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[PC, PS4] Free - FINAL FANTASY XIV: A Realm Reborn & Heavensward (with Limitations)

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[PC, PS4] Free - FINAL FANTASY XIV: A Realm Reborn & Heavensward (with Limitations)
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MagicMushroom on 24/07/2020 - 12:21 eu.finalfantasyxiv.com (2083 clicks)
Last edited 11/08/2020 - 11:36 by 1 other user

Announced during letter from the producer livestream, FFXIV will be free to play up to Heavensward patch 3.56 as free trial.

From twitter

The #FFXIV Free Trial is being expanded to include:

☑️ Level cap raised to 60
☑️ Heavensward (through Patch 3.56)
☑️ Dark Knight/Astrologian/Machinist
☑️ Au Ra

Limitation of free trial includes:

  • cannot make in-game micro transactions
  • up to 8 character, 1 per world
  • cannot trade items with other players
  • can join a party if invited or by using the Duty Finder, but cannot assemble a party
  • etc
Check out all the latest and upcoming Free Games.
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Comments

  • Arcadia on 24/07/2020 - 12:27
    +6

    Just stressing that this will not come into effect until at least August 11 when the new patch drops.

    • capslock janitor on 16/10/2020 - 13:47

      No results found
      Unfortunately I could not find any results matching your search.

  • mangobango on 24/07/2020 - 12:30
    +1

    Can't wait to (rightfully) nag my friends even more to play this game!

  • tgame on 24/07/2020 - 12:34
    +1

    Can anyone make a comment on which server you have been using and the ping when playing? thanks

    • mangobango on 24/07/2020 - 12:35
      +7

      Usually best to play on the Elemental data centre, Tonberry is the "unofficial" Aussie server, and Kujata is a sort of backup of you can't get in. Keep in mind it's a JP data centre, but it's the closest one to here so a lot of Aussies play there.

      I use mudfish VPN when I play and get around 120ms ping

      • linx1398 on 25/07/2020 - 15:50
        +1

        Second Mudfish. It makes a noticeable difference and the price is very reasonable

        • mangobango on 25/07/2020 - 18:24

          Yeah I used to try others like NoPing and Pingzapper. They were okay, but considering you can pay like $5 for mudfish and it lasts for years for the same results, seems like a no-brainer

      • DreadEmperor on 11/08/2020 - 22:07
        +1

        Also putting it out there that you can visit other servers in the same data centre, so don't sweat it if you're first choice of server is full.

    • Arcadia on 24/07/2020 - 12:37
      +2

      As mangobango stated, Tonberry and Kujata are based on the Elemental data centre which is Japan based and most ANZ/OCE players are established there but some find they receive better ping on US servers (and also potentially because they prefer full English speaking than having to deal with Japanese players) and I know there is a fairly strong community on Adamantoise.

    • andgucps on 24/07/2020 - 12:46
      +2

      Just bear in mind that queue times for instanced content can be very painful if you aren't properly aligned to peak times in your timezone. There is also the consideration of skill level across JP/US/EU (controversial but unfortunately true imo due to cultural playstyles). Lag-wise, I hear the FFXIV is more forgiving than many MMOs due to a high skill casting cooldown in general.

      It is a party-based game for a lot of content, so it can be quite challenging with random players if they are stubborn with 'I pay so I play the way I want' mindsets in the US in particular. It's even led in the past to bosses becoming nerfed because players across an entire server do not want to learn how to play effectively (I hope this has changed!!). I've tried both EU, US and JP servers and found that players on JP servers were more professional, organised and competent overall even if you don't have that layer of language communication. The game also has an excellent phrase-based quick auto-translate so you can say most applicable things within seconds if you do need to.

    • Tatari on 24/07/2020 - 13:08
      +3

      I am with Superloop and get around 110ms ping to Tonberry. YMMV

      Make sure to tick J (language) in your duty finder settings so you’ll get matched with Japanese players not just English players otherwise you may find your queue times for duties may take forever.

    • Trysaeder on 24/07/2020 - 14:15
      +1

      Got about 130-150 ping to Tonberry Elemental JP versus 180-250 to the LA servers.

      In endgame content the group finder was about 90-95% Japanese (since you can play with the whole server, not just your world), so out of 50 groups for a boss you'd see around 5 English ones.

      The biggest factors for server choice for me were: better timezone, ping, pvp population, and the prevalence of progression groups for hard content.

    • yanhaot on 24/07/2020 - 14:22
      +1

      I play on Elemental, Typhon. I use Noping VPN, and I get 87ms.

  • qwertimus on 24/07/2020 - 13:19
    +2

    One (1) Free Trial account may be registered using a Square Enix account so long as that Square Enix account has not been previously registered with any version of the game.

    Goddamnit, bought the base game years ago and have been wondering about getting back in or not… Don't want to create an all new Squeenix account just to trial the game and expansion now…

    • mangobango on 24/07/2020 - 13:29

      To be fair, base game is already very chunky anyway, you'll have a lot to do just with that. And the latest expansion comes with all the previous ones, and usually goes for around $20 or so these days.

      You'll be able to make up your mind if you want to keep playing just from base game :)

    • Arcadia on 24/07/2020 - 13:33

      On August 11 you will get the Heavensward content for free since they are upgrading the base game to include HW, the only thing will be that you will have to pay the subscription in order to keep playing.

  • xpliset on 24/07/2020 - 13:26

    Whats this like for a new player? When i reach max level will i struggle to find parties due to being behind in gear etc?

    • mangobango on 24/07/2020 - 13:31
      +1

      New players shouldn't have too much of an issue. Best to make friends in game who can help you clear older content.

      You'll be able to get into dungeons/trials a lot quicker if you use a tank/healer class as opposed to DPS. But obviously play the way you want to play, always makes it more enjoyable when you find a nice FC/Guild in the game to play with.

    • Arcadia on 24/07/2020 - 13:32

      Everything in FFXIV is gated by the MSQ which will take you through the expansions sequentially and you will get gear along the way. Obviously when you hit max level there will be a period of acquiring gear high enough to be able to do some of the content but that is constantly changing and the gear level increases with each patch so there shouldn't be too much trouble.

  • Munki on 24/07/2020 - 13:28

    I got the game during that dominos giveaway and I never even got to try it. The squeenix account process was annoying AF cause I think I had a US account but we have to create an EU one for it. Long story short, I used the same email and it messed both accounts up.

    • NatoTomato on 24/07/2020 - 14:35

      Yep, the whole "Mog Station" is beyond bad UX.

    • Kozhutki on 24/07/2020 - 14:36

      Their whole system is very outdated.

    • Freestyle on 11/08/2020 - 21:58
      -1

      For a game that claims to be growing and popular, they still have no Oceanic/SEAs servers too lol

      • lostn on 12/08/2020 - 00:48

        it's nothing personal. We're at the arse end of the world. Few actually bother with us.

  • frankfu1122 on 24/07/2020 - 15:19
    +1

    Anyone know if cross play between PC and PS4 possible on same server?

    • Arcadia on 24/07/2020 - 15:21
      +3

      Yes, there is cross-play across all platforms (PC, Steam, PS4 and Mac) and everyone plays on the same servers, no separation.

      • frankfu1122 on 24/07/2020 - 15:24
        +1

        Thanks, awesome! What about cross saves? Would be nice if could primarily play on my PC but have the option can easily kick back on the lounge and continue on my PS4.

        • FiloGuy on 24/07/2020 - 15:32
          +2

          As long as it is the same username you're using. It doesn't save to the console itself but on to the FFXIV servers.

          • frankfu1122 on 24/07/2020 - 15:39

            @FiloGuy: Thanks! Good to know.

            • Arcadia on 24/07/2020 - 15:51

              @frankfu1122: Just a point of clarification - you need to own the license separately on each platform to be able to switch between them, so you would have had to buy the game (and any expansions) on PC and PS4 to play on both. Not sure if the trial allows you to switch freely.

              • frankfu1122 on 24/07/2020 - 15:53

                @Arcadia: Thanks for clearing that up! I wouldn't mind paying if it ends up being a game I genuinely enjoy. I've purchased games on multiple platforms with games like The Witcher 3 and Rocket League and would do it all over again without hesitation.

                • Arcadia on 24/07/2020 - 15:55
                  +1

                  @frankfu1122: Okay great, just wanted to make sure you knew how it was so you didn't get a nasty surprise :) Hope you enjoy FFXIV!

                  • frankfu1122 on 24/07/2020 - 15:59

                    @Arcadia: Will do! Seems like a nice online community, just concerned there won't be enough English speaking players in our region.

                    • Arcadia on 24/07/2020 - 16:33

                      @frankfu1122: There are a lot of English communities on Tonberry and Kujata, best way to ensure hanging out with English players would be joining an active free company (FC aka guilds). There is a community group of Facebook with a big list of ANZ FCs, happy to shoot you the link if you're interested!

  • FiloGuy on 24/07/2020 - 15:31

    They didn't say anything about the market board being available to free trial players right? Sucks if that's the case but not a deal breaker.

    • Arcadia on 24/07/2020 - 15:51

      As far as we know they are not changing any of the current trial restrictions, this is to prevent bots from taking advantage of these things.

      • Munki on 24/07/2020 - 16:16
        -3

        As a self-identified bot, I find that highly offensive.

  • Evostar on 24/07/2020 - 16:20

    Noob question.

    Do I sign up tp the trial now or do I wait until the new update? thanks.

    • Arcadia on 24/07/2020 - 16:23

      The current trial only goes up to level 35 but is unlimited time-wise. We assume that trial accounts will be upgraded on August 11 but no one knows for sure. I guess the safest solution would be to wait.

      • Evostar on 24/07/2020 - 16:28

        thanks for the info mate. = )

  • Xianese on 24/07/2020 - 17:10

    So if I understand this correctly, as someone who's played previously, I'm not entitled to the free play in any manner?
    If so… damn…

    • Arcadia on 24/07/2020 - 17:36

      Yes, if you have owned and registered the game at all, you are not eligible for the free trial. Best you would get is free HW expansion if you only bought the starter edition.

  • Sullie on 25/07/2020 - 17:37

    Does this mean I could login with my existing, non-trial but lapsed-sub, account?

    • Arcadia on 25/07/2020 - 18:46
      +1

      You will not be able to sign in and play for free since you have already paid for and registered the game. Accounts are only eligible for the free trial until you register a copy of the game. If you wanted to play for free you would have to make a whole new account and you would never be able to link them together, meaning if you wanted to continue playing with the new account you would eventually have to re-buy the game.

      • Sullie on 25/07/2020 - 18:56

        Thanks.

  • pigmyfart on 25/07/2020 - 19:37

    Hey guys noob queation - from what I understand FFXIV is subscription-based but can someone explain to me how it works? Is it a monthly fee or something, and what do you get for it? Each to their own but personally I'm don't like the subscription model, so didn't particularly want to invest time and then realise I must regularly pay-to-play beyond a point. I can go a week or two without turning the PS on so would probably not be worth my money…?

    • Arcadia on 25/07/2020 - 19:45
      +1

      There is a free trial, currently it only goes up to level 35 but on August 11 it will be expanded to level 60 which includes all of the base game to the end of the first expansion (what this post is about). There are two more expansions after that (so there is the base game and three expansions at the moment).

      Yes, it is a subscription model. While you are on trial you pay nothing but there are a number of restrictions, I will provide a link to the list below. Once you purchase and register the game, you receive 30 days of free subscription before you need to start paying in order to play. As soon as you have bought the game and registered it (which happens automatically on PS4 as soon as you buy it) the restrictions are lifted, you receive 30 days for free, but then will have to pay in order to log in after the initial 30 days have lapsed which is monthly or you can pay for more months at a time for a reduced price. The subscription time runs whether you are playing or not so if you anticipate not playing for a while, you should cancel your subscription.

      HERE is a link to the current restrictions. We do not know if any of these will be changed come August 11 aside from the level cap being increased and I don't expect they will lift any of them.

      Feel free to ask any more questions if anything is unclear.

      • monchee on 02/08/2020 - 10:15

        Here's another question. Let's say I wanted to play with my mates and make a party. Can I temporarily make a party on a 'registered' account, invite all my friends to that party including my 'free trial account' and play from there? Like pigmyfart said, I can also go a week or two without playing so the subscription model for me is a hard pass. I wish they can also do a 'consumable play time' model. Cheers.

        • Arcadia on 03/08/2020 - 09:54

          You can do that but that requires buying the game on one account that you will then lose access to if the subscription runs out and would have to subscribe in order to continue using that method, also you would have to be able to sign in on both your paid and free account at the same time in order for that to work as you can't invite someone who is offline to your party. The easier solution is just to ask for a random player to create a party for you and leave, which hopefully people would be willing to do.

          • monchee on 03/08/2020 - 10:17

            @Arcadia: Thanks Arcadia! Is there a way to distinguish a random 'subscribed' player from a 'free trial' player? I have a subscribed account from ages ago and I can probably use that to start things off.

            • Arcadia on 05/08/2020 - 10:08

              @monchee: Sorry for the delay in replying. Yes, if you log into Mogstation with your account it should show whether you have purchased the game or not and that is an indicator of whether you are paid or free trial.

              If you're referring to telling in game between a trial player and a subscriber, there is no visible difference from the outside, just that free trial players will be able to access some things.

    • brokenglish on 12/08/2020 - 07:41

      I was skeptical about the subscription model at first (it being my first subscription based game).
      Most returning regulars don't actually subscribe continuously. Say 1 month then pause then subscribe again.

      The good thing is, when you buy the Base Game + Shadowbringers (which includes every previous expansions), you will get 30 days free game time.
      Plus when you start your character in a New/Preferred World (aka Server), you will get an additional 15 days free game time.
      The total free game time you get before buying your first subscription is 45 days. This is plenty of time to complete the story (if you play everyday).

      • Arcadia on 13/08/2020 - 17:39

        Just to clarify, you get the 30 free days of subscription time just for registering the Starter Edition, which obviously comes packaged in the Complete Edition but does not only come with buying the Complete Edition which is how it sort of comes across in your comment.

        The reason for clarifying is that you can buy the Starter Edition on different platforms and get the 30 free days again. For example, you could buy the Starter Edition on PC and PS4, register them to the same account, and get the 30 days from each.

  • Reitai on 11/08/2020 - 09:32

    Would anyone be able to confirm if this is live now? I'm on the trial page but can't tell if it's still a standard trial or the renewed Level 60 one ..

    • Arcadia on 11/08/2020 - 10:10
      +1

      The update will be coming this evening, around 8pm AEST but any existing trials will be upgraded. However, you are unlikely to be able to create an account at the moment, or if you can you won't be able to play, as the game is currently undergoing a period of 24 hour maintenance for the patch tonight that is due to finish at the aforementioned 8pm AEST.

      • Reitai on 11/08/2020 - 12:11

        That was really helpful and detailed! Thanks Arcadia.

  • lostn on 11/08/2020 - 21:18
    +1

    I haven't played an MMO in 15 years.

    I was considering giving it a go though. How grindy is this? Is it solo friendly?

    • AdamFury on 11/08/2020 - 21:32
      +1

      Also wondering the same thing.

    • brokenglish on 12/08/2020 - 07:11

      Not grindy in my experience. You will level up accordingly when doing Main Story Quest and Job/Class Quest.
      Solo friendly. You however still need to use the Duty Finder (their auto match party system) to complete dungeons as part of the above quests.
      The queue times when using Duty Finder vary significantly depending on your class. Healer > Tank > DPS (Healer being the fastest).

      The "grind" that some new players complained about was the huge amount of quests they needed to complete in the beginning. This long-awaited 5.3 patch fixed this!
      To ensure a smoother journey through the main scenario for newer players, a number of quests have been revised or removed. These adjustments will not affect the overall story.

      Give the free trial a try!

      • lostn on 12/08/2020 - 16:58

        does the leveling feel really slow like an old MMO, or fast like WoW? Do you need to keep repeating the same things to level up?

        • brokenglish on 12/08/2020 - 18:12

          Definitely not slow and not repetitive!
          I never played WoW so I wouldn’t know.
          For new players, doing story quests and job/class quests will level you up quickly and accordingly to take the subsequent quests.

          For endgame, once you’ve completed the story etc, fastest way to level up your other jobs/classes is duty roulette (get matched with randoms to complete random dungeons).
          Different party will give you different feeling when doing dungeons.

          There are TONS of different things you can do in there I feel like 24 hours in a day is not enough.

  • mrvaluepack on 11/08/2020 - 21:24
    -1

    An hour and a half before getting to fight some Level 1 Squirrels?

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sr0Jf51bpa4

    No thanks…

  • HD9990 on 11/08/2020 - 21:43

    so, a free trial?

  • syousef on 11/08/2020 - 21:43
    -8

    Disclaimer: If you like it, go for it. I'm glad you found something you like and I'm not going to tell you how to spend your time or money. Grab whatever gives you joy in this world and more power to you.

    That said…

    I had some lousy luck with this franchise when I was much younger. I think it might have been FFVII that I couldn't get to work at all on PC. Anyway with all the hype I thought I'd check out some Youtube reviews. Wow. Nevermind the repeated advice of not skipping cutscenes even though the initial stories aren't the best. Even the Youtube reviews can't get to the point! I want my half hour back. All the reviewers sound like addicts trying to convince themselves that the terrible ordeal they went through is worth it and you should do it too. In fact, this game sounds like getting another job - a really dull one - with a boss that doesn't want you to succeed, but instead of paying you, you pay. Definitely not for me.

    • lostn on 12/08/2020 - 00:51
      +1

      this game is nothing like FF7. It's an MMORPG and made by a different team and on a different console.

      • syousef on 12/08/2020 - 06:42
        -2

        I said I had bad luck with the franchise, not that this game was the same kind of game or developed by the same people.

        • lostn on 12/08/2020 - 17:00
          +1

          i don't think your experience with previous games has any relevance to this game. It's made by totally different people and indeed a different company. FF7 was Square or Squaresoft. This game is post Enix merger. A lot has changed in the company. The past has no direct bearing on the present games.

          Bad luck with the franchise does not translate to bad luck with this game.

          • syousef on 12/08/2020 - 21:44
            -1

            @lostn: The story I gave you was background. I did not say FFVII sucked therefore FFXIV sucks. I simply stated that I had bad luck with the franchise and was thinking about revisiting with a later title given the hype. Did you miss the "Anyway" part?

            • lostn on 13/08/2020 - 10:44
              +2

              @syousef: i don't understand what relevance "background" has to do with anything or why you even felt the need to bother bringing it up. Unless it is directly related to this, which it isn't.

              • syousef on 13/08/2020 - 10:54
                -1

                @lostn: Do you understand what the point is of posting on a community forum at all? What I don't understand is why you are continuing to argue with me. Leave me alone.

  • Rukiata on 17/07/2021 - 12:21

    IF anyone needs a RAF code i have one, we both get free bonus items if you sign up with it

  • Mutie on 19/07/2021 - 13:55

    They lost me after FF8

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