Final Fantasy XI

Final Fantasy XI is the first MMORPG to be released in the Final Fantasy series, and the first in the series to feature online play. It debuted in Japan on the Sony PlayStation 2 on May 16, 2002, and was released on the Windows PC on November 5 of the same year. It saw its North American PC debut on October 28, 2003, with a North American PlayStation 2 release on March 23, 2004, making it the first Final Fantasy in North America to be on the PC before being released on a console system. It is also the first cross platform MMORPG, as both PC and console versions can connect to the same server.

The newest expansion to the game, Chains of Promathia, is due out on September 21 for $30 US and it is also intended to release the game as a whole, including Chains of Promathia, to the European market at the same time.

The world

Final Fantasy XI takes place in a world named Vana'diel, or more specifically, one of the multitude of parallel worlds named Vana'diel.

As this is an online RPG and each Square Enix server used to host the RPG can only cope with so many players, there are multiple servers, each representing a different parallel world. These worlds are named after summoned creatures from earlier Final Fantasy games (for example, Diabolos, Ifrit, Ramuh, etc.) and there are currently (as of January 2004) just over 30 of them. Both PC and PS2 players, as well as Japanese, North American and (as of September officially - and now, unofficially) European players, play on all the servers.

A player is allocated to a random world when they are created, the only exception to this being that a player in a given world can buy a worldpass (a 10-digit passcode), give it to the new player and that player can then enter the worldpass to get onto that particular world. Once on a world, a player cannot move to another world, except via a special character called a World Shifter (put there by the administrators of a server when it has too many players and some need putting onto less populated worlds). This happens infrequently.

The four main cities in Vana'diel are the cities of Bastok, Jeuno, San d'Oria and Windurst. The rest of Vana'diel is made up of a number of outdoor, dungeon, and minor town areas that have a complex topology. While most areas are reacheable by walking, some require the use of ferries, airships, or teleportation points. Each area in FFXI is quite large, and as a beginner much of the game play consists of getting from point A to point B. However, once characters reach level 20, they can receive chocobo licenses which allows the player to rent a chocobo (the ubiquitous rideable bird-like creature in Final Fantasy games) which allows players to travel up to 2 or 3 times faster through all non-city or dungeon zones. Other forms of transportation exist within Vana'diel as well, such as the ferry between Mhaura and Selbina (two small coastal cities) and airships which will take you from one major city to another.

People and politics

There are five playable races in Final Fantasy XI:

• Elvaan - the 'elves' of Final Fantasy XI, potent healers and damaging fighters, though low on magic points and accuracy. They live in San d'Oria.
• Hume - basic human beings who are able to do everything to an average degree. They live in Bastok.
• Galka - large brutish, apelike humanoids who are best in fighting professions because of their high strength and health points. They live in Bastok.
• Mithra - catlike humanoids who are more agile and accurate than others. They live in Windurst.
• Tarutaru - really small (about half the size of halflings in other fantasy settings) humanoids who excel at magic because of their high magic points. They live in Windurst.

There is a sixth race called the Beastmen, who comprise all the 'evil' races of Vana'diel. These are made up of the following species:

• Antica (ant-like humanoids)
• Demons
• Gigas (giants)
• Goblins
• Orcs
• Quadav (turtle-like humanoids)
• Sahagin
• Tonberries
• Yagudo (bird-like humanoids)

At the start of the game you choose whether you side with Bastok, San d'Oria or Windurst. The goal of Final Fantasy XI (insofar as there is one) is to take your country and help it conquer as much of Vana'diel as possible.

As well as fighting against the other two nations, regions must also be taken from Beastmen control, where too many battles have been lost to them and the nation has fallen into their hands.

You also choose 1 of the following 6 classes ('jobs' in the game) to start as:

• Warrior
• Thief
• Monk
• White Mage
• Black Mage
• Red Mage

Once you get to level 30 with one of the above classes, you can go on quests to obtain advanced jobs:

• Samurai
• Dragoon (Dragon Knight)
• Dark Knight
• Ninja
• Summoner
• Paladin
• Beastmaster
• Ranger
• Bard

Details

• Final Fantasy theme - includes familiar elements from previous Final Fantasies, including music, jobs, spells, summons, items, monsters, Moogles, Chocobos, and Cid.
• Map - Unlike some other MMORPGs, the world is broken up into different zones. Moving from one zone to the next requires loading of data, and monsters cannot pursue you from one zone to the next. On the other hand, this lets the game present different sets of graphics/music/monsters in different zones without taxing your computer/PS2.
• Party System - FFXI forces players to play as groups more so than other MMORPGs. Not only are there functions that facilitate the formation of parties, the experience gain system assures that one must play as a group in order to gain levels past the beginner stage. This allows jobs (classes) that are solely designed for support of parties, such as bards.
• Storyline - Though there are thousands of players, any one player can still achieve a sense of individual heroism by completing quests and missions. Cutscenes and conversations with NPCs place you as an important character who participates with the plot as it progresses, from your first steps in a starting city to important tasks completed for certain characters, the player is treated as if he or she is the first to interact such characters, and other players do not view this interaction despite being in the same area. Later missions include a dramatic backstory, and even a "final boss" that can be defeated, though gameplay still continues. This is a significant difference from many other MMORPGs.