Introduction

On May 16, 2009, FINAL FANTASY XI celebrated the seven-year anniversary of its launch in Japan! This past year has brought us the first of three new add-on scenarios featuring a variety of new stories expanding on the world of FINAL FANTASY XI.

To better understand the game抯 players, we tried something different for the 9th Vana抎iel Census and performed a preliminary survey. Using the results of the survey for reference, we抳e attempted to show the current state of the community by analyzing and looking at the data from every side possible!

*All research is based off data obtained May 2009.

Login Distribution

The below graphs represent the login data for the third week in April 2009.

The simultaneous logins graph shows that there are always a considerable number of players logged in to FINAL FANTASY XI at any time, this number increasing at the peak times of each region.
The consistent player presence within the game helps create a healthy environment for player communication and community activities.

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2009/4/17

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2009/4/19

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Now let抯 take a look at how much time players spend logged into the game each day.
According to data acquired from the servers, 85% of players are logged in to FINAL FANTASY XI for an average of 1 to 3 hours a day. This is a considerable increase from last year抯 75%.

Additionally, the average play time for a character this year comes to 126 minutes (about 2 hours and 6 minutes), a significant decrease from last year (171 minutes).

?Login Time Per Character ?/B>

1-3 hours or less 4-6 hours 7-9 hours 10-12 hours 13-15 hours 16-18 hours 19-21 hours 22-24 hours

Additionally, the average play time for a character this year comes to 126 minutes (about 2 hours and 6 minutes), a significant decrease from last year (171 minutes).

?How players' time is spent ?/B> *Survey results

Leveling up/Improving skills. Obtaining items and gil. Communicating with other players. Doing missions and quests.

揕eveling up/Improving skills?was the most popular answer, followed by 揙btaining items and gil,?indicating the primary activities occupying players?time.

Quite some time has passed since FINAL FANTASY XI抯 service first started, and the fact that leveling up continues to remain the most popular activity in a game populated by so many veterans is a testament to the variety of different play styles offered by FINAL FANTASY XI抯 wide selection of jobs. Another likely influence is the introduction of the Level Sync system. Thanks to this system, the amount of time required to find compatible party members