Servers shutting down ahead of relaunch, A Realm Reborn beta pla

[Malacite]

Gamescom 2012: FFXIV servers shutting down ahead of relaunch, A Realm Reborn beta planned for this fall | Massively

by Ben Gilbert on Aug 16th 2012 8:00AMFantasy, Events, real-world, Interviews, MMO industry, Massively Interviews, Massively Event Coverage, Final Fantasy XIV

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Final Fantasy XIV players, take note: Your days are numbered. Er, at least your days spent in the originalFFXIV world. When the game's rebirth, called A Realm Reborn, occurs later this year, the game's servers will be taken offline. Rather than overlap the two versions of the game, Square-Enix director/producer Naoki Yoshida says the original servers will be taken offline "some day in the near future," precipitating an alpha and then a beta for the game's relaunch later this year.

"Basically what's going to happen is that the current story is still continuing now, but some day in the near future -- and we'll make sure we tell the players what day that is -- something is going to happen in the story, and at that time, the servers are going to shut down," Yoshida told us in a group interview this morning at Gamescom.

The reason for the shutdown is less thrilling than you might think. "Basically the player data will be taken over into the new game. So, to convert all this new data for the new systems, we need a certain amount of time to do this. There's so much data, so many thousands of characters that we must do this for. And so we have to shut down the servers," he said.

Yoshida was quick to point out that players will have plenty of warning ahead of the shut-down (considerthis your first heads-up). He also notes that the original game's userbase will be prioritized in A Realm Reborn's beta queue and that players will "be able to use their current characters in the beta test as well." Though that may not be at the kickoff of the beta, he says, "We're working in a way to try to get it as close to the beginning of the beta test as possible."


A Realm Reborn is headed to both PlayStation 3 and PC later this year.

[jenova_9]

that is a helpful report, mew. Now people have time to get their luggages ready to jump into 2.0.

[Malacite]

Not too much new info there, except that we'll be keeping our characters.

I (and many others) was under the impression we'd be using new ones while we tested. Shit, i wonder if any EXP and items we get in the new beta will carry over then?

[Aeni]

Not too much new info there, except that we'll be keeping our characters.

I (and many others) was under the impression we'd be using new ones while we tested. Shit, i wonder if any EXP and items we get in the new beta will carry over then?

Um ... Yoshi-P said (he promised) that at the very least, items and gil, would carry over. As for progression, I must imagine maybe your exp would carry over, but not your level? Who knows ... however, progression as far as raiding/story would be wiped clean (although preserved in a special achievement archive) This means that little diary in your inn, which allows you to revisit cutscenes and movies, will also be removed. Last chance to FRAPs your favorite moments in the game.

[Malacite]

He said our characters and our stuff would all carry over to 2.0 - as in the main launch. He never said anything about the beta.

And he did say that our little journals will change, but those of us who have been playing the game now will still be able to watch those old scenes - but they'll be shown differently from how they are now (I'm not entirely sure what he meant by that).

[Aeni]

He said our characters and our stuff would all carry over to 2.0 - as in the main launch. He never said anything about the beta.

Why would it matter for Beta? I thought you were talking about for release. Beta is to make sure shit isn't broken ... not to go around powerleveling something to 50 and beyond.

And he did say that our little journals will change, but those of us who have been playing the game now will still be able to watch those old scenes - but they'll be shown differently from how they are now (I'm not entirely sure what he meant by that).

I'm pretty sure I read that it was not accessible in 2.0 If you still have the old game disc/install, you would be able to continue to see the cutscenes, most likely through an official "bug". However, if you wipe and reload your PC and not bother installing the "old" game, you're not going to be able to view them.

[Mezlo]

When's the servers going down and when does the beta start?

[Malacite]

Supposed to be around the end of September AFAIK