The open beta has begun taking signups within the past hour, although servers are current congested and difficult to access. Square Enix originally posted a message on their website that those of us who were in the closed beta do not need to re-apply, but they later removed it and replaced it with a new message. Unfortunately you do need to reply. The new information is as follows.
“Acquisition of Registration Code for the Open Beta Test
We have an important announcement to the testers who have participated in FINAL FANTASY XIV Closed Beta Test.
Between 19:00 and 19:50 (PDT) on Sep. 1, 2010, an incorrect notice saying “Participants of closed beta test do not need to obtain new registration code for the open beta test.” was being made on FINAL FANTASY XIV Open Beta Test Application Site.
Participants of closed beta test also need to obtain and register dedicated registration code for the open beta test. Please follow the directions listed in the mail “Guide to the FINAL FANTASY XIV Open Beta Test,” which was sent to the participants of closed beta test on Aug. 31, 2010, and obtain the registration code from FINAL FANTASY XIV Open Beta Test Application Site.
We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused.”
You must apply at http://entry.ffxiv.com/ to get your key. If you get a server error at any point, just try again later. It is possible Square Enix may stop giving out keys until further notice. If this happens you will have to try again later.
Server Names
The server names have changed since the closed beta phase, which were named after villians from the Final Fantasy series. The new servers are named after towns found throughout the series. The list is as follows:
Cornelia – Final Fantasy I
Kashuan – Final Fantasy II
Gysahl – Final Fantasy III
Mysidia – Final Fantasy IV
Istory – Final Fantasy V
Figaro – Final Fantasy VI
Wutai – Final Fantasy VII
Trabia – Final Fantasy VIII
Lindblum – Final Fantasy IX
Besaid – Final Fantasy X
Since character names can be reserved on these servers for the retail version we are sure that the server names will be the same at launch on the 22nd.
Version Update Details
As we expected, the game has been given an update with new features added and some changes. We won’t go into detail, you may as well read it for yourself.
“[Event-related]
– The new city-states Gridania and Ul’dah and their surrounding areas have been added.
– New quests have been added.
– Guildleves have been added and changed in the following ways:
Users can now accept guildleves at the Adventurers’ Guilds in Gridania and Ul’dah.
The NPCs issuing guildleves in each city-state are as follows:
Regional Guildleves: Piralnaut (Limsa Lominsa), Gontrant (Gridania), Totonawa (Ul’dah)
Local Guildleves: T’mokkri (Limsa Lominsa), Tierney (Gridania), Eustace (Ul’dah)
New regional guildleves have been added.
New local guildleves have been added.
Failed levequests may be reattempted immediately upon renewal of the guildleve list.
[Battle-related]
– New monster varieties have been added.
– Monster placement has undergone several adjustments.
– The overall battle balance has been adjusted.
– Formula for skill point and experience point allocation has been revamped.
[Item-related]
– New pieces of equipment have been added.
– Various new items have been added.
– The goods stocked by vendor NPCs have been adjusted.
– The prices for items sold by NPCs at each shop have been changed.
Due to this change, the amount of gil players acquire has been increased.
– The following additions have been made to the synthesis system:
New recipes have been added.
– The gathering and synthesis-related term “Ability” has been changed to “Godsend”.
[System-related]
– Gridania and Ul’dah have been added to the selectable starting cities on the character creation screen.
– Players can now save data for characters they’ve created to their hard drive and apply the data later to the creation of a new character.
– Players will now need to wait at least ten minutes before being able to restore HP and MP again at an aetheryte crystal.
– Social Lists has been added to the main menu.
Players can add or delete characters to and from their friend list and blacklist.
– Support Desk has been added to the main menu.
In this section, players can look over frequently asked questions or speak with Game Masters regarding in-game trouble.
– Examine has been added to the Interactions menu.
Targeting another player character and selecting Examine will display that player character’s equipment.
– Various ways of expressing emotions and desires have been added.
Enemy signs have been added.
While in a party, players can express their various desires regarding monsters in the field.
Ally signs have been added.
While in a party, players can express various desires to other members of the party.
The emote “lounge” has been added.
Also, the interaction “sit” has been added, which allows players to sit on nearby chairs, benches, etc.
– New text commands have been added.
– New categories and phrases have been added to the dictionary.
– A screenshot feature has been added.
Players can take pictures of the game screen by pushing Print Screen while holding down Scroll Lock on the keyboard.
– Keyboard Settings has been added under Configuration.
– Players can now change the display settings for each of their linkshells from Log Display Settings under Configuration.
* The Official FINAL FANTASY XIV Players’ Site has been launched in conjunction with the start of the FINAL FANTASY XIV Open Beta Test.”
