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91-499: Final Fantasy XIV: Heavensward is the first expansion pack to Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn , a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) developed and published by Square Enix for macOS , PlayStation 3 , PlayStation 4 , and Windows , then later on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S . It was released on June 23, 2015, nearly two years after the debut of A Realm Reborn . Naoki Yoshida served as director and producer and Nobuo Uematsu , who had not worked on

182-400: A "flag", which is most often a piece of fabric, but can be any object small enough to be easily carried by a person (night time games might use flashlights , glowsticks or lanterns as the "flags"). Sometimes teams wear dark colors at night to make it more difficult for their opponents to see them. The objective of the game is for players to venture into the opposing team's territory, grab

273-677: A city in Abalathia's Spine. This angered the great wyrm Nidhogg, who confronted Thordan and his knights twelve. Though he and several knights were slain, Thordan's son Haldrath took up his father's spear, carving out Nidhogg's eye. Nidhogg fled, his eye becoming an Ishgardian relic, granting its volatile power to a line of Azure Dragoons. Nidhogg has since continuously besieged Ishgard and her people. The Ishgardian Archdiocese, currently led by Archbishop Thordan VII, promulgates these claims as holy doctrine. The unending war makes Ishgard isolationist in both policy and everyday demeanor; they withdrew from

364-549: A core set that is reprinted indefinitely, instead, they are retired and replaced with new expansions on a quarterly or bi-annual basis. Expansions usually introduce new rules, or game mechanics, expanding the game's library of cards and rules set. Capture the flag Capture the Flag requires a playing field. In both indoor and outdoor versions, the field is divided into two clearly designated halves, known as territories. Players form two teams, one for each territory. Each side has

455-399: A decade". Mike Williams of USgamer took time to acknowledge the care and detail given to the side quests and commended the localization team for conveying their humor. Many outlets made note of the requirement to finish all A Realm Reborn main story content before being given access to Heavensward . Davison argued that the decision made sense for the story-centric MMORPG and appreciated

546-606: A heretic plot, as well as Ser Aymeric, Lord Commander of the Temple Knights, after defending against a Dravanian assault. After being betrayed during a coup in Ul'dah, the Warrior seeks asylum from the charge of regicide alongside Alphinaud and Tataru, the only other Scions to safely escape. Nidhogg's roar prompts changes to both factions in the war; Aymeric and Count Edmont of House Fortemps open Ishgard to foreign assistance against

637-528: A high rank in the Feast are awarded with unique gear and trophies at the end of a season. An unranked version also exists for new players which features eight-versus-eight combat. The remaining new modes are for 24-player alliances to confront other Grand Companies. Seal Rock (Seize) is a capture the flag -style mode in which players must occupy and defend randomly spawning resource nodes from other teams. The Fields of Glory (Shatter) involves destroying objects around

728-481: A particular content gap manifesting toward the latter half of the expansion's leveling progression. Instead of completing a large number of "insipid" filler quests dealing with moogles , he opted to run the later leveling dungeons to overcome this hump. Williams and Salbato experienced a similar slow period during this midgame. Like A Realm Reborn , Heavensward continues the game's strong console feature set and controller support. Lucas maintained that Final Fantasy XIV

819-434: A player should be trusted to go to jail on their own, or should need to be escorted, depending on the game. Players can leave the jail after a certain time, for example three minutes, or can leave early if tagged by a teammate. Depending on the game, players can be released on the way to jail, or may have to be in jail before being released. The rules for the handling of the flag also vary from game to game and deal mostly with

910-584: A predetermined amount of time before returning to play (respawning). "Stealing sticks" is a similar game played in the British Isles, the United States, and Australia. However, instead of a flag, a number of sticks or other items such as coats or hats are placed in a "goal" on the far end of each side of the playing field or area. As in Capture the Flag, players are sent to a "prison" if tagged on

1001-401: Is a defensive team and an offensive team, or games with three or more flags. In the case of the latter, one can only win when all flags are captured. Another variation is when the players put bandannas in their pockets with about six inches sticking out. Instead of tagging opponents, players must pull their opponent's bandanna out of their pocket. No matter where a player is when their bandanna

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1092-530: Is an updated four-versus-four arena in the Wolves' Den in which players attempt to defeat other players to collect their medals. The team with the most medals at the end of the match wins. Unlike the Fold of A Realm Reborn , players respawn automatically in this mode and item boxes appear periodically around the arena which provide offensive and defensive advantages to the team that breaks them open. Players who maintain

1183-412: Is collection of music from the expansion pack including both the launch and Patch 3.1, "As Goes Light, So Goes Darkness". The album was released by Square Enix on February 24, 2016, on Blu-ray Disc and includes a documentary about the sound production process featuring Soken. The first print run also came with a special "Spoony Bard" in-game pet, referring to the character from Final Fantasy IV . Unlike

1274-649: Is just a primal she created. Hraesvelgr speaks of Midgardsormr's arrival on the star. Of his seven children, Hraesvelgr, Ratatoskr, and Nidhogg settled in Eorzea. Nidhogg distrusted mortals after ancient Allag slew Bahamut and imprisoned Tiamat. Shiva had Hraesvelgr devour her, so their souls would be linked forever. The ensuing peace ended when King Thordan I and his knights murdered Ratatoskr, consuming her eyes for power. Nidhogg, in his fury, slew King Thordan, swearing vengeance on his descendants. Hraesvelgr rejects peace, judging Nidhogg's cause just. Out of options, Estinien and

1365-400: Is possible for the players to throw the flag to teammates. As long as the flag stays in play without hitting the ground, the players are allowed to pass it. When the flag is captured by one player, they're not safe from being tagged, unless they trip. Sometimes, the flag holder may not be safe at all, even in their home territory, until they obtain both flags, thus ending the game. Their goal

1456-491: Is pulled, they're captured and must either go to jail or return to their base before returning to play. In this version there is no team territory, only a small base where the team's flag is kept. To win, one team must have both of the flags in their base. In some urban settings, the game is played indoors in an enclosed area with walls. There is also an area in the opposing ends for the flag to be placed in. In this urban variation legal checking as in hockey , including against

1547-462: Is reflected in the pieces he wrote. Each locale's theme features the instruments that might be played there. Piano was used heavily throughout the soundtrack to add character to the other instruments. Soken's favorite track from Heavensward was "Revenge Twofold", a dungeon theme; it was originally intended for the Nidhogg battle but was repurposed. Heavensward: Final Fantasy XIV Original Soundtrack

1638-438: Is the best MMORPG for video game home consoles, though she cautioned that PlayStation 3 players might experience longer load times than on PlayStation 4. Taken together, the critical response to Heavensward indicate confidence in the game's direction. Mark Langshaw of Digital Spy summarized that " Heavensward feels like a reward for the fans who gave Final Fantasy XIV a second chance after its botched launch in 2010". During

1729-421: Is to return to their own side or hand it off to a teammate who will then carry it to the other side. In most versions the flag may be handed off while running. The game is won when a player returns to their own territory with the enemy flag or both teams' flags. Also, rarely the flag carrier may not attempt to free any of their teammates from jail. Alterations may include "one flag" Capture the Flag in which there

1820-702: The Enterprise help defeat the primal Bismarck, who held the key to Azys Lla, but the Ascian Igeyorhm steals it. Blocked by Azys Lla's protection field, the Scions turn back and rescue Y'shtola, trapped in the Lifestream during the escape from Ul'dah. She directs them to her mentor Matoya. With her aid, the group breaches Azys Lla's barrier. The Garlean Empire's new flagship followed the Warrior of Light in hopes of looting Allagan technology, opening fire on

1911-577: The Enterprise . Ysayle, having acquired Hraesvelgr's aid, intervenes, sacrificing herself so the Enterprise can land on Azys Lla. There lie imprisoned the Warring Triad, a trio of ancient primals, and Tiamat. Thordan intends to absorb the Triad's power and conquer Eorzea. The Warrior converses with Tiamat and Midgardsormr, who restores Hydaelyn's blessing. The Warrior kills Igeyorhm and defeats Lahabrea. Thordan arrives, absorbing Nidhogg's other eye and

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2002-693: The London media again in order to play. Sonic & Knuckles for the Mega Drive/Genesis was unusual in that it functioned as both a stand-alone cartridge and as an expansion pack for both Sonic the Hedgehog 2 and Sonic the Hedgehog 3 . Collectible card games, or CCGs for short, are typically released as expansion sets, composed of booster packs . CCGs may be referred to as "living" or "dead", and living CCGs are routinely published with supplementary expansions. CCGs generally do not have

2093-689: The OS X client at its launch on June 23, 2015. The port was handled by TransGaming . Unlike console and Windows PC versions of the expansion, the OS X release was initially only available in a two-in-one bundle containing the base game and the Heavensward expansion, titled Final Fantasy XIV Online . Current players of other versions of the game, including Apple PC players running the Windows PC install via Boot Camp , needed to purchase this bundle to play using

2184-705: The Alliance and the Scions prepare for the Empire's inevitable response . Planning for Heavensward , along with the patches leading into its story, began well over a year prior to its announcement. Naoki Yoshida, the game's producer and director, considered the expansion to be a "sink or swim" moment for the Final Fantasy XIV project, its success or failure determining the arc of the game's legacy. For theme, he decided between "Sea" and "Sky", ultimately settling on "Sky, dragons, and knights". The progression from

2275-558: The Alliance. In a post-credits scene, the Ascians' losses lead Elidibus to recruit the "Warriors of Darkness". The revelation of Ishgard's origins splinters the citizenry into populist factions supporting Aymeric and denialists supported by Thordan's allies. As Nidhogg prepares to strike again, Aymeric attempts diplomatic relations with Dravania, proposing a meeting with Hraesvelgr's daughter Vidofnir. The Scions reunite with Thancred, who had been lost after escaping from Ul'dah, and clash with

2366-587: The Crystal Braves in so doing, but their leader Ilberd escapes. They learn from Lolorito that the Sultana lives: he subverted Adeledji's plot, swapping the poison for a sleep draught. Lolorito gives the antidote to Raubahn, who spares him and aids Nanamo in returning to rule. Alphinaud, the Warrior and Estinien entreat Iceheart to seek peace with Nidhogg. Iceheart reveals she also has the Echo, which showed her

2457-521: The DirectX 9 client. In addition, the new client is less resource-intensive on the graphical processing unit and may improve frame rates . However, there are no current plans to upgrade to DirectX 12. For consoles, the development team committed to maintaining support for the PlayStation 3 client through the end of the Heavensward patch cycle. Two new categories of content were introduced during

2548-502: The Eorzean Alliance. At the conference, Vidofnir agrees to peace with Ishgard, but Nidhogg returns and assault her; he promises Ishgard's total annihilation in his next assault. Alphinaud, the Warrior and Aymeric go to Hraesvelgr for assistance in saving Estinien. After enduring his trials, they convince Hraesvelgr to help, as Nidhogg launches his final assault. Hraesvelgr fights Nidhogg, but is defeated; he passes on his eye to

2639-585: The First, from a "Flood of Light" that has nearly destroyed it, in exchange for their help. Tracking down another lead among Ala Mhigan refugees, the Scions are reunited with Yda and Papalymo, who have joined the Resistance efforts against the Garlean Empire. They have grown suspicious of a faction led by the mysterious Griffin. The Griffin's decoy points the party to a summoning of Ifrit, where they fight

2730-432: The Flag . It is a turn-based strategy game with real time network / modem play (or play-by-mail ) based around the traditional outdoor game. The game required players to merely move one of their characters onto the same square as their opponent's flag, as opposed to bringing it back to friendly territory, because of difficulties implementing the artificial intelligence that the computer player would have needed to bring

2821-488: The Flag is among the games that made a comeback among adults in the early 21st century as part of the urban gaming trend (which includes games like Pac-Manhattan , Fugitive , Unreal Tournament and Manhunt ). The game is played on city streets and players use cellphones to communicate. News about the games spreads virally through the use of blogs and mailing lists . Urban Capture the Flag has been played in cities throughout North America. One long-running example occurs on

Final Fantasy XIV: Heavensward - Misplaced Pages Continue

2912-669: The Garlean base dividing the Black Shroud and occupied Ala Mhigo. The Scions intervene and discover that the Griffin is Ilberd, who intends to provoke a Garlean counterattack so that Eorzea will be forced to liberate Ala Mhigo, his homeland. Using Nidhogg's eyes and the prayers of his dying soldiers, Ilberd kills himself to create the primal Shinryu to destroy the Empire. Papalymo sacrifices himself, using an ancient sealing ritual to stall

3003-535: The House of Commons and House of Lords, oh which he is elected as chairman. Ishgard celebrates the war's end. Alisaie, Alphinaud's twin sister, arrives injured at House Fortemps. She was attacked by the Warriors of Darkness, having overheard Elidibus telling them of his plot to trigger an arms race of primal summoning. In another run-in with the Scions, the Warriors reveal that Elidibus promised to help save their shard,

3094-476: The OS X version of the client that same month due to numerous reports of poor technical performance and offered refunds to those who purchased it. OS X sales resumed in February 2016. As with A Realm Reborn , major content patches were scheduled for every three months, though the first one—"As Goes Light, So Goes Darkness"—was delayed to November 10 the same year, to give the development team a break after shipping

3185-472: The Warrior finds Alphinaud and Tataru accused of heresy by the Heavens' Ward, Archbishop Thordan VII's honor guard . Requesting trial by combat, Tataru chooses the Warrior as her champion, and they secure victory. Thordan apologizes, and reveals to the Warrior that he intends to double-cross the Ascians. Raubahn is imprisoned, awaiting execution for the Sultana's poisoning, but the Scions free him. They defeat

3276-550: The Warrior of Light, allowing them to defeat Nidhogg. The Warrior and Alphinaud remove Nidhogg's eyes from Estinien's armor and cast them into the Sea of Clouds, saving Estinien and destroying Nidhogg for good. The horde retreats in disarray, ending the war. A recovering Estinien relinquishes his title as Azure Dragoon and departs. Aymeric establishes a parliamentary democracy in Ishgard led by lowborn and highborn citizens, represented by

3367-519: The Warrior returns to Ishgard to share the truth. However, the Archbishop and church leaders already know, and imprison Aymeric for attempting to reveal it. Lucia and the Temple Knights rescue him. The Warrior and Haurchefaunt try to arrest Thordan, but Haurchefaunt is killed shielding the Warrior from a Heavens' Ward ambush. Swearing vengeance, the Warrior and Alphinaud pursue Thodan, who has left for Azys Lla, an ancient Allagan floating colony. Cid and

3458-468: The Warrior storm Nidhogg's lair, slay him, and take his remaining eye. The Warrior learns that this eye is in fact Hraesvelgr's: Haldrath gouged out both of Nidhogg's eyes, only one of which became the Azure Dragoons' source of power, and Hraesvelgr saved Nidhogg's life by giving him one of his own eyes. After the Warrior returns Hraesvelgr's eye to him, Ysayle leaves to dissuade her followers, and

3549-457: The Warriors of Darkness, revealed to be a band of adventurers. The party returns to find Thordan's allies staging a revolt. The Warrior of Light aids the Temple Knights in a raid on the insurgents' stronghold, during which the ringleader almost kills a hostage child. Vidofnir, who had come to warn Ishgard of Nidhogg's movements, saves the child, impressing onlookers. The Scions deduce that Hydaelyn transported Minfilia away from Ul'dah. Crossing into

3640-474: The Warriors of Darkness. One of them reveals himself as the Scion Urianger, playing double agent. He invokes a ritual to gain an audience with Minfilia. At Urianger's suggestion, she accompanies the Warriors of Darkness to their home world to try to save the First. Meanwhile, Elidibus hands over Nidhogg's eyes (which the Warriors retrieved) to the Griffin. The Griffin leads an attack on Baelsar's Wall,

3731-468: The adjustment to quests to make this process easier for new players. Daniella Lucas of GamesRadar agreed, saying "to bypass A Realm Reborn would be a disservice to a truly gripping tale". Johnson recognized the necessity of the story-based gate but criticized the decision to lock the new job classes behind it as well. Reviewers compared the addition of flying gameplay favorably to World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade . Mike Salbato of RPGFan lauded

Final Fantasy XIV: Heavensward - Misplaced Pages Continue

3822-519: The aetherial sea, the Warrior learns that Minfilia gave up her soul to Hydaelyn, becoming her avatar. Hydaelyn explains that her battle with the Ascians' God, Zodiark, split the planet into thirteen reflections. The Ascians have so far orchestrated seven calamities to merge each shard into Zodiark and weaken Hydaelyn, which necessitated Minfilia's sacrifice. In Ishgard, Aymeric is opposed by Ishgardians who want vengeance against Dravania. To boost Ishgardian unity, Aymeric organizes joint military exercises with

3913-585: The air currents in an area, players gain the ability to use new flying mounts, such as airships, in that location. Flying allows access to previously unreachable points in the terrain. Airships built by player-run guilds also have the ability to explore floating islands for rare materials, as well as the Diadem—an open world area where players can challenge large monsters for high level gear and spoils. In addition to new dungeons and raids, Heavensward introduces three new player versus player (PvP) modes. The Feast

4004-420: The battlefield for points. Heavensward takes place on Hydaelyn, a fictional planet with diverse Earth-like climates, focused on the isolationist Holy See of Ishgard, in the snowy mountains of Coerthas. Ishgard is the northernmost part of the primary gameplay region, Eorzea. The three Eorzean Alliance nations—Gridania, Limsa Lominsa, and Ul'dah—and the Garlean Empire also appear. The Ascians, immortal servants of

4095-502: The choice to lock flying until players had explored each area on foot. Williams echoed this sentiment, observing that it preserves the sense of exploration and wonder in the world. Lucas and Davison were more equivocal about this feature but ultimately agreed with the developers' decision. However, they all agreed the expansive new zones were a highlight of the game, with Adriaan den Ouden of RPGamer impressed by "spectacular vistas that are simply stunning to behold". Johnson took issue with

4186-453: The concept are module and, in certain games' marketing, adventure . The price of an expansion pack is usually much less than that of the original game. As expansion packs consist solely of additional content, most require the original game in order to play. Games with many expansions often begin selling the original game with prior expansions, such as The Sims Deluxe Edition ( The Sims with The Sims: Livin' Large ). These bundles make

4277-523: The constraints of existing backstory and assets for Ishgard and elaborated on them. This includes a fictional language for the dragons which Michael-Christopher Koji Fox, the director of English localization, had created during the development of the 2010 release. The expansion was announced at the Las Vegas segment of Final Fantasy XIV Fan Festival 2014 , which took place in October. Further details about

4368-507: The course of its two-year content cycle. The final patches serve as a segue into the story of the second expansion, Stormblood . Masayoshi Soken composed the majority of the expansion's score—over 50 tracks—in addition to his duties as sound director. On the other hand, Heavensward marked Nobuo Uematsu 's first return to the Final Fantasy series since his work on the original 2010 release of Final Fantasy XIV . Uematsu composed

4459-504: The dark god Zodiark, continue their machinations. Flight permits players to explore the dragon homeland of Dravania and islands floating above the Abalathia's Spine mountains. In Dravania, the abandoned and ruined Sharlayan colony has become Idyllshire, a free, democratic city founded by goblins. Heavensward ' s primary conflict concerns the millennial Dragonsong War between Ishgard and Nidhogg's draconic horde. Ishgardian orthodoxy claims Halone, their goddess, commanded King Thordan build

4550-514: The direction of the Final Fantasy XIV project—if it would continue its comeback story that began with A Realm Reborn or if it would falter and further damage the series. Reception of the expansion was "generally favorable" for both PC and PlayStation 4 versions, according to review aggregator Metacritic , based on 14 and 20 reviews, respectively. Heavensward sold 47,000 units across PlayStation 3 and 4 versions in Japan in its first week, making it

4641-433: The disposition of the flag after a failed attempt at capturing it. In one variant, after a player is tagged while carrying the flag, it is returned to its original place. In another variant, the flag is left in the location where the player was tagged. This latter variant makes offensive play easier, as the flag will tend, over the course of the game, to be moved closer to the dividing line between territories. In some games, it

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4732-426: The dragons, while Lady Iceheart grows her band of heretics seeking reconciliation. Estinien, the current Azure Dragoon, returns to hunt down Nidhogg. After the bloody banquet in Ul'dah , Haurchefaunt persuades his father, Count Edmont Fortemps, to offer asylum to the remaining Scions. The Warrior assists Edmont's sons, and they encounter Lady Iceheart, who regrets the deaths in her recent assault. Returning to Ishgard,

4823-416: The enemy flag home and intercept opposing characters carrying the flag. In computer security Capture the Flag (CTF), "flags" are secrets hidden in purposefully-vulnerable programs or websites. Competitors steal flags either from other competitors (attack/defense-style CTFs) or from the organizers (jeopardy-style challenges). Several variations exist, including hiding flags in hardware devices. Capture

4914-462: The expansion pack increases the level cap , adds three new character classes and a new playable race, and introduces flying gameplay through the use of airships and other airborne mounts. Heavensward performed well critically and earned nominations for "Expansion of the Year". By July 2015, the title had reached a cumulative total of five million subscriptions. However, the company suspended sales of

5005-523: The expansion pack's launch. Heavensward focuses on a millennium -long conflict known as the Dragonsong War between the Holy See of Ishgard and the dragon horde of Dravania. Players seek asylum in Ishgard after being falsely accused of murder and become involved in efforts to end the war. These actions uncover an ancient conspiracy concerning the origins of the war. In addition to the new areas,

5096-630: The expansion were released at the London and Tokyo events, including the three new jobs, the new playable race, and the new raid. Yoshida also revealed a data center based in Europe to improve server performance for European players, as well as a service providing optional cosmetic items for purchase. Unlike A Realm Reborn , the Heavensward storyline is an original story not directly inspired by previous Final Fantasy titles. Instead, it draws influence from real events such as religion-based conflicts around

5187-462: The expansion's main theme, "Dragonsong", and Soken used it as a musical through-line which reappears at multiple points in the story and soundtrack. Susan Calloway, who sang the theme song for the original release, reprised her role for this piece. Soken emphasized the music's connection to the story as important to his composition process, ever focused on enhancing the player's experience through sound. He found that Heavensward ' s "dark" main story

5278-425: The expansion. The gameplay and quest structure of Heavensward largely match that of its base game. As with many massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPGs), players interact with each other in a persistent world that responds to their actions. The biggest change to the combat is an increase of the level cap to level 60, which allows each fighting class to learn new abilities that significantly modify

5369-404: The first Eorzean Alliance and ignored the second, preoccupied with the Dragonsong War. It also manifests in their fanatical devotion to Halone and persecution of "heretics"—those who support dragons. Just prior to Heavensward , Nidhogg awakens, calling his brood to active invasion once again. The player's character, the Warrior of Light, befriends Haurchefaunt Greystone of House Fortemps for foiling

5460-408: The first season so you know what's going on". The team made adjustments to allow new players to "watch that first season on fast-forward", including increasing experience point gain and adding gear rewards to main scenario quests, alleviating the need to grind to access the expansion. For future expansions, Yoshida said that previous story completion will not be a requirement. Heavensward premiered

5551-421: The flag could be hidden in the leaves up in a tall tree, and the players have to see the flag, then knock it out and bring it to their base. The rules for jail vary from game to game and deal with what happens if a player is tagged in the other team's territory. Either each team can decide a designated area for the other team's players to go to when tagged, or a single jail can be used for both teams. When tagged,

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5642-528: The flag, and return with it to their territory without being tagged. The flag is defended mainly by tagging opposing players who attempt to take it. Within their territory players are "safe", meaning that they cannot be tagged by opposing players. Once they cross into the opposing team's territory they are vulnerable to tagging. Rules for Capture the Flag appear in 1860 in the German gymnastic manual Lehr- und Handbuch der deutschen Turnkunst by Wilhelm Lübeck under

5733-464: The flow of battle. Three new job classes are introduced as well—the abyssal tank Dark Knight, the gun-toting Machinist, and the star-powered healer Astrologian. These jobs begin at level 30 with their own storylines connected to the new setting. Heavensward features new areas which are about three times as large as zones in A Realm Reborn . The reason for the size increase is to accommodate flying gameplay. After completing certain quests and attuning to

5824-540: The game more accessible to new players. When games reach the end of their lifespan, the publisher often releases a 'complete' or 'gold' collection, which includes the game and all its subsequent expansions. Some expansion packs do not require the original game in order to use the new content, as is the case with Half-Life: Blue Shift , Uncharted: The Lost Legacy , Dishonored: Death of the Outsider or Sonic & Knuckles . Some art, sound, and code are reused from

5915-474: The game world) to play capture the flag against an increasingly difficult team of four AI bots. Bannercatch ' s game world is divided into quadrants: home, enemy, and two "no-mans land" areas which hold the jails. A successful capture requires bringing the enemy flag into one team's "home" quadrant. Players can be captured when in an enemy territory, or in "no-mans land" while holding a flag. Captured players must be "rescued" from their designated jail by one of

6006-425: The game, Beatmania Append Yebisu Mix, was bundled with the PlayStation version as the game's 2nd disc, with subsequent append discs being released as standalone retail releases. Grand Theft Auto: London 1969 was marketed as the first expansion pack released for the PlayStation. The game required the player to insert the London disc, remove it, insert the original Grand Theft Auto disc, remove it, then insert

6097-404: The ground before it can be caught, the flag is placed from the spot of the throw. If a player throws the flag, but is blocked or intercepted by a player from the opposing team, the flag is placed back at the base. It is not uncommon for people to play airsoft, paintball, or Nerf variations of Capture the Flag. Typically there are no territories in these versions. Players who are "hit" must sit out

6188-433: The main game to its expansion was laid out in detail and these elements were categorized so that developers would not get confused between patch content and expansion content which were being created simultaneously. They chose Ishgard as the setting because it was teased in the original 2010 version of Final Fantasy XIV and lent itself well to the gothic fantasy story they wanted to tell. The development team worked within

6279-584: The maximum over the course of the first 50 floors. The first section is considered casual content but reaching the 200th floor is intended as a challenge for hardcore players. The development team schedules the release of a major update approximately every three months. Each of these free content patches includes a continuation of the main scenario as well as new raids, features, trials, and dungeons. Minor patches that come in between major updates focus on quality of life improvements. As with A Realm Reborn , Square Enix released five major patches for Heavensward over

6370-644: The name Fahnenbarlauf . In the 19th century, Capture the Flag was not considered a distinct game, but a variation of the European game "Barlaufen" ( Barlauf mit Fahnenraub ), played in France and Germany. Descriptions of Capture the Flag in English appeared in the early 20th century, e. g. in " Scouting for Boys " written in 1908 by Robert Baden-Powell , the founder of the Scouting Movement, under

6461-402: The native OS X client. On July 3, Square Enix suspended sales of this version because of widespread reports of poor technical performance and offered refunds to those who purchased it. Yoshida attributed the performance problems to difficulties in transposing the game from Microsoft's proprietary DirectX graphical rendering libraries to OpenGL as well as a clerical error resulting in publishing

6552-508: The opponents' side, and may be freed by teammates. Each player may only take one of their opponents' sticks at a time. The first team to take all of the opponents' sticks to their own side wins. In 1984, Scholastic published Bannercatch for the Apple II and Commodore 64 computers. An educational video game with recognizable capture-the-flag mechanics, Bannercatch allows up to two humans (each alternating between two characters in

6643-517: The original creator, video game developers sometimes contract out development of the expansion pack to a third-party company, it may choose to develop the expansion itself, or it may do both. Board games and tabletop RPGs may have been marketing expansions since the 1970s, and video games have been releasing expansion packs since the 1980s, early examples being the Dragon Slayer games Xanadu Scenario II and Sorcerian . Other terms for

6734-442: The original game. In some cases, a stand-alone expansion such as Heroes of Might and Magic III: The Shadow of Death , or Dungeon Siege: Legends of Aranna includes the original game. Expansion packs are most commonly released for PC games , but are becoming increasingly prevalent for video game consoles , particularly due to the popularity of downloadable content . The increasing number of multi-platform games has also led to

6825-473: The other members of the team. Fallen flags remain where they dropped until a time-out period elapses, after which the flag returns to one of several starting locations in home territory. The 2D map also features walls, trees and a moving river, enabling a wide variety of strategies. Special locations in the play area allow humans to query the game state (such as flag status) using binary messages. In 1992, Richard Carr released an MS-DOS based game called Capture

6916-422: The patch cycle of Heavensward , post-launch: Exploratory Missions and Deep Dungeon. Exploratory Missions are designed to emulate the feel of "first generation" MMORPGs in which players would hunt notorious monsters in the field with hidden spawn conditions. It also fills a gap in the game's content repertoire for huge-scale battles with extremely large numbers of players. It was not well received at launch because of

7007-458: The previous Final Fantasy XIV album, all of the music was new to the album, though 16 of the tracks were previously released in September through November 2015 as Final Fantasy XIV: Heavensward -EP- Vol. 1. through 3 . The album was well received by Emily McMillan of Video Game Music Online , who lauded the soundtrack's "brilliant, varied, and extraordinarily fun to hear" themes. She praised

7098-478: The release of more expansion packs on consoles, especially stand-alone expansion packs (as described above). Command & Conquer 3: Kane's Wrath , for example, requires the original Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars to play on the PC, but Xbox 360 versions of both the original Tiberium Wars and Kane's Wrath are available, neither of which require one another. The Japanese version of Konami 's Beatmania

7189-412: The sideboards, is allowed. A player who commits a foul or illegal check is placed in a penalty box for a specified amount of time, depending on the severity of the foul. A player who deliberately injures an opponent is expelled from the rest of the game. Throwing the flag is allowed in this variation, as long as the flag is caught before it hits the ground. If the flag is thrown to a teammate but hits

7280-474: The simplicity of its battle mechanics, the repetitive nature of the gameplay loop, and the randomness of the loot drops which were not tied to skill or effort spent. Deep Dungeon is a roguelike randomly generated instance, inspired by Chocobo's Mysterious Dungeon . Yoshida wanted to allow veteran players to party with their friends who are just starting out more quickly; as such, characters are temporarily reset to level one upon entering and level quickly back to

7371-459: The third bestselling video game of the week in that region. A focal point of praise for the game centered on the story. Pete Davison of GameSpot drew attention to the themes of racism and questioning of religious dogma as well as the dramatic arcs of characters like Ysayle, which he called "among the series' most memorable". Leif Johnson of IGN felt similarly, holding it as "the finest Final Fantasy tale that developer Square Enix has told in

7462-480: The title "Flag Raiding". They also appeared in the 1920 Edition of "The Official Handbook for Boys" published by the Boy Scouts of America . The flag is usually placed in a visibly obvious location at the rear of a team's territory. In a more difficult version, the flag is hidden in a place where it can only be seen from certain angles. Capturing the flag also might require completing some challenge. For example,

7553-407: The title since the ill-fated 2010 launch of the original Final Fantasy XIV , returned to collaborate with Masayoshi Soken on the soundtrack. The expansion pack was released as a standalone product for current players, as well as an "all-in-one" bundle containing A Realm Reborn and Heavensward . The latter was the only way to access the OS X version of the game, which premiered on the same day as

7644-424: The truth of the war. Born Ysayle, she took the name Iceheart after communing with Saint Shiva, who brokered two centuries of peace between man and dragon through her romance with Nidhogg's brother, Hraesvelgr. Ysayle agrees to cease her extremist methods and help them find Hraesvelgr. After defeating the primal Ravana and slaying Nidhogg's consort, the group finds Hraesvelgr, who reveals the "Shiva" Ysayle communes with

7735-480: The uncontrollable Shinryu. The Scions awaken the ancient Allagan war-machine Omega, which battles Shinryu, ending with both being apparently destroyed. With the seal gone, Papalymo's last spell also fades—an enchanted tattoo used to disguise Yda, who reveals herself as Yda's sister Lyse; the real Yda had died fighting in the Resistance and Lyse took up her name to preserve her memory. Lyse renews her resolve to fight for Ala Mhigan independence. With Baelsar's Wall captured,

7826-455: The unique atmosphere of the new expansion's music, as well as its integration into the overall game's soundscape. Mike Salbato of RPGFan was impressed by the cohesiveness of the entire soundtrack, owing to the recurrence of motifs from "Heavensward" and "Dragonsong". He also singled out "Night in the Brume" as a graceful, melancholy town theme. Critics looked to Heavensward as a bellwether for

7917-448: The weakened Lahabrea, and transforms into the primal King Thordan. Despite their combined power, Thordan and the Heavens' Ward are slain by the Warrior. Estinien prepares to seal Nidhogg's eyes, but Nidhogg's lingering spirit possesses him, reforming his body and escaping. The Warrior's group returns to Ishgard, where Midgardsormr warns that Nidhogg will return. As Thordan's illegitimate son, Aymeric becomes acting ruler, and Ishgard rejoins

8008-414: The world and the importance of recognizing the perspective that history is written from. The team chose to require new players to complete the A Realm Reborn story before accessing Heavensward because it provides necessary context for the player's actions. Yoshida referred to Heavenward as "the second season to a television program", remarking "you don't watch it from the second season, you watch it from

8099-519: The wrong minimum system requirements , both compounded by the hectic work schedule demanded by the release of an expansion pack. After new rounds of testing and optimization, sales of the OS X client resumed on February 23, 2016, accompanying the release of Patch 3.2. Another major focus of the expansion is to update the game with DirectX 11 support. The DirectX 11 version of the game includes improvements to water physics, light refraction in water, reflections, and visual quality of shadows and textures over

8190-710: The year-end awards cycle, Heavensward won "Best MMO" from RPGFan , Game Informer , and Massively Overpowered . It also earned "Best Expansion" from Hardcore Gamer . The BAFTA Games Awards nominated the title for best " evolving game " in both 2016 and 2017 award years. Expansion pack An expansion pack , expansion set , supplement , or simply expansion , is an addition to an existing role-playing game , tabletop game , video game , collectible card game or miniature wargame . These add-ons usually add new game areas, weapons, objects, characters, adventures or an extended storyline to an already-released game. While board game expansions are typically designed by

8281-608: Was the first game on the PlayStation to support expansion packs, which were branded as append discs. These discs included additional tracks and required the original Beatmania disc (and later playable Beatmania game discs) to play. The discs required the player to access the Disc Change menu on the Beatmania disc, remove the Beatmania disc, insert an append disc, then press the start button to play. The first append disc for

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