Final Fantasy XI's time-unlimited free trial is targeting September

Final Fantasy XI is twenty-four years old, and Square Enix keeps opening its doors rather than closing them. On August 22, during the A.M.A.N. Live broadcast, producer and director Yoji Fujito finally put a timeframe on the free trial overhaul announced back in May. The publisher is aiming for September: a target, not a locked date.

The work lands in two stages. The trial's level cap goes from 50 to 75 with September's version update. Lifting the 14-day limit depends on separate account-system maintenance, penciled in for the end of the month. The two may well not arrive together.

"Unlimited" covers the clock and nothing else. The trial stays penned into the base game's zones, expansions excluded, with three characters and 100,000 gil. Trading, the auction house, bazaars, world transfers and several chat and party functions remain locked. Six starting jobs are joined by six unlockable ones: Paladin, Beastmaster, Dark Knight, Bard, Ranger and Summoner.

One detail worth knowing before you commit. On April 30, 2014, Square Enix announced it was dropping the French and German text options "after the July 2014 version update", citing falling player numbers in both languages. The Steam listing still reflects it: English and Japanese only. For an English-speaking newcomer that is no obstacle at all — this is a game that now lives entirely in a language you already read.