After the final closure of the Final Fantasy XIV servers Square Enix saluted the beginning of the new year with a post by Naoki Yoshida, wishing us all a happy new year and marking 2013 as the year of rebirth for the game. The talkative Producer and Game Director, among other things, dropped a mysterious date that fans should mark on their calendar: January the 7th (that coincidentally is the day before my birthday). 

While he didn't specify what is going to happen that day, the most probable theory is simply the opening of the signups for the beta of Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn.

The post also included a lovely piece of artwork by Kazuya Takahashi, showing Yoshida himself shedding his usual Bard guise and a representation of the new year (that is the year of the Snake in the Chinese calendar). A following developer blog post on the official site also added a sketch of a baby behemoth and one of the Snake Kabuto (that you can see below). Each year in Final Fantasy XIV there was an event granting a themed Kabuto helmet. Since the game isn't open at the moment, I wonder when we'll be able to receive this one...

As a final juicy note, Yoshida also posted some prophetic verse by everyone's favorite fallen (?) hero Louisoix Leveilleur:

Dawn may banish even the darkest night,

Yet ever shall primal desires burn.

Two swords shall vie to lay them low -

A blade forged of light, and a blade forged of might.

Alas, man may entrust his fate unto but one.

This may very well be a hint on the story of the upcoming game, with the two blades probably representing the Eorzean adventurers (IE: the players, represented by the blade forged of light)  and the Garlean Empire (the blade forged of might), as the conflict against the Empire will be one of the main themes of A Realm Reborn. 

The year of the Snake is going to be an interesting one. That's for sure.