for extended commitments.
