FFXI's Vana'diel Gets Census, Re-Confirms 500,000 Players

Posted by simoniker on Sunday May 16, 2004 @12:28AM from the fava-beans-and-nice-chianti dept.

Thanks to SirBruce for pointing to Square Enix's official Final Fantasy XI census survey, recently revealed since "May 16, 2004 marks the second anniversary of Final Fantasy XI's Japanese launch." The piece re-confirms that "the number of active Final Fantasy XI players (or, the number of paying customers with at least one character) has topped 500,000", and goes on to look at log-in distribution ("Japanese logins peak at around 11 p.m [but] the North American peak time occurs on a relatively smooth spread of 10 or 12 hours [largely due to] the 3-hour time difference that exists between North America's two coasts"), and job type distribution ("the warrior dominates the charts.") In a related story, Terra Nova discusses an economic research paper on Final Fantasy XI, which notes: "There is a pricing differential in exactly the same object depending on the time of day. This corresponds with the times that Japanese and North American users log on."

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Re:Maybe someone can clarify for this by Ari0ch · 2004-05-16 08:25 · Score: 3, Informative

yep, you are in the same realm. there is a fairly decent auto-translator built into the game, which is pretty good for in game i.e. gameplay related usage, but not so hot for general social interaction. i've been in a few mixe parties and had a great deal of success and fun in them.
Re:Time + Money Commitment by birder · 2004-05-17 00:19 · Score: 2, Informative

Sony is already toying with the idea of allowing people to buy items and powers in their online games. Laying aside the arguement that it would destroy the feel of the game, it would certainly be a way to see all the game has to offer.

They are planning this for their online PS2 titles, but I think it could happen in their PC titles in the near future.