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Out of all the new information released at the recent Square Millennium conference, the most unexpected announcement was certainly that of an online-only Final Fantasy XI. While Square had hinted at an online-centered strategy, few (if any) gamers expected this kind of complete shift into massively multiplayer gaming, backed by a complete range of non game-related portal services through a partnership with NTT Communications.
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While Final Fantasy X was announced to have an online mode, XI will be playable online-only, in the vein of PC titles such as Ultima Online and Everquest. It appears that players will be able to choose from a variety of character and monster classes when beginning their game, as well as chat with other adventures in rooms similar to those found on Blizzard's battle.net multiplayer service. With the slogan "Online Another World," Final Fantasy XI's graphical style combines the realistic character models of Final Fantasy VIII with the colorful dream worlds of the newly shown Final Fantasy IX.
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While story elements and other details remain sparse, it will be interesting to see what kind of business and gameplay models Square embraces for this "another world." Will console players adjust to having to pay $10 per month for a console game? Will the game's target audience be limited by the slow development of a broadband network? Will a company known for story be able to bring real narrative to online RPGs? With a release date of 2001, Square has nearly two years in which to prove that the biggest name in RPGs can work in the genre's least developed niche.
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SOURCE: thegia.com
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