Final Fantasy XIVmay the MMO on everyone ’s creative thinker these Clarence Shepard Day Jr. , especially count its incredible redemption story . However , before there wasFinal Fantasy XIV , or evenWorld of Warcraft , Final Fantasytook its first steps into the MMO humankind withFinal Fantasy XI .

Perhaps even more amazing is thatFinal Fantasy XIcontinues to have an alive player base in 2020 , as well as a pay subscription Robert William Service . Through thick and lean the biz has bring off to survive and flourish for eighteen years .

bear on : Final Fantasy XI : 15 Things You Never Knew About Vana’diel

Kulebra and the Souls of Limbo artwork showing Kulebra facing dark souls.

Few MMOs have oversee to see such length of service and success , and a big part of that is how Square Enix craft and supportedFinal Fantasy XI .

Final Fantasy XI Doubled-Down on Player Freedom

Freedom is at the heart of the MMO experience , and the good of the genre gives player an endless amount of options . A bighearted part of this forFinal Fantasy XIcame with the series ' iconic job organization . thespian could choose from a variety of different jobs inFinal Fantasy XI , but unlike most MMOs , you did n’t have to convert characters to change " family . " Players could collect gearing from all across the world , then expend it in tandem with Job to try out with entirely new playstyles . The plot also added sub - jobs on top of the arrangement , expanding on each role with even more unique ideas and playstyles .

What resulted was an experience that feel unique to each player , and experiment was necessary . Outside of traditional MMO ideas , job even applied to the wider plot and not just battle , like how thief can foot lock . Final Fantasy XItook the ideas of the series and hold them to the MMO formula in interesting fashion . Yes , the game had its uncut patches , but over the age through change and increase , the nub systems became even more engaging . As MMOs became more steer experiences that held player ’s hands , Final Fantasy XIstill demand that actor project out its systems for themselves , and experimentation .

Further develop on player exemption is the Trust system introduced in 2013 , that countenance player summon NPC characters to contend alongside them . This meant that players no longer had to organise parties to take on the game ’s tougher challenges , encourage solo period of play and guaranteeing alternative even if player numbers fell . Many ofFinal Fantasy XI’ssystems might seem archaic by today ’s standard , but features like its task system were revolutionary at the time .

Mona From genshin Impact on a background of Charlotte Tilbury items

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Final Fantasy XI Bred a Welcoming Community

An MMO simply ca n’t win without a passionate residential district , andFinal Fantasy XIdeliberately tried to further one since its creation . Final Fantasy XIis a penalize game , especially in its other days , and the complexities of the game can make it tough to jump into . Because of this , it was essential for player to ring together , as it present a better chance of achiever and natural selection   before there was any sort of reliance organization . It was an MMO that really fostered cooperation , and it show .

aside from that , Final Fantasy XIstuck honest to the serial ' stem and duplicate down on story and traditional knowledge . It sample to make players feel like a part of a breathing mankind and succeeded in that for the most part . Final Fantasy XIstill had all those iconic elements ofFinal Fantasy ; Chocobos , Moogles , Black Mages , and a phenomenal soundtrack crafted by longtime composer Nobuo Uematsu . With these two main points , Final Fantasy XIfostered a tightknit community . The plot has thousands of players still support , about 40,000 a calendar month according to the siteMMO Population . If you head to theFinal Fantasy XIsubreddit there ’s still several posts every daylight , even if things have decelerate down . It ’s a testament to how many players were invested in the secret plan over the years .

Square Enix Continued to Update Final Fantasy XI

Strong design and a dedicated biotic community can keep a game afloat for a while , but straight seniority only comes when a developer keep to ingeminate upon what they created . Amazingly the plot has obtain a novel plot of ground intimately every two month since its launching , with thelatest reading updatehitting on March 10 , 2020 . Square Enix has been incredibly diligent about fixing problems , and allow incremental updates , even while it tried to launch another MMO , Final Fantasy XIV . On top of that , Final Fantasy XIreceived an expansion or major update every year or two years after its launch , untilRhapsodies of Vana’dielin 2015 .

Each of these expansions added on a variety of content like new races , new jobs , new sphere , and spare story content . This observe a constant stream of novel depicted object for fans to plunk into , ensuring that the community had something to peach about and some new challenge or hirer to beat . Final Fantasy XIhad a strong enough substance abuser cornerstone that it stay a consistent moneymaker for Square Enix , and in turn , they continued to update the secret plan and bring unexampled content . It ’d led to an MMO that has continue to exist , even whileFinal Fantasy XIVbecame wildly successful . No doubt , there will continue to be a community until the game ’s last days .

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Ben Starr in his Jimbo Joker getup with Clive from FF16 and Cloud from FF7 over his shoulders.

Final Fantasy XI

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