In celebration of Final Fantasy's 25th birthday, The Final Fantasy Forums are getting a makeover! In the coming weeks the forums will be undergoing a number of big changes that will add much needed functionality that has been missing. These changes won't happen all at once though!

The first major change you will see is the upgrade of the forums to vBulletin 4. This version has a lot of improvements over what we are currently running, while still remaining easy to use. Rather than bore you with the differences in the base software I encourage you to explore all the nooks and crannies yourself! Upon release, the forums will still have the classic TFF Light and TFF Dark themes we all know and love. We are hard at work at creating additional themes for you to choose from, but these won't be ready right away.

Of course, having a vanilla version of vBulletin 4 wouldn't be that interesting, so we're kicking it up a few notches. For instance, reporting posts has become more straightforward. Currently, your only option was to write out what the problem is when you report a post. Now you will be able to choose from a number of pre-defined choices such as “flaming”, “spam”, and more to make the process faster. You can still type in your own message as well.

Another change you will see is to the experience point system. Currently your activity over the entire time you've been at TFF is factored into the numbers. This is bad, because if you happen to take a break for a while you are permanently punished for it with no way to make it up. Lame huh? The new system may look similar but it works differently. Here are the main things to keep in mind:
  • HP bar: Your HP grows as you gain levels. The higher your level, the more HP you have
  • EXP bar: Shows how close you are to the next level. The closer you are, the fuller the bar is. You gain experience points a variety of ways, not just from posting. More details soon.
  • SP bar: Shows how active you have been recently. You are not punished for inactivity in the distant past.


So what's the catch? There has to be one right? Well not everything will survive the transition. The two big ones are the Arcade and the Store. The Arcade will be replaced by a more Final Fantasy appropriate gaming system in a future update. Unfortunately the Store will no longer be supported. Rather than buying items, you will be able to earn achievements and awards for reaching different goals around the forums. Since purchasing items will no longer be possible, gil is being removed. We realize that this will upset some people, but it is part of streamlining the forums.

Stay tuned to this thread for more updates during the week where we will unveil more features and give you a sneak peak at what's to come! Not only that but there will be chances for you to win prizes, so keep your eyes peeled for that! Thank you for sticking through the tough times and I hope you all enjoy the new look!