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Square Enix Extends Final Fantasy XIV Free Trial By One Month
Final Fantasy XIV has been receiving some pretty strongly negative reviews, and even huge fans of the game seem a bit discouraged by some of the problems still prevalent at launch. Square has clearly seen the concern and responded today by increasing the free trial period for the game from 30 days to 60 days while simultaneously laying out plans for future updates.
The trial extension was revealed in a post on Final Fantasy XIV Lodestone, the official FF XIV site. The extension will apply to all characters started by October 25.
A second post details some of the upcoming updates that players have to look forward to. It looks like Square is currently hard at work on two huge updates, one scheduled for late November and one for mid-December. Among the features being added are a search function for retainers -- which will help with the lack of auction house -- better targeting, and lag reduction in heavily populated areas. The publisher also promised that seasonal events will begin to be introduced to the world of Eorzea in December.
In addition to this good news, Square also just released a major update for the retainer system, introducing named market wards so players know where to look for specific items.
These changes are a very good start, and the addition of a free month of playtime for dedicated fans is wise. Square Enix still has a long way to go toward making FF XIV the MMO it has the potential to be, but it's nice to see that they're listening. You can check out my launch week impressions of the game for more info on what works and what doesn't at the moment.
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