Final Fantasy XIV Patch 3.1 Info Drop: Lords of Verminion, Dungeons, and More

So 3.1 has recently been detailed, and by detailed, there's a mountain-load of goodies awaiting fans. First of all, you can read the updates--especially if you missed out on the Q&A--in this here thread. But to simplify matters, I'm going to highlight the most important parts of the Q&A:

Astrologian received a buff as of 3.07 (notes are here). Basically it can heal just as well as the other two healing jobs. Hooray! On a side note and for some reason, the already overpowered MNK received a 3% buff.
There will be a training center tentatively titled "The Beginner Hall." Many players can refer to this hall to train and improve their skills as whatever job they'd like to train as. Goodbye training dummies! Unfortunately, this addition will probably not make it in time for 3.1.
Many players have complained about PvP matchmaking (i.e. restricted to Grand Companies), but the devs are considering removing the Grand Company restriction.
For all you Europeans out there, a European data center will open in October. However, the maintenance to copy data to the European worlds will probably take three to five days. Unfortunately, this is probably a little late to introduce, considering the homes many European players have made on other servers.
The devs are currently formulating ideas of how to create more plots. At first, they'd like players to create houses on the empty lands, then after the moving feature is implemented, they would consider expanding housing into Ishgard. (Editor's Note: I really hope they do that because I would move in a heartbeat.)
The Specialist system that almost no one uses will finally gain some recognition, as the devs are considering implementing specialized recipes and upgrades.
There will be two new dungeons: Saint Mocianne Arboretum and Pharos Sirius (Hard). (Editor's Note: I giggled seeing the latter, due to the fond memories of Pharos Sirius abandonments. I do miss the original difficulty of that dungeon though.) Additionally, players will be able to earn experience in level 50 dungeons.
There's a new alliance raid similar to the Crystal Tower series called Void Ark (TBD). It's the giant airship like structure flying about. Hopefully, this will take a good amount of teamwork like the first Crystal Tower.
There will be a new primal battle, but what it is will be hush-hush, but there will be hints during "The Rising" event. Additionally, when participating in an Undersized Party, there will be a clear time that is display--in other words, speedrun integration! Finally, there will be a new weapon upgrade system, which will be released in 3.1 or 3.15.
There will be an Airship Exploration Voyage feature where you explore uncharted islands with crafted airships. There will be lots of strong monsters awaiting you, as well as gathering nodes. Multiple parties can explore the same island. Though this is not mentioned directly in the thread, those without airships or FCs can also participate by heading to the airship docks in Ishgard, so don't worry your pretty little heads.
Lords of Verminion will be added, which actually originated as a joke blog post. This Golden Saucer event will involve a major RTS battle among all your adorable minions. Fortunately, battle outcome will not rely on rarity of minions, but it's still a good idea to collect as many as you can. (Editor's Note: I want my Fat Cat to roll over on everything and my Bahamut Minion to just... unleash a mini Teraflare.)
There will be a House Sharing Feature, where players can give furnishing and gardening rights to five people of your choosing, and there will also be an interior lighting adjustment feature. Finally, Free Companies can be renamed, and there will a system in place for the removal of inactive houses.

Any of this tempting? Exciting?

Personally speaking, bring on 3.1 so my Fat Cat and NUTkin army will reign supreme! Also, 1000 gil says that the minion market will soon explode. Pretty sure, however, that the rare minions will remain static in price. Anyway, expect Final Fantasy XIV to be at PAX August 28-31, complete with Alexander Live and the Ravana battle featuring "I beat Ravana" t-shirts!

Update: Our lore buddy and guru Fernhalwes has posted the wrap-up to the 14-hour Anniversary Broadcast Lore Live Panel on the official forums, so if you're a lore-nut, you should definitely take a gander at the post.