Check out the hottest discussions from the previous week in the FFXIV General Forum.

The forums were abuzz this week in the wake of Yoshi P’s most recent Letter From the Producer, in which he outlined the many planned changes to Final Fantasy XIV until summer 2011. Now, why Yoshi-P bolded that date is anyone’s guess, but I was intrigued enough to log some extra hours online this week. My extra time in game left me yearning for the upcoming battle system revisions, but left me reminded of how much potential this game has to be great.

Seems like it was just a few weeks ago that I was wondering whether this game was on the chopping block. Actually, it was just a few weeks ago, following Square Enix’s grim fiscal year forecast. In my subsequent news story, I mentioned that a message from the development team would go a long ways toward easing the minds of players. I’d say Yoshi-P’s recent letter was a darn good reply. Still, some people have doubts – I’m covering both ends of the spectrum in this week’s Hot Read Thursday.

On with the links:

Title: Letters from the Producer X!

This was the letter many people had been waiting for. After learning about the upcoming changes to the battle system, Yoshi-P fills us in on everything else happening behind the development team’s curtain. Even more compelling is his wording that these changes are what’s planned until summer 2011 – will June’s patch be the fabled “golden patch” that forum trolls dreamed up to get under the skin of white knights? Or will this patch fall short of our lofty expectations? Regardless of whether the June patch is godly, we can all rest assured knowing that Final Fantasy XIV isn’t going anywhere soon.

Title: SE announces new MMO in the works

A couple weeks ago, this announcement would have caused some Final Fantasy XIV players to head to the mountains and seal themselves in bomb shelters. I’m not worried that a new MMO means pulling the plug on FFXIV, but I do hope that Square Enix has learned some valuable lessons about launching a large-scale MMO too soon. I’m also intrigued by CEO Yoichi Wada’s wording that SE would like to manage two or three large-scale MMOs at a time. Clearly, one of those would be Final Fantasy XIV, and the other would be this new MMO. If the third is Final Fantasy XI – and I know this is unrelated to XIV – does this mean we can eventually expect a graphics overhaul and real expansions for Vana’diel?

 Title: Don't forget to add this to 1.18!

This thread didn’t generate a ton of discussion, but I felt compelled to post it here anyway, if nothing else because it shows not everyone is familiar with the Square Enix Circle of Life. The principle of the SECOL is simple: Somewhere in the world, there is always a bunny that can whoop your tail.