Claim your beta key today!

The Final Fantasy XIV Open Beta has been well under way since the 1st of September, but it’s not too late to sign up!

Experience a sampling of the world of Eorzea for free for six more days!  The Open Beta is still going in full force, and there is lots to do and even more to see of the Beta FFXIV.  Open Beta keys are still available through Square Enix, and signing up is a quick and easy process.  To sign up and get your key:

2. Go to http://entry.ffxiv.com/
3. Select your region.
4. Select “Apply for the Open Beta Test” at the bottom of the screen.
5. Follow the instructions from this point on.

Note: In order to play Final Fantasy XIV, you need to have a Square Enix account. Click here to learn more about registering a Square Enix account.

We hope to see you in Eorzea soon!

Square Enix has teamed up with hardware manufacturer Elecom to created FFXIV branded input devices such as a mouse, keyboard, gamepad and speakers.  Pegged to be released sometime in September, these items were designed specifically with FFXIV in mind.  However, it is as of yet unknown if these items will be deliverable to North America.

For those new to a Final Fantasy MMO, getting around can sometimes be a challenge. Terrains can be rough, maps can be confusing, and teleporting to different areas is not an unlimited resource. This guide should help you make your way through the enormous land that is Eorzea.

Navigating the Terrain

There are quite a few pitfalls in the world of Eorzea. Oftentimes you can look at a point on your map, head in it’s direction and be completely blocked by something the map seemingly didn’t even show. It’s become a running joke that Final Fantasy gamers can’t jump and although it can be amusing to those that don’t play the game, it can be a very frustrating experience for those that do.

This section of the guide will help you get used to reading the maps to help minimize any frustration.

Cliffs

In FFXIV, cliffs come in all shapes and sizes. For the sake of the guide here, cliffs are defined as any drop in the map which you are not able to hop down from. A lot of times you will come to a point with only the slightest drop, but you wont be able to drop down from it.

Click the thumbnail picture for an example of a point that characters are unable to jump down. Moving a few inches to the left will let you drop down. You will find this sort of thing fairly often depending on which zone you’re in. La Noscea and Thanalan are pretty notorious for them, but they are everywhere.

At first, it can seem a little irksome, but you do get used to which spots you should be able to jump down from in time.

Ramps and Caves

Part of what’s going to help you on your adventures through Eorzea is learning where the ramps and caves are on your map. For all you FFXI vets out there, think back to your Yuhtunga Jungle navigation skills and this will be much easier.

Ramps and/or tunnels give you access to parts of the map that may be otherwise blocked off. Locating them can mean the difference between being on path and being lost. Or, finding your Levequest targets or running out of time.

A bit further along the guide here, We’ll go over spotting these on your World Map.

Caves such as this are mostly found in the La Noscea region. Usually they’re just a dead end, but have monsters in them that can be leveled up on, based on your level. Spotting caves is also fairly easy by looking at your map.

Winding Ascents and Descents

As if the terrain weren’t confusing enough, The Black Shroud is pegged with these! They’re extremely handy in navigating, but also pretty easy to miss. Most often these function as a means to have bi-directional paths on different heights. Imagine walking down a path going North to South, and you come across a land bridge running East to West overhead. How the heck do you get up there you wonder? Here’s a quick example how. See the tunnel on the right? You’ll want to travel through that.

Traveling through the tunnel, turn immediately around and voila! We have our Winding Ramp to take us up to that land bridge on the right, while the cave we just exited is on the left. If you’re having a hard time seeing it, just click on the thumbnail for a bigger picture.

Decoding the Map

The technical, have-to-know details. If you’ve played XI for any serious amount of time, this will seem a little familiar. For those of you new to a Square MMO, it can be a downright headache. The following images are map areas for the ramps, caves, and winding ascents/descents we’ve just gone over. Here’s what you want to look for.

The ramp in the left image is the space between the two lines going up and down. My map marker arrow is pointing to the spot where you’re going to need to go sometimes get to different areas. Also worth pointing out is the different terrain colors in the left image. See the light brown spots on the map? They actually indicate areas which are on a whole other level beneath where I’m standing in that image. You can’t just pull up your map and hope to cursor-navigate to any area you need.

The center image shows how to spot a cave. Almost always, short curving lines like this one indicate some type of cave.

The image in the right shows what you’ll need to look for on your map when you wish to get up or down a level mostly in The Black Shroud. Using the pictures previously listed for the winding ramps, along with the map picture here, you should now be able to get yourself through these with ease.

Zoning and Regions in FFXIV

Regions are much larger in FFXIV than they were in XI. Square has implemented Seamless Zoning for XIV. This means that even though you’ll pass through parts of the maps which are handled by different physical servers, there are no more “Now Loading” screens to deal with. Well, almost no more.

Current Region Listing

    * La Noscea — Limsa Lominsa is located here
    * Coerthas
    * The Black Shroud — Gridania is located here
    * Mor Dhona
    * Thanalan — Ul’dah is located here

Zoning

As I mentioned before, there is almost no zoning in FFXIV. When you exit Ul’dah into Thanalan, you’re actually zoning into a new server. I like to call this a soft zone, as there is no load screen.

When you zone from Thanalan into The Black Shroud however, you will get a “Now Loading” screen. This is the type of zoning we’re used to in other MMOs. I call it a hard zone. It’s an entirely different region, with different terrain and atmosphere.

From Town to Town

Getting from town to town in Eorzea is actually a bit easier than it was in XI. You can walk between Gridania and Ul’dah, but as Limsa Lominsa is on an island, you’ll need to take a ferry.

Between Gridania and Ul’dah

This is actually fairly straightforward From Gridania, exit into The Black Shroud. Follow the path past Camp Bentbranch southeast towards Camp Tranquil. From there, continue southeast towards the marker on the map for Thanalan.

Once you zone into Thanalan, head Southwest towards camp Drybone. Continue southwest towards Ul’dah, and you’re there.

Between Ul’dah and Limsa Lominsa

The only way to first arrive in Limsa Lominsa if you didn’t create your character there is to take a ferry. Getting to the ferry from Ul’dah means running through some relatively high level areas but don’t worry, almost nothing will aggro you. The Ferry Docks can be located at 26-4 in Western Thanalan.

There are two ships that run back and forth between Limsa Lominsa and Ul’dah. Each takes 10 minutes to arrive, and the ferry ride itself is 10 minutes.

Currently, there are no monsters that pop during the ride. However, you can fish from the upper deck.

Teleporting

In FFXIV, each player is given the ability to teleport to certain points in the world. The only requirement to teleport to a location is that you must visit it and use the aetherial crystal to “arrive”. Teleporting is not without cost, however.

Anima

Teleporting requires you to spend a sort of energy force known as Anima. Each character is given 100 anima to start out with. Teleporting to different areas will cost varying amounts.

    * Teleporting within your current region will cost 4 anima.
    * Teleporting anywhere outside your current region costs 6.
    * Teleporting from an Aetherial Node to a Camp and vice verse costs 1. Even though it doesn’t say so from camp > node.
    * Using the Return function while not dead to return to your last bound Aetheryte costs 2 points.
    * Releasing from KO status to your last bind point is a freebie.

Conserve anima!

The only currently known way to regenerate your points is to let time pass by. For each 4 RL hours, you regenerate one anima point. Use them cautiously. You don’t want to let yourself run completely out, only to find yourself needing to quickly travel from La Noscea to The Black Shroud.

Hitching a Ride

There is a way to teleport without always having to spend your precious anima points. If you are in a party, you can hitch a ride with one of the members who initiates a teleport. To do this, you must be very close to the member using the teleport. Once he or she ports out, you’ll notice a ! (menu) icon on top of your screen. Use your menu and you’ll have the option to “Accept Teleport”. Voila! Free ride.

Campsites

The most common areas for doing Guildleves, campsites also fucntion as bind points in FFXIV. When you come upon a new camp, interact with it’s crystal and you will “arrive” at the location. You’re now bound there. When you die, this is where you’ll release to and the camp will now show in your teleport list.

Aetherial Nodes

Much like the Outposts of FFXI, Aetherial Nodes are pegged throughout the world in FFXIV. They can serve as EXP camps, and you can even do Guildleves from them in certain situations. Once you “arrive” at the node, you can then use it as a teleport point, but only between it’s closest adjacent camp and vice-versa. Nodes will not show up in your Teleport List. I suggest going out of your way to visit as many of these as you can throughout your travels. Not only will you get to explore more of the world, but you’ll be creating very handy shortcuts for yourself.

Thank you for taking the time to read my guide. I hope it helps you on your travels throughout the world. See you all in Eorzea!

Cataclysm will turn Ashenvale into a warzone.

When Cataclysm changes the face of Azeroth as we know it, Ashenvale will become a warzone. A volcano will erupt in the center of the map, disrupting the Night Elves and giving the Horde the opportunity to take control of several Alliance strongholds. Intrigued? Then you should definitely check out the Q&A that Blizzard recently posted with quest designers Eric Maloof and Steve Burke that focuses on how the zone will change in the exapansion. We’ve posted the entire interview after the jump for your reading pleasure.

Ashenvale will be a major questing hub for both Horde and Alliance players from levels 20-25. According to the Q&A, “Horde players will have much more to do” in the zone, including a variety of new quests. There are no significant changes planned for Blackfathom Deeps at this time, but the changes to the storyline and terrain should be more than enough to keep players occupied. More details can be found in the Q&A below.

A. The concept for Ashenvale was to show the effects of the Cataclysm while taking the opportunity to streamline the zone’s level design. There were areas of Ashenvale that were pretty unfriendly in terms of accessibility and quest flow. The level designers and quest designers worked together to alleviate the problem areas and highlight the big changes.

Q. Who will be using this zone (what levels/factions)?

A.Both Horde and Alliance players, roughly from levels 20–25. We anticipate that this will be a well-traveled zone in terms of general player flow.

Q. Without giving up any spoilers, what’s the general storyline for this zone? How has it changed from the original design?

A. Among other catastrophes, an enormous volcano has erupted in central Ashenvale. As the night elves struggle to deal with the chaos caused by the Cataclysm, the Horde is seizing what it perceives to be a golden opportunity. Garrosh Hellscream’s forces are now bearing down upon the night elves and have overtaken several key positions that once served as Alliance strongholds. There is a definite feeling that the balance of power in this region now teeters on a goblin tripwire….
These changes also mean that Horde players will have much more to do in Ashenvale.

Q. What do you think is the most exciting new feature of the zone?

A.Visually, it has to be the volcano. It’s stunning, and it provides a great landmark in a place otherwise known for its dense forest. Thematically, the tension present in the zone gives it a whole new feel. The Horde is barricaded inside the walls of Splintertree Post under a massive assault by the night elves and their allies. Meanwhile, Astranaar is desperately fighting off waves of Hellscream’s forces. Practically everywhere you go in Ashenvale, it’s impossible to escape the fact that it has become a warzone.

Q.What goes into redesigning a zone like this?

A.A bit more than meets the eye, we think. Ashenvale is deceptively large, and previously there were many issues in terms of quest flow and Horde/Alliance content balance. Soon after we rolled up our sleeves and broke ground, we realized that our work was cut out for us. There were numerous quests we wanted to keep, but there were also a great many that no longer fit or didn’t play out efficiently. We also needed to create a variety of new quests, especially ones “For the Horde”™.

Q. What was the most challenging aspect about implementing these changes?

A. It can actually be a bit tougher to come in and “do surgery” to an existing zone than it is to completely gut it and start from scratch. Given our ambitious time constraints, trying to determine what stays, what goes, and what other changes to make is certainly a challenge.

Q. What should players do or go see first?

A.Horde players should visit the Mor’shan Rampart first. There’s a new Horde contingent there who is fighting hard to make sure that no night elves escape Hellscream’s onslaught — not that they’d make it far into the Northern Barrens! Alliance players who come down from Darkshore will want to help defend Maestra’s Post and Astranaar as both settlements struggle to keep from falling under Hellscream’s control.

Q. Who seems to have the upper hand in the zone: the Horde, the Alliance, or the elementals?

A.The Horde and the Alliance are throwing themselves at each other on many fronts; neither has a clear upper hand here. The elementals in Ashenvale are a minor nuisance in comparison to the faction struggle.

Q. Should we expect any changes within Blackfathom Deeps?

A.There are no significant changes planned for Blackfathom Deeps at this time.

Q.What has happened to Silverwind Refuge?

A.The Horde has happened!

Q. What has changed the most: the storyline or the terrain?

A.The amount of change has been pretty equal between storyline and terrain. The terrain is much less frustrating than before, and the visual results of the Cataclysm tell the story as much as the quests do. Story-wise, the theme hasn’t changed so much as its intensity has.

These new Druid forms are coming in Cataclysm.

Blizzard recently posted a sneak peak of the new cat and bear forms that will be available for troll and worgen Druids in the upcoming Cataclym expansion, and you can check out the screenshots after the jump. The infamous troll tusks and hair play a prominent role in that race’s animal forms, while the worgen forms are distinguished by their teeth and claws.

What do you think of the new designs? Which race are you more likely to pick if you plan on rolling a new druid in the expansion? Let us know in the comments section, or head over to our WoW general forum for more discussion surrounding Cataclysm.

Worgen Cat Form

Worgen Bear Form

Troll Cat Form

Troll Bear Form