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Final Fantasy XIV shows off upcoming transportation innovations

Eliot Lefebvre — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 20:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Video, Game mechanics, Patches, Previews, News items, Consoles, Final Fantasy XIV

In any installment of the Final Fantasy franchise, mounting your noble steed means getting on a trusty yellow bird. Final Fantasy XIV has been distinctly lacking in chocobos for some time now, but with patch 1.19, all of that is being fixed. And better yet, the official site has just put together a preview of how the systems behind these mounts and the new airships will work... not to mention a preview video featuring the tune players are eagerly awaiting.

Players who have fully enlisted with a Grand Company will be able to purchase a personal chocobo for 3000 company seals, which will allow unrestricted access to your personal bird. Players without that option can still rent a bird for 800 gil as long as they've achieved level 10. Last but not least, airships will allow players rapid transit between the city states. But if you're the sort who won't believe it until you see it, jump past the break for all the bird-riding action you can imagine.

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Final Fantasy XIV shows off upcoming transportation innovations originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 22 Sep 2011 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Newest producer's letter looks forward to player-owned chocobos in Final Fantasy XIV

Eliot Lefebvre — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 20:45:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Game mechanics, Patches, Previews, News items, Consoles, Final Fantasy XIV

In most games, when you think of a noble steed, you think of a horse. But Final Fantasy XIV players have been looking forward to the large yellow birds that have always defined the series' transportation, and they're not that far off. Naoki Yoshida's latest producer's letter is all about patch 1.19, and that includes the system he promises to dub "My Little Chocobo."

Okay, he's actually fairly certain that the name won't make it into the game. But the patch does have a very long list of changes, including rentable chocobos and fully purchasable birds via the Grand Company system. And that's hardly the extent of the changes -- the upcoming patch will also feature further overhauls to the combat system, the abolition of physical level, and of course new leves and quests including Grand Company leves. FFXIV fans don't have a precise date to expect the patch just yet, but they'll probably be more than happy with the promise of a yellow steed of their own.

Newest producer's letter looks forward to player-owned chocobos in Final Fantasy XIV originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 15 Aug 2011 20:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Final Fantasy XI starts its eight-year art contest

Eliot Lefebvre — Mon, 17 May 2010 12:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Final Fantasy XI, Contests, Fan art, News items, Consoles

On May 16th, 2002, Final Fantasy XI was released in Japan, meaning that the game has marked a full eight years of service in its country of origin. (It didn't come stateside for another year and a half, so we're a bit behind.) The team at Square-Enix is understandably excited about how far the game has come since that day, and what better way to show it than letting the players strut their stuff? That means it's time for the Eighth Anniversary Art Contest, complete with requisite fabulous prizes -- which include the coveted Chocobo Beret.

Running until June 16th, the contest calls for players with an active Final Fantasy XI account to submit a picture of their finished artwork. As one might assume given the timing, the art is expected to have an anniversary theme, although how one wishes to tackle the subject is entirely up to the player. Only one submission is allowed per person, with all the winners receiving the Nomad Moogle Rod, and the two top winners also receiving the aforementioned Beret. Take a look at the official rules for all the details, and get ready to see what the game's worldwide community can come up with.

Final Fantasy XI starts its eight-year art contest originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 17 May 2010 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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FFXIV gameplay footage explores cities, chocobos and emotes

Kyle Horner — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 16:30:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Video, New titles, News items, Final Fantasy XIV

A lot of news has been coming out for Final Fantasy XIV lately, and we're quite happy to see it. Today we've got what appears to be (the first episode of what's sure to be recurring) in-game footage of players exploring one of Eorzea's cities on the game's official Japanese YouTube channel. There's a moment in the clip where the Japanese players speaking throughout are amazed to find a Chocobo and well, it's pretty entertaining to watch -- especially when the video gets to the part where it reveals that old Tarutaru emotes are fully intact. Panic!

We're also getting another tiny peek at the user interface for Final Fantasy XIV in the video. From what we can see here, Square Enix is keeping the memorable "Send/Receive" graphic, which blinks with a strange hypnotic rhythm. The mini-map and health/mana bars both look quite useful yet unobtrusive, too. Overall, everything about this game screams, "Final Fantasy XI, but newer and hopefully improved." We hope that proves to be wholly true in the coming months.

FFXIV gameplay footage explores cities, chocobos and emotes originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 31 Mar 2010 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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More on Final Fantasy XI's VanaFest prize and March update

Eliot Lefebvre — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 09:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Final Fantasy XI, Patches, Consoles

Although VanaFest 2010 is moving into the memories (fond or otherwise) of Final Fantasy XI fans everywhere, there are still bits and pieces that remained unanswered questions. For instance, what exactly are the prized Chocobo Berets going to do when players get their hands on them? Thanks to Corinth on the popular fan translation site JP Button, we finally have our answer: they turn players into chocobos. Using the hat turns everyone in the party into an egg which, when hatched (by removing the buff), will temporarily turn a player into an adolescent chocobo that improves their movement speed somewhat. High time to start making friends with attendees or trivia contest winners for that.

The translated information also points to the hats being available with the March version update, which looks to be going live on March 23rd. The VanaFest site has a full breakdown of what's due with the update, but in short it's set to include the penultimate parts of the Wings of the Goddess storyline, job adjustments, and the long-awaited Odin and Alexander summon spells. It's also introducing the new "Trial of the Magians" quests. so the end of the month promises to be very busy for Final Fantasy XI -- even if you're not waiting to hatch from a hat-induced egg.

More on Final Fantasy XI's VanaFest prize and March update originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 16 Mar 2010 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Digital Continuum: Week two of vacationing in Vana'diel, part 2

Kyle Horner — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 13:00:00 EST

Filed under: Final Fantasy XI, Opinion, The Digital Continuum, Consoles

Continue reading The Digital Continuum: Week two of vacationing in Vana'diel, part 2

The Digital Continuum: Week two of vacationing in Vana'diel, part 2 originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 29 Jun 2009 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Final Fantasy XI's Feast of Swords is back again for another swing

Seraphina Brennan — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 13:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Final Fantasy XI, Culture, Events, in-game, News items, PvE, Consoles

It's springtime! The birds are in the air, the flowers are in bloom, and crazy armor stealing brigands are back in Vana'diel. That means the moogles are once again handing out swords and imbuing them with moogle magic to fight back the malice of the brigands. It's the Feast of Swords!

Participating in this event is pretty easy, but it's recommended you bring a class that has a high amount of hit points and include white mage as your subjob. Simply visit a moogle at any one of the major FFXI cities and pick up your magical sword. Be careful though, as you'll be brought down to a level restriction of 1, but no monsters will be interested in attacking you. You will also have the benefit of enhanced movement speed, so you can track down those armors.

Taking down one of the magical armors will allow you to trade your sword in for some neat event prizes, like food that turns you into a kid, medals that teleport you to a city's chocobo stables, or even one of the special yearly swords. But participate soon! This event is being sheathed come May 12th.

Final Fantasy XI's Feast of Swords is back again for another swing originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 30 Apr 2009 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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WRUP: Waiting for Warhammer edition

Mike Schramm — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 14:00:00 EST

Filed under: Culture, Patches, PvE, Massively Meta

Unfortunately, if you really are waiting for Warhammer Online, you're going to be waiting a while (though the good news is that you've got a metric ton of posts to read about it here on Massively). But it does seem that the MMO game has cooled down for a bit. Some folks are still pushing onward in Age of Conan, and lots of people are rushing to finish up their pre-expansion goals in World of Warcraft. And there's a whole lot of Monk playing in DDO this weekend, we're pretty sure, not to mention that the EVE expansion is just around the corner.

So What aRe yoU Playing this weekend? Michael Zenke, who definitely is waiting for WAR, can't wait to ding 60 and get his epic Chocobo in Azeroth this weekend. I'll be playing my usual diet of World of Warcraft, with a little Guild Wars thrown in for variety. And outside of the MMO realm, I can't wait to try out the Civilization Revolution demo this weekend -- if they actually have put Civ in console form, it could be more addictive than any MMO I've ever played.

So what are you playing in your free time this weekend?

WRUP: Waiting for Warhammer edition originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 06 Jun 2008 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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White Chocobos lead the charge in Pashnow Marshlands monster races

Michael Zenke — Tue, 27 May 2008 13:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Final Fantasy XI, Events, in-game

The official Final Fantasy XI site has word (via another amusing lore text) of a tweak to an in-game event. The activities of Chocobo Racing and Breeding are unique offerings to Vana'diel players. A lore piece on the official site hints at changes to the racing system that might, in turn, offer something new to breeders. It all surrounds the rare White Chocobo. According to an 'inside source', monsters have been spotted occasionally participating in the Chocobo races ... for some unknown reason.

Likewise, White Chocobos are now apparently taking part of their own volition. Though the image above (from the FFXI Dats site) shows the Chocobo with a saddle, the official site's image shows an unbridled bird running in the races. Are these just flavour changes to Chocobo Racing? Does this mean that White Chocobos might eventually be caught and bred after races end? And how do the monster fit into this? For a great deal of speculation, check out the discussion on the Allakhazam boards, and feel free to offer up your own opinion here. Wark!

White Chocobos lead the charge in Pashnow Marshlands monster races originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 27 May 2008 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Gameplay Wishlist: new mount abilities

Akela Talamasca — Thu, 15 May 2008 10:00:00 EST

Filed under: Game mechanics, Opinion, Academic

Mounts in World of Warcraft are essentially organic vehicles that allow the player to traverse the landscape more quickly. Level 60 Epic mounts are faster than level 40 mounts, and of course flying mounts grant vertical movement. Mounts in other games are mostly the same, barring, of course, smaller games of which we might know nothing. It's a big game universe out there; it's possible.

But it seems that there's unaddressed potential with these mounts. Sure, they look menacing, and it's better to ride than to walk, but is that all? Watching the recent Vanguard mounts video made us yearn for more from our noble steeds. Here's what we'd like to see in future games.

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Gameplay Wishlist: new mount abilities originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 15 May 2008 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Behind the Curtain: How far is too far?

Craig Withers — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 19:00:00 EST

Filed under: World of Warcraft, Fantasy, Sci-fi, EverQuest, EverQuest II, Final Fantasy XI, Star Wars Galaxies, Behind the Curtain

How far do you go to show how much you love your favourite MMO?

Would you have a tattoo done? Our sister site WoW Insider has, in the past, posted about people having tattoos of various World of Warcraft symbols done. I sport a tattoo myself, and I've certainly considered getting a WoW tattoo done. Tattooing is certainly an extreme, and fairly permanent, way of professing your love for a game, so I suppose that might be 'too far' right there.

You could go for a simpler option, and pick up some of the nifty official merchandise available for various games instead.

I doubt you'll be surprised to hear that there is a veritable plehtora of merchandise available for WoW. There's the pen and paper RPG, (which I have but can't find anyone willing to indulge me an take part in my campaign) the TCG with its many tasty loot cards, and there's the wearable merchandise. Why not grab yourself a T-shirt or two - my personal favourite is the Camp Taurajo one. Wear one of these around town during downtime and see how many "For the Horde!" or "Grab your sword and fight the Horde!" cries you can hear being thrown your way. I wouldn't bet much on the latter though, to be honest. Sorry Mike.

If your place of work has a 'dress down' day in effect, declaring your allegiance for the entire cafeteria to see may unearth a fellow WoW player you never knew was there.

Continue reading Behind the Curtain: How far is too far?

Behind the Curtain: How far is too far? originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 21 Feb 2008 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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