FFXIVCORE.com has their latest gobbiebag up with another handful of speculative goodness packed within. This time around they answer a question about leveling a crafting class and an adventurer class at the same time and speculate on PvP and death penalties. Check out the full article here.

The site has also posted a rather intersting article that looks at several of the more common types of "gamer categories" and asks you to match yourself against them. The article is up to friendly debate and discussion with members stating their opinions and even adding to the list.

Read the full article here.

Check out a lot of new interesting information about two classes in FFXIV, the Gladiator and Pugulist.

Taken from the official FFXIV website

Translation from the world-famous Japanese magazie Famitsu

FFXIVCore.com has a preview of leaked FFXIV information.  Tomorrow is the day when they will bring us the full scope.  In the meantime, check out their preview!

Greatly awaited new info revealed!

Gladiator, the swordsman!
The freely attacking and defending tank

(From left to right by picture, not text)

The Winged Blade, Hawktail

The All-Purpose Bastard Sword

The Ancient Gladius

(His shields are on the next page, to his right, top to bottom)

Round Shield

The Mechanical Shield, Lantern Shield

More info here.

Highlights of the Week

No new info at micromania, sadly. Since there isn't much news we've included some older stuff.

• Micromania Game Show 2009 Coverage
• FFXIV at micromania game show 2009
• Connect! On Magazine December
• Curse looking to Hire .Net and PhP developers
  
• Preview of this month's Connect on Magazine
• FFXIV Wiki now available
• A Final Fantasy XIV Wishlist
• Follow Up Answers from the Interview with FFXIV Producer Hiromichi Tanaka

We've also had quite a few interesting community discussions pop up. Here's but a few:

• Proximity Voice Chat
• The Weaponry of War
• Whats the first thing you will do?
• FFXIV and Maturity
• More use of items?
• Subscription/Payment options
  

Happy Halloween from FFXIVCore!

We all wish you a very spookylicious Halloween! Thanks for making FFXIVCore the amazing community it is! We'll see you next week as always, bringing you information from the front-lines on all things FFXIV.

Well then, ladies and gentlemen. That's it for the wrap-up!. Enjoy your weekend, hit us up if you're on FFXIV Core during it, and we'll see you here for the next weekly update!

This week Brinz is joined once again by Abbaddon in the Final Fantasy XIV podcast called CrystalCore! and they're catching up on listener mail. Also the the CrystalCore show is now moved to Mondays instead of Fridays.  Listen to episode 7 below!

CrystalCore Podcast Episode 7: Listener mailbag volume 1

Today's translation was a group effort. (SteveManly, Aya and Noctis) Enjoy the staff predictions and the interview with Opone Kikuchi. There's also reader responses to questions posted online by Connect!On. Enjoy the read!

Connect! On Magazine December 2009 Translation

Special Questions
Interview with Opone

Opone Kikuchi, our reporter at August’s Gamescom, answered a lot of questions from our readers.
Q: How did you feel about seeing FFXIV in motion for the first time? -Kaeru
A: Even before I touched the keyboard, my entire body was shaking with excitement!
Q: What did you feel was really impressive when you got to play? –Okka
A: Definitely the battle. There are a lot of aspects that can go into a player’s battle strategy, like how to handle an enemy that tries to get a positional advantage during battle.
Q: What did you think about the scenery? –hocuto
A: It was incredibly detailed. Even so, the staff present at the time told me this wasn’t even close to what the finished product will be!
Q: How was my beloved Miqo’te?! –Rhye
A: Their expressions were dangerously cute. I think the Lalafell and Miqo’te expressions were exaggerated a bit more than those of the Hyurans.
Q: Does the FFXIV layout seem easy to get used to? –suim
A: I think it will be really easy to get used to. Like other next-generation games, the screen is quite wide and there is plenty of room for everything.

Connect! On Magazine December 2009 Translation

FFXIVCore.com has the latest informaton about Final Fantasy XIV. 

We have the latest information and images for you here at FFXIVCore.com. Also the point of view from the Japanese magazine Famitsu has been translated and posted below.

Head over and check out all the new things about FFXIV right now!

Lancer: Transformation Fighter

This two-handed lance fighter has great reach and specializes in stabbing from long range. It is also special in that is can change to slicing and bludgeoning attacks just by changing their weapons. Pikes used to be very popular in this world, thanks to the influence of the strength of the pikemen of Ala Mhigo, but now there are many different types in use. For example, throwing javelins have also come into use for long-range combat.

Archer: Strong Wind Attacker

This fighter focuses on using bow and arrows for attacking, and using this, they aim well and strike from afar. A strategic class, they must always choose the most advantageous positioning and the right type of arrow to aid them in battle. In Eorzea, the Elezen archer guards and Miqo’te traditional longbow hunters tend to belong to this job. There are also many that are good with stone throwing.

Taken straight from FFXIVCore.com:

Hey FFXIVCore.com community!

We've finally finalized most work on our Final Fantasy XIV Wiki and it's ready for everyone. Some of the features are:

• Fully skinned wiki to match our current sites design.
• Seamless integration of the login system of MediaWiki and Invision Power Board.
• Supports BBCode & Emotions.
• Automatically link keywords in your forum post to wiki-topics by using the Automatic wikification extension, or link to topics manually by using the [wiki] bbcode.
• Discussion Threads: possibility to configure the wiki to redirect the wiki discussion tabpage to a forum discussion thread, again leading to an increased community participation.
• Rating System: Allows you to provide feedback how much you like our articles.
• All features of MediaWiki.
• There's more, but those are some of the main features.

As you probably already have noticed, we've replaced the link to the "FFXIV FAQ" with the wiki link instead. The url to our wiki is http://www.ffxivcore.com/wiki. Also as mentioned you can access the wiki in the navigation bar above by clicking "Wiki".

Enjoy everyone and please give us feedback! We want to hear from you (yes you!) about the wiki and what we can improve. There's a lot of things left to tweak, but so far it's looking good at least.

FFXIVCore.com has translated leaked scans from the upcoming Japanese magazine Famitsu, which will be out Thursday.  There's information about a new class (Lancer: The Transformation Striker), among other things.

Check out their translation!

FFXIVCore.com recently had a sit down with FFXIV Producer Hiromichi Tanaka at Gamescom in Germany, but was unable to get all of their questions answered so they did an e-mail follow up interview which we have for your now!

The new interview can be seen on the FFXIVCore website and covers all kinds of topics about the new game; take a look:

Awhile ago I attended Gamescom in Germany and got to interview the Square Enix team about Final Fantasy XIV. I was limited to 45 minutes of time, but they gave me the chance to email a couple of questions that was left from the FFXIVCore.com community which they promised to answer in due time.

Well, that time has come and I present you with a mini interview (twelve questions and answers), answers are courtesy of Square Enix and the questions asked are from the community here at FFXIVCore.com. Enjoy!

Q1: Will we be able to fly somehow either by ourselves free roaming or scheduled transport airships like in FFXI?

A: At present, we have no plans for free-form aerial movement for players. We are, however, looking into a number of different types of flying transportation.

Q2: How will player run guild/linkshells work? What features can we expect and what benefits can a guild/linkshell get through progression if any?

A: For the time being, we are still keeping this information secret. But, we are very adamant about creating an entirely novel system.

To read more visit the Hiromichi Tanaka interview thread!

The FFXIV Podcast Episode #5 titled: The Grind has been released!

This episode features Xtek and lots of banter about the upcoming hit FFXIV! Here's the official announcement about the new podcast:

Hey everyone, episode 5: The Grind is now online for your enjoyment.

For the first time in our podcast lifetime we have a call in guest Xtek from the core and Curse networks joins us on the show this week.

As promised, you can subscribe to my comic via feedburner here or via email here.

And just click here to listen to the show, or check us out in iTunes/Zune and be sure to give the show a good rating you like it.

We are still learning the whole skype call in deal so there might be some sounds issues, but we'll get to where we need to be soon.

This week we talk about the grind as well as some good listener mail and then cover the interview that came out of TGS.

Enjoy!

GAME Watch caught up with Mr. Tanaka at Tokyo Game Show and interviewed him about the trailer contents, battle system, graphics, classes, and the beta test.

It would be no exaggeration to say that Japan’s online gaming fans are looking forward to Final Fantasy XIV more than anything else. Ever since its electrifying unveiling at E3, it has created a splash that is starting to make people wonder about the World after Warcraft. Service is scheduled to begin in 2010 on PS3, PC, and eventually Xbox 360.

Check out the translated interview here!

A different type of article is out from Famitsu Connect. They focus not so much on the news, but what the journalist felt when playing it and his predictions for the game.

There's also a zoom-in of the action bar and the journalist's thoughts on it.

New article translation from Famitsu Connect

The second translation is from a brand new Japanese magazine called Dengeki Games.  It has quite a bit of interesting information.

New article translation from Dengeki Games

FFXIVCore.com has the brand new FFXIV trailer for your viewing pleasure below.  It's availible both in English and Japanese.

Over at FFXIVCore.com they're running a liveblog where they share the latest Final Fantasy XIV and Final Fantasy XIII information from Tokyo Game Show in Japan.

Check out their coverage here.

FFXIVCore.com welcomes you to our second contest where we're giving you the chance to win a copy of Final Fantasy XIII and Final Fantasy XIV when they're released.

All you have to do is the following:

• Join our Twitter group
• Join our Facebook group
• Then reply to this news post with your name on Twitter and Facebook so we can confirm that you've joined. Finally, reply to this post with the reason why you should win. You're limited to 250 words, so try to keep it as concise as possible.

Two entries will win (2 total):

A copy of Final Fantasy XIV either to PC or PS3.

Two more entries will win (2 total):

A copy of Final Fantasy XIII to PS3.

Make sure to visit FFXIVCore to participate.

We recently published a news about leaked FFXIV information from the Famitsu magazine, however it turns out that some of the leaked information comes from the Dengeki magazine and not Famitsu.

FFXIVCore.com has translated it all from Japanese to English.

The interview covers a wide range of topics, such as:

• Stronger, more impressive graphics
• What equipment on a character will be shown
• The extent of FFXIV's seamlessness
• Weather
• Position in battles
• Effect of camping on server strain
• Chocobos
• Weapon and armor durability and repair
• Crafters and their relation to durability
• Crafted item customization
• Possibility of a return of a player residence
• Guildleves, Aetherite, Guildleves!

Read the full translation over at FFXIVCore.com.

The director of Final Fantasy XIV shares his views on the future of the online gaming in Japan and his thoughts on MMO's and FFXIV.

Read the full news here.

"The way MMOs attract players has dramatically evolved," he replied. "It's especially noticeable with American and European titles. Games used to favor hardcore players; there were a lot of games made with the philosophy that everything should be hidden and the players can work together to figure it out. It was very unkind. Games these days don't let their players ask 'What am I supposed to do?'. They guide the player along the way -- but there are several paths to take, and you're still free to do something else. They're free experiences."

FFXIVCore.com has posted leaked FFXIV information from a Japanese magazine (Famitsu) which is out tomorrow.  It's common for Famitsu to tease everyone prior to their magazines release.

Some of the information leaked is:

• Necklaces, belts, and rings, unlike XI, will be reflected graphically when equipped
• It seems as though westerners translated my comments as “everything would be seamless” but in actuality not everything from towns and the worlds will be seamless
• Seamless movement in an area equivalent to the size of a region in XI will be possible.
• You will be able to draw weapons in towns.
• Battles with enemies will take into account front/back/left/right positioning. Haven’t thought about elevation effects
• Characters will not age, however, you will be able to change your hairstyle
• Deterioration of weapons may be reflected graphically as well

Read the rest here.

This week's Famitsu is chock full of the newest information about FFXIV and FFXIVCore.com has scanned the pages and translated all the information.

Points to notice in this week's edition are:

• A few more comments about the armory system (they're really just chipping away at the veil on this, aren't they?)
• Some added monster pictures and comments about their history in the series
• A step-by-step look at the progression of a guildleve
• Closer pictures of the battle guages
• A FAMITSU EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW with Hiromichi Tanaka with information on the game's progress
• Hints that player tests may begin in the near future?
• A nifty conclusion that sums up the author's impressions

Head over to FFXIVCore.com to read the full translation.

We do not learn a lot of new information, but it's always very nice to see yet another interview. The voice you hear is the same person who translated for myself when I interviewed Tanaka and Sundi. She's a very good translator and works at Square Enix Europe.

Over at FFXIVCore.com they have a recap in text for those of you who prefer to read instead of watching the videos.

Some of the information learned from the two video interviews:

• Talks mostly about how they are only focusing on PvE at this time. Basically they feel PvP servers are only a small portion of a playerbase with exceptions, they note WoW. PvP will be worked on at a later time.

• Talked about skill up system rather than a level up system via the Armory system
• Mentioned that Guildleves are the questing system for FFXIV
• Mentioned Guildleves will be aqcuired from Aetherytes rather than NPCs

Head over to FFXIVCore.com to check out the videos and read the full recap!

Dengeki recently posted a new interview with FFXIV producer Hiromichi Tanaka and Global Online Producer Sage Sundi. Translations are be Heaven's Calamity, editing consultation by Gyli. Translations are the translators interpretation of the interview, there are no direct quotes.

At E3 in June, the announcement of FFXIV came as a surprise to many. Recently at Gamescom in Germany, a playable form of the game was shown. On site were producer Hiromichi Tanaka and Global Online Producer Sage Sundi. We had the chance to sit down and interview them.

Dengeki interview with Tanaka and Sundi

This week on CrystalCore

Brinz and Abbaddon reboot “Eorzephoria” into the new CrystalCore podcast. Breaking down the show into three sections:

    * Community
    * The battle system - this week
    * News and Interviews

CrystalCore Podcast Episode 1: Rebooting as CrystalCore

FFXIVCore.com has recently translated a Dengeki Playstation magazine article with new information on FFXIV! They've got a full team of translators dedicated to bringing the latest news to the NA and EU communities!

This recent article can be found in it's entirety at FFXIVCore, but here's the intro:

Newest Final Fantasy XIV Info!

The newest FFXIV info was made public at the Gamescom news event, held from August 19th to the 23rd in Cologne, Germany.

The newest information about FFXIV, announced just this June, wasreleased at Gamescom. The presentation revolved around in-game footage,and we were able to see the very expressive new emote system. Also,there was a trial area set up to experience the Guildleve and battlesystem, so we got a good feel for the battle system basics! Here, we'llshow you a few of the pictures from the show, as well as a play reportand an interview with Mr. Tanaka, the producer.

Four New Classes Revealed

Monk (Martial artist), Archer, Tailor, Axe warrior

Picture captions:

Versatile Battle System!

In FFXI, the auto attack system activated just by selecting "attack,"but in FFXIV, each attack must be selected from the action menu (theicons lined up on the bottom of the screen). There are many differentways to fight depending on the selected action menu, so even solobattles can have a deep element of strategy.

There are many different types of Guild leves with different goals (Guild leves are like quests)

For more information read the full article at FFXIVCore.com!

The interviews with the producers of FFXIV from Gamescom are still appearing on the world wide web and the latest is an interview conducted by Playstation Blog.

This time we learn that (among other things) there's a chance there will be a form of beta before 2010.

To read more, head over to the news article at FFXIVCore.com!

FFXIVCore.com reports about another interview with the producers of FFXIV.  Most of the things mentioned are already known, but we find out some new information:

• FFXIV was first made for PC and then ported to Playstation 3, unlike XI which was made for PS2 then ported to PC.
• The game is certainly portable to other platforms, but the current focus is PC and PS3. Xbox360 version discussion.

To read the rest, head over to the news at FFXIVCore.com now!