Letter from the Producer LIVE Part VIII Announcement Summary (08/08/2013)

SE has posted a summary of the announcements they made and as usual they have added to the confusion factor. From the announcement:

Welcome Back Campaign
All players who have registered a service account for FINAL FANTASY XIV can play for free until September 9, 2013.
* Players who register after the start of official service are also eligible for this campaign.
* Starting September 10, 2013, players will be required to pay a subscription fee.
* The 30-day trial included with purchase of the game will be applied upon the conclusion of the campaign.

So does this mean that I get the welcome Back Campaign benefits then another 30 days for the PS3 CE that I pre ordered. Goes contrary to what was previously stated.

Clarification please.

that as far as i know is not for legacy

I believe the 30 days trial is only for newly created accounts?

the 30 day trial should be from any purchase of the game. Before, it was announced that 30 day free periods (like the one you would get from purchasing the ps3 version of the game) might run concurrently if you activated the code right away.

From this announcement it sounds like that is no longer the case but that it will start on the 10th, after the welcome back campaign period has ended.

Though I do agree that it is a bit vague, so maybe some official clarification would be in order.

Previously stated was the same:

• v1 who do nothing get the 14 days from launch until September 9 to play for free. (You have to separately qualify for Early Access and Open Beta.)
• v1 who don't start playing until after September 9 don't get any free time.
• If you register your PS3 code to a v1 account you get its 30 days. They don't start until after September 9. So if you started playing before September 9, those days would be in addition to the PS3's 30 days.

What we don't know is if a new account buys both a PC and PS3 version and registers it to the same account, do they get 30 days or does it sum to 60 days? But either way they'll get at least 30 days free trial.

And something Yoshi-P said today made it sound like if you had an unused v1 product code, if you registered it to a new account you would get its 30 days. ("If you used up your v1's 30 days, you would get these 14 days to come back [to ARR]." (unofficially translated by Reinheart))

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Originally Posted by ArkhamNative

Previously stated was the same:

• If you register your PS3 code to a v1 account you get its 30 days. They don't start until after September 9. So if you started playing before September 9, those days would be in addition to the PS3's 30 days.

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Oh, that is nice to know.
I was more interested in the pre-order items when I ordered the PS3, since I know I will mostly play on the PC. 30 days included subscription is a nice bonus :)

really hate that unicorn mount... if it was Dark Ixion then it would be fine but now its just getting less FF by the minute lol.
I feel like this is turning into DAoC more than anything... :/ seriously unicorns!?! why lol

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Originally Posted by Xaimera

really hate that unicorn mount... if it was Dark Ixion then it would be fine but now its just getting less FF by the minute lol.
I feel like this is turning into DAoC more than anything... :/ seriously unicorns!?! why lol

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I don't care one way or the other about the unicorn mount, but unicorns are Final Fantasy. It was a summon in V, VI, and Tactics Advanced, an enemy in I and XI, and it's horn was an item in III, IV, XI (from CoP fights), and XIII-2.

To be absolutely clear, all Version 1.0 users can participate in the Welcome Back campaign. If you buy a PS3 copy of the game and add it to your Version 1.0 account, you can play that same account for an additional 30 days free. Your 30 days of free time will begin after the end of the Welcome Back campaign, September 9, 2013.

<table width="100%" border="1"><tr><td width="30%" align="center" bgcolor="#103859">Account type</td><td width="35%" align="center" bgcolor="#103859">Registering PS3 version</td><td width="35%" align="center" bgcolor="#103859">Registering Windows version</td></tr>
<td align="left" bgcolor="#54565A">Users who don't possess an FFXIV service account yet </td><td align="center" bgcolor="#54565A">Receive 30 days of subscription time</td><td align="center" bgcolor="#54565A"> Receive 30 days of subscription time</td></tr><td align="left" bgcolor="#54565A"> Users who already possess an FFXIV service account (PC) </td><td align="center" bgcolor="#54565A">Receive 30 days of subscription time*</td><td align="center" bgcolor="#54565A"> Cannot register</td></tr><td align="left" bgcolor="#54565A"> Users who already possess an FFXIV service account (PS3) </td><td align="center" bgcolor="#54565A"> Cannot register </td><td align="center" bgcolor="#54565A"> Receive 30 days of subscription time* </td></tr></table>

* Users will receive 30 days of subscription time when registering a new platform to their service account. It is not possible to stack the free trial period by registering multiple copies of the PC or PS3 versions to the same FFXIV service account.

Notes:

• Registering both a PS3 code and a PC code to the same FFXIV service account will grant 60 days of subscription time.
  
• Players who have purchased multiple copies of FFXIV: A Realm Reborn may register multiple FFXIV service accounts to a single Sony Entertainment Network account.

Thanks Hvinire!

I wonder if you know the answer to one of Mjollnir's long-standing questions:

Will those of us who have both PS3 and PC versions registered to one Service Account have to purchase both versions of future expansion packs, or will applying one code to our account add the expansion to both platforms (like in XI)?

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Originally Posted by finiteHP

I don't care one way or the other about the unicorn mount, but unicorns are Final Fantasy. It was a summon in V, VI, and Tactics Advanced, an enemy in I and XI, and it's horn was an item in III, IV, XI (from CoP fights), and XIII-2.

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ya i know i played all those games lol and i loved taking on Dark Ixion it was so fun and he looked awesome.
But this thing they made is far from looking like Dark Ixion, that is not what he looked like it just looks like some my little pony thing :/ i think its the dumbest thing SE ever thought of in this game... lol

example: this is way different than Hercule's pet horse lol
http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/__...Dark_Ixion.png

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Originally Posted by Ouria

Oh, that is nice to know.
I was more interested in the pre-order items when I ordered the PS3, since I know I will mostly play on the PC. 30 days included subscription is a nice bonus :)

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This made me think how the purchasing issues are so complex that probably nobody can know all the ins and outs. And then Hvinire demonstrates that even I've forgotten stuff I should have remembered, despite somewhat insane efforts to understand it all. :)

On July 17, 2013:

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Originally Posted by Sasunaich

* Durch das gleichzeitige Registrieren eines PS3-Codes und eines PC-Codes auf dem gleichen FFXIV-Dienstkonto werden 60 Tage kostenlose Testspielzeit gewährt.

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Originally Posted by JillyBean

Thanks Hvinire!

I wonder if you know the answer to one of Mjollnir's long-standing questions:

Will those of us who have both PS3 and PC versions registered to one Service Account have to purchase both versions of future expansion packs, or will applying one code to our account add the expansion to both platforms (like in XI)?

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Ooh, good question! I'd like to know the answer to this as well.

Thanks Hvinire for clearing that up for me. Makes me glad I plan to use both platforms. If I may I would like to ask another question. I am a Legacy Player. Will I be able to purchase play time in 6 mo intervals. I am not looking for a further discount just the conveyance of paying for my Subscription in 6 mo intervals. The Veterans Rewards was a nice excuse for asking that again.

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Originally Posted by Hvinire

Registering both a PS3 code and a PC code to the same FFXIV service account will grant 60 days of subscription time.

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Yay! I'd been waiting to hear on this for a while. I shall let my newcomer friends know that this is the case. An extra month off subscription helps soften the blow of having to buy a second copy of the game for the other platform.

Just the other question regards 'platform unlock' vs 'per expansion unlock' that Ms. JB has asked again below. (I have a niggling feeling it'll be bad news and only announced once the expansion's ready to be sold though)

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Originally Posted by JillyBean

Thanks Hvinire!

I wonder if you know the answer to one of Mjollnir's long-standing questions:

Will those of us who have both PS3 and PC versions registered to one Service Account have to purchase both versions of future expansion packs, or will applying one code to our account add the expansion to both platforms (like in XI)?

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Jilly I am going to take another one of my off the wall guesses and say yes to that. They are making us but separate clients for each platform so I would imagine that the will make us buy separate expansions for each platform.

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Originally Posted by Rizon

Jilly I am going to take another one of my off the wall guesses and say yes to that. They are making us but separate clients for each platform so I would imagine that the will make us buy separate expansions for each platform.

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I really hope you're wrong.

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Originally Posted by Mjollnir

Yay! I'd been waiting to hear on this for a while. I shall let my newcomer friends know that this is the case. An extra month off subscription helps soften the blow of having to buy a second copy of the game for the other platform.

Just the other question regards 'platform unlock' vs 'per expansion unlock' that Ms. JB has asked again below. (I have a niggling feeling it'll be bad news and only announced once the expansion's ready to be sold though)

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I agree we probably won't find out until expansion time, too.

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Originally Posted by Rizon

Jilly I am going to take another one of my off the wall guesses and say yes to that. They are making us but separate clients for each platform so I would imagine that the will make us buy separate expansions for each platform.

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I hope you're wrong, too. :/ I can understand if we have to purchase two separate physical packages it should cost more. I'm hoping there will be some digital way like buying a single code from them to apply, or ordering via digital download and there can be nice discount for multi-platform accounts.

And with all this "free" news today, I'm still going to throw my money on a 90 or 180 day subscription (the highest available!) as soon as I they let me!

If it makes you feel better Xaimera pretend it's the V or VI one updated to modern graphics.http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/__...FV_Unicorn.pnghttp://images1.wikia.nocookie.net/__...cornsummon.PNG

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Originally Posted by JillyBean

And with all this "free" news today, I'm still going to throw my money on a 90 or 180 day subscription (the highest available!) as soon as I they let me!

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Inorite? I wanna be riding around on Fernehalwes as soon as possible!

SE just made a correction to their announcement. In order to qualify for the "Welcome Back" campaign you must have registered your game NLT 29 Sept 2012. This is a change from "All Ver 1.0" players. I have a bad feeling some few people will be left out.

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Originally Posted by Rizon

SE just made a correction to their announcement. In order to qualify for the "Welcome Back" campaign you must have registered your game NLT 29 Sept 2012. This is a change from "All Ver 1.0" players. I have a bad feeling some few people will be left out.

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Wasn't that the final billing date before the end of service for version 1.0?

If you hadn't used your registration code by then, you wouldn't have been able to play the game at all.
I'm guessing this is to rule out old registration codes beings used for new player accounts.

Sept 29 was also the last date you could register a code. So in effect SE is saying if you didn't register your code during v1, you don't get Welcome Back. But it doesn't say anything about unused v1 registration codes.

The SE support FAQ is pretty clear about it: "It is possible to play FFXIV: ARR using an unused registration code included in Version 1.0."

And there was Yoshi-P's statement that seemed to allow for the possibility that some people may still have their 30 days. ("If you used up your v1's 30 days, you would get these 14 days to come back [to ARR]." (unofficially translated by Reinheart))

So I think it means you get either Welcome Back's 14 days, or the 30 days from using an unregistered v1 code, but not both.

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Originally Posted by Xaimera

ya i know i played all those games lol and i loved taking on Dark Ixion it was so fun and he looked awesome.
But this thing they made is far from looking like Dark Ixion, that is not what he looked like it just looks like some my little pony thing :/ i think its the dumbest thing SE ever thought of in this game... lol

example: this is way different than Hercule's pet horse lol
http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/__...Dark_Ixion.png

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Agreed. At least make the horse look like a FF creature.

-Put the 3 toed claws as feet,
-Give it a small twisted horn.

It doesn't have to be Ixion. but at least make it look like a sub creature of Ixion.

Don't just put a horse in the game SE. That's silly.

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Originally Posted by Rustyhagun

Don't just put a horse in the game SE. That's silly.

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Well, actually...

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Originally Posted by Bayohne

The Lore team has been keeping busy and responded to a few more questions since we last heard from them. A player pointed out that there exist horse stables, but there aren’t any horses around. I’ll let the Lore team take it from here!

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For some time there have been murmurs saying “Hydaelyn is a world where no horse exists,” but this isn’t the case at all. We actually created the whole world view with the vision that horses and their subspecies inhabit (or used to inhabit) the world.

For example, one of the four High Houses of Ishgard, the House of Fortemps, features a red unicorn on a black background for their crest’s motif. This unicorn is one kind of horse species. Shields that NPCs have equipped also have unique drawings on them, so if you are interested, try hunting those down.

Also, Odin, which we introduced in the 2.0 documents, is also riding his famous steed. While I can’t get into too much detail, we have laid down the proper foundation for Odin’s companion.

So while it may seem like there are no living horses in the currently accessible areas of Eorzea, there are in fact horses when you consider the entire planet of Hydaelyn.

Hyur and Lalafell travelled to Eorzea long ago and it is because their ancestors utilized horses as mounts that you can see remnants of this in their speech and crests.

So… why aren’t horses imported in modern day Eorzea? The reason is that trustworthy chocobos, that are better suited for the weather and environment of Eorzea, exist.

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Originally Posted by JillyBean

Will those of us who have both PS3 and PC versions registered to one Service Account have to purchase both versions of future expansion packs, or will applying one code to our account add the expansion to both platforms (like in XI)?

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We don't have any details on that now, we're all focused on releasing the game first and foremost :)

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Originally Posted by Hvinire

We don't have any details on that now, we're all focused on releasing the game first and foremost :)

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I hope they don't hose us there.

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Originally Posted by lordoftheapes79

I hope they don't hose us there.

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They can easily sate my anger at having to buy both by giving away something cool (yeah, prolly a minion and a mount...) to the ppl who have bought both lol.

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Originally Posted by Mjollnir

They can easily sate my anger at having to buy both by giving away something cool (yeah, prolly a minion and a mount...) to the ppl who have bought both lol.

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or 1,000,000 gil :p

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Originally Posted by Mjollnir

They can easily sate my anger at having to buy both by giving away something cool (yeah, prolly a minion and a mount...) to the ppl who have bought both lol.

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Yeah, with the whole Minion/mount system it very well might be for every expansion:

PS4=New Mount A
PC=New Mount B
PS3(when PS4 version is out)=Minion