Those who purchase Final Fantasy XI receive a Play Online ID, password and @pol.com e-mail address once they've installed the PlayOnline browser, a process which takes about 20 minutes. Once you've input the PlayOnline registration code and password that comes with your game, all you need to do is insert your name and address to get started. Play Online access is free of charge to those who purchase Final Fantasy XI (and you gotta love having an @pol.com e-mail). 

Installation of Final Fantasy XI and any other Square Online software you may have is initiated through the games section of the PlayOnline website. As for the PlayOnline browser, you're required to input a lengthy registration code and password the very first time you run the program, but after that this information is stored to your hard drive and never asked for again.

Final Fantasy XI takes about 25 minutes to install to the hard disk, and another 10 minutes to download any updates available for the game. All the while, you get to see the game's credits, a spinning crystal and hear the latest take on the Final Fantasy theme that has been with the series from the start.

Here's the beautiful part about the entire installation. You don't have to enter any technical information regarding your internet connection. The game initially asks you for a name for your connection, but all this info is just for our own book keeping -- it can be called anything you like. The software finds out your internet connection information without having you make any other effort (something that probably won't be the case if you use dial-up to go Online).

The patch option is second from the top. Below that is an option which allows you to check the hard drive for corrupted files. Incidentally, below that option is an "Online Ultimania" option. This option will give you access to an Online version of the Final Fantasy XI edition in the very thorough Ultimania guide book series.