Random Dialogue: FFXI Review Update
Dialogue, 2004-06-21

Popularity

In honor of the second anniversary of the FFXI service, Square/Enix released the results of a census early last month. The Fourth Vana'diel Census reveals the immense popularity of Final Fantasy Online, and cements the knowledge that for the first time, a MMOG has beat Everquest in the US Market. Sometime in April FFXI broke the 500k barrier, surpassing Everquest by more than 100,000 players. We were already aware of the game's popularity, but the interest and attention to this game has been fairly astonishing. Part of this spike in the userbase coincides with the release of the hot-selling Playstation 2 edition of the game and console harddrive. The full effect of this increase in the adventuring population has yet to be fully seen, but for the moment it seems as though Final Fantasy Online is the most popular MMOG in the United States. One of my most serious complaints with the game during our first review has been somewhat eleviated by the tidal wave of people available to group with. There are always players of an appropriate level around when you're in the mood for some goblin smashing. Thus, though you can't group with players much higher or lower in level with you, if you're willing to work with a pick-up team you won't have to worry much about that issue.

Ballista

When the game was originally released in 2002, Square/Enix promised prospective players the addition of a Player Vs. Player element to the game. Earlier this year, the beginnings of the Conflict System were put into place with opening of the Ballista tournament. Rather than the meaningless and mindless hack and slash of some games, FFXI offers up a team-based system not unlike organized sports. Ballista is evidently based on training exercises use by the San d'Orian knights. Competitors score points by throwing a stone through a small castle called a rook. To do this, they must first defeat a player on the opposing team, flagging themselves and creating a "Gate Breach" event. Matches are restricted by level ranges, ensuring that a very low level character will not be pitted against a high level character. This full on-contact sport is only the precursor to other types of competetive events that Square plans to add in the future.

Events

Aside from technical innovations and gameplay additions, Square/Enix has also done a great job of keeping the world of Vana'Diel alive in the eyes of the players. While most MMOGs have some holidays in-game that coincide with real life holidays and events, FFXI blends the two cultures it bridges together and really shows off. Nearly every month there is a festival or event going on to capture the interest of players. Earlier this year the Japanese blossom festival was represented in game by the Hina-Matsuri festival. During the festival adventurers could obtain Japanese Dolls and folding screens, participate in tea ceremonies, and everywhere pink blossoms bloomed for the enjoyment of everyone. More recently, the American Easter Holiday was represented by a profusion of eggs in-game. The plethora of eggs were obtained from moogles and constituted a simple game. Each egg had a letter on it, and by obtaining eggs that created certain patterns you could gain unique items and perks. The eggs were an incredibly popular event, and ended up making some players a gil or two. Lucrative or not, world events have been participating in Vana'Diel a unique experience in MMOGdom.

Marriage

A tried and true ceremony enjoyed by many Massively Multiplayer Gamers was just recently added to Final Fantasy XI. Like all in-game marriages, the ceremony allows for celebration and good roleplaying. Because it's Square/Enix and Final Fantasy, not only is the ceremony a joyous one, but extremely involved as well. Every city-state offers several locations for the ceremony, as well as a minister to perform the ceremony. There are even some nation-specific traditions to follow in the course of the union. Yet another way in which FFXI draws the player into a living, breathing world.

Chains of Promathia

On top of the constant free additions to Final Fantasy XI, Square/Enix announced their newest expansion to the game at this year's E3 convention. The expansion, Chains of Promathia, promises to add content for every single player. Instead of only focusing on their high-level players (which their own statistics show only make up a small portion of the population), Promathia will offer new tradeskill recipes for all players, new zones to explore, new NPCs to interact with, and numerous new quests to follow. The new zones will concentrate on players level 20 and higher, allowing a majority of players access to the new adventuring content. For the highest level players there will be especially interesting material to work through, revolving around "The Emptiness". This phenomenon may be a tear in the very fabric of Vana'diel, and is sure to be the basis for numerous plot twists and story arcs in the future.

FFXI has come a long way since the first months of it's US launch, and this Japanese institution has found a home in the MMO gaming public's heart. Final Fantasy Online is the first Massively Multiplayer game I've seen to have an effective television marketing campaign, and every time I looked on the faces of taru taru while watching Star Trek I did a mental happy dance. FFXI is doing great and going strong. It will face stiff competition in the next year, but given the loyalty of the playerbase and the attention to detail of the live team, I expect FFXi will remain a MMO powerhouse for quite some time to come.