Beer before liquor, never been sicker. Liquor before beer, have no fear.

The story takes place in a world that mixes swords, magic, and technology on the beautiful planet known as Vana'Diel. In the past this world was blessed by the source of all things in the world, the Crystals. Together with their power, those that believed in the light fought against the monsters that followed darkness. The monsters destroyed the beautiful villages and cities, turning the lands into a vaste wasteland, and the water into deadly pollution. Eventually, mankind was able to fight back the monsters and regain peace for their land. However, 20 year after the fighting, when people begin to forget the memories of the horrible war with the monsters, the scent of evil once again blows over the land of Vana'Diel. All is resting on the powers of the crystals.

Many different peoples and creatures inhabit the land, but so far Square has focused on three specific player races:

	Hume If they're not exactly called "humans" in the lingo of the world (the katakana in Square's profile omits the "an"), that's more or less what they are. A balanced, middle-of-the-road species, with the ability to acquire many different skills.
	Tarutaru Cute little suckers, ain't they? And they even look big, if you angle your forced perspective right. These fellows mainly inhabit the Federation of Windurst, where they're very well-known for their magical ability.
	Elvaan Or "elves" if you prefer. The Elven generally make their home in the San D'oria Kingdom, a tall, strong, martial race. They make the best warriors in the game, but their proud nature lends itself to internecine strife.
	Mithra The Mithra are an elvish race that inhabit a small corner of the Federation of Windurst. They're opposed to the development of science and technology, preferring to remain closer to nature and rely on their innate physical abilities. They have tails and large pointed ears, as well as tails. Male Mithra are extremely rare, and only females ever venture into the outside world.
	Galka They're the tall, broad-shouldered creatures we've seen in earlier screenshots. As their build suggests, they're powerful and durable, which suits them well to the industrial life of the Bastok Republic. Galka, curiously enough, don't pass on many common physical traits to their descendants -- instead, they all look fairly different.

There will also be other player character races, some of which have a distinctly towering quality (presumably something along ogreish lines), and it wouldn't be a Final Fantasy game without any Chocobos to have fun with.

Meanwhile, the three major races inhabit three major nations. The world of Vana'Diel is more or less at peace, and peoples from all three can travel freely where they'd like to go, but tension between the countries does exist now and again.

	Republic of Bastok The Humes or humans or whatever you're meant to call them raised up this nation with their advanced technology and special natural resources. The capital city grew up around a mine where the metal Mithril can be found -- it soon became a center of craft and research.
	Federation of Windurst This is a nation cobbled together out of many disparate Tarutaru tribes. Their magical powers have raised up huge, organic cities, seeming to blend naturally with the environment around them, where the Tarutaru continually refine and develop their magical abilities.
	Kingdom of San D'oria The homeland of the Elvaan rose up in fragile unity after a protracted civil war -- it holds together for now, but the presence of so much pride and violence continually threatens to break down order. The capital city is kept strong by the alliance between the royal knights and their religious counterparts.

Ronfaure Forest

The forest area close to the San D'oria Kingdom which contains a huge variety of beautiful green scenery. It's surrounded by a certain mysterious atmosphere.

Gustaberg

An area of barren space surrounding the Bastok Republic. No plants lives here...only the dried rotten husks of trees and rocks remain standing. To the north are caves that yield a wealth of minerals.

Sarutabaruta

A wide plain located to the north of the Windurst Federation. Here and there are plants that are unique to this area. In addition, various monsters, large and small, live in this area as well.

Final Fantasy XI is the first game in the FF series that is completely online, of course, with many characters simultaneously coexisting in one online world. Through the second reality created through the PS2 and PlayOnline, players can meet various people and together with them go on adventures. In Vana Dir, a vast variety of different peoples exist. One of the races of Humans, is a race that is balanced in various kinds of abilities. Of course there are many other kinds of races and people with different kinds of abilities for the player to chose the one that fits them the most. Humans have both male and female variations, too, so the choices aren't limited to just the race -- there are other, finer options.

The first thing a player needs to do when he/she starts a new game is "create" his or her own charactes. Because everything from the race, looks, body type, and so on can be set to the player's wish, it is possible to create a unique original character. This is one of the biggest points of FFXI, the ability to create your own Final Fantasy character. The Job System (from Final Fantasy V and Final Fantasy Tactics) allows a remarkable degree of breadth to the skills and abilities you can give your alter ego.

Communication will be taken cared of through a simple, easy to understand system. Everything from getting help on how to continue in the game, trading unwanted items, who to fight with, you can talk to anyone you want through a easy system of word inputs, like the icon-based communication in Phantasy Star Online.

Characters will of course want to join together -- the essential appeal of an online RPG lies the possibility for interaction and group effort. FFXI looks like it will offer a chance for a much larger scale of such efforts than Phantasy Star Online.

Party

You can show others that you want to join in a party by going into the Menu and select the Join Party option. This will cause the Join Party icon to show up beside the character's name allowing other to know that you wish to join a party. Not only can you show you wish to join a group, you can also invite others to join your group. The control is the same as showing your wish to join a party, except instead of the Join Party option you chose the Invite to Party command. This way, a party will be formed with the inviter as the leader of this party. From this point on, the party will do as the Party Leader commands with
groups that can have up to 6 members.

Alliance

The alliance system is one that must be considered if you're going to fight against very powerful enemies. It allows multiple parties to form alliances with each other. For those enemies where they're impossible to defeat with just one party, this Alliance system will allow the chance for victory to drastically increase. Alliance will allow up to 3 parties to join together, so up to 18 players can join together. To allow for easy understanding, the leaders of each party will be shown with a yellow mark, and the Alliance Leader will be indicated with a white mark.

My underwear covers up a world of hurt.

My underwear covers up a world of hurt.

My underwear covers up a world of hurt.

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you forgot the most important thing: your x-box came with a modem

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MSN Messenger: waybaker@hotmail.com

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I heard FFXI is going to every console. Is that true?

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If Square has any brains at all they will be releasing this title to both the Xbox and the PC. BOTH OF WHICH HAVE BROADBAND ADAPTERS (If you already have broadband that is).

Square would stand to lose a great deal of money if they did not release to these two platforms.

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MSN Messenger: waybaker@hotmail.com

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Ree Posted on: 1-16-02 @ 7:44 AM
Dist, how dare you steal my thunder!!?!?!?

I am the FINAL FANTASY WHORE HERE!!!! Check my god damn status!

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Disturbed Posted on: 1-16-02 @ 10:27 AM
Oh ya..... well check my status!

...... damn, im just a small part of Final Fantasy

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no fbd, your just a catfish frog.

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Squeegie, you really think that the broadband adapter is gonna be $150? You can get a usb broadband adapter for under $50 (for your comp). What makes you so damn certain that the PS2 one will cost more? And why is a HD necessary? Why not buy the shark line thingy thatll hook ur PS2 up to your comp via USB so you can save on your HD. I think it's just hard for you to accept the truth.

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MSN Messenger: waybaker@hotmail.com