It’s not just a Vana’ty project
This year,Final Fantasy XIis celebrating its 19th anniversary. And ahead of the calendar rolling over into its 20th, Square Enix is celebrating so many years ofFFXI.
“We Are Vana’Diel” is one part of theFinal Fantasy XIteam’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 fromlegendary artist Yoshitaka Amanoand agiant timelinechronicling the history ofFinal Fantasy XI. There’s also the first in a series of conversations betweenFFXIproducer Akihiko Matsui and special guests, with the first being theoriginal producer ofFinal FantasyXI, 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 otherFinal FantasyMMO these days,Final Fantasy XIwas the predecessor toFinal Fantasy XIVand 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.
