FFXIV Release Date, Collector’s Edition Detailed

Garlond Goggles make you a cool cat

Final Fantasy XIV has a release date: September 30th in all regions. Strangely, it seems that the Collector’s Edition will be available 8 days prior, on September 22nd. The PS3 version will be available next spring.

The Collector’s Edition will cost $75 in the US, compared to the $50 price tag. Players will be able to play 8 days sooner than players who buy the regular edition, and the CE also comes with the following goodies (translated):

FFXIV Official Site

  1. EARLY ACCESS – Play eight days prior to the release of the Standard Edition.
  2. BEHIND-THE-SCENES DVD – Get an insider look at the making of Final Fantasy XIV.
  3. SECURITY TOKEN – A Final Fantasy XIV branded Security Token used with your regular password.
  4. TRAVEL JOURNAL – Record your travels in this beautifully bound journal with never-before-seen concept art.
  5. RIGHT OF PASSAGE – Redeem a voucher to receive your fully personalized right of passage certificate
  6. FREE GAMEPLAY – Free gameplay for 30 days.
  7. BUDDY PASS – Invite a friend to play free for a limited time.

Let’s break down all the pre-order and other special bonuses.

  • If you pre-order the regular game, you get the “Garlpnd Goggles” as an in-game item. They look super-stylish and “increase the speed of skill progression.”
  • If you pre-order the Collector’s Edition, you get the “Onion Helm” as an in-game item. It looks super-stupid and “quickens recovery following KO.”
  • If you played FFXIII and have the Campaign Code from the game, you can enter it and receive the Asura Armguards, which “increase weapon and tool affinity”

With a $12.99 monthly fee, the CE is about $12 more than buying the regular edition and a month to replace the one you would have gotten with the CE. I’m extremely hesitant about the in-game bonuses for buying real products. In WoW, all of the rewards for paying are vanity rewards. These items have actual value in the game – players who don’t pre-order will be at a disadvantage to players who order the game in advance (so you should go pre-order the regular game or CE right now). Also, it seems strange that the regular version pre-orders get an item that doesn’t come with the CE pre-order – will hardcore players buy both? The whole set-up is very strange.

Which are you going to pre-order?


Asura Bindings

Onion Helm

Garlond Goggles

14 Comments

  1. I wanna be a cool cat, so I’ll just pre-order the regular game.

    I’ll probably just play it for a couple of months to check it out, we’ll see what happens after that.

  2. Strangely? Are you kidding?

    It’s clearly a sucker’s scam buy. Get the more expensive one sooner (which fans clearly will) and you get the Game sooner. That S@#^ should be illegal.

  3. Why would it be illegal?

    It’s not like the Early Access is the only benefit from the CE, you also get some other goodies.

    I bet there’s some people that are going to buy the CE even after the release of the regular version.

  4. I am with Carlos. The casuals will buy one, and the hardcore will buy both, as the name hardcore implies in the first place.

  5. Oh, and super sad now. I was under the impression it wouldn’t be released till at least 2011. I should have bought that new PC, rather than this silly Xbox that shames my house.

  6. I’m not sure. I’ll probably buy the regular, or have my friend who’s getting it give me that premo code.

    Not sure I like the anti-Blizzard policy on real life products increasing game ability. Perhaps Blizzard already has a trump up against this game, for simple “ethics”.

  7. Nah, I would say not for ethics, but they are going to have something to keep people interested. I would say content patch, but being that close to Cataclysm release, can’t be sure.

  8. It will be interesting to see whether these items are exclusively for those who purchase the CE or whether they’ll be available in-game, too. I have the feeling they won’t be, though if they were, I wouldn’t have a problem with it.

    With the precedent they seem to be setting upon the game’s release, I’m nervous to see what other advantages players will be able to buy.

  9. where do you retreive these in the game, i got the garlond goggles burt dont know where to get them in teh game

Comments are closed.