Final Fantasy XIV

Final Fantasy XIV, also known as Final Fantasy XIV Online, is the fourteenth installment of the Final Fantasy series, first revealed at E3 2009, and the second MMORPG in the series, after Final Fantasy XI. The Collector's Edition of the game was released worldwide on September 27, 2010, for Windows. A PlayStation 3 release was originally planned for March 2011 but has been delayed. The PlayStation 3 version is now planned for release around October, 2012, based on the new 2.0 client.

In July 26th Square Enix announced that the rebuilt version of Final Fantasy XIV, which prior to this point was known as Final Fantasy XIV 2.0, is to be released as Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn.

Gameplay
Final Fantasy XIV is an MMORPG similar to Final Fantasy XI, featuring a new system of class growth that will give players more freedom in choosing quests. Final Fantasy XIV focuses on character growth, expanding upon the Job System used in Final Fantasy XI, and features a more involved story including a few cutscenes with voice acting, and more complex and varied quests. The game is intended to appeal to players who play on their own and so do not form large parties, but the option to play cooperatively with others is still present. The game does not include a voice chat option, and is limited to text chat only.

Armory System
In the game there are four base disciplines, which each divide into several classes. Each class has its own weapon type, and changing classes is as simple as changing weapons, which is referred to as the Armory System. . Classes can be changed at any time, except during a battle.

You can use most skills on any class after learning them, but skills are scaled with the current class level.

Players can use all skills learned by their current class, and set up other classes' skills based on his current max level. The maximum number of cross class skills that can be used is capped at 10 for a level 50 character.

Due to the nature of the Armory System, there is no kind of restriction for using equipment, as you can use any equipment on any class at any level (except shields that are limited to some classes), and the game scales down the gear based on the difference between current level to the gear's "Optimal Level" - the level where it will provide its full stats. Also, some gear may also have "Favored Classes". While those pieces can also be used by everyone, using in any class that's not the favored will incur a stat decrease, even if the player's level is at or above the Optimal Rank. This system helps changing classes on the fly, as the player is not forced to have completely different equipment sets for every class he plays. However, due to player feedback, class and level restricted items have been implemented, with most end-game gear requiring specific classes and levels to be equipped.

Two more classes are already set for release after the implementation of jobs, Arcanist (mechanical staffs) and Musketeer (Guns).

Jobs
Currently, there are plans of introducing classic Final Fantasy Jobs as types of specializations inside the armory system, on patch 1.21. Upon reaching a certain level in a class, players will be able to do a quest unlocking the use of a job, obtaining a soul crystal, carved with the deeds of past warriors.

Setting a job on top of your class will severely limit the use of cross class abilities (can only use half the usual number - max of 5 skills at level 50 - and only from specific classes) but allow the use of powerful job only abilities and equipment. The main advantage of using a job will be the possibility of specializing on a role (like tanking as a Paladin) for high level party play, while using the regular classes will be more advantageous while playing solo or on smaller parties. Jobs also change the player's base stats to help fulfill its intended role.


 * Paladin, requires Gladiator level 30 and Conjurer level 15. Can use Marauder and Conjurer abilities.
 * Dragoon, requires Lancer level 30 and Pugilist level 15. Can use Pugilist and Archer abilities.
 * Monk, requires Pugilist level 30 and Lancer level 15. Can use Lancer and Archer.
 * Bard, requires Archer level 30 and Conjurer level 15. Can use Conjurer and Thaumaturge abilities.
 * Warrior, requires Marauder level 30 and Gladiator level 15. Can use Gladiator and Pugilist abilities.
 * White Mage, requires Conjurer level 30 and Gladiator level 15. Can use Gladiator and Pugilist abilities.
 * Black Mage, requires Thaumaturge level 30 and Pugilist level 15. Can use Pugilist and Archer abilities.

Character Creation
The Character Creation system allows a greater depth of customization from the player than Final Fantasy XI; players can choose color palettes, hair styles, and face types after selecting a race and clan. Within these choices, players can make detailed adjustments to facial features such as eye, nose, and mouth shape. Players can also decide to add aesthetic features such as scars, tattoos, tribal paints, and jewels if they so wish. Different races have nearly the same stats and develop equally, so all races can play on all classes without any kind of penalty.

Guilds
During the game, the player character must join a guild in order to receive Guildleves, decorative cards which each hold a quest for the character to complete. The quests can include anything from hunting a specific monster to item collection or even negotiation with the enemies. The Guildleves can be completed alone or with a party of other players, with everyone being able to reap the benefits of the quest. The players can also multitask on several leves at the same time.

Aetheryte
In the game, the player characters can move quickly from place to place by using Aetherytes, large shards of crystallized aether that are fused with ancient machinery. These crystals act as teleporters, but using them is limited by the amount of "Anima" points the player has. You can also set 3 Aetherytes as "favorite", reducing teleport costs to that aether by half. Anima is recovered at the rate of 1 point every 4 hours, and teleporting has the following costs:


 * City State Aetherytes on the same zone (For example, teleporting from any point of La Noscea to Limsa Lominsa): 2 points.
 * Wilderness Aetherytes on the same zone (For example, teleporting from Camp Broken Water to Camp Horizon) : 4 points.
 * City State Aetherytes on another zone (For example, teleporting from Limsa Lominsa to Ul'dah): 3 points.
 * Wilderness Aetherytes on another zone (For example, teleporting from Camp Broken Water to Camp Bald Knoll) : 6 points.
 * Favorite Aetherytes - same anima cost as City State Aetherytes.

Battle Regimens
Battle Regimen is a new system devised to replace the Skillchains from Final Fantasy XI. The main idea behind it is the same (players use skills in a certain order to achieve special effects), but trying to reduce the timing factor. One player must begin a Regimen by selecting an action and pressing the appropriate button, which will "stack" his skill on a list. Then, any other players in the party may do the same to stack their own skills in the order they want. Finally, any of the players can unleash the regimen, and all actions are performed in the order they were stacked, generating special effects that may range from plain damage increase to reducing the enemy's defense for a while.

The battle Regimen System was temporarily removed on patch 1.19 due to the changes on the claiming system, and will be revamped and restored at a later patch.

Individual Combos
Players can use certain weaponkills on a specific order grants special bonuses depending on the skills used. These combos are individual, and a player's combo do not affect another player's combo.

Not only will a successful combo grant the player the bonus indicated, but TP cost will also be waived for the weaponskill used to execute it. For a combo to be valid, however, the weaponskill in question must be used with the class or job to which it belongs.

For example, with the following skills, certain combos can be executed


 * Weaponskill 1 - Deal physical damage to a single target. Damage increases by 20% when executed from the front.
 * Weaponskill 2 - Deal physical damage to a single target, increasing enmity. Combo: Weaponskill 1 Bonus: Enmity+50%
 * Weaponskill 3 - Deal physical damage to a single target. Combo: Weaponskill 1 Bonus: Damage+20%
 * Weaponskill 4 - Deal physical damage to a single target. Inflicts gradual HP reduction when executed from behind. Combo: Weaponskill 3 Bonus: HP reduction +25%

Individually executed, the above weaponskills will have only their regular effect and possible positioning bonuses.

Weaponskills 2 through 4 each offer a combo bonus. For instance, performing 2 immediately after landing 1 will grant the player Enmity+50%. Furthermore, the TP cost for performing 2 will be waived. In the case of the above weaponskills, the following two combinations form combos:


 * 1 → 2
 * 1 → 3 → 4

However, all bonus conditions must be fulfilled for a weaponskill to be considered valid in a combo. For this reason, 3 → 4 alone do not form a combo, as 1 is a requirement for 3.

Leveling and Partying
Levels in Final Fantasy XIV were divided into two different values: One's Physical Level and Class Rank. However, the physical level was removed on patch 1.19, and class ranks have been renamed to "level".

To level up, players must acquire Experience Points by performing various actions (killing monsters, crafting an item, gathering, etc), which counts towards the total. Leveling up a class increases the player's base stats (strength, vitality, mind, dexterity, intelligence and piety) for that class, and also unlocks new skills, traits, increase the number of cross class abilities that can be used and determines gear effectiveness, attribute caps, gatherers' number of max gathering tries from a single node and ability to gather from higher rank nodes and crafters' ability to craft higher leveled items, which often have a minimum rank to attempt.

For Disciples of Magic and War the most efficient way to earn skill points is to Party. A Party is a group of players working together in order to bring down foes. The game uses a 'bonus' experience system to give more skill points based on the number of members in the party and their levels. For optimal results, an ideal party must have all members within 5 levels of each other, and is limited to a maximum of eight members

A party consisted of 3-7 members is called a light party, while a party with 8 members is a full party. A light party receive the "Camaraderie" buff, increasing HP and MP by 5%, as well as magic and physical accuracy. A full party receive an even stronger version of the same buff, with HP and MP increased by 10%.

The game has a player search feature that allows players to see other players online, filter by several statistics and see those willing to party (marked as Seeking Party). Players flagged as Seeking Party can set up a Prefered Class, which will determine the level displayed when searched.

The player search also display other information such as online status (Online, In a Party or Seeking Party), all class levels, current location, language, search comment and Grand Company affiliation.

Players can get bonus experience points by linking and chaining monsters.

Monsters are automatically linked when attacked by stronger parties, calling out other nearby monsters for help. The number of reinforcing enemies is based on the difference in strength between the enemy and the player it has engaged; some stronger monsters do no link. Another way to earn experience bonuses is to kill monsters of equal or higher level than themselves within a specific amount of time; this time becomes smaller for every successful chain.

Another factor that must be taken in consideration is the difficulty of the monsters fought. Skill points awarded are increasingly higher the bigger the gap in player rank and monster level is, up to a maximum of 10 ranks difference. Similarly, skill point gain is sharply reduced should the player/party fight a monster of weaker level, therefore the game encourages players to seek stronger monsters to fight.

When in a Party, monsters' aggressive actions are determined by an Enmity system. Almost every action taken during a battle generates Enmity, commonly referred to as "Hate"; whoever possess the most Enmity will have the monsters' attention, and subsequently be attacked. Various classes have enmity control abilities, allowing players to either increase enmity against themselves (moves such as the Gladiator's provoke) or decrease (moves such as Chameleion from Archers), as well as traits that increase or decrease enmity generation.

On patch 1.19, the Physical Level was removed, and Class Rank was renamed to "Class Level".

Fatigue System
A controversial topic since the game's release was the Fatigue System. This system was in place to prevent excessive leveling, and was a penalty to gained experience and skill points. Upon gaining a certain amount of skill points on a specific class, the player might have start gaining "surplus" points on that class, that would not count towards the total. The reduction was gradual and began at 10% reduced points, but could supposedly reach a point where the player would completely stop gaining skill points should they keep leveling, although there was no known case of a player reaching that point. The skill point gain message and the color of the player's current skill/experience points changed when in fatigue.

Fatigue was completely reset every week after the first skill point gain of that class after last fatigue reset (if you changed your class to a gladiator and got your first skill point on a Monday, your fatigue would be reset next Monday, even if you didn't reach surplus). Also, fatigue slowly reduced should the player start leveling another class, or simply stopped playing, encouraging the player to level multiple classes.

As of 1.18 patch the fatigue system has been removed completely.

Grand Companies of Eorzea
These are the groups being formed by the City-States to combat the coming and current threat of the Garlean Empire.

The Maelstrom

 * Location: Limsa Lominsa

At the heart of the Thalassocratic Navy lies the Lominsan Armada, composed of nine independent squadrons, the First through the Ninth. The Maelstrom is an extension of the First Squadron, expanding its role as armada flagship and granting it power to administer not only the remaining eight squadrons, but the various merchant fleets that navigate the seas off Vylbrand.

With the reestablishment of the Maelstrom, the Admiral has also begun the move to invoke ancient maritime law, by which she would promote herself to Chief Admiral, effectively expanding her authority to cover not only state and military dealings, but grant her the power to directly command all ships in Lominsan waters, and freely punish any who disobey. Needless to say, the city-state's pirates are not about to take this encroachment on their freedom without a fight.

The Order of the Twin Adder

 * Location: Gridania

The Order of the Twin Adder establishes a medium from which the Seedseers can return from their wanderings deep within the Black Shroud and directly oversee not only the safety of Gridania's citizens, but the workings of the local guard, Both the Gods' Quiver, who defend the forest from external threats, and the Wood Wailers, who protect it from internal strife, have expressed their support of this temporary measure.

There are, however, those within Gridania who would question the ability of the Seedseers, whose duties until now have been limited to various ritualistic proceedings, and doubt whether or not they are fit to lead a nation into war.

The Immortal Flames

 * Location: Ul'dah

Currently, the bulk of Ul'dah's military strength comes from their standing army of mercenaries and the small contingent of the palace guard known as the Sultansworn. To bring order to their ranks and oversee additional wartime training, the Sultana has considered resurrecting the Immortal Flames-an elite force of battle-hardened veterans that once instilled fear in the city-state's neighboring nations during ages past.

This unit would act as a core aspect of the army, essentially bolstering its power, and in effect grant more authority to the Sultana and her advisers--something of which those in control of the city-state's economy--namely the Syndicate--are wary.

Story
The game takes place in a land called Eorzea, which consists the continent of Aldenard and its surrounding islands, all situated in the world of Hydaelyn.

Eorzea contains several independent city-states:
 * The bustling port and pirate hideout Limsa Lominsa.
 * The wealthy desert city of Ul'dah.
 * The city of Gridania hidden in deep woods.
 * The mountain top bastion called Ishgard.

Eorzea was first inhabited by gods and goddesses, which the wandering tribes that settled the land started calling the Twelve. The gods blessed the tribes that came to the savage land with welfare, but the tribes began fighting with each other, and war tore Eorzea apart.

Fifteen years before the events of the game, metal-clad warriors invaded Eorzea with flame-spewing weapons and colossal airships. The army came from the Garlean Empire, and it didn't take long before the mightiest of the six city-states, Ala Mihgo, fell under their force. The other city-states united their power to defend themselves, but just as fast as it had arrived, the imperial army was gone again. A new era began at Eorzea, known as the "Age of Calm", which the city-states spent by building up their defenses and training their armies.

Before, the cities had hired mercenaries for their inner wars, but now they trusted only professional soldiers, leaving the sellswords unemployed and restless. To keep them from causing harm and steer their energy into helping others instead, the city-states founded a network of adventuring guilds.

Limsa Lominsa Storyline
During a ship trip to Limsa Lominsa, the player wakes up hearing a soft singing voice, yet cannot see anyone resembling a songstress around. Upon exploring the ship, the vessel is suddenly attacked by a horde of sea beasts. With the help of Sthalmann and Y'shtola, the beasts are defeated, however a giant Sea Serpent attacks and nearly destroys the ship.

After exploring the town, the player reaches Fisherman's Bottom, the fisherman's guild and is asked by Wawalago to escort Sisipu to the Oschon's Torch lighthouse. There, they notice something is wrong and investigate the area, finding a few dead bodies and two suspicious characters talking. These two are Emerick and Travanchet, speaking about an agreement Emerick wants to make with the Sahagin. When spotted by the player, however, both pretend to be mere pullers and leave. Back into town, the player discovers that the Sahagin have been frequently attacking lately, with the latest targets being the lighthouse and a fleet of the Knights of the Barracuda.

On a later mission, Baderon speaks about a mysterious island called Seal Rock, whose legend is famous amongst the people of Limsa Lominsa. Speaking with some of the wench's patrons, the player meets Y'shtola again, who reveals that she is searching for a shadowless man accused of assisting the Sahagin.

Out of leads, Baderon tells the player that the young Lalafell Sisipu wants to talk with him. She reveals the location of a secret fishing hole, and asks a meeting at the place. Upon arriving there, the player finds 1st Squadron Commodore Sthalmann and after a long conversation, learns that he believes that the young pirate Emerick to be the one responsible for betraying his squadron to the Sahagin, but is not sure about the details.

Back in town, Mealvaan's Gate is attacked by an all female pirate gang known as the Sanguine Sirens, led by Rhoswen, searching for Emerick, but Y'shtola soon appears and stalls the pirates until the Barracuda Knights arrive; before leaving, she briefs the player on the secrets of Seal Rock island.

After these events, the player learns about the location of Emerick, held prisoner on one of the Knights of Barracuda galleons, and infiltrate the ship. However, a Sahagin ship is spotted closing fast, and the player has to locate Emerick as quick as possible, meeting him and Merodaulyn of the Sanguine Sirens on the lower deck, ready to battle, and can choose which one to help in the following battle, only to discover it was merely a charade prepared by the two; before being able to acquire any information, the ship is swallowed by a massive wave created by the same Sea Serpent that was spotted earlier.

Y'shtola protects the player with a magic barrier, who later awakens on one of Limsa Lominsa's docks, with the Miqote's words ringing on his head: "Find the key".

Learning about another Sahagin attack, the player goes to the Gods's Grip investigate, only to find Commodore Sthalman and Y'shtola fighting. Suddenly, the world is enveloped into a bright light, and when the player's sight returns, he finds himself in the same place as before, but alone.

Searching around, the player finds Sthalmann, Merodaulyn, and Emerick holding a rushed conversation, and learns that the trio is planning to claim the treasure of Seal Rock for themselves and use it towards their own gain, before finding himself once again in front of Y'shtola, who claims that you have the ability to view the happenings of the past, and a meteor shower erupts from skies right after, raining light down upon the player and the others.

As soon as it ends, a strange man appears and fights against Y'shtola, stealing the key before turning into shadows. The player loses consciousness soon after.

Awakening on Limsa Lominsa once again, the player only recalls a voice talking about "The Echo". Speaking with Baderon, he learns that a man called Blackburn carried you there and left a message, telling the player to visit the Path of the Twelve, located in the Merchants Ward of Ul'dah.

Ul'dah Storyline
The player wakes up hearing a soft singing voice, and notices his/her carriage just arrived on the town of Ul'dah, which seems to be holding a grand procession. Suddenly, the skies turn black and a starshower rains on the skies, disappearing in a flash.

The festivities begin and every thing seems to go well, but a Goobbue breaks off his control and wreaks havoc on the town, until he is defeated by the combined efforts of Thancred, Niellefresne and the player.

The player makes his way into the Quicksand, the Adventurer's Guild, and speaks to its proprietor Momodi. She begins to speak about some ways to earn coin around the town, when Thancred comes in and interrupt the conversation. He mentions about talks of war against the Empire, which Momodi confirms that it looks like war will soon come, as well as some rumors that the Goobbue was released because of some imperial interference.

After exploring the town, the player enters the Amajina & Sons Mineral Concern in Ul'dah, home to the Miner's Guild, and witness a commotion involving a thaumaturge named Corguevais, accused of entering the mining shafts illegally. The player tries to calm everyone down with little success, until Lalafell twin brothers Popokkuli and Seserukka enter the guild and kick the troublemakers off it.

Linette from the mining guild mentions that their primary concern is with illegal miners provoking many accidents lately; She asks the player to go to Camp Black Brush and inform them of the guild's intent to strengthen their punitive measures.

The player reaches Black Brush accompanied by F'lhaminn where they find Corguevais trying to help a wounded child named Ascilia, whose father has been attacked by a giant beast. Thancred appears and says he was the one who led the girl to the camp, as she was seeking out an enemy of her father. The girl then points to Corguevais, who discovers that he is the one the girl is looking for, as it was his fault that the Goobbue escaped.

Back into town, the player visits the Alchemist's guild where Ascillia's father, Warburton, was being treated before passing away. Corguevais is talking with the girl once again, and she says that her father came to Ul'dah to warn about a terrible danger.

Back in the Adventurer's Guild, Momodi and the player starts talking until Thancred comes in and overhears the conversation, interested, and Momodi remembers that Thancred is being called to discuss about their belief that Garlean spies have infiltrated the city.

The funeral rites for Ascillia's father, Warburton, begins soon after, and F'lhaminn tries once again to convince Mumuepo of the thaumaturge's guild to do something, since Warburton had important information on the dangers threatening Ul'dah.

Momodi informs the player that a group of the city guard has hastily left the city by chocobo. At the Chocobo Stables, the player meets F'lhaminn in a looking for a chocobo in a hurry, as it seems that Corguevais has been exiled from town and left with Ascilia, probably planning to take her back to Ala Mhigo.

Via linkpearl, Momodi informs that the city guard is searching for an exile wandering near Camp Black Brush. There, the player finds Thancred and Greinfarr discussing, as the bard claims to not know nothing about the so called danger threatening Ul'dah, and Greinfarr then speaks about their last resort - Niellefresne will try to convince the thaumaturges to resurrect Ascillia's dead father.

In the Arrzaneth Ossuary, the player and Thancred see a strange light coming from the crypts, and rush there to find a mortally wounded Niellefresne laying on the ground, and Ascilia crouched by his side, shaking in terror. Suddenly, the Echo begins to reverberate and the player is alone.

Making his way down the crypts once again, the player finds Mumuepo and Niellefresne talking about the thaumaturgy of resurrecting the dead, but upon opening Warburton's corpse, Niellefresne is stabbed through from behind. Back to the present, Thancred realizes what just happened and rushes outside, right in time to see as the skies turn black and meteors rain above Ul'dah. In this moment, he realizes that the danger spoken of by all threatens not only Ul'dah, but all of Eorzea, while the player faints.

The player awakens back at the Adventurer's guild, and Momodi tells he/she was found unconscious and brought there by a girl named Minfilia, who asks also asked to be visited at the Waking Sands, in the Merchants Ward of Uldah.

Gridania Storyline
Upon approaching Gridania, the player starts hearing a singing voice. Before being able to find its origin, the skies turn black and a meteor shower begins, lasting just a few seconds and everything turns back to normal as if nothing happened. Seconds after, an heavily damaged airship flies, and a small yellow light is "shoot" from it, falling in the forest.

Walking in that direction, the player finds Yda and Papalymo laying on the ground, and awakens them, only to notice they are surrounded by wolves. The battle against them ends quickly, but a treant emerges from the ground and attacks everyone, forcing the player to run until a group of moogles, sent by E-Sumi-Yan, calms the treant and saves them.

Welcomed into town, the player learns about the Greenwrath - hatred of the forest upon those who may cause harm to it - and that he (being an outsider) is full of woodsin, which needs to be cleared if he/she intends to stay safe on the Black Shroud. Miounne suggests that the player visits some of the town's guilds, each one who will provide their own help to the cleansing ritual.

In the Botanists' Guild at Greatloam Growery, a few of the town's young children starts teaching steps of the ritual dances that must be performed during a great Gridanian festival to free oneself of the woodsin. After the "class", some of them stay and asks help to reach a place deep within the woods.

Upon arriving at Lifemend Stump with Powle and Sansa, they promptly run off to see to whatever it is they came to do. Then, a mysterious conjurer appears, who admonishes the player for coming there and bringing the kids, disappearing soon after. Finally, the player meets a moogle, who gets surprised that he is being understood and asks the player to give a message to a young girl named Fye concerning a purification mask that is not broken, and therefore cannot be fixed.

Back in the adventurer's guild, Miounne comments about the recent influx of adventurers in Gridania. Soon after, the self proclaimed "saviors of the wood", Yda and Papalymo, arrives and the ask if any of those adventurers may be preparing to attack the Garlean Empire, to Miounne's surprise, who later denies it. Papalymo then mentions that if that's true, the information they have - that Gridania is preparing to wage war on the Empire - is false.

The conversation is stopped when a boy Khrimm comes in and starts badmouthing the adventurers, claiming that they have not been chosen by the elementals at all, leaving soon after. The duo goes after him.

The player then visits the Carpenter's Guild, to see the crafting of the masks that must be used during the purification rites. Remembering about the message to Fye, the player searches for the girl and finds her speaking to Khrimm and overhear talk of Fye's oldest brother Dunstan and his tragic fate of being turned into a wildling. Fye claims that she is making a new mask for her brother, refusing to give up hope of cleansing him of his woodsin.

After this, the player tells Fye the mask is not broken, and she is shocked by it, having thought it to be the sole reason her brother and Khrimm's parents were turned into wildlings. Then, she asks the player to try meeting with the moogles again and ask if there is any way to save a wildling. Upon finding a moogle, he agrees to ask the elementals themselves if a wildling soul can be saved.

The player visits the archer's guild, however, the Quiver's Hold is thrown into chaos as news arrives of some happening in the forest. Archers surge forth from the Hold, and Brother O-App-Pesi of the conjurers himself heads in the direction of the disturbance as well.

There, they find Khrimm, standing before a tree in flames. Because of this, a furious elemental comes forth and there is no way to quell its greenwrath other than battling and defeating it.

Miounne informs via linkpearl that it seems that out of fear that Khrimm will become a wildling, he has been taken into the Stillglade Fane. While Brother O-App-Pesi is talking about the boy's condition, Yda and Papalymo return from the wood together with the wildling Dunstan. Because of that, Brother E-Sumi-Yan orders a grand rite of purification, but he fears that saving Khrimm may require Dunstan to give his life.

Finally, the grand rite begins, and a group of moogles arrive. They come bearing a message to the player from the elementals, telling that his/her role in being beckoned to the wood is to be a messenger of the goddess Nophica herself, the Matron. The ritual continues as normal, and in the end Dunstan collapses. This causes the Echo to reverberate, and the sky once again turn completely black - this time, everyone sees it. During that event, Papalymo comments with Yda that they "should've stopped it, and now it's too late".

The player collapses as well, awakening only with the words of an wood hermit telling him to visit the Path of the Twelve, located in the Merchants Ward of Ul'dah.

Path of the Twelve Storyline
The three main storylines converge at this point.

Following Blackburn's lead, the player arrives at the Waking Sands, the meeting place of the Path of the Twelve. There, he meets their leader, Minfilia, who claims to understand what happened earlier. To prove it, she asks the player to use the power of the "Echo" to see her past.

Upon doing that, the player sees a past conversation held on that same hall. Minfilia then explains that many people have been "gifted" with that power after witnessing a starshower, and that the Path of the Twelve is an organization that offers a meeting place for those people and strives to bring peace to Eorzea, offering the player the chance to join. After joining, the player learns a bit more about the Echo and is directed to Lady Tataru, to register himself as member of the Path and choose a Path Companion.

Not long after, a party of sylphs enter into the Waking Sands asking for help, claiming that their home, Moonspore Grove, is being invaded by imperial soldiers from Garlemald. Lady Minfilia then gives her first task to the player: Investigate the Black Shroud with their Path Companion.

Arriving at Camp Nine Ivies, the player is greeted by several sylphs telling that Moonspore Cove has been invaded, and while they were able to escape, their children - "podlings" - will soon be found and killed by the invaders. Since the whole area is full of imperial troops and war machines, the player must sneak his way to the Groove, avoiding contact with the Garleans and ultimately saving a few podlings.

Later on, Minfilia has a new assignment: The player must visit the Ashcrowm Consortium in Gridania, as they need help.

Arriving there, he learns about the history of Eorzea's crystal trade and how until recently most of the realm's crystals have been obtained by negotiating with beast tribes. However, ever since the beings known as Primals appeared, the tribes refuse to sell more shards, as they are crucial part of the summoning process, and therefore crafters are facing an increasingly higher increase of demand with not enough supply of crystals.

The player then is directed to an Amalj'aa excavation site to negotiate, where they find an Ashcrown party already engaged in negotiations with the Amalj'aa and the Ixali. Their leader explains that both tribes are on the verge of summoning their "Primals," which, if they are successful, would mean the death of all those in the mesa caves. After either parley or fighting, the tribes are convinced to stop their rituals, however before negotiation can begin about the crystals issues, a strange creature that the sylphs call "Ascian" appears and frightens the remaining beastmen.

Back into Ashcrown Consortium, Sylphs claim they may be able to persuade the Ixal into resuming crystal trade with them, but will need "unaspected crystals" - pure crystals devoid of any elemental aspect, perfect for the Primal summoning rituals. To get them, one must simply travel to the far away land of Mor Dhona and bury a crystal there for a time; it will quickly be drained of their elemental energy by the mysterious force said to slumber there.

Upon returning to the Consortium, the sylphs mention mysterious figures known only as "Paragons," whom they claim were the ones who originally taught the beast tribes how to summon the Primals from the aetherial void.

Back at the Walking Sands, however, the player learns about an imperial message sent to the Eorzean city-states; according to it, the beast tribes are the enemies of Eorzea and mean to summon their "eikons" for their own means, and calls all city states to accept Imperial Rule and fight against the beast tribes, in exchange of protection against the Primals. Minfilia adds that because of their ability to communicate with the tribes, all walkers will be branded by the Empire as heathens.

After a conversation with his/her Path Companion, the player decides to assist Lady Minfilia in her quest to bring the beast tribes to their side, and travels to the Amal'jaa stronghold to try negotiating with the tribe elders.

However, before reaching the center of the stronghold, they are spotted and captured by the Amal'jaa, being put in a cell with several other prisoners. Soon, every captive is led to a large clearing, where the Primal Ifrit is summoned for a "cleansing" ritual - brainwashing via magical blue flames. All the other prisoners are affected by the spell, and are ordered to attack the player. Since they are not enemies, they must not be killed - some can be brought to their senses via parley, others have to be attacked.

Ifrit remains silent during the whole confrontation, but as soon as it ends, he starts making several cryptic questions, concluding with the revelation that the player and companion, too, can summon their own Primal, as well as everyone else with the gift of the Echo, and let the player escape upon promising to never summon one and feigning loyalty to Ifrit.

A strange distress call is caught on the Path Linkpearl, and no one knows who was responsible for that, only their location; The player is then asked to go to the signal origin and search for the responsible.

Reaching camp Nine Ivies, their Path Companion is spotted speaking with a group of Soldiers, who claim to be part of the Ala Mhigan Resistance. It seems that one of the members of the resistance was the deceased brother of the player's Path Companion. The soldier also mentions that one of their scouts is missing and is being chased by the Empire, and the player must rescue him.

Back in the Merchant Wards, a group of members from the Ala Mhigan Resistance is speaking with the Antecedent, preparing a special operation against the Empire. The group is planning to steal one of the empire's airships to drive then away from Ala Mhigo. Since the city state is under heavy guard and such mission would be nigh impossible, the target is the least guarded area of Silvertear Falls in Mor Dhona.

The player agrees to help the resistance and makes his way to camp Revenant's Toll in Mor Dhona, only to find a trio of imperial soldiers attacking the place and being called back to their airship. The player follows the group for a while, until they get reinforcements from one of their heavy magitek machinery, a Imperial Juggernaut.

After defeating them, the player walks until finally reunites with his/her Path Companion, only to find that all resistance members have been slain by a single man - the |Imperial Legatus Gaius Van Baelsar. He easily knocks out the Path Companion with a shot, but before he is able to kill off the player, Yda, Papalymo, Y'shtola and Thancred arrive to stop him. But Gaius proves too much for the four as calls a blast from the cannons of the Imperial Dreadnaught and disappears in the smoke.

The player wakes up in a cave, quickly noticing he is actually seeing the past. Some children are grouped there, and Garlean Soldiers come in and start uttering strange verses, brainwashing the children into believing the beast tribes of Eorzea and their Primal must be killed.

The player once again collapses and wakes up back in the present, where he speaks with the mysterious traveler from their home city state (either Y'shtola, Thancred or Yda and Papalymo), who warns that the Empire cannot be defeated in their current state, the player must find something much greater if he has any hope of defeating the Garleans and freeing Eorzea from their menace.

Seventh Umbral Storyline
Fighting against the Garleans, the player encounters another Imperial Legatus named Nael Van Darnus who sees the invasion to be for the greater good. However, as the player faces against the Primals themselves whose demise he wanted, Nael's plan is revealed to exceed the intent of the Garlean Empire by Nael's desire to purge Eorzea of its impurities with Dalamud. Though Gaius helps the player to stop the insane general, Nael becomes infused with Dalmund's power and resolves to plunge the world in the Seventh Umbral Era.

Not long after, the companies are able to track down Nael van Darnus's location; the Legatus is seen wandering near the Allagan Ruins in Camp Glory. An attack group is quickly assembled and sent to the region, only to find a patch of floating islands emanating a light similar to the one previously seem on Castrum Novum, the Rivenroad. From the Rivenroad, Nael oversees fiery rocks raining down from Dalamud. Without any other alternatives to reach the legatus', the companies seek Cid for an airship. After a few preparations, Cid offers his personal airship, the Enterprise. However, the airship can only carry a small number of passengers, and as such, only a single group of adventurers are able to fly towards the floating islands for the final confrontation against the Legatus.

After a fierce battle, the party seemingly succeeds in defeating the legatus. However, he stands up and is bathed by Dalamud's light, losing what was left of his mind and becoming a being of pure hatred. The battle starts once again, and the party finally defeats Nael. Following his defeat, the magic glyphs keeping the Rivenroad floating are deactivated, and the island starts falling apart. The group has no means to escape, but soon after Cid Garlond appears and rescues everyone, bringing the group to safety.

The Grand companies celebrate victory with a reunion on Gridania, as Cid assures everyone that Dalamud will no longer crash on Eorzea; however the player wonders if that's true, as there is still a sense of dread about Dalamud.

This is currently the end of the main storyline quests, as of patch 1.23.

Playable Races
There are five playable races resembling those from Final Fantasy XI. Each race has a new name and their appearance has been slightly altered; additionally, each is also divided into two clans. It has been confirmed that the "missing genders" for some races (Female Roegadyn, Male Miqo'te and Female Highlander Hyur) will become available upon the PS3 release. A recent player's poll presented the possibility of mixed races (Miqo'te-Lalafell, Hyur-Elezen), though nothing is confirmed as of yet.
 * Hyur
 * The Hyur are a race not originally from Eorzea, having migrated there and brought their technology with them. They are split into two clans, the Highlanders and the Midlanders. They are very similar to Humes.


 * Lalafell
 * The Lalafell are a race from the seas south of Eorzea. The race consists of the Plainsfolk and the Dunesfolk. They are similar to the Tarutaru.


 * Miqo'te
 * The Miqo'te are a race from Eorzea, and like the Hyur, they are not originally native to the region. Miqo'tes are either Seekers of the Sun or Keepers of the Moon. They are cat-like beings, and are similar to the Mithra.


 * Roegadyn
 * The Roegadyn are a race from the seas north of Eorzea. This maritime race is broken into two tribes; the Sea Wolves and the Lohengarde. They are like the Galka, though they lack tails.


 * Elezen
 * The Elezen are the race that has lived in Eorzea the longest and co-exist peacefully with the other races. Elezen can either be Wildwood Elezen or Duskwight Elezen. They are similar to the Elvaan.

Music
Final Fantasy XIV's soundtrack is composed entirely by Nobuo Uematsu, the first full musical score he has composed for a Final Fantasy game in ten years, since Final Fantasy IX. However, not all songs added on later patches have been composed by Uematsu, instead being compositions or remixes by Naoshi Mizuta, Masayoshi Soken, Ryo Yamazaki and Tsuyoshi Sekito.

Though the full tracklist is still to be released, rearrangements of the series' "Main Theme", "Prologue" and the "Victory Fanfare" have been confirmed. There are said to be 82 tracks in total for the game. The complete soundtrack is not yet available for sale, but a selection of the game's tracks have been released in two volumes named Final Fantasy XIV / Field Tracks and Final Fantasy XIV / Battle Tracks.

The game's vocal theme, "Answers", is sung by American musician Susan Calloway, who is also known to Final Fantasy Online fans as a vocalist of Distant Worlds from Final Fantasy XI. She is also the vocalist for the Distant Worlds concert CDs and has performed live in a few of the concerts.

Production
Originally codenamed Rapture, it was first mentioned in August 2005, although few details were revealed between that date and 2009 apart from a concept video (now outdated), various statements concerning the platforms of the game (the Xbox 360 was considered at one point), and the fact that it was developed with the Crystal Tools engine. Hiromichi Tanaka recently stated that there are no plans for an Xbox 360 version at this time. However, he did say that Square is still talking with Microsoft.

Final Fantasy XIV was originally directed by Nobuaki Komoto, with art design by Akihiko Yoshida. However, because of the game's bad reception, Komoto was replaced by Naoki Yoshida as the new director. .

Ever since that announcement, several "letters from the producer" started being posted on the lodestone website, outlining future plans for the game, as well as official polls asking players what features they want to see on the game or previous MMO experience, often receiving tens of thousands of answers.

An official forum was also launched on March 8, to increase the communication between the dev team and players, and is currently on beta phase. Everyone can see the posts on all four languages, but only players with an active Final Fantasy XIV account can post. Official Final Fantasy XI forums were also launched in that same day.

Seventh Umbral Era
On December 31, 2010, a poem was posted on the lodestone foreshadowing planned events and updates for the following year. A few months into 2011, several NPCs and sidequests started mentioning the Sixth Umbral Era, a period in Eorzean history plagued by all sorts of catastrophes, as well as the approach of the Seventh Umbral Era, a sign of bad omen.

Finally, on April 29, 2011, several events started happening on all servers, including the appearance of "Deaspected Crystals" as a loot item, the lack of background music on Thanalan, uncommon raining on the Black Shroud, a weird NPC appearing on towns and shouting nonsensical prophecies or a GM logging in and buffing players with Arcanist (a discipline not yet available in the game) spells, leading the community to believe that some of the most radical changes are going to be implemented in the very near future, such as a promised redesigning of the Black Shroud area.

After these events, the appearance of GM controlled NPCs became quite common, always dealing with the mysterious Archons and the Seventh Umbral Era.

Until the release of the revamped Final Fantasy XIV 2.0, several unique events and quests will happen related to the Seventh Umbral Era. All these events, as well as the Seventh Umbral Era storyline, will be permanently unavailable after the update.

Until the Seventh Umbral Era storyline is finished, there will be little to no updates to the main storyline quests.

Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn
To complete the cycle of modifying the game after the initial reception, Square Enix announced the "2.0" update of Final Fantasy XIV, scheduled to be released around November 2012. Despite the major changes planned, it is not an expansion pack. On July 26th, Square Enix announced this massive update would be named "A Realm Reborn".

The update will require an all new client, available for download to players around that date. It uses a different engine and will drastically redesign the game world map and boast completely different graphical and server structures; the new engine is said to be better optimized for both lower end PCs and the PlayStation 3. The main storyline will also be slightly modified to fit in with the new Eorzea, but ultimately be the same.

Several other features are planned to be released around that date, including Player vs. Player (PvP) content. They have also mentioned the possible addition of Miqo'te males, Highland Hyur and Roegadyn females as playable races, more character creation options, summoning and pet systems, auction houses (expanding on the current Market Wards), dungeon maps readable by disciples of the land, chocobo-back battles, player-run companies, and other adjustments and new systems, though many of these may appear after the 2.0 client has been released.

Recent artworks also show concepts of Magitek armor from Final Fantasy VI planned to be a player mount, and inclusion of more monsters from earlier titles such as Behemoth and Iron Giant.

On the E3 2012 new information regarding the release for the PlayStation 3 version and the 2.0 revision of the game along with new screens and artwork of the content for the update, in was the concept art for Typhon a series recurring enemy, Fenrir with a design similar to that of Final Fantasy XI, new screenshots of male Miqo'te as a Paladin and another as a Dragoon, as well as many new weapons and equipment. The first gameplay presentation is planned to be shown at Gamescom, and a keynote with Naoki Yoshida is planned as part of the Final Fantasy 25th Anniversary event on September 1st.

On July 5, 2012, Square-Enix launched a new teaser site.

The game is said to be released on console and updated by the winter of 2013.

Reception
In general, Final Fantasy XIV has received a level of negative reception unusual for the franchise. Kevin VanOrd of GameSpot rated the game 4/10, or "poor." GameTrailers rated it 4.2/10. Rory Manion of GameSpy rated it 2/5, or "fair." Charles Onyett of IGN rated it 5.5/10, or "mediocre." Cheat Code Central rated it 4.2/5.

Trivia

 * Internal testing builds are still called "Rapture", the original codename used for the game.
 * Despite the fact that Titan's moves and animations were one of the first to be done (even appearing in the promotional trailers) and he was planned to be one of the first Primals to be fought, his actual in-game appearance has been postponed due to the earthquakes that hit Japan in early 2011.
 * All party members from the 2.0 concept screenshot are characters from previous Final Fantasy games and Vagrant Story; their free company names and titles are also references to their own games.
 * All server names were originally named after previous Final Fantasy towns; However, this has changed after march 2012's server merge, and servers are now named after famous mythological weapons from the series such as Excalibur. According to Naoki Yoshida, this change is due to planned additions of content based in Worlds from previous titles.