Square Enix's second major MMO foray in the Final Fantasy line, FFXIV, never quite took off. The early game suffered from serious gameplay issues, and shortly after they realized just how badly it had tanked, they chose to redo it in a Version 2.0 format. That game will be released in early 2013, with a rebuilt game engine and vastly improved gameplay.
The final save for version 1.23 was last Wednesday. The final server shutdown will be November 11th.
In the intervening time, they've decided to bring Hell on Earth, so to speak, to the remaining players.
A giant moon is about to smash into the planet. An evil empire is invading all the cities. Desperate monsters are also fleeing into the cities, trying to escape the havoc that the approaching moon is wreaking on the atmosphere.
Here is the scene in my hometown of Ul'Dah:
The power flickers, lightning flashes in the sky. Even after an alliance of people manage to take down the Level 81 Firedrake, there are still unconscious people all around.
Japan has dealt with its fair share of actual "apocalyptic" events over the last century. From Hiroshima and Nagasaki, to the earthquake and tsunami in Sendai last year, they are well aware of how fragile our little civilizations are, and how easy it is to succumb to despair in the darkest of times.
And yet, they always survive. They always persevere in the face of adversity.
NYC, too, is showing that same indomitable will. It's had a lot of terrible things happen to it over the years, and it always survives and grows bigger and stronger.
The new version of FFXIV, A Realm Reborn, will be released for PC and PS3. Every character who existed during the final save on November 1st will be given a special brand in the new game, marking them as a survivor of the "end of the world."
Some players are keeping a liveblog of what is happening on their servers as the world ends: http://forum.square-enix.com/...