So in the most recent email I got from SE, I was told that anyone who bought FF14 v1 would get a free copy of ARR. Anyone know how this fits into the early access?
It doesn't. Early access is for pre-orders and people who participated in the Legacy campaign only. Free copy is just PR-speak for 'you already bought the game, it's the same game even though we've changed everything, you don't need to buy it twice'.
That said, phase 4 of beta is pretty much earlier access, since there shouldn't be any character progress wipes. Early access is just a few extra days to keep playing in between beta and launch.
I have legacy status. Oh well, I guess we'll just have to wait and see.