Hello and welcome to the second edition of the Eorzea Examiner, our new column about Square Enix's Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn. In the inaugural episode of my column, I mostly focused on bringing everyone up to speed with what's happened since I wrote my review, with a few teasers for future column topics. Now that everyone's got an idea about where I'm coming from and what experience I have with FFXIV's different system, it's time to pick some topics and start digging in. Anyone who read last week's column is probably groaning a bit at that terrible Miner pun, but I feel no regret.

Terrible jokes aside, that does bring us to this week's topic: gathering. Gathering jobs are far from new to MMOs, but FFXIV takes the uncommon route of taking these non-combat professions and turning them into full-fledged classes with character progression, abilities, quests and equipment. We talked about this in one of my previews during the beta, but that was just scratching the surface of what's available to Disciples of the Land (DoL). Now that I've raised a gathering class to the level cap, how is it holding up?

If you've played Square Enix's Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn and you grew up with the console games, you've probably noticed a fair number of callbacks and hints of nostalgia mixed in here and there. Popular character names reused, familiar monsters to fight and some tidbits of lore drawn from other games. In general though, that's as far as it goes - "inspired by" but rarely "taken from". The new world event starting today is an exception to that rule. In "Lightning Strikes in Eorzea", worlds collide of FFXIV:ARR as Lightning, the main character of Final Fantasy XIII and the upcoming game Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII, appears in the land of Eorzea.

It's been over three months since Square Enix officially launched Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn. In that time players have combed the countryside in search of FATEs to grind, dungeons and raids to clear and classes and jobs to level to 50. Even after finishing my review for the game back in September, I've found myself spending much of my spare time in Eorzea. Normally with other MMOs and that kind of time, I'd be at level cap with some sort of tank class, looking at endgame dungeons, discussing boss mechanics and possibly raiding. My FFXIV character? Well, he is at level cap with two different classes... just not with any that can kill things.

Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn has some unique attributes compared to other well-known, recently launched MMORPGs. Namely, the game refreshingly offers a multi-platform experience: Playstation® 3 players are able to play, mingle and interact with PC players in the same servers, and Playstation® 4 compatibility expected to come in Q1 2014.

Generally speaking, Square Enix is considered to have "got just right" the controls and user experience of a console version. Combat, the cornerstone of any role-playing game offering advancement, skills, traits and levels to its players, has been adapted around this platform diversity.

Let's discuss combat, its features, feeling and fluidity, and attempt to answer the question:

How is combat balance affected by the developers' design decisions?

There's no sign of stopping Square Enix's Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn growth, as the game recently has skyrocketed to 1.5 million registered players spanning several nations on both the PC and PS3 platform. Square Enix has definitely improved its game when it comes to MMO design and there's a ton of goodies around the corner for the wanderers of Eorzea.

Content patch 2.1 is stuffed with what players have been waiting patiently for; PVP integration, newer dungeons, and player housing. For those of you currently knee-deep in the game, save as much gil as you can, because housing will definitely consume your wallet. Additionally, players will soon be able to transfer their characters to different servers - no more pining to jump ship to join your friend's guild on Ramuh. Cashing in for a PlayStation 4? Beta testing begins in February of next year.

Written by: Jeffery Wright

Follow me on Twitter @WrightJeffd

Halloween is just around the corner and the spookiest month of the year has brought a wide variety of events to our favorite games. Join us as we explore the details of these frightening events.

If you're one of the one million (and growing) subscribers to Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn, we've got a major series of updates for you from Square Enix.

Not happy with your world on Final Fantasy XIV?

Community Representative Camate reached out with a message to the community: the World Transfer Service is coming "soon". Transfers will be free for the first five days. Camate provides a very detailed post outlining the requirements and risks, but here’s our summary:

Earlier this week Square Enix announced that over six thousand accounts have been banned from their recently released MMO, Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn. In addition, almost six hundred more accounts have received temporary suspensions. In addition over 367 billion Gil has been temporarily frozen as a result of these investigations/bans.

Earlier today Square Enix released information and a video covering a new FATE (Full Time Active Event) in Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn which features the character Lightning from the Final Fantasy XIII series. In this cross-promotion FATE players can fight alongside Lightning and earn the chance to receive gear and weapons modeled after Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII, seen in the video below.