Square Enix Reveals New Final Fantasy XIV Collector's Edition

[Fanghawk]

Square Enix Reveals New Final Fantasy XIV Collector's Edition

The revamped Final Fantasy XIV MMO will launch this summer, complete with preorder bonuses for early buyers.

As popular as the franchise may be, Final Fantasy XIV <a href=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/122356-FFXIV-Director-We-Took-Final-Fantasy-For-Granted>was never going to get the reception Square Enix hoped for. This 2010 game was almost universally despised thanks to extensive bugs, glitches, and lackluster design choices that weren't corrected before the finished game launched. After struggling to find an audience, Square Enix eventually took the game offline so it could be rebuilt as Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn, a simultaneous sequel and reboot of the original. After two years of additional development, Square Enix has announced that PC and PS3 versions of the game will finally be re-released on August 27, 2013. Square Enix has also lined up various bonuses to draw back its skeptical audience, including preorder bonuses and an extra-filled collector's edition.

Even with Final Fantasy XIV's checkered past, the collector's edition is a tempting offer for long-time fans. To start off, the packaging is a limited edition art box designed by Final Fantasy artist Yoshitaka Amano. Inside, players will find an 80-page hardcover art book, a CD soundtrack, 5 art cards, a physical movie disc depicting the events leading into Realm Reborn, and of course, the game itself. Switching to the digital side of things, all collector's editions include a Helm of Light, a Coeurl Mount, the Behemoth Barding armor, and the adorable Baby Behemoth Minion.

Outside of the collector's set, Square Enix is also throwing in preorder bonuses for both versions of the game. All preorders will provide players with early access to the game, a Cait Sith Doll Minion, and a Mog cap that can be worn by all classes. Of course, if Realm Reborn's gameplay falls short again, it's hard to say these extras will still be considered worthwhile. Thankfully, <a href=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/editorials/reviews/previews/10202-Square-Enix-Presses-Reset-with-Final-Fantasy-XIV>early reports of the game seem to be positive, so lets hope the new Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn will be the game we should have received in 2010.



Source: <a href=http://na.finalfantasyxiv.com/product/#ceSpecialAnchor>Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn, via <a href=http://www.warcry.com/news/view/124296-Final-Fantasy-14-A-Realm-Reborn-Release-Date-Announced>Warcry

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[Eric the Orange]

Hey only what, 3 years after it's launch and it may be playable. Good for them.

 

[TemperHoof]

Hey only what, 3 years after it's launch and it may be playable. Good for them.

The original Final Fantasy XIV is shut down, gone, and dead.

This is "A Realm Reborn", completely new MMO that hasn't been released yet at all. Don't get them confused.

 

[Tanis]

I wonder if the art book is going to be sold separately.

 

[RandV80]

Well I was never planning on playing FFXIV but found a copy last Christmas in the bargain bin for $10 and managed to get in the beta. I typically don't do MMO's but I will probably pay the subscription fee for a month or two.

But considering all the work that went into the initial flop, and that a FF MMO has the potential to have the least widespread appeal for a FF game (screw ups like FF XIII aside) but with the subscription model can be the most financially lucrative, I really wish they could find a way to merge the two together. Like charge me $50-60 bucks for the game and deliver the standard FF single player experience, but then have that game end with something like the 'cataclysm' and let us continue to play with our characters for the $10 subscription fee in the 'Realm Reborn' MMO. Considering how much development time they've sunk into this thanks to the original screw up, they totally could have done FFXIV in this manner.

 

[Candidus]

I'll be playing this for a few months. Out of curiosity.

Edit:

The beta gameplay footage actually looks good. When Square goes under, and this game gets sold to someone else and goes free to play, I might take it up full time.

Edit2:

After watching that video twice more... Don't the PS3 clips look like utter shit? Particularly Bismarck.

I know it shouldn't come as a surprise to me. In fact it doesn't-- and I've got a great PC, so it doesn't upset me either. I'm just concerned that, besides looking like shit, it appears to run at about 15fps.

I wouldn't even call that playable.

 

[EstrogenicMuscle]

That looks pretty attractive.

I really hope this really be the game everyone wanted. I'd hate to see this game fail twice, and it seems to show a lot of promise. That home designing system looks incredibly. Guild Wars 2 or Tera don't have anything like that. Heck, Tera doesn't even have guild spaces.

If it does fail, what do we have to look forward to? Final Fantasy XIV 3.0? At that point Square Enix would be best off hiring the folks who developed Guild Wars 2 and Tera to give it everything their games lacks. Or actually have their in house team find out what Guild Wars 2 and Tera did right and have Final Fantasy XIV copy it.

 

[Sangnz]

So they plan on making original players buy a new copy of the game they should have released?

 

[EstrogenicMuscle]

So they plan on making original players buy a new copy of the game they should have released?

No, people who own the original copy of the game will be able to play A Realm Reborn with no problems.

This is just a re-release that would probably require less of an update and may come with some bonus in game items.

 

[excalipoor]

Cool. Now, can I just trade in my old Collectors for this one?

[small]Pretty please...?

...No? Well screw you Squenix! I hate you! I wish you were dead![/small]

 

[devotedsniper]

Do those who own the original collectors get a discount on the new one? In comparison to the original that one looks a lot better.They better not think about asking me to buy another copy that's for sure.

 

[TemperHoof]

So they plan on making original players buy a new copy of the game they should have released?

No, people who own the original copy of the game will be able to play A Realm Reborn with not problems.

This is just a re-release that would probably require less of an update and may come with some bonus in game items.

Owners who purchased the original Final Fantasy XIV 1.0 which closed in November 2012 will no have to re-buy the new MMO. They will even have the 30-Days free trial all standard copies will have.

The game is not a "patch" or "update" to the old Final Fantasy XIV, it's a completely new game with an entirely new engine used to build the game too. It will require a total re-install. Previous owners of the game will be given the Digital Download version for free.

Cool. Now, can I just trade in my old Collectors for this one?

[small]Pretty please...?

...No? Well screw you Squenix! I hate you! I wish you were dead![/small]

Any previous owners of the Collector's Edition will be given the new Digital Collector's Edition for free. (If you want the physical goodies, like the books, soundtracks, etc.. this is all new stuff. It is recommended you buy the PS3 Collector's Edition if you want the physical goodies because this will just be linked to one account anyway and will grant that account PS3 Access.)

Any previous owners who didn't opt in to buy the original Collector's Edition can now just upgrade to the Digital Collector's Edition for $19.99.

Any previous owners get to keep their old character data, levels, abilities, and more. But at the same time, veteran players will not be able to transfer to fresh new servers meant for people just starting out. New players may choose to join the veteran servers, and the vets will be able to continue the game in a whole new way giving them a never-before-seen head start as a reward for their loyalty to SquareEnix through this whole transition from one MMO to another ordeal.

-- Source 01: SquareEnix FFXIV Lodestone [http://lodestone.finalfantasyxiv.com/pl/topics/detail?id=14019fb32d90859f118dccb8cd96bf81c212957d]
-- Source 02: SquareEnix FFXIV Lodestone Forums [http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/threads/61990-FINAL-FANTASY-XIV-A-Realm-Reborn-Purchase-Questions?p=995371&viewfull=1#post995371].

 

[Hyrist]

Clarification of the above: You will receive the Digital Collector's edition if you owned the previous collector's edition, not the physical items. That will require a repurchase.

I would go as far as to call FFXIV:A Realm Reborn a sequel, at least in terms of storyline. The Mechanics, Engine, Server Structure, etc, have all been redone completely. Assets from armor/weapons have been reused with added new ones.

There is video of combat if you care to go looking - though most of it is alpha build stuff. The NDA was lifted off of certain media sources and there are plenty of impressions out there, most of which are quite positive.

At the very least I encourage those who owned the previous version to cash in their free trial and give it a shot. After the amount of effort they put into this it's worth a second glance.

 

[Colt47]

Do those who own the original collectors get a discount on the new one? In comparison to the original that one looks a lot better.They better not think about asking me to buy another copy that's for sure.

People with the original collectors edition get all the digital stuff from the new collectors edition for free. The only thing we don't get is early access: that is only given to people who qualified for the Legacy status or preordered the game, which costs $29.99 for the normal edition, $49.99 for the digital collectors edition, and 69.99 for the physical collectors edition. They also offer an upgrade program that lets people switch to the digital collectors edition later on if they so choose. (Edit: Cost of that upgrade is $20)

Personally, I'm really hoping this game succeeds enough to keep a subscription, as going F2P kills the community and the immersion some of these games bring to the table. I can't even enjoy Neverwinter because the crowd playing it is worse than World of Warcraft, and WoW's community is already down right horrid: 8 million players and 7.5 million chat trolls.

 

[devotedsniper]

Do those who own the original collectors get a discount on the new one? In comparison to the original that one looks a lot better.They better not think about asking me to buy another copy that's for sure.

People with the original collectors edition get all the digital stuff from the new collectors edition for free. The only thing we don't get is early access: that is only given to people who qualified for the Legacy status or preordered the game, which costs $29.99 for the normal edition, $49.99 for the digital collectors edition, and 69.99 for the physical collectors edition. They also offer an upgrade program that lets people switch to the digital collectors edition later on if they so choose. (Edit: Cost of that upgrade is $20)

Personally, I'm really hoping this game succeeds enough to keep a subscription, as going F2P kills the community and the immersion some of these games bring to the table. I can't even enjoy Neverwinter because the crowd playing it is worse than World of Warcraft, and WoW's community is already down right horrid: 8 million players and 7.5 million chat trolls.

I agree, I also hope it doesn't go the way of XI once the abysea stuff was added, that game is now deserted everywhere but there and the new exp (which is only good for those who are capped as i found out when i returned).

 

[TemperHoof]

I agree, I also hope it doesn't go the way of XI once the abysea stuff was added, that game is now deserted everywhere but there and the new exp (which is only good for those who are capped as i found out when i returned).

I don't know. Do you even still play Final Fantasy XI? I have a subscription still and the new expansion is highly populated. Of course it feels much more like the old-style of Final Fantasy XI pre-Abyssea and provides content and equipment which makes the Aby stuff laughably outdated and can only be acquired for lots and lots of large group content and large group farming.

In a way, it's like Guild Wars 2. The rest of the game is empty because everyone is doing the 'new' stuff and you're not.

 

[devotedsniper]

I agree, I also hope it doesn't go the way of XI once the abysea stuff was added, that game is now deserted everywhere but there and the new exp (which is only good for those who are capped as i found out when i returned).

I don't know. Do you even still play Final Fantasy XI? I have a subscription still and the new expansion is highly populated. Of course it feels much more like the old-style of Final Fantasy XI pre-Abyssea and provides content and equipment which makes the Aby stuff laughably outdated and can only be acquired for lots and lots of large group content and large group farming.

In a way, it's like Guild Wars 2. The rest of the game is empty because everyone is doing the 'new' stuff and you're not.

I went back last month for the expansion release to find no one does any of the older stuff which is to be expected but when you can only really do Campaign and Walk of Echoes (both of which are now deserted) to get experience it kind of sucks, I suppose being a dragoon I can always go back to soloing but i'm so out of practice hah (came back as a lvl75, I was capped with merits when I stopped playing).

I don't do the aby stuff as i find the stupid amounts of exp you can get from them kills my experience, it's fine for the newer members but I find it shouts f you to the older veterans who would spend months getting to 75.

 

[JediMB]

I will say this:

Final Fantasy XIV is a pretty game.

Also, all the visually updated Final Fantasy XI enemies are making me nostalgic.