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Final Fantasy XI
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, also known as Final Fantasy XI Online, is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) developed and published by Square (later Square Enix) as part of the Final Fantasy series. It was released in Japan on Sony's PlayStation 2 on May 16, 2002, and was released for Microsoft's Windows-based personal computers in November 2002. The PC version was released in North America on October 28, 2003, and the PlayStation 2 version on March 23, 2004.
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Encyclopedia
, also known as Final Fantasy XI Online, is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) developed and published by Square (later Square Enix) as part of the Final Fantasy series. It was released in Japan on Sony's PlayStation 2 on May 16, 2002, and was released for Microsoft's Windows-based personal computers in November 2002. The PC version was released in North America on October 28, 2003, and the PlayStation 2 version on March 23, 2004. In Europe, only the Windows version was released, on September 17, 2004. An Xbox 360 version was released worldwide in April 2006 for all regions, as the system's first MMORPG and the first cross-platform MMORPG. The Xbox 360 version does not require an Xbox Live Gold account.
The story is set in the fantasy world of Vana'diel, where tasks can be performed to improve a character's powers or to complete quests. Players are able to customize a character that they will guide through the story. There are also thousands of quests that allow players to gain various rewards, as well as a growing number of player versus player competitions.
In January 2004, Square Enix announced that more than 500,000 users, using more than one million characters, were playing the game. As of 2006, between 200,000 and 300,000 active players logged in per day, and the game remains the dominant MMORPG in Japan. As of 2008, in an announcement for three additional expansions in development, SE noted Final Fantasy XI still has a strong user base of around 500,000 subscribers. Four expansions for the game have been released, capitalizing on the game's success.
Gameplay
Final Fantasy XI, in addition to being an MMORPG, differs from previous titles in the series in several ways. Unlike the predefined main characters of previous Final Fantasy titles, players are able to customize their characters in limited ways, including race, gender, face, hair color, body size, job, and allegiance. Also corresponding to previous games in the series, all battles are real time, and enemies are no longer randomly encountered.
There are 32 public game worlds, a cluster of servers, available for play with approximately 15,000 to 20,000 players in each. The servers are named after summoned monsters from previous Final Fantasy titles, such as Ifrit and Diabolos. Players have the ability to move between servers, though few do; more common is the creation of different characters on different servers. There are no region-specific or system-specific servers, and unlike most online games, players of different languages play in the same world and can interact through automatic language translation from a library of translated phrases.
Interface
Players have the option of using any combination of a keyboard, mouse, and controller to play Final Fantasy XI. If a player using a PlayStation 2 or an Xbox 360 does not have a keyboard, the game provides a method for communication within the game. The heads-up display in Final Fantasy XI consists of a log window, menus, and several game information elements. The log window at the bottom of the screen displays system messages, battle messages, and text input by other players. Players may choose to filter what appears in the log window. "Menus" allow the player to access different commands, status windows, and configuration options. The "action command menu" appears just above the log window and gives the player several options to interact with the game world. Several menu options are available through the use of keyboard shortcuts, as well. Square Enix also allows players to communicate by text messaging with people playing the game online.
Basic gameplay
Gameplay in Final Fantasy XI consists of two major components: missions, through which the main storyline of the game is told, and quests, which do not advance the main storyline, but fill out the game's fantasy world. Missions are undertaken to advance in rank, access new areas, gain new privileges and advance the various storylines. Each nation and expansion has its own set of missions and quests, which a player must complete to advance in rank; a player may only complete missions for his home country. Quests may be undertaken for various rewards and fame. At release, over one hundred quests were available to play and new quests are added frequently.
Battles in Final Fantasy XI take place in the same world in which players move around, unlike previous Final Fantasy games in which a battle would take place in a new screen. Monsters within the game operate under a system of "claim" and "enmity". A monster is "claimed" the moment a player performs any offensive action upon it, including physical or magical attacks or offensive job abilities. With some exceptions, once a monster is "claimed" it can only be attacked by players in the party or alliance of the player that claimed it. A monster will focus its attention on whomever has built up the most enmity. Players have several means at their disposal, from spells to abilities to items, to build up enmity and shed it to their advantage in battle. Players obtain in-game money known as gil by defeating a type of monster called Beastmen, though, unlike previous Final Fantasy games, these monsters leave only small amounts.
Unlike many MMORPGs, there is no way to attack other players. However, since 2004, several ways of competing with other players have been added. The system of player competition is known as "Conflict", and occurs only with the permission of both players. The first form of competition was called "Ballista", in which players scored points by throwing rocks into a castle-like structure known as a "Rook". In February 2006, a second form of competition was released called "Brenner", in which players steal the opposing team's flames and place them in a container on their own side. By maintaining these flames, points are awarded which determine the winner. New battle events have also been introduced including "Salvage", "Einherjar", and "Pankration". Square Enix has also instituted a "marriage ceremony" for those who wish to do so (same-sex character couplings are not permitted).
Job system
Final Fantasy XIs job system is largely adapted from Final Fantasy III. Each job has unique abilities, which must be activated by the player in order to come into effect, last a limited time, and have a "cooldown" period before they can be used again; traits, which are passive abilities that are always in effect; and a special "2-hour" ability that performs some extraordinary function and has an extraordinary 2-hour-long cooldown period to go with it. Players are able to change their jobs any time they wish inside their 'Mog House' or 'Rent-a-Room', and are also able to get a “support job” once they reach level 18 in order to learn additional skills and try different combinations, though the job will be half the level of the player's main job. Players are able to improve their job abilities through defeating monsters or completing quests. As of November 2007, a player may choose from 20 different jobs. The first six job classes available were the Warrior, Monk, White Mage, Black Mage, Red Mage, and Thief. Upon achieving level 30 in any of these jobs, a player may opt to complete quests to unlock the jobs of Paladin, Dark Knight, Beastmaster, Ranger, Bard, Summoner, Samurai, Ninja, Dragoon, Blue Mage, Corsair, Puppetmaster, Dancer, and Scholar.
Crafting and hobbies
In addition to completing quests and missions, players can participate in several side-minigames and other activities. One such minigame is fishing, where players can measure their strength against the fish they attempt to catch. Another is clamming, where players collect as many fish or sea creatures as possible without going over their bucket's size limit. Gardening allows players to raise plants in their residence, or "mog house" as it is known in the game. The raising and breeding of Chocobos was a long-requested activity enabled in the summer 2006 update. Chocobo racing began in March 2007, which allowed for the racing of player-raised Chocobos against non-player characters (NPCs). Winning racers can earn "Chocobucks", which can be used to buy, for example, items that assist Chocobo breeding.
An important part of the game is the accumulation of items, especially rare ones, which allow players to create powerful weapons, armour and food. There are many ways to obtain items, such as harvesting, excavating, logging, mining, defeating monsters, and digging by using Chocobos. Square Enix attempted to increase the opportunity for players to find rare items in order to equalize the game and stop the practice of "gil selling", or exchanging real money for in-game items. The item auction system was shut down temporarily once due to some players exploiting the system. Items can be created by consuming elemental crystals (obtained by fighting monsters) with other ingredients in a process called "synthesis". Recipe results can vary widely based on the player's skill, the quality of the player's equipment worn, and the ingredients used. There is large speculation (though nothing evidently documented as of yet) about the moon phase, direction the player is facing, in-game day (every day of the week is assigned an element), and even time of day the synthesis is performed to either increase or reduce the results of the recipe.
Game economy
Final Fantasy XI has a largely player-based economy, with a heavy reliance on "Auction Houses" in each of the major cities of Vana'diel. There are certain economic controls in place mainly in the form of fees for putting items up for auction. Transportation, auction house, item storage, and fees do not go to players; these gil sinks effectively remove money from the economy to prevent inflation. The city of Jeuno used to levy a tax on bazaar purchases inside the city, but it was removed in a patch in the December 2008 version update.
Square Enix has stated that the trade of items for real currency is officially a violation of the Terms of Service for Final Fantasy XI. In early 2006, Square Enix discovered that a group of players had found a way to generate game currency and exchange it for real currency, which, in turn, drove up prices for all items across the game. In response, 700 accounts were permanently banned and 300 billion gil was removed from circulation. In July 2006, Square Enix banned or suspended over 8,000 other accounts for similar manipulation and commerce. Since 2006, Square Enix has regularly banned accounts found to be in violation of the terms, some of them using third-party tools, effectively removing billions of gil from the in-game economy.
Plot
Setting
The world of Final Fantasy XI is known as Vana'diel. It consists of two main landmasses with two smaller islands flanking them, which in turn are surrounded by small islands. It features diverse climates, ranging from the northern glaciers to the southern deserts. The four main cities in Vana'diel are Bastok, San d'Oria, Windurst, and Jeuno. The expansion Treasures of Aht Urhgan added the large Aht Urhgan Whitegate/Al Zahbi city area. The rest of Vana'diel is made up of a number of outdoor, dungeon, and minor town areas split into various regions. While most areas are accessible by walking, various modes of transportation, ranging from the classic Final Fantasy Chocobo and airships to special spells, facilitate movement across the game world.
The events of the game are set 20 years after the Crystal War, when the nations of San d'Oria, Bastok, and Windurst on the main continent of Vana'diel fought and defeated the Shadow Lord and his army of beastmen. A parallel world named Dynamis, in which the beastmen succeeded in conquering Vana'diel, can also be explored. It is described as a dream world created by the Avatar of Dreams, Diabolos.
Characters
The five playable races in Final Fantasy XI are:
- Elvaan—strong melee fighters, reasonable healers but weak in black magic.
- Hume—a race resembling humans, with no notable strengths or weaknesses
- Galka—an asexual race resembling males (they reproduce through reincarnation), strong and tough, but weak with magic;
- Mithra—cat-like humanoids, of which only the females are playable characters, agile and dexterous, but lacking in charisma
- Tarutaru—tiny humanoids with incredible power over magic, but physically weak.
In addition to the player races, there are two primary non-playable races known as the Zilart, an ancient race which is the focus of the first two game expansions, and the Kuluu, a race of beings similar to the Zilart and thought to be inferior to it. There is also a huge supporting cast of NPCs who give quests and missions and appear in the game's storylines. The game features several typical Final Fantasy monsters, including races such as the Goblin, Orc, Yagudo, and Quadav. Some of these creatures follow the Shadow Lord, a source of the game's conflict.
The character Shantotto (a Tarutaru) is the heroine and sole character representing Final Fantasy XI in Dissidia: Final Fantasy, where she is voiced by famed voice actress Megumi Hayashibara in the Japanese version.
Story
Players begin the game as residents of one of these three main countries, San d'Oria, Bastok and Windurst, and must help band the nations together against the resurrected Shadow Lord.
The expansion Rise of the Zilart reveals that the Crystal War and the resurrection of the Shadow Lord had been masterminded by the Zilart princes Eald'Narche and Kam'lanaut, who survived the extinction of their race. The two Zilarts plan to become Gods by opening the path to paradise, and the player is charged with thwarting their plans.
Chains of Promathia revolves around the dead Twilight God Promathia, who had originally cursed the Zilart race, and the attempts of various factions to either complete or stop his resurrection. The wyrmking Bahamut is involved in these events, and intends to destroy Vana'diel to prevent Promathia from absorbing the life of the world.
Treasures of Aht Urhgan concerns the Empire of Aht Urhgan which opens up to the nations of Vana'diel. As a new and powerful nation, it is of concern to the nation of the player, who is sent as a representative. The player then becomes embroiled in the intrigues of the Empresses court, and the growing fears of war and darkness coming to Aht Urhgan.
Wings of the Goddess primarily occurs in the era of the Crystal War, 20 years in the past from the main Final Fantasy XI setting. Players discover and cross mysterious time portals, and are led to help the Regal Feline Cait Sith reduce the suffering of the era. The Wings of the Goddess storyline is still ongoing as of 2009.
Development
The idea to develop Final Fantasy XI as an online game was conceived by Hironobu Sakaguchi when establishing Square Pictures headquarters in Hawaii. Impressed by western MMORPGs that he discovered there, such as EverQuest, Sakaguchi convinced Square to begin the development of their own MMORPG and suggested that it be based on the Final Fantasy series. The team responsible for Chrono Cross was assigned to the development of Final Fantasy XI after the English localization of the former title. The game was the first developed under Square's new philosophy to develop for "all platforms and media". Hiromichi Tanaka, the producer of the game, has stated Final Fantasy XI is heavily influenced by Final Fantasy III, especially in its battle and magic systems. According to Tanaka, Square put in Final Fantasy XI what they could not put in the first Final Fantasy titles due to technical limitations, thus making Final Fantasy XI the "most [representative] Final Fantasy of all the installments". The game was developed and ran on the Nvidia GeForce 4 Ti GPU, which the President of Square Yoichi Wada described as the most powerful graphics processor available at the time. The game cost two to three billion yen (~$17–25 million) to create along with the PlayOnline Network Service and was assumed to become profitable over a five year timespan. By creating a unified game world instead of different ones balkanized by language, development costs were cut 66%. Since recurring monsters of the series are known by different names in the Japanese and English versions of the other installments, it was decided for Final Fantasy XI to use both Japanese and English names for different varieties of the same monsters.
It was originally announced that there would be a simultaneous release on the PlayStation 2 and PC as well as concurrent Japanese and American release, but this was later changed. There was also discussion of an Xbox release, but it was abandoned mainly because of its small 8 GB hard drive. Originally announced in January 2000 at the Yokohama Millennium Conference, there was a great deal of negative press. There were questions raised about naming the game the eleventh in the series, since it was not clear whether the game would have a structured story, which it ended up having, and the title of Final Fantasy Online was suggested. Following an August 2001 beta test in Japan, a public Japanese beta test was done in December 2001.
Following its PC release, Final Fantasy XI was listed as one of IGN's most anticipated PlayStation 2 games of 2004.
Sony launched a multi-million dollar ad campaign to promote Final Fantasy XI along with the PlayStation 2 hard drive add-on which the game required. Having been released on the PlayStation 2 as well as the personal computer, it became the first cross-platform MMORPG ever created. On June 14, 2002, the game server was down for four hours for maintenance to the database servers, bug fixes on the text interface, and a new patch for the game client. This is thought to be the first patch ever released for a console game. Other early issues included complaints by American players that experienced Japanese players had already completed all the quests. Square Enix responded by adding new servers in order to have game worlds with fewer expert players.
Final Fantasy XI is one of the first cross-console video games, and has continued to update its software to allow the game to run on new consoles. Square Enix noted that Nintendo's use of "friend codes" was the primary reason Final Fantasy XI was not brought to the Wii. In December 2006, the PlayStation 2 versions of PlayOnline and Final Fantasy XI were able to install and run on the PlayStation 3. The Vana'diel Collection 2008 discs for the PlayStation 2 had installation issues on the PlayStation 3, causing them to be unusable at first since they weren't on Sony's list of HDD compatible titles in the firmware the PlayStation 3 at the time. This problem was fixed on December 18, 2007 when Sony released firmware update 2.10 for the PlayStation 3(this allowed all backwards compatible models to play FFXI). After working with Microsoft to resolve Final Fantasy XIs incompatibility issues with Windows Vista, Square Enix released a downloadable version of the PlayOnline client which is compatible with the operating system, although small bugs have appeared.
Expansions
All the expansions, including Rise of the Zilart, have been released on PlayStation 2 (except in Europe), PC, and Xbox 360.
Expansion chapters
Starting in Spring 2009, three expansion chapters will be released for download for all platforms and regions:
A Crystalline Prophecy: Ode to Life Bestowing A Moogle Kupo d'Etat: Evil in Small Doses A Shantotto Ascension: The Legend Torn, Her Empire Born.
Masato Kato, the original scenario writer of Final Fantasy XI and the expansion pack Rise of the Zilart, will return to work on these expansion chapters. A separate development team has been established for these new chapters, so that updates for Wings of the Goddess can continue to be released in parallel. Unlike traditional expansion packs, these chapters, conceived as interactive "novelettes", will focus on deepening the storylines of existing locations rather than introducing new areas.
A possible graphical update using the Crystal Tools engine may come with A Shantotto Ascension: The Legend Torn; Her Empire Born.
Audio
The music of Final Fantasy XI was scored by Nobuo Uematsu, Naoshi Mizuta, and Kumi Tanioka. Composer Yasunori Mitsuda was also asked to contribute, but he was busy scoring Xenosaga. The expansion packs were scored by Mizuta alone after Tanioka left to pursue other projects and Uematsu left Square Enix. The opening of the game features choral music with lyrics in Esperanto. According to Uematsu, the choice of language was meant to symbolize the developers' hope that their online game could contribute to cross-cultural communication and cooperation. He also noted the increased difficulty of scoring a game for which there was no linear plotline, a major change from the previous Final Fantasy games. It was the first game in the series for which he composed while he was no longer a Square employee. New music has been employed for special events, such as a holiday score titled Jeuno -Starlight Celebration- which can be heard in the city of Jeuno each mid to late December since 2004. Unlike its immediate predecessor, Final Fantasy XI features almost no voice acting. Vocalizations are portrayed by battle cries and related sounds. Text descriptions are instead utilized to express player communication.
The game's music has been released in CD form several times and has been featured in Final Fantasy concerts. Some of the game's music has been released on iTunes for download, such as the vocal "Distant Worlds", which was released on the Japanese iTunes Music Store on September 13, 2005, having been put in the game in a July 2005 patch. A compilation CD box was released on March 28, 2007, titled Final Fantasy XI Original Soundtrack Premium Box, which included the four original soundtracks from Final Fantasy XI and its three expansion sets, as well as the previously unreleased tracks from the game and the unreleased Final Fantasy XI Piano Collections. Dear Friends -Music from Final Fantasy-, a 2004–2005 concert series, featured "Ronfaure" from Final Fantasy XI. A ten-track album of music inspired by Final Fantasy XI entitled Music from the Other Side of Vana'diel was released by The Star Onions on August 24, 2005.
Reception
Sales and subscriptions
The user base for the PlayStation 2 version was truncated initially because of limited sales of the PlayStation 2s hard drive and network adapters that were needed for the game. The Japanese release of Rise of the Zilart was the number one selling game when it debuted with 90,000 copies sold in the first week. The Final Fantasy XI All-in-One Pack was number 36 and Wings of the Goddess was number 40 on the top 50 best-selling Xbox 360 games in Japan as of December 2007.
For the April–September 2004 financial period, Square Enix saw online gaming, particularly Final Fantasy XI, sales increase by 101 percent and operating profit increase by 230.9 percent. Revenues held steady from subscription services in the summer of 2006; in the fall however, Square acknowledged that online subscription revenues were "unsatisfactory".
In December 2002, Square Enix president Yoichi Wada announced that there were over 200,000 subscribers to Final Fantasy XI, allowing the company to break even and start making a profit. In January 2004, Square Enix announced that over 500,000 users utilizing over one million characters were playing the game. Before the release of World of Warcraft, it had the most active players of any MMORPG. There were between 200,000 and 300,000 active players daily in 2006. As of August 14, 2006 the Xbox 360 version was the sixth most played game on Xbox Live.
Critical reaction
Famitsu rated Final Fantasy XI 38 out of 40. Computer and Video Games Magazine noted that it was one of the most welcoming MMORPG's despite the cumbersome initial registration and setup. IGN called it a well done but unoriginal game and also noted that North American players were forced to play with already much more experienced Japanese players who had already completed the game's various quests. GameSpot criticized it at release for having an unconventional control system, a lengthy installation, and having no player versus player (PvP) aspects. Other elements receiving criticism include the EXP grind, which involves constant battles to access different parts of the game, and overcrowded camp sites. The expansions have been mostly positively received, with praise for the amount of content added, but increasing signs that the graphics of the game are becoming outdated. IGN review of the Xbox 360 release was similar, noting that it was a large amount of game content, but had a protracted setup process and elements of the game design that require a large time investment.
Awards and legacy
Final Fantasy XI was awarded the grand prize from the Japan's Consumer Entertainment Software Association (CESA) for 2002–2003 along with Taiko no Tatsujin. It has also received GameSpy's 2003 PC MMORPG Game of the Year Award and IGN's Game of the Month for March 2004, citing the game's huge customization and its successful cross-platform and cross-language game world. Final Fantasy XI was referenced in the online game Minna no Golf Online in the form of a Final Fantasy XI-themed lobby. A direct sequel of Final Fantasy XI was thought to be in development, but Square Enix denied this report. It did however confirm that the creators of Final Fantasy XI were working on a new MMORPG, although it is not necessarily Final Fantasy-related.
The game has spawned several written adaptations and related merchandise. Starting in 2003, a series of Final Fantasy XI novels was written by Miyabi Hasegawa and released in Japanese, German, and French. In 2004, Additionally, Adventure Log, a webcomic by Scott Ramsoomair, was commissioned by Square Enix starting in 2007. Final Fantasy XI PlayOnline Visa and MasterCard credit cards were available in Japan, with features including no annual fees as long as cardholders remain PlayOnline subscribers and various other rewards. There have also been posters with limited edition phone cards and keychains released, also exclusively in Japan. Several T-shirts have been made available for order in North America, and various stuffed animals have also been made available to order of different races from the series. A Vana'diel clock was also marketed, as well as CDs of the game's music.
External links
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