Square Enix releases details about their Collector's Edition of Final Fantasy XIV!

Square Enix, set to release their highly anticipated next generation MMO Final Fantasy in just a little over a month to customers of the Collector's Edition, has released images and details on the two different editions. In addition, they've provided details on how they plan to entice current Final Fantasy XI adventurers to venture into their new fantasy world of Eorzea.

Discuss this on the ZAM forums.

The Collector's Edition (box art seen below) will be released on September 22, 2010, eight whole days before the release of the Standard Edition, allowing the "early birds" to have a whole week of fun before everyone else. The Collector's Edition is currently priced at $74.99.

The Standard Edition of Final Fantasy XIV (box cover below), priced at a lower retail of $49.99, will allow players to begin playing in Eorzea on September 30, 2010.

A bonus that customers of the Collector's Edition can look forward to is a Right of Passage Document that details your character's name, race, clan, birthdate, and gender, issued by your starting city.

This document will be mailed to you, presumably after the creation of your first character.

A particularly interesting inclusion is a travel journal, which includes never-before-seen concept art.

One can see this as a valuable item to have for Disciples of the Hand!

An authenticator, which features a new Final Fantasy XIV design, will also be included with the Collector's Edition, heightening account security.

Adventurers coming from Vana'diel will be interested in hearing about what bonuses are in store for them if they decide to subscribe to both games.

Reduced Monthly Fee

XI and XIV Developer Hiromichi Tanaka had previously hinted at a reduction in the monthly fee of Final Fantasy XI and ZAM has since learned that current XI subscribers will receive a $5.95 base discount when both XI and XIV are registered to the same Square Enix Account. This discount will not apply during a free trial of either games and will only be offered to subscribers who pay by credit card. The discount will only be applied to one XI account per XIV account.

Users debating playing both games will only have until January 2011 to take advantage of the discount. If you do, your base fee for Final Fantasy XI would only be $7.00 versus $12.95!

Bonus XIV In-Game Item

A second bonus available to subscribers of both games is a special in-game item called Hermes Shoes.

Described as, "Named after an elder god, all but forgotten in the modern age, these gold-tipped shoes have been crafted with the lightest of leathers, making them optimal for use by heralds and noterunners.”, the Hermes Shoes will be available in your inventory at the start of the game, provided that you have an active XI account linked before your character is created and you must have a valid Content ID registered. The account cannot be in a free trial period.

Transfer Your Vana'diel Character Name

A third bonus to players of both worlds is the chance to transfer your character name over to Eorzea. However, due to restrictions on this feature, it's hard to envision many players taking advantage of this bonus.

Transfers will not be applicable with the following instances:

• If the FINAL FANTASY XIV playable character is created before an active FINAL FANTASY XI account is linked
• If, at the time that the FINAL FANTASY XIV character is created, the Content ID on the linked FINAL FANTASY XI is invalid or has been cancelled
• If the linked FINAL FANTASY XI account is within the free trial period
• If no FINAL FANTASY XI character exists on the linked FINAL FANTASY XI account

Character names may take up to 24 hours to be available and will automatically take on the character's Vana'diel server name as their surname.

Example:

• FINAL FANTASY XI Player Character Name: Mikhalia
• FINAL FANTASY XI World Name: Carbuncle
• The resulting FINAL FANTASY XIV character name: Mikhalia Carbuncle

With a potential 24-hour wait on this bonus and the inability to choose your own surname, one would think that players would just as soon simply create the character with the name and surname of their choice immediately.

Update: Bonuses for the PlayStation 3 version will be announced at a later time.