Online Another World Not much is known about the second installment of Final Fantasy on the Playstation2. But the one thing that is known has caused much controversy among fans of the series. Final Fantasy XI will be the first completely online Final Fantasy, a drastic change from the regular FF forumula. The few aspects of the game known are as follows: Final Fantasy XI will likely feature a medieval, fantasy-themed setting and many of the classic Final Fantasy jobs. Each player will have his or her own character and that said characters will gain levels. The story will not likely be controlled by the player like many other online titles. The project is being headed by Hiromichi Tanaka, producer of Chrono Cross and Xenogears, and Koichi Ishii of the SaGa Frontier and Seiken Densetsu series. Final Fantasy XI will make full use of the PlayOnline service. PlayStation 2 users will be able to access the network through the forthcoming PS2 cable modem. Players will be able to chat and send messages to other players online. In addition to gaming, users can also be used for Internet browsing, news, e-mail, online shopping, instant messaging, chat, and online Weekly Jump comics. Probably the most argued part of FFXI is the cost to play the game. According to intitial reports, PlayOnline would require a monthly fee, and Final Fantasy would require an access fee on top of that -- in addition to the cost of the game disk and other internet usage fees. These statements came a while back, so it is possible that Square changed their standpoint in order to compete with Phantasy Star Online and PC games such as Everquest. FFXI was originally intended to be released late 2001 worldwide. This date has since been postponed to March 2002 in Japan. Because Final Fantasy X is set to be released in that time period in the states, that worldwide release is very unlikely.