We are pleased to announce the latest addition to the Junkies Nation Network: Final Fantasy XIV Junkies! In our long-standing tradition of launching and covering the latest and greatest MMORPGs, we bring to you what we hope will be the cornerstone of the FFXIV news and guide community! We will tirelessly dedicate ourselves to bringing you the latest in news, guides, articles and community coverage; when it comes to Final Fantasy XIV info, look no further!

Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn will be nothing less than a crowning jewel in the MMORPG-scape. Featuring an all-new world designed from the ground up, Square-Enix has over looked nothing in the rerelease of this flagship installment of its Final Fantasy franchise. From it’s new and robust combat system, to it’s chocobo breeding system and player housing; FFXIV:ARR will have something for everyone.

A new world filled with Moogles, magic, chocobos and Magitek armor await you and we here at FFXIV Junkies will be there every step of the way with you. Be it exploring the depths of the deepest dungeons, taking down Ifrit or just decorating your player housing, we’ll be here with all the latest news and information in this realm reborn.

So please, be sure to bookmark us and follow us on twitter!

First let me direct you to this monster of a thread gaining momentum in the official SWTOR forums.

The original poster, Valefor, asked to make the Grey Helix components Legacy bound. This is a request many players want. Both sides of the argument, for or against, making them Legacy bound have merit. The whole Helix system, and the Gree event, is not about the rewards. The rewards are a bonus. They are a trophy, heck they are a T-Shirt, showing the community around “I was there, it was crazy, I had fun!”

SWTOR’s second live event, The Grand Acquisitions Race, has come to a close. This is an event that had rumors flying around for quite a while before it started, which meant the expectations of most players were set pretty high. It’s also important to note that four, long months have passed since our last in-game event, the Rise of the Rakghouls, which meant that, yep– player expectations were even higher.

Were all those expectations met? Unfortunately, no. That didn’t mean the whole event was a flop, however. Like the Rakghoul plague event, The Grand Acquisitions Race did have some very satisfying moments. It also had some other moments where it fell a bit short, leaving players hungry for more and at times frustrated. Let’s dive in and find out why, shall we?

By now we’ve all heard the news about SWTOR going hybrid-style free to play this fall. The news has given fans of the game some big questions to ponder. How will BioWare’s F2P model hold up to other F2P games? Is continuing my subscription worthwhile? Will EA/BioWare give in to the ugly beast named “Pay-to-Win”? How will this affect SWTOR’s community? All very excellent questions. And unfortunately, we may not know the answers to them until we see this hybrid model in action. Until that point, all we can do is hope for more information, and do our best to make that all-important decision– what’s the best decision for me?

A major model switch like this will no doubt change a vast number of features, Game Updates, items, guilds, social hubs, and individual playstyles. Some players will find themselves frustrated with the numerous changes, and journey to other pastures. Others will find the F2P model perfect to their gaming style, and enjoy leisurely leveling. Others will happily maintain a paid subscription in order to access all the current updates. One of the best parts about the model BioWare is aiming toward is the fact that, yes, there are options. What feels right to one player might not feel right to the next. So the question becomes: How do we know what’s right for us?

With Patch 1.2 out and Patch 1.3 on the way, “soon” the much toted Group Finder will be upon us. Whether it will be a success or just a stepping stone for cross-server is yet to be determined.

To be same-sever or not to be, that is the question.
Bioware initially was not a fan of an LFG queue system, but in 1.3 they will be adding a LFG queue system. Although details are scarce, Bioware has stated that it will be same-server, following in the footsteps of Rift. When Rift first introduced its LFG system it was same-server; unfortunately, players had to wait hours for the queue to pop up, and eventually Trion, Rift’s developer, expanded it to cross-server.

You have a brand new lightsaber and you really want to drive home the news to the opposite faction players. Seeing them in an occasional warzone isn’t enough, you want those PvEers to know too. Reputation is important right?

Or maybe your on the other side of the coin. There is a brand new lightsaber repeatedly striking at your head. Don’t these guys have something better to do than stop me from doing my dailies? Actually no we don’t. Queue times are long and Ilum is abandon. It’s up to us to make our own world PvP. Why to gank, where to gank, and how to not get ganked.

Find out how after the break!

After canceling the release of Ranked Warzones a single day before players were expecting them, Bioware has yet to give us an update on their status. They haven’t even said the typical “we’re working on it but can’t set a deadline” and no one on the dev team has commented. Unfortunately, if they had good news I bet we would hear it, but right now all we get is silence.

Of course the fans aren’t being silent. There are rumors that thousand of players resubscribed to the game just for ranked warzones. From their perspective, Bioware waited to announce the delay of ranked warzones as a marketing and business plan to gain subscriptions.

Tatooine is free from the encroaching rakghoul plague, and players have had a lot to say about the event and how it all went down. Most players were pretty satisfied with Star Wars: The Old Republic’s first major in-game event, and many had some excellent feedback for James Ohlen. He asked for our player feedback on the official forums. Could aspects be improved for the next big in-game event? That answer’s easy: Of course.

The first thing to remember when looking at the event through an objective lens is the fact that, yes, this was BioWare’s first attempt at an in-game event. That doesn’t mean the developers were delving through unfamiliar territory, however. Similar events are popular in most MMORPGs currently, although each developer tends to take different routes when it comes to the details, approach, and overall style of in-game events.

Just in case you haven’t done the quest yet to grab the Crimson Rakling– your very own red rakghoul vanity pet– now’s your chance to find out how! The Rakghoul event will continue until Monday night, so there’s still plenty of time to complete the quest chain.

First things first, let’s head to Tatooine. The quest requires you to discover a few things in either Mos Illa or Anchorhead, whichever perspective side you’re a part of. Make sure and do these first few discovery parts together, because afterwards, you’ll get a buff that allows you to grab the actual quest needed. Once that quest is received, however, you’re free to take your time collecting the fragments. Let’s begin, shall we?

No MMO is complete without mini games. SWTOR is no different. Many people were excited about BioWare’s April’s fool joke of playing virtual janitor. During the Guild Convention, they did confirm that mini games would be coming, but they have yet to announce any. While we wait, in no particular order, here are 4 mini game ideas: Swoop Racing, Gambling, Holochess and Companion PVP. More on mini games after the break.