It’s not just a Vana’ty project
This year, Final Fantasy XI is celebrating its 19th anniversary. And ahead of the calendar rolling over into its 20th, Square Enix is celebrating so many years of FFXI.
“We Are Vana’Diel” is one part of the Final Fantasy XI team’s festivities as the 20th anniversary draws near, featuring a bunch of content about the MMORPG. It will serve as a countdown website and a “center for celebration” as the site gets updated with more content.
There are already some really neat things on the site, like some illustrations from legendary artist Yoshitaka Amano and a giant timeline chronicling the history of Final Fantasy XI. There’s also the first in a series of conversations between FFXI producer Akihiko Matsui and special guests, with the first being the original producer of Final Fantasy XI, Hiromichi Tanaka.
More updates are planned for the future, and in Matsui’s letter, he says the Development and Operations teams are putting in effort to spreading the festivities around, both on the site and in-game.
“To those who have adventured with us in the past, we hope you enjoy the website and perhaps consider adventuring with us once more, as various in-game activities can still be enjoyed solo or with small groups,” said Matsui. “To those of you who are actively adventuring with us, we would love to hear your stories from over the years and also hope you will join us in adding more to this website.”
While most people are probably more familiar with the other Final Fantasy MMO these days, Final Fantasy XI was the predecessor to Final Fantasy XIV and has still managed to pull some players in over the years. (I know because a college roommate of mine got really into it for a summer.)
As the 20th anniversary approaches, it’s neat to trace back the time and chart the years back to the launch of Square’s MMO and its long history since.