"Only about a fifth of the whole potential of the game has been seen so far..." (Tanaka)

Famitsu: In the four months since FFXI's release I'd imagine that there have been various unforeseen accidents...

Tanaka: As development has continued I have lost track of what were accidents and what were not (laughs). It is a repetitive cycle, where everyday there are issues that crop up, and in response appropriate actions are taken.

Ise: The server overload during the first few days of release was something that we'd expected to a degree however.

T: It's an inevitable thing with network games. There hasn't been a game that has cleared the first few days trouble-free yet.

I: We wanted to prepare an opening ceremony sort of thing to commemorate the release, but when tens of thousands of players are trying to access every fraction of a second, there is no system on the planet that can keep up.

T: Of course, it's technically possible. However, it's difficult to justify investment in extra equipment just for the influx of players on the first day.

I: the second major problem that occurred the following weekend was something we hadn't expected. I went without sleep that Saturday and Sunday, working away on a solution in a half-conscious state. It was a rough weekend.
 
Other than that, the problem with certain IP addresses not allowing access was also unforeseen. There was no single cause to the problem, so we worked with providers to tune up load distribution, and eventually the situation improved.

F: So the problem was resolved?

I: It's probably not a problem that can be resolved completely, because if online situations change there is always a chance of it reoccurring somewhere. It's important to keep everything optimized so that this doesn't happen. This is something that can't be avoided when dealing with internet contents.

F: At this point about how many FFXI players are there?

T: There are about 120,000 PlayOnline and FFXI members now (interview carried out in late August). To be honest, we're having difficulties with the lack of of BB-units (Broadband units - HDD and broadband connector) out there.

F: From the user's viewpoint buying the BB-unit is just one of many hurdles that needs to be overcome before they can play FFXI, don't you think?

T: We were at last able to put some on sale through the PlayOnline site a few days ago, the first time they have been on sale through somewhere other than internet providers. They sold out within three days.

F: So, that means that there are still new users joining up?

T: The pace hasn't slowed down at all. The sales figures look very good indeed. Packaged FF games up until now have sold at an incredible pace for just the first few weeks, but this game has been selling at a steady rate ever since it's release.

During summer vacation there was a big increase in new players, and because of that the player level distribution has formed a nice pyramid. In the long term the problem we have to think about is what to do when new users decline, and the game world becomes an "aging society" full of powerful players.

By the way, the numbers of players who have closed their account in FFXI has been less than 1%, which is a very low figure compared to other PC MMORPG's.

F: With steady user growth the load on the servers will also increase. Is this going to cause problems?

T: At the moment there are about 3000 players online on each world server at peak times. Each server is about the same in this respect.

I: Regarding the number of players online simultaneously, looking at games like Ultima Online and Everquest, they peak at about 100,000 players online worldwide. Now with FFXI we have 60,000 users playing at once in Japan alone. The limit for each server is set at about 5000, but depending on level distribution there is a chance that hunting grounds can become too crowded and the game unplayable with over 4000 players. Everything seems to be fine at the moment, so we think we can keep increasing the number of players per server for a while yet.

F: Job balance has been adjusted in many areas, hasn't it?

T: In the first two months there were some issues with certain jobs so we had to rethink balance and make adjustments as we went. For example the spell "bind" was too strong, so we had to make some changes there. The basic balance has settled down now to a certain extent, so we plan to take another hard look at some of the extra jobs like Beastmaster and ranger next. This kind of balance adjustment must be thought about again and again as the level cap increases and new skills and abilities become available.

F: With balance issues such as these, do player's opinions have any influence?

T: We take into consideration any direct communication regarding this, and also pay close attention to discussions on various message boards and fan sites. After taking in all that has been said, we make any adjustments that seem to be valid. Also, the development staff and I all participate as players ourselves, so the things we feel as we play have an influence too. In addition we have an "idea board" at Square HQ, where staff can put up any thoughts about the game. We discuss these ideas daily.

F: Speaking of balance, on every server Bastok appears to be strong in the conquest. What about the balance between each nation?

T: Bastok indeed seems to be strong in the conquest game. Bastok conquest items have been in high demand, so it seems that in order to gain more conquest points the number of people who get signet cast before they head out to fight is higher than in other countries. We will be taking measures to improve this balance sometime in the near future.

F: By the way, what is the maximum level for FFXI?

T: The game has been made so that level caps can be expanded up to 255. So you could say that only about a fifth of the whole potential of the game has been seen so far.

F: All this and it's still only one fifth? (laughs). So there will be regular patches to increase these limits?

T: In the long term, were thinking about 3 to 4 years ahead. We are looking into whether we should increase the cap a large amount all at once, or have smaller increases more regularly. For example when new areas are added we think it would be a good time to increase the cap.

F: Will new areas be available as a download?

I: Area expansions would be a bit difficult through a download. Thinking of connection fees for example, we think that supplying expansions on disk would have more merit. To be able to deliver huge amounts of data is everyone's dream, but we don't think that this is feasible right now.

F: There are still some extra jobs hidden aren't there? When do you think they will become available?

T: We are still looking into that. Basically, the 6 main jobs make up all the fundamental elements of the game, and the extra jobs are merely combinations of those. Even if we were to introduce new classes, we wouldn't want to bring in anything that would break this balance. We don't want any extra classes to turn into "advanced jobs". They would have the same standing as the other classes, so we have to consider carefully what roles they could fulfill in this game within the existing structure, as there would have to be situations in which they could display their abilities uniquely.

F: The Windows beta version has been very popular. When do you think it's release will be?

T: I can't say anything about the release date yet. The PS2 version and Windows version will be able to share data, so we are planning to make it easy to use the same account on either system.

F: Will you be increasing the number of world servers for the windows release?

T: We are looking into increasing them, yes. Right now we are also thinking about whether we should distribute the current worlds over new servers, create new worlds for the release, or go for a mixture of these two methods.

F: How about the release dates for the overseas versions?

T: At the moment no release date has been set. The English translations are coming along well, but work on credit card systems, and making changes for the different network environments overseas is taking time.

F: When the overseas versions are released, how will the world servers be handled?

T: We plan to make it possible for everyone to play on the same servers. Regarding language, we will be including a set of phrases that will make communication easier. However, I think that players will discover how interesting it can be to communicate in their own words and play together with people from other countries. At Junior High School English level simple conversation should be possible, so I hope that players make an active effort to communicate.

F: To finish off, do you have anything to say to the players?

T: To those of you who have yet to play this game, go and hunt down a BB-unit so you can experience it now. The Windows version is coming soon too, so there will be many options available to you in the near future.

I: The network and servers still have plenty of room for more players, so come and experience Vana'diel for yourself!