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

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."

Comments

Of course Warrior is #1

[Anonymous Coward]

Isn't Warrior always the #1 choice in RPGs?

Re:Wow, bigger than EQ?

[Anonymous Coward]

i think the main reason that FFX1 is so popular isnt because its a better game per se, but because you can run it on a PS2--

computer games tend to be less popular because of the hassle of maintaining a computer, upgrading the ram, etc etc. console games are more "no nonsense", you buy the console, then you buy the game, and unless you have that weird scanning head bug the game usually works.

i dont know that many people with computers good enough to run SWG or run EQ optimally, but i know tons of people with PS2s.

Re:Wow, bigger than EQ?

[ajutla]

Maybe, but--and I am in no way an authority on this seeing that I don't own the game--FFXI has relatively low system requirements, I'm pretty sure. Actually, I have a PS2 but I've never really considered using it to play online RPGs. How the would you talk to people? By spending extra money and buying a keyboard? And the game itself would likely run more slowly than if you were actually playing it on a computer. The cost would break down something like this:

PS2 + network adapter ($200) + FFXI/hard drive ($100) + some kind of third party keyboard (~$25-30, something like that) + ~$13 per month = a lot. Whereas, if you already have a decent computer, it's just $50 for the game, and then your monthly fee. Hell, even if you don't have a decent computer, you can spend, what, $200 or so for a really cheap eMachine that'll play the game optimally. And you get a better gaming experience overall...

Re:Monthly prices!

[jaredcat]

so...

14 cents per day - strategy game is ok
54 cents per day - mmorpg is too expensive?

i guess Christian Children's Fund is really wasting their time advertising towards you...

Re:Monthly prices!

[Mukaikubo]

Oh, go on, please reduce it even further. I'm whinging about having to pay a bit over 2 cents an hour! How crude, how thrifty, how parsimonious I must be!

So, say I have 200$ a year for entertainment. Either;
A: I buy and play an MMORPG
B: I get two regular games (100$), a few DVDs (20$ each), and maybe go the the movies or the bookstore.

I think Option B gives more entertainment bang for the buck.