Phase III this month. Will provide a sound level of what the final game will be like, three main cities being open and all with 1.0 chars and PS3 players joining in. Dunno what 'partial NDA lift' means yet though. Scholar class/job path confirmed, and will be shown more at E3.

Recent Letter from the Producer, translated.

Also, Q&A summary from the video: http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/threads/62075-Letter-from-the-Producer-LIVE-Part-VII-Q-A-Updates

Just got my invites for the PS3 and PC version late last night! Excited to give it a go this weekend.

Just a word of warning: don't go into beta expecting the servers to be up constantly and for there to be no issues. Part of what they're explicitly testing this weekend is server stability and load, especially since this is the first time they've ever opened the NA/EU servers and the PS3 client to players. So, if the servers are down or you can't log in, go do something else for a bit and check back later.

Anyone else freaked out by how much of the design elements look almost identical to FF12? I kinda started calling the city Rabanastre at some point. Like, I get taking inspiration of your own old games, but holy fuck some of this is just ripped straight out of it.

I wanna play FF12 really badly now.

A non-NDA breaking look at the beta for all interested.

I don't know how, but limsa lominsa feels a lot easier to navigate without the layout changing a speck. I guess splitting it into two parts let them cut out the long empty walks

I only just got in on beta3, and then was only able to play about 2 hours during this first session, but I was definitely getting that happy vibe I had for much of the time I played XI, and definitely handled much better than during the beginning of v1.0.

In regard to the screenshot video, I do recall seeing an option in the settings about showing combat special effects for personal, in-party, and out-of-party.

I signed up for this beta on PS3 as a "hey might as well" type thing. Wasn't really paying attention to this at all, then I finally played it this weekend and was pleasantly surprised. It played really fluid and felt good. And it looked absolutely gorgeous. Granted, I only got to level 10 and did very basic exploring but it was enough to really peak my interest and preorder the game on amazon. Really can't wait for the beta servers to go back up to try it out even more.

I only just got in on beta3, and then was only able to play about 2 hours during this first session, but I was definitely getting that happy vibe I had for much of the time I played XI, and definitely handled much better than during the beginning of v1.0.

I never played 1.0, but I played FFXI for a very long time and agree with your point there. I don't think I've gotten this feeling from a game world since when I first started FFXI. And yeah, FFXI has TONS of flaws but the one thing it had was a really interesting world and story, so if anything FFXIV will be sure to have that going for it.

Anyone else freaked out by how much of the design elements look almost identical to FF12? I kinda started calling the city Rabanastre at some point. Like, I get taking inspiration of your own old games, but holy fuck some of this is just ripped straight out of it.

I wanna play FF12 really badly now.

I'm not sure what exactly did it, but I got that same feeling too.

Session 2 times have been posted:

June 21, 2013 (Friday), 2:00 a.m. to June 23, 2013 (Sunday), 2:00 a.m. (PDT)

June 21, 2013 (Friday), 9:00 a.m. to June 23, 2013 (Sunday), 9:00 a.m. (GMT)

Is giant bomb going to have link shell/ free company?

I'd love to get into FF IV, I just don't want to pay a monthly fee for it.