Monthly Subscription for Final Fantasy XIV Confirmed

[Fuzz]

---News--- September 3rd, 2009

As many of us have already expected, Square Enix will be charging for their 2nd and upcoming online Final Fantasy (XIV). Hiromichi Tanaka, lead producer, has confirmed that the title will use the standard (30-day) MMORPG subscription model.

I think 95% of us were probably expecting a monthly fee, so no real surprise there. Problem is, once you charge a fee, there comes expectations. Square Enix has already delivered online success with FFXI generating over 500,000 active paying users currently. If they can raise the bar in game quality, server performance, and other user-centered perks... I think they can definitely build a larger user base with Final Fantasy XIV.


Source: Escapist Magazine

[Che]

By them making FFXIV look so nostalgically like FFXI, I think we can expect most FFXI players will at least try it out, if not fall in love with it. Not to mention it's their second MMO, so they have to get more things right. I have faith in that, since it is Square-Enix. The MMO scene is also bigger and more mainstream than it used to be, so I fully expect new people to try it out as well. Let's just hope they make an atmosphere as fun and adventurous as FFXI was for us to play in.

[Hinj]

There made a new FFIV where was i when this announcement. And where would you be able to buy it?

[LocoColt04]

No no, not IV, XIV. 14 is the new MMO; it comes out next year. It was the "Rapture" project they've been working on for so long... no one really knew it would be the spiritual successor to FFXI until they unveiled it a couple months ago.

(Though, they did release the JP-only sequel to FFIV on the Wii's Virtual Console a while ago.)

[Soloros]

The monthly fee bit doesn't surprise me. I play XI as it is and though I love the world (and being a freakin' Dragoon!), it's been dropping off as of late. When XIV hits I'll probably transfer my name over and start that up. From the videos I've seen and information I've read; I think Square is gonna do even better this time around.

Here's to hoping, right?

[Lacrimas]

Any idea on just how much this monthly fee will be, if you ask me i say they should do what aion has done and introduce a one of fee of say £30 and $50 that way it will increase the amount of people who play casually like say once or twice a week by allowing them to pay once not every month

[Rocky]

The monthly fee? No surprise there. I think the big question is how SE is going to go about making the new sequel. One thing I was fond of was that FF11 was actually a challenging-yet-rewarding type of game, one that took a decent amount of knowledge and skill in regards to leveling up, etc. Will the game make a downturn in difficulty to get a larger fanbase, or will it continue to be a difficult game in regards of possibly turning off newcomers to the mmo scene?

[Electric]

I'd consider doing XIV, if they made it more like the series.

The problem with XI is the only things it had in common with the FF Series were moogles and chocobos and random 13 year old boys named Sephiro666

[PSPrequiem]

eh... I don't have a ps3 or a pc anymore but looks great. if i'm lucky i might get a ps3 slim this year. the thing i hate are monthly online subscriptions like for the previous FFOnline, XI...

[kevin1gamer]

I kind of suspected they might do this. Hopefully they give us FFXI players a discount though (like only $6 dollars a month instead of $12 or something, since we are playing both of their MMOs).

[Starfire]

Hmmm, I must say i expected this, However, FFXI subscription fee was a fair price. Lets just keep our fingers crossed it won't break the bank!

[PSPrequiem]

To StarFire: WOW, lol. the ps2 version of XI was outragous. It wasn't THAT good and you have to pay about $95.00-$170.00 for the game and harddrive which is required. that's more than the ps2 slim! As for the pc version, i don't want to pay to play when there are games that may entertain you more for free however, if i get a pc, i'll think things through.

[Andromeda]

In the US the HDD was priced at $100. I don't recall it ever being as high as $170. It could be today due to its rarity, but when you wanted them they were not that expensive. You also have to keep in mind that when you were getting the HDD you were doing so to play FFXI which came with it pre-installed. But the game by itself was $50 meaning that you're paying $50 for the HDD. All in all for a 40 gig HDD $50 isn't too bad of a price 6 years ago.

[cooltirta]

ummmm....
am I able to play Final Fantasy XIV Online In Indonesia??
How can I get The Final Fantasy XIV Online DVD??
and if I able to play, how can I pay the monthly fee??

[Andromeda]

If you have a PS3 or PC you should be able to play regardless of where you are. The PS3 are region free and I'm not aware of any locking out of PCs. As for DVD, the game is unreleased still, but when it comes out on PC I'd imagine that it'll be on DVD. The fee payment will probably be done the same way as with FFXI you'll need a debit/credit card though they may also do paypal I don't know.

[The Dark Crystal]

That sucks so much balls! That means if it comes to the 360, i will have to pay to play the game (both Sony, and MS, and then pay for live to play with others online). Talking about some shafters!

[Andromeda]

I thought you could play FFXI with a Silver account because Playonline was the service you need to play the game and not X Box LIVE. But I know that SE isn't using Playonline for FFXIV as they have said in an interview. So I don't know how they will work it out, but have also remember that Microsoft and probably Sony are pretty picky about not allowing gamers to play together. So if there is not an intermediary for the game it may actually never show up on the 360 since it would be really boring only playing with a really small user base on the 360 while all of the PC and PS3 gamers got to play together on the same servers.

That was the only reason that FFXI worked on the 360 because it went through Playonline a third party service that connected them together. Microsoft wasn't about to allow SE to have gamers connect their 360 via LIVE to PS2. Loopholes are wonderful aren't they. ^^

[The Dark Crystal]

I thought you could play FFXI with a Silver account because Playonline was the service you need to play the game and not X Box LIVE.

That is correct, but if FF15 does make it's way to the 360 this time that is all going to change. I love the 360 and its exclusive games, but MS is really greedy and it is getting on my nerves. MS said that they want part of the money for the playonline and sony doesnt want to go along with it.

[Sean]

The monthly fee? No surprise there. I think the big question is how SE is going to go about making the new sequel. One thing I was fond of was that FF11 was actually a challenging-yet-rewarding type of game, one that took a decent amount of knowledge and skill in regards to leveling up, etc. Will the game make a downturn in difficulty to get a larger fanbase, or will it continue to be a difficult game in regards of possibly turning off newcomers to the mmo scene?

It's an Asian MMO. They're ALL grind fests and somewhat difficult, I expect the same in XIV.

I don't mind grind fests, however. As easy as WoW is, I find things to keep me occupied, by setting different achievements for myself (working on making 9 80s at the moment)

[LocoColt04]

Honestly, I don't even know if the 360 would be able to RUN FFXIV. Consider MAG for a moment. Microsoft wanted in on the action back when it was just going to be 128 players - and the 360s failed the wire-frame test run, while the PS3s performed so admirably that they doubled it to 256 players.

I know the structure of an MMO is different from that of MAG ("zones" rather than entire maps, and limited data loads, etc.) but the concept may be the same. There is certainly a possibility that the 360 is getting left behind because it simply isn't powerful enough.

[Furore]

Got a source for that Loco?

I always thought MAG was a PS3 exclusive because it's developer, Zipper Interactive, are a Sony owned development studio (since 2006 anyways).

Turbine who specialise in MMOs had a representative who last September commented that the 360 was easier to develop MMOs for. Source.

[LocoColt04]

I wish I had a paper source. It actually came from the mouth of a Microsoft representative I worked with last year. I don't know the validity of it, but from hardware tests alone, I can at least say that MAG wouldn't run on the 360 even if they ever did attempt it. In any case, we're bouncing off of the point at hand here.

I'm not sure the 360 could manage FFXIV (if it is built in a similar manner as MAG) - that was the point I was aiming for. I'm not saying it won't. I'm not saying it can't. I'm saying that I doubt it.

Of course, it's all a moot argument anyway since the game isn't coming to the 360.

[Furore]

Oh, well I'd agree with you there. Nate Klee of Zipper Interactive himself stated that the codebase of MAG wouldn't run on 360, but if you look at his explanation it was because it was built with the PS3's strengths in mind. The 360 itself can do other things the PS3 can't so I'm not entirely convinced the 360 couldn't handle FFXIV (unless of course it is coded to suit the strengths of the PS3 specifically).

The advantage as I see it of FFXIV only coming to PS3 is that because they can play specifically to the one console's strengths it'll likely play better than something designed with the weaknesses of both consoles in mind.

All I hope is they have a method for paying involving prepaid cards or something. Even now cbf getting a credit/debit card.

[LocoColt04]

The 360 definitely has the better GPU, but with games like FFXIV where you'll have hundreds (or thousands?) of players in the same area at the same time, the multicore CPU of the PS3 is what will make it run so well.

I wouldn't be surprised if it runs better on the PS3 than on high-end computers. Granted, it might not look quite as pretty as those top-o'-th'-line monsters, but it will certainly run more smoothly - and isn't that what you'd want in an MMO anyhow?

[Furore]

Depends. If it plays smoothly and looks like ass, I might prefer it to run a little less smoothly for some nice visuals. As it is, I figure the PS3 can probably get away with both, especially with Square Enix behind it.