Final Fantasy XI version update arrives, but feels somewhat empty

Highly-anticipated features delayed until August.

July 24, 2006

The Final Fantasy XI is set to arrive today, but Square Enix has announced that two of the major features of this update: Chocobo Breeding and the extension of the Treasures of Aht Urhgan storyline have been delayed.

The Treasures of Aht Urhgan expansion was released in April, but the story that accompanies the expansion is incomplete. Square Enix had been planning to introduce new missions and quests that continue this story on the July 24 update, but this portion has been delayed until August 2.

Meanwhile, the Chocobo Breeding feature, which was initially planned for release with the release of Aht Urhgan back in April, has again been delayed — this time until August 22.

Chocobo breeding was set to appear in this expansion, but has been delayed until late August.

The remaining portions of this update are said to include Besieged changes, new quests for the three jobs that were introduced in Aht Urhgan and possibly Xbox 360 achievements for players on that console.

The game's maintenance period, which was set to run from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm Pacific time today, was extended until 5:00 pm Pacific. As of this writing, there remains approximately one hour until maintenance is completed.