Square, FFXI, and the MMORPG

LukeG writes "Squaresoft's latest instalment in the ubiquitous Final Fantasy series will mark huge departure from previous titles, as they gamble on the popularity of massively multiplayer gaming on consoles. The genre, already succesful on the PC, has yet to be tested on a console audience, but that is exactly what Square are planning with the groundbreaking release of Final Fantasy XI later this year on PS2." I'm interested to see the FF world taken to an MMORPG. If anyone can make the genre not suck, it's Square.

Comments

Synopsis -- just the facts

[ProfKyne]

For those who aren't interested in reading 9px Arial font with few line breaks, or the fanboy details/speculation (like what kind of magic Red Mages can use, or how desolate the Saltbelt Plains are), here's the meat of the story:

• You can "communicate" with other players by selecting a symbol from a menu, which becomes like a "name tag" -- it hovers above your head, broadcasting your intentions to other players.
• You can join a team of other players by broadcasting the right symbol.
• At least in the beta, no multi-language chat facility (a la PhantasyStarOnline)
• Teams can form alliances, up to three in an alliance
• A leader must be selected when an alliance is formed, and this leader is highlighted in the game for all to see (i.e., a target)
• Wandering monsters can be seen ahead of time and avoided
• Not known if limit breaks are going to be included in battle
• You can choose the race of your character, this obviously has implications for what its abilities will be
• A class system may also be included. It has been designed, but it is still unknown at this point.

All of that information is taken from the article, not my own a priori knowledge or opinion.

Re:Eh?

[ProfKyne]

I don't get it. How final is a fantasy when there are dozen of them?

Taken from www.videogames.com, here is the origin of the name "Final Fantasy".

Sometime in 1987, a small Japanese publishing company named Square Co. LTD. was in desperate need of a hit. Until this point, Square had mostly published smaller games for the Famicom Disk system. The titles sold respectably, but the modest installed base of Famicom Disk systems made blockbuster status an elusive goal. Hironobu Sakaguchi had an idea: why not create a game similar to competitor Enix's Dragon Quest? The console RPG was a big hit with gamers, and Sakaguchi thought that Square could significantly improve upon the basic formula. Thus work began on a massive one-megabit cartridge role-playing game that would attempt to revolutionize the genre. All of Square's resources, dreams, and hopes were placed on this single game. If it failed, Square would be no more. The project, as Square's final gasp, was given the name "Final Fantasy."