Hello and welcome to the 28th edition of the Eorzea Examiner, ZAM’s column on Square Enix’s Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn. For this week’s column, we’re going to dig into another one of the new features of the recently announced FFXIV expansion, Heavensward. Flight, new zones and increased level caps are all great features of the expansion, but the feature many players were focused on during all of the announcements was the addition of new jobs. So far we’ve just had the one reveal with the Dark Knight, but there’s something unique about this job: the Dark Knight is the first FFXIV job option without a base class. So what does this mean for the rest of the jobs Heavensward and any future expansions will bring us?

Thirteen New Videos: Part One

We'll be taking next Friday off to digest all that turkey, but settle back this week for a mega two-part edition of Film Friday. Coming up first are some great new videos from World of Warcraft, three different Final Fantasy games, DCUO and Mordheim City of the Damned!

Hello and welcome to the 27th edition of the Eorzea Examiner, ZAM’s column on Square Enix’s Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn. For this week’s column, we’re going to dig into one of the new features of the recently announced FFXIV expansion, Heavensward. In addition to all of the new zones, the Dark Knight reveal and the promise of more new jobs to come, one feature in particular caught my attention: flying mounts. What does the addition of flying mounts mean for this expansion and beyond?

Hello and welcome to the 26th edition of the Eorzea Examiner, ZAM’s column on Square Enix’s Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn. For this week’s column, we actually have news to talk about. At their Fan Festival event earlier this month, SE announced FFXIV's first expansion, Heavensward. Currently slated for a spring 2015 release, Heavensward will bring Eorzeans an increased level cap, new zones, additional Job options and more. Since we've got at least five months till that spring release window, let's take a look at what's been announced and what features we'd like to see in the expansion.

Square Enix announced Final Fantasy XIV's first-ever expansion, Heavensward, at the Fan Festival this past weekend. Releasing in Spring 2015, players can expect a level cap increase, new player race, dungeons and primals, and much more.

Square Enix has released the Patch 2.4: Dreams of Ice trailer, which features:

• A showdown against Shiva in the Akh Afah Amphitheatre
• The new Rogue and Ninja classes
• New recipes and dungeons
• The Final Coil of Bahamut

Hello and welcome to the 25th edition of the Eorzea Examiner, ZAM’s column on Square Enix’s Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn. For this week’s column, we're going to be talking about the player's impact on the world around them. As with all MMOs there's a constant struggle between the RPG need for a world that evolves with the player's actions and deeds, versus the MMO need for a persistent world where you can interact with other players, help them with quests you've already completed, rerun dungeons, etc. However, FFXIV is unique for an MMO in that it's placed such an emphasis on its main storyline, tying it to most aspects of the game from unlocking features of the game to connecting the various dungeons to it in some fashion. How do we reconcile the need to have some lasting impact on the world with the other thousands of people playing alongside you, all wanting that same sense of progress?

Hello and welcome to the 24th edition of the Eorzea Examiner, ZAM's column on Square Enix's Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn. For this week's column, we're looking at FFXIV's mobile extensions: smartphone applications. Unfortunately for all of us, there comes a time when we must step away from our PC or console and venture into the real world, be it for work, school or just to grab food. This may have been a problem with early MMOs, but these days many MMO players have a smartphone at their side. These mini-computers have the power to keep you connected to your friends both in the real world as well as your friends in Eorzea through web access and dedicated applications. The options available from Square Enix right now are a step in the right direction, but there's plenty of room for improvement.

Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn is chugging along wonderfully. To keep up momentum, Square Enix has showcased the upcoming content of Dreams of Ice Patch 2.4. With new classes – the Rogue and Ninja – and several places to explore, it's a solid update.

To see what's coming your way, check out the seven minutes of video below:

Note: Yes, all the videos are in Japanese. Definitely still worth a watch!

Hello and welcome to the 23rd edition of the Eorzea Examiner, ZAM’s column on Square Enix’s Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn. For this week’s column, we’re taking a look at another class from the Final Fantasy series. In the previous columns where we played armchair class designer, we were always starting off with a simple base. There was always work to do with differentiating the class from others and choosing resource systems, but at their core the classes always had a solid base. At their core an Engineer or a Thief fits into an MMO just as easily as a White Mage or a Warrior – they fill a Holy Trinity role and their skills are all built around actions taken in combat. Not all Final Fantasy classes are that easy of a fit though. Adding an Engineer is simple enough, but how does one make a Chemist work in an MMO?