Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn released not too long ago and already, it's getting a ton of praise. Most, if not all the errors have been resolved and everyone is enjoying themselves in the story line. The game, at the moment is far from massive but there's quite a bit for one to do as they prepare themselves for what I call "the true ARR." That's not to say what we're playing now isn't the "true" version but a lot of the current content is revamped and redone 1.0 content. Nothing truly 'new' quite yet.

Over at PAX, Naotoki Yoshida and the A Realm Reborn team made an appearance and they gave players all the answers in-terms of what's to come in the near future. I'm here to organize it all in once place for you. Brace yourselves though since half the players haven't even gotten through preliminary content and yet, there's a lot more coming, setting even a hardcore player like me way behind already.

Patch 2.1

A lot of endgame was mentioned in this category. Yoshida confirmed there will be more difficulty-modes for the current primal fights available in this update. Right now, players have access to a normal and a simplistic "hard" mode for Ifrit, Garuda, and Titan which are all significantly easier than the "Extreme" modes I've grown accustomed to in vanilla FFXIV. No word on whether or not the upcoming difficulty will be "Extreme" or "Super" but I have a feeling these Primals are going to whoop the arses of many players, even myself during the first few runs.

To continue on, we fill finally get to see The Crystal Towers we talked about awhile back, which is a difficult 24-man raid dungeon. Players will also get treated to two new hard dungeons, which I assume is to gear-prep for Towers if one does not have, or wish to be part of, a Free Company Guild.

For those not interested in endgame just yet, players and Free Companies who have spent the start of this gaming readying a steady income will get to treat themselves to player housing in "Mists" located in LA Noscea. I heard rumors that housing would cost about a million Gil but that seems so far-fetched with the current state of the game's unstable economy, so this is unconfirmed.

Lastly, PvPers rejoice! The Wolves Den will finally unlock which hosts arenas for both 4v4 and 8v8 organized player battles. I feel my competitive gamer within me get a tingling feeling. Alas, I am not big on MMO PvP, but I'm sure there are those out there who are.

Before I forget, this is the update that should have the Salon feature in-game. I doubt we'll see new hairstyles at the launch of this but we're likely to see some during the progression of the game. Where do I make the Gil Check out to?

Patch 2.2

Coming from what I said about new Primal difficulties, Patch 2.2 will actually have NEW Primals! No word on who these are as Yoshida says they are a surprise. Oh and besides the surprise, we will finally get to see Ramuh, Leviathan, or Shiva which excites me greatly. I can't wait to get wrecked by Diamond Dust (darn youuu Shivvaaaa!!). As for the surprise, perhaps we'll see classics like Alexander, Diabolos, Anima, or Hades? Who knows.

Also, Free Companies will be able to summon true Primals. No concrete details on this one. I assume, however, you will only be able to summon the primal "aligned" with your region. Perhaps your pre-made FC party must beat the "Super" mode Primals (hence the difficulty update).

Patch 2.3 +++

Patch 2.3 is a goofy update, in that players will finally get The Golden Saucer! A huge request among those who had questions for me to answer in my ventures to E3. No true details on this either, but Yoshida said they'd hope to have at least 3 mini games ready; a card game, a mini game, and a snowboard game (say what?). I want to see my Lala slope down a hill NAO!

To wrap things up, it might be too early to say, buy the team has already submitted the draft of the game's first expansion. From my experiences with FFXI expansions, I CANNOT WAIT. Each expansion was like a whole new game with new story and hosted new classes completely unique from the original launch ones.

Personally, I think they're shoving a ton of content down my throat and for once, I don't mind it! They seem to have organized these updates into categories, adding progression content at the start then expanding the world around it afterwards and fast at that. I think that's good business plan that caters to both the casual fanbase and the more hardcore one especially since Yoshida says the endgame won't be as easy as most think. I'll take his words how they are and say: Challenge Accepted!

What do you guys think about this news and is there anything specific you're most excited about? Also, if you already play the game and you're on Gilgamesh server, say Hi to the Rogue Knights!