For a massively multiplayer game to get any sort of long lasting success it has to have something to make it stand out from the vast endless sea of other titles that are climbing over themselves to keep from drowning. It is because players have so many choices when it comes to deciding what MMOG to play that makes any one of these games successful in the short-term. It takes a real significant product to establish any sort of foothold in the MMOG market for the long-term. You see, not only do these games have to compete with each other for a share of the proverbial pie but as these games are also of the “pay-to-play” variety they have to sell themselves as something that warrants a monthly investment from the customer. Not an easy sell when there is always another game waiting in the wings tempting the player to drop one game for another. Still, it makes sense that if any MMOG was to be successful in the long-term that Square-Enix would do it with Final Fantasy based on name recognition alone. Couple that globally-known franchise with a game that is far and away better than the lion’s share of the competition and it becomes apparent why Final Fantasy XI has such an established following still after several months on the market. This doesn’t mean that there isn’t room for improvement or that the developers can sit back and relax, because being successful in this genre means that the competition is always hungry, circling, and watching for the right opportunity to strike.