As is the case with every online RPG, you will have to create your character in order to begin the game. You will be presented with a choice of several types of races:
The Humes, which are the Humans and are the most balanced race.
The Elvaan, which are the elves and are tall and skilled in one-on-one combat and
The Tarutaru, which are the Hobbits, short and skilled in the use of magic.
Once you have selected one of the above races for your characters you will be prompted to choose your gender. If you select one of the following 2 races however, you will not be given a gender choice.
The Mithra is a matriarchic, feline race of skilled hunters that live in peace alongside the Tarutaru. Since female Mithras are the ones that usually move to hunt, you will only have the option of being a female Mithra.
The Galka is a strong and tough ogre race. They are hermaphrodites and will reproduce by re-incarnation. If you choose Galka then, you forfeit the choice, and pleasure, of sex.
After finalizing race and gender details, players can begin customizing their physical appearance and can adjust features such as weight, height, facial features, hair-eye color etc.
Combat Details ~
As we have come to expect, Squaresoft will almost certainly introduce various radical changes in the upcoming Final Fantasy XI. In Final Fantasy X, gamers were shocked to find a radically changed combat system, in the new version, the Job System, first introduced in FF V, will make its comeback.
Not all jobs will be available at the beginning, players will be able to start off in one of six jobs:
Warrior
White Mage
Black Mage
Red Mage
Thief and
Monk
As most of you have gathered, these are the original choices from the very first Final Fantasy game.
Details of additional job classes have not yet been made available but are expected to surface soon.
Warriors
Warriors are the no-nonsense knights, which most players will recognize from previous versions. This time around they have a special ability dubbed "Mighty Strike", which allows them to execute continuous critical attacks.
White and Black Mages
White Mages deliver healing spells and Black Mages attack spells. While they wield powerful magic, they are also considered to be physically weak. White Mages have the use of the "Bless from God", which allows them to heal all of their allies within a certain range. Black Mages possess the "Magic Swirl" which allows them to cast powerful attack spells.
In a move which reminiscent of Baldur's Gate, Squaresoft have hinted that the magic involved in the game will need time to charge and prepare and that if the player preparing to use spells is attacked, the magic will be rendered useless. There are also plans to include a range for every spell, so that no one spell will be effective outside a particular range.
Red Mages
Red Mages possess the ability to cast low level White and Black spells, but cannot use more powerful spells. They can however, use their Magic continuously.
Monks
Monks are experts of face to face combat and will not carry heavy equipment or weapons. Their special skill is the attack of the "One Hundred Punches as", which as the name suggests delivers a quick and powerful attack.
Thieves
Thieves, true to their nature, have extremely high evasive abilities and can steal even during battle. Their "Complete Evasion" skill, makes them invulnerable to physical attacks.
In order to offer a simplified version of the game, Square have announced plans to include an "Auto Attack" option, which will allow constant attacks on an enemy until the enemy is killed or the player performs another action.
Oh ya well:
This is FFXI.
Everything is nice, the release won't be until late 2002 to early 2003 but let me tell you, it is worth the wait. PCTEL will be releasing a broadband and dialup modems for the PS2 around the same time also. Netscape will host the browser and AOL will host our servers. So far, Square Japen has had no problems with their servers and managed to get over 1000 people online. We had to stop cause most of us guessed that we ran out of workers to get online. Lol. I can't wait to test the English Beta Version of FFXI, they say that the English Version might have an Instant Message plus to the game.
Linear Mode
