Final Fantasy XI Nears EverQuest In Subscriber Numbers

Thanks to 1UP for the news that Square Enix has announced a total of 430,000 subscribers have signed up worldwide with PlayOnline, as the online subscription service "...which powers Square's MMORPG Final Fantasy XI, broke through the 400,000 user mark approximately 18 months after its Japanese debut in May 2002." According to the reports, the recent PC release of FFXI in the U.S. has "...provided a significant boost to the service's user base. Square Enix said it has shipped around 200,000 copies of the PC version to the US market already, and picked up around 100,000 new subscribers so far." More subscriptions are likely when the Final Fantasy XI-bundled PlayStation 2 hard drive launches in the U.S. next March, possibly taking FFXI over EverQuest's total of nearly 500,000 subscribers. The company's mid-term results also provided information on sales of their games, with Final Fantasy Tactics Advance a particular sales highlight in the U.S.

Comments

I want to work in *that* marketing department!

[Anonymous Coward]

Let's see... 400k accounts for japanese release... release in the us, gain 100k new subscribers, for a grand total of 430k?

Re:I want to work in *that* marketing department!

[musikit]

i hate to tell you but not everyone that buys the box plays the game for longer then the free month. i beta tested anarchy online, purchased the box and had stopped playing after 8 weeks. so saying they currently have 400k subscribers from japan and 100k boxes sold equalling 430k subscribes sounds like a decent estimate. what they basically are saying is that 70% of the people buying the boxed game will most likely not continue for longer then 1 month worth of play. MMORPG is not for everyone.

Re:I want to work in *that* marketing department!

[Anonymous Coward]

Let's see... it "broke through the 400,000 user mark approximately 18 months after its Japanese debut", which includes 100,000 new subscribers from the U.S. Wow, that was hard to understand. What's your point?

Re:I want to work in *that* marketing department!

[PainKilleR-CE]

so saying they currently have 400k subscribers from japan and 100k boxes sold equalling 430k subscribes sounds like a decent estimate. what they basically are saying is that 70% of the people buying the boxed game will most likely not continue for longer then 1 month worth of play. MMORPG is not for everyone.

This sounds about right, but it's probably more likely that 30+% of the North American users have decided to subscribe for some period of time.

Re:I want to work in *that* marketing department!

[Anonymous Coward]

Are you guys even reading what the article says? Nowhere does it say that there are 400k subscribers from Japan. It says that they have passed the 400k mark 18 months after the Japanese release (430k at the moment). That number includes U.S. sales over the past month.

Furthermore, as it says, they have sold 200k boxes in the U.S., which have spawned 100k subscriptions. You're just pulling numbers out of your ass when you're talking about 30% of North American users subscribing.

RTFA!! Better yet, actually try to understand the article. Don't just grab a few numbers out of it and start plugging them into your calculators without regard to their actual meaning.

Re:I want to work in *that* marketing department!

[musikit]

Furthermore, as it says, they have sold 200k boxes in the U.S.

they sold 200k boxes to STORES. i.e. ebgames, babbages/gamestop etc. NOT TO PEOPLE.

which have spawned 100k subscriptions

so of those 200k boxes, 100k people have signed up for a playonline account.

(430k at the moment)
430k - 100k = 330k current Japanesse subscribers.

now what we are saying is of those 100k boxes ACTUALLY FREAKIN SOLD TO PEOPLE. we would expect 70% of them to NOT continue the subscription past 6 months. and if you look at the number from any other MMORPG that's not a bad estimate.

so lets pretend that all 100k people keep their subscription then to break 500k (which is what ever-crap has) we need 70k more subs. to get 70k more subs we need to buy 70k * 10/3 more boxes or
233k more boxes.

put that in your freaking TI-81

Re:I want to work in *that* marketing department!

[Anonymous Coward]

Yes, they sold 200k to stores, not people. What's your point? Did I say any different? I said they sold 200k in the U.S., which the article clearly states.

NOW you're calculating the number of Japanese players correctly (roughly 330k). Your original post said "they currently have 400k subscribers from japan", which was wrong. I was just correcting your error.

NOW you're saying "we would expect 70% of them to NOT continue the subscription past 6 months". Your original post said, "what they basically are saying is that 70% of the people buying the boxed game will most likely not continue for longer then 1 month". Which is it? 1 month or 6 months? Show me the evidence that either is typical of an MMORPG. I repeat, You're pulling these numbers out of your ass.

Your original mistake was obviously to assume that there were 400k Japanese players and 30k U.S. players, and to get your 30% number by dividing that 30k my the 100k in actual subscriptions. This logic is completely and utterly flawed. Don't come back now and change all your numbers and your fundamental argument, and pretend you knew what you were talking about all along.

Re:I want to work in *that* marketing department!

[PainKilleR-CE]

Furthermore, as it says, they have sold 200k boxes in the U.S., which have spawned 100k subscriptions. You're just pulling numbers out of your ass when you're talking about 30% of North American users subscribing.

OK, so, at worst they have 50% of NA users signed up to PlayOnline (not exactly the same thing as subscribing for the game, either). Considering that there are still boxes on the shelves, it's probably much higher than that, like 70% since we already used that number ;) In order to reach 500k they need 70k more users assuming that no one drops before they reach that number. If it takes them over a month to ship another 140k boxes (if 200k shipped = 100k subscribed, 140k = 70k subscribed), there's a possibility that they'll lose some percentage of subscribers, and need to increase the shipments even more (though, of course, they need to actually sell the boxes too).

In any case, the wording is unclear on one point: PlayOnline subscribers != FFXI subscribers. I'm a PlayOnline subscriber and I don't even own FFXI, I simply subscribed to get all of the content for the FFIX book I bought over a year ago.

RTFA!! Better yet, actually try to understand the article. Don't just grab a few numbers out of it and start plugging them into your calculators without regard to their actual meaning.

Yes, I did RTFA and UTFA, unfortunately it was about 15 minutes before I posted the above comment, and I didn't re-read before replying. Congratulations for having a better memory than I do, but then, that's why I use computers to store most important information and my cell phone to store phone numbers and physical & email addresses.

I knew it!

[Kethinov]

I predicted it and it shall come true. FFXI will be the first and maybe even the only MMORPG to overtake Everquest. And there's only one reason for that. The name. Final Fantasy. This is proof that brand names really do influence people.

Re:I knew it!

[Anonymous Coward]

"I predicted it and it shall come true." ...

You're SOOOOO good! Wow man, no one saw THAT coming!

Ooh! Oooh! Make another prediction! Do it! Because you're so hip on the current industry trends that it *must* right!

Re:I knew it!

[Crockerboy]

It also helps that FF:XI is really, really good. The name probably moved a lot of boxes, but the game play will keep the massess paying $13/month for years to come.

Re:I knew it!

[DeionXxX]

Actually I think the name helps at first but what will keep people actually subscribing is that its a solid game. I have atleast 5 friends that never buy MMORPGs but after watching me play and playing a bit at my house, they went out and bought it. The game is as deep or as shallow as you want it to be. Heh, I just spent like 3 hours at the goddamn auction house the other day. I managed to buy all new armor and sell a lot of stuff I had stored at my mog-house.

-- D3X
The site that is redefining the adult entertainment industry.

Re:I knew it!

[PainKilleR-CE]

This has to be the case, simply because only 1/4th of their subscribers are in the US, where the game has been out only a fairly short time, and is only available on the PC. The Japanese release, which has been available ~18 months, accounts for 75% of the users, which means that either people have been living with their heads in the ground and are just now picking it up (unlikely, especially since Japanese sales usually dive after a couple weeks at best), or they really like the game.

Re:I knew it!

[Cecil]

And there's only one reason for that. The name.

Or perhaps people finally got to try a MMORPG that had been adequately tested before it arrived on store shelves (thanks for beta testing, Japan!) Or maybe people liked previous games from SquareEnix and bought it not because it had the same name, but because it was from the same people.

It is narrow-minded and fallacious to suggest that the only reason for the game's success is the name.

Re:I knew it!

[realdpk]

It probably also helps that the game plays almost identical to Everquest in a lot of ways, that other MMOGs don't. Not that that's bad; obviously it is successful.

It does do some things better than Everquest did, but "autoattack" is still pretty much there, with bash/kick replaced with skills that can be combined in groups. The experience point distribution problem is worse, where if your group is any more than 1 level apart, experience is rather uneven. But all in all it is better.

Re:I knew it!

[Danny Rathjens]

I had never played any of the final fantasy games.
I bought it and play it because I have friends that play it.
I think that is the primary motivation behind many user's game purchasing decisions.

Although, oddly enough, I helped one friend install while another
had been playing for a couple days, and when I went to buy it at Best Buy the next day(a friday, 3 or 4 weeks ago)) They did not have any copies of the game!

Nor did they have it on the list of upcoming games. The guy who worked there told me my friends must have bought it online or were in a beta program. He knew this because he was a "computer guy" and knew about these things.
So I went across the street to Electronics Boutique at the mall and bought it there.

Re:I knew it!

[Anonymous Coward]

Let the darn nips have it.

Solid game.

[darkmayo]

I've certianly been spoiled by this game... after dismal launches such as SWG, Shadowbane. Playing a game that has already been tested and stablized in other market I don't think I could go back to a game just starting fresh. Not having to worry about the tons of missed bugs, people whining about class balance, server outages and what not.

Re:Solid game.

[Matrix272]

I also played a few MMOG's over the past few years... I started with Asheron's Call (I won a copy and a 2-month subscription), and played it for about 3-4 weeks before I decided that it sucked. Then I went for a few years before trying another one... the one I tried was Earth & Beyond (beta). That was pretty good, but it was VERY limited, and since it was beta, it was always down. Not that I expected perfect reliability, but in the end, it wasn't a good enough game to warrant a subscription. Then I tried The Sims Online. That took about 3 days before I quit. Then, I moved on to SWG. I played that for a couple months... mainly because I wasn't aware of how good MMORPG's could be. I've always been a fan of RPG's, but I didn't think an online game could keep me entertained for that long. However, they managed to COMPLETELY fuck up the economy of the game (after saying it was a player-controlled economy, no less), so I quit. Now I'm trying to get reviews and such on FFXI to find out if it's worth paying money for. So far, I've spent $100 or so on The Sims Online (for 2 copies), and somewhere around $190 for SWG (2 copies for $50 each, and 3 months of service at $15 per copy per month). I'd rather not spend another $50 on an MMORPG that's going to suck after 2 weeks. From everything I've heard, FFXI sounds like a good game, but I have a few questions, if anyone would like to answer them.

First, can you craft (i.e, SWG) in FFXI? Can you create many new and exciting weapons to use to defeat the evil hordes?

Second, are the enemies a challenge? Are there easy ones that I can kill if I feel like it, and are there very difficult ones that require grouping (again, i.e., SWG)?

In terms of actual gameplay, is it FUN? Am I going to love playing it?

Finally, since it's been out for awhile, if I join now, am I still going to enjoy it enough to build my character up to the higher levels?

Re:Solid game.

[XdarkstarX]

i personally dont worry about the 'dismal launches' or 'missed bugs' or stuff like that. if the game is good i'll go thru with it even if the bugs dont get fixed immediatly.

Re:Solid game.

[aliens]

Can you explain why you bought two copies of these games?

You're can't just make a new account if you quit?

Re:Solid game.

[jjhlk]

I don't know much about the game myself; but, if you don't already, you should read some of the recent Penny-Arcade news. The first news archive page should have some stuff too. Gabe and Tycho seem impressed.

Re:Solid game.

[Matrix272]

Can you explain why you bought two copies of these games?

One copy for me, and one for my girlfriend. She enjoys the non-combat-oriented features of games... which is why I asked about crafting. Generally, she works on her crafting skills, and creates weapons and armor (or whatever) for me, and I go out and kill things, and earn money (in addition to what she does by selling her fine items).

Re:Solid game.

[DeionXxX]

How about...

Yes.
Yes>
And Yes.

Like I said in an earlier post... the game is FULL of content... you can do just about everything in the game. There's not only smithing which you can make everything from a Bronze Ingot to Full fledged armor and weapons, but there is leather craft, fishing, bone craft, food preperation, gold smithing... all all sorts of stuff... The ammount of items in the game is staggering... there's not much per level in terms of weapons and armor (you'll see the same armor on many people)... but there are TONS of items that are dropable or makeable.

I definitely think you'd like it since 5 of my other friends who usually don't touch MMORPGs seem to love it.

-- D3X

Re:Solid game.

[Anonymous Coward]

That's because Gabe and Tycho are pathetic Japanabes who slobber all over anything with "Final Fantasy" appended to the title.

Re:Solid game.

[aliens]

Although I haven't played any of these games, if you like crafting, Dark Age of Camelot might be good for you.

Re:Solid game.

[Lightwarrior]

Crafting is prevalent, but it takes a fair amount of money to get started.

There are basically 9 crafting schools: Alchemist, Blacksmith, Bone Worker, Carpenter, Culinarian, Fisher, Goldsmith, Tanner, and Weaver. However, they're also co-dependant, so most crafters belong to at least two schools of crafting. There's no limit on how many you can join.

The actual act of crafting requires a crystal, which is sort of the catalyst for the process. Crafting recipies all require at least one crystal. Crystals can be bought at the Auction House, or gathered by killing mobs with a special spell called "Signet" cast on you - this spell is cast by NPC guards that are widely available.

If your GF doesn't mind the somewhat repetitive process that is crafting in MMOGs, it promises to be quite rewarding in FFXI.

-lw

Re:Solid game.

[ShadarLogoth]

The crafting's pretty good, and the thing i love about the game compared to others that *everything* you get from enemies can be used in crafting, there're no worthless items, it's a nice change.

So, although most people will tell you that crafting is expensive, it's not expensive if you don't mind working on any craft depending on what items you have (which i assume your gf would be fine with), as you'd be out killing things, you'll pick up tons of items you have no use for that you could pass on to her and she could craft. (As well as picking up crystals)

The enemies are fairly challenging, the main problem is that the challenge of the enemy doesn't reflect the experience gained (it does reflect reward for items, but not experience). Which is..bad..but you just get used to experiencing on the easier types of monsters, that's fine;)

The difficulty does scale with level, as does the experience, but different monster types of the same level can be vastly different in difficulty level, but will give the same experience when killed.

It can be annoying until you realize that's the case though.

It's also tough to solo past around 20..(it's tough to solo past 14, really..but you can do it) from 20-30 it's uh...challenging..after 30 it's impossible unless you want to play very specific classes.

as far as fun goes, it's one of the most addicting games i've ever played, so i guess that's fun... you'll have a lot more fun if you play a class that's in demand, then if you play one of the millions of stupid warriors running around...

as all games, ymmv..

as for it being out a while..it's kind of nice, there's an established economy, which means you can sell items you have no use for to high levels who have a use for them to make easy money. (never sell anything to the npc vendors, sell it at the auction house to other players)

the only odd thing that i haven't seen anyone else address (at least not towards you), is the difficulty in interacting with a primarily japanese high level playerbase.

They're *very* nice (although they're beginning to become more indifferent as more americans invade, and are..well..rude), but it's still difficult to communicate.

It's very frustrating (from both sides i'm sure) and makes the game experience kinda unique (in good and bad ways;) but of course there are plenty of americans to play with so it's not a huge problem if you don't want it to be.

--Shadar

Re:Solid game.

[ChickenAintDone]

What? That's the best part!

A very good game

[WapoStyle]

This game might just end up being the biggest online RPG for a long time to come. I've never played Everquest but online games I have played are "Earth and Beyond" and "Star Wars Galaxies" So far Final Fantasy XI is my favorite by a long shot. It's actually, fun?! Yeah, this is the first online game I've played that's more fun than it is work.

Downtime seems pretty low so far. One thing I hated in Galaxies was the permanent damage to your character unless you found another player to heal you. Very lame. In this game I can just hit the heal button and wait a few minutes and I'm good as new.

Worst part about this game is definatly the controls. You can tell it was made for the PS2 controller. Luckily you can pick up a USB adapter for the Dual Shock 2 for under $20. It even supports the rumble if your into vibrating electronics...

Damn, I sound like an advertisement. Oh well, I'm really enjoying this game. Well, besides the couple hours it takes to install. Don't count on playing it the day you pick it up if you get it after work.

Re:A very good game

[SoVeryWrong]

I agree, the game is wonderful but you can tell that the mouse/keyboard controls were added as an afterthought.
I patched a USB end onto one of my Xbox controllers, downloaded the homebrew Windows2k/XP driver, and have been playing with that for the last few weeks.
There should be a notice on the box suggesting a dual analog gamepad, because the game is much easier to play with one. Trying to move the camera around with the arrow keys alone was getting me frustrated when I first bought it.

Re:A very good game

[realdpk]

Yeah, totally agreed there too. I almost decided I wasn't going to play it, but then I tried it with the PS2 adapter I use for Midnight Club. Man. What a difference.

If you've got this game and you're frustrated with the controls, spend about $25-35 on a cheap used PS2 controller (Gamestop has tons) and a adapter (Radio Shack sells 'em) - it's worth it. It's fun for other games, too. I use mine in Desert Combat for heli's ;)

Re:A very good game

[neostorm]

It seems like an insult that they wouldn't properly port it to the PC in the first place. Making you use a gamepad or the keyboard (???) is ludicrous.

One MMORPG to rule them all.

[Anonymous Coward]

No, I'm not talking about Final Fantasy XII. What about Nethack Online? That'll give some challenge, and show high-level characters what happens when you get overconfident and apathetic about battles.

THE PRESIDENT HAS BEEN KIDNAPPED BY NINJAS.

[Anonymous Coward]

l l l l l l l l l l l l l l
ARE YOU A BAD ENOUGH DUDE TO RESCUE THE PRESIDENT?
l l l l l l l l l l l l l l

Re:THE PRESIDENT HAS BEEN KIDNAPPED BY NINJAS.

[Anonymous Coward]

I thought the Nintendo port sucked because you couldn't play 2 player simultaneously.

Re:FP

[Anonymous Coward]

its not rape if you ask for it first, let alone enjoy it afterwards

The key to near complete success...

[MMaestro]

Try the game out in another country before releasing it in the U.S.

I mean, comon the game was out for over a year and got an expansion pack for crying out loud. By testing the game out in an area where they would almost be guaranteed consumer feedback (Final Fantasy name + Japan = fanboyism) they can fix and tweak the game around with relatively few losses. Its a simple marketing technique :

Try a product out on the largest possible group of people and gather feedback on the product over along people of time before releasing it to the public. The only reason this doesn't happen too often (ever) is that businesses don't have the money to fund this sort of work and because Square-Enix has legions of fanboys who would PAY to participate in this. (Its like paying to be a beta test. If you could be in the beta test of Half-Life 2/Doom 3 by paying $5 a month, would you do it?)

its great!

[deus_X_machina]

Final Fantasy XI is just so damn appealing it's insane. It appeals to people who enjoy the whole Final Fantasy world, n00bs to MMORPG's who find the familiar world and easy to use interface a breath of fresh air, and hardcore gamers looking for a new experience in a world that's already very developed.

I tried to jump on the whole "Everquest" boat a few years ago, but found it was too complex and annoying. I kept falling in what appeared to be puddles and drowning. The whole "Everquest" world was unfamiliar and kind of overwhelming, so I decided MMORPG's weren't for me. I never even made it out of the first town. Being reared of games like "Exitilus" and "Legend of the Red Dragon", the idea of an MMORPG was very appealing, but I figured they were too complex and annoying, and required too much time for someone like myself to get into.

Until, of course, Final Fantasy XI. Within a week, I have a level 10 warrior doing things like joining parties, slaying monsters, making gil, and chatting it up. It was so easy to become part of the 'community' and do basic easy things. It's literally like playing Final Fantasy, except with a bunch of other people and a slower leveling up process. There are story based missions, lots of NPCs, familiar characters... the list goes on. I feel like I've been playing for months, hell, I even help n00bs out when I can.

5 other people in my hall have decided to give it a try, because it looks so easy to get into. 3 of them have played Final Fantasy prior to XI, and the other two just think it 'looks really fun'. It lacks that 'overhwhelming feel' you get from other MMORPGs, the interface is so friendly and familiar, yet in reality, complex and effective.

Final Fantasy XI has been the best investment I've put into a video game in years. I highly recomend anyone reading this try it. And look for Dyrian. ;)

Comparison numbers? (EQ,SWG, DAoC ...) ?

[Anonymous Coward]

Has anybody got some numbers to compare this. Okay, EQ seems to be around 500,000; but what about DAoC, SWG and the others.

Are there current numbers anywhere?