Final Fantasy 11 takes cues from FF14 as Square Enix plans a dramatic free trial expansion

In a change that might actually sway my hand, Final Fantasy 11 is looking to take a cue from its MMORPG sibling FF14 and dramatically expand what its free trial looks like. It's no secret that the FF14 free trial has been a huge part of its success, placing no restrictions on playtime and allowing you to now climb all the way to level 80. Following its most recent upgrade, you can experience the full story of Shadowbringers, widely held as its strongest tale, without spending a single thing.

While the FF11 free trial isn't going quite that big yet, what's on the table would be a monumental improvement over the current two-week offer. The latest Final Fantasy 11 developer livestream walks through a wide range of updates coming throughout the rest of the year, but the biggest news if you aren't an active player happens at the two hour and 26 minute mark. It's here that the developers turn to their future plans, and explain how they're thinking about lifting play time limits on the free-to-play version of the MMO.

As highlighted by Reddit user 'Hikiri' (via Gamespot), the plan is to strip out the current two-week limit and let players enjoy FF11 for free for as long as they want, with the trial level cap raised from 50 to 75. Other restrictions will stay in place, including the inability to use the player auction house, invite other players to parties, earn more than 100,000 gil at a time, use the world transfer service, or talk in tell, shout, and yell modes. These are similar to those placed on the FF14 trial, and are primarily there as a way to clamp down on farming bots and scammers.

"I'll say what I can for now," director Yoji Fujito says (via machine translation). "I think everyone knows how long you can play during the free trial - it's 14 days. In two weeks, I mean, if you can go to a place that's this good, I feel like that might not be quite enough." He admits this restriction is "a bit outdated," so the team has been discussing various options to change it, but he believes that it would be best to make it indefinite.

"If it's 14 days, as someone mentioned in the comments earlier, if you and your friends decide to give it a try… if you can't play every day for two weeks, the period you can actually play is much shorter. If it's going to be indefinite, then you can set a goal and see how far you can go with FF11, right?"

Fujito adds that the current level-50 cap on the free trial can be a bit of a bottleneck. "If you try the Shadow Lord mission and get to level 50, it becomes too difficult and you can't beat him. Of course, there's the argument that you should just pay for it," he notes, but says he's "thinking of raising it a bit to make it more fun."

The plan is to lift the limit to level 75, although with an inability to travel to any expansion areas, you'll probably want to consider upgrading before you spend too long at those higher ranks. Fujito remarks that he was considering going all the way to level 99, but decided it wasn't realistic due to the restrictions on item level.

Fujito says the team "hasn't decided on a timeframe yet, we're still discussing it, so it's still to come, but I'd like to make it happen as soon as possible." Slightly later in the conversation, he mentions, "We would like to lay the groundwork for various things like this before we reach our 25th anniversary," which would be in May 2027. To celebrate the 24-year mark, a special short movie has been created by animator 'Waboku,' which you can watch below.

I've long teetered on the brink of diving into Final Fantasy 11 properly, but have always held back. I'm not ready to commit to another subscription, even with the occasional discounts offered to FF14 subscribers, and the two-week free trial cap is too short for me to realistically do anything with in the timeframe I have to play. This overhaul might just be the change that gets me to take the plunge. Perhaps I'll see you in Vana'diel soon.