Making a sequel to an MMO is always hard, even harder is migrating your old player base to the new game. Square-Enix are attempting to make the choice to move on a smooth one for current players of Final Fantasy XI by introducing a few deals and offers exclusive to them.
First off the block is a reduced cost for Final Fantasy XI players. Which I’m sure is a big help, as paying for two MMO’s can’t be cheap. And I’d wager a reduced fee makes it easier to swallow running the two accounts while you get accustomed to the new game. The basics are that it reduces the monthly cost from £9/$13/€13 to £5/$7/€7. Not too far off half price. There are however some more in-depth details regarding when you pay out on the two subscriptions affecting which months you get the reduced fee but you’ll have to head to the link and read up on that.
Regarding actually playing the game; FFXI players get priority over new names, with their FFXI names being reserved. You’ll not get a choice on your surname though, being given the surname based on your server in FFXI, the example given Being a player called Destiny on Odin server becoming Destiny Odin in FFXIV. It should make finding old play buddies much easier, but I know I’d like at least the option to pick my own surname (even if I struggled coming up with one in the beta). And last but not least are a smart pair of Hermes’ Shoes. A crazy pair of boots that as the name might imply to any long time FF and Greek deity fan, give an increase in movement speed. I guess if I was a FFXI fan I’d be looking for an item that signifies something from FFXI and the world of Vana’diel. Something a bit more obvious too, that screams ‘I am a FFXI veteran, bow before me’. The shoes just seem a bit generic and not as special as the Perk implies.
All of these offers come with a fair few restrictions and small print, so I’d suggest anyone interested has a look at the link for the more-in-depth information. I should also point out that all these offers are only available until January 2011. However I’m unsure if that means the reduced fees only run until that time, or if you have to have started before then and they continue into the foreseeable future. (I’ve emailed SE, if I get a clarification I’ll update)
Update: I’ve got a clarification from Square:
The reduction of the fee only applies until January 2011 (only if you have an active Final Fantasy XI and Final Fantasy XIV account which are both linked to the same Square Enix Account). After that the normal fees will apply again.
So there you have it.
