Final Fantasy 14: A Realm Reborn has long tugged on my nostalgia strings many times before. Sure, it's an MMO set in a world far apart from the one featured in Final Fantasy 6, and yet Magitek Armor exists and can be mounted. It's in no way related to Final Fantasy 13 and yet we've helped Lightning fight off the Aspect of Chaos. Square knows that a healthy dose of nostalgia can be a good driving force for players to jump into a game they normally wouldn't.
Today, Square is once again adding in another nostalgic location, the Gold Saucer, inspired by the one found in Final Fantasy 7. The Gold Saucer is available starting today, and players must be level 15 in order to access it. It's completely free of charge and won't require any sort of microtransactions to access. Those in the free trial that can play until level 20 will also have access to the Gold Saucer.
This haven for games and gambling will house numerous activities and festivities for those who want to take a break from slaying monsters. These are some of the events available.
Chocobo Racing
Players will be able to obtain their own racing Chocobo, and place it in races where they'll be able to control their steering. The courses will be laid with various positive and negative panels that will either speed up or slow down your Chocobo. By participating in races, your Chocobo will level up and gain better stats. You can also opt to retire your Chocobo and have it breed to produce an offspring with higher base stats.
Triple Triad
The card game featured in Final Fantasy 8 will be making its return to FF14. Players will be able to collect over 80 cards, either won through dueling NPCs or bought with Manderville Gold Saucer Points. Once your deck is built, you can challenge other players to see who reigns supreme. Though no cards can be lost or won when challenging other players, there are unique rulesets available for the first time.
GATEs
Gold Saucer Active Time Events are various mini-games that are meant to be both entertaining and competitive. For example, one mini-game will have players stand on a platform while a gust of wind will try to blow them off. The last players standing will be the winners. Another mini-game called The Time of your Life will test players' ability to perform emotes in a Simon Says style game.
Cactpot
Inspired by the Cactuar, the Cactpot will be a daily and weekly jackpot where players can spend their Manderville Gold Saucer Points to bet on Gold Saucer exclusive items.
