Check out the hottest topics from the past week of the FFXIV general forum.

As we welcome scores of new players into Final Fantasy XIV, let’s take a moment to reflect upon the numerous engaging forum discussions we’ve had during the past week. Many discussions have obviously been critiques of FFXIV, with several posters expressing concern over the state of the game at launch. Meanwhile, other posters have taken a more laid-back attitude, saying Square Enix needs time to carefully implement the game’s content.

This edition of Hot Read Thursday will review threads about Square Enix's response to the healing exploit, whether SE should have delayed the launch of FFXIV and whether players may be missing what the game really means.

Now, on with the recap:

Title: Regarding Heal Exploit, - OFFICIAL

Who loves drama? We do! And we didn’t have to wait long to get some. Square Enix lays its banhammer on the table and tells players who milked an experience points exploit to fess up. Reactions ran the gamut from “this was reported at least 20 times during the beta on the beta feedback boards and nothing was done about it by Square Enix,” to “I just wish they’d banhammered them with no amnesty.” Good stuff.

Title: Do you think Square-Enix should have waited until 2011?

A philosophical poster wonders whether Square Enix should have delayed the release of FFXIV to add more content before launch. Many posters replied that they’d wished Square Enix had waited. However, at least as many were happy to be playing the game now, despite its imperfections. Personally, I think the best way to answer this question would be to poll the Playstation 3 crowd.

Title: Missing the point? MMO, Crafting, and AH

What if Final Fantasy XIV is happening to us for a reason? There's the auction house-less economy, the massive depth of crafting, the apparent necessity to try out several types of jobs... this poster discusses these issues and whether Square Enix is trying to show us something: That if we don't live together, we're going to die alone. /em screen fades to black... LOST.