IntroductionOn May 16, 2008, FINAL FANTASY XI celebrates its six-year anniversary since its launch in Japan, and will blaze a trail into its seventh year of service! With adventurers now blazing trails across Vana'diel's time stream in the fourth expansion pack, Wings of the Goddess, and with the addition of a “World Transfer Service,” FINAL FANTASY XI's thriving community has grown to more than 500,000 users. Once again, the development and operations teams have analyzed both past and current data to bring you a detailed report on Vana'diel's lively denizens. We hope you enjoy our cross-sectioned look at FINAL FANTASY XI's constantly evolving community! *All research other than login distribution is based off data obtained April 2008. Login DistributionThe below graphs represent the login data for the first week in May 2008. As demonstrated in the data collected each year, there are three main login times each day for FINAL FANTASY XI users from Japan, North America, and Europe indicated by the peaks displayed below. The first peak time takes place in Japan, which is followed by Europe, and then - after a short break - by North America. One can see just how busy the game regularly is by looking at the multiple peak login times.
 Now let's take a look at how much time players are logged into the game each day. When compared to 2006 and 2007, the number of players playing under 3 hours a day has slightly increased and the number of players playing between 4 and 6 hours a day has slightly decreased. The reason for this could be due to experience bonuses through signet and sanctions, enabling players to level up in shorter lengths of time. Another contribution to this figure could be the increase of content such as Assault and Campaign, where players can play with their friends for relatively short periods of time. On the other hand, however, the average play time for a character this year comes to 171 minutes (about 2 hours and 50 minutes), which is slightly longer than last year (168 minutes) and the year before that (164 minutes).
 Job LevelsThis year, in addition to our data on Main Job Distribution, we have also added the results of research into how many players have completed Maat's final challenges and obtained the highly coveted “Maat's Cap.”
We will now mention the item that only the Ultimate Champion of the World could possibly acquire, “Maat's Cap.” As you undoubtedly already know, the only way to get one's hands on this enigmatic item is to level up 15 jobs to level 66 or higher and defeat Maat in single combat with each job. The number of adventurers across all worlds who have taken on this treacherous path and successfully become Maat's successor is a staggering 6,575 characters! Maat's Cap adds +7 to each statistic as a reward for the grueling work put into its acquisition. When Maat's Cap was first being designed, in order to make it the ultimate status-enhancing piece of equipment, it was given STR+7 to surpass even the wyvern helm +1.
JobsThis section looks at the distribution of jobs and the most popular combinations for main and support jobs.
 The incredibly popular mage main and support job combination has continued to hold on to the top two spots.
 Racial DistributionLast year we wrote: “Hume males still top the rankings this year; however, Tarutaru males are hot on their heels. If the popularity of the diminutive Windurstians continues to rise, we may see a new race in the number one position this time next year.”And, just as we had predicted, this year the Tarutaru males have overtaken the Hume males, successfully wresting away the number one position. The last time Tarutaru males actually sat in the lead was before the 2005 Vana'diel Census. We'll have to keep our eyes on both the Tarutaru males and Hume males to see what the future holds. Also on the Tarutaru front, Tarutaru females are gradually moving up the ranks and one can see that overall, the Windurstian natives are growing in popularity.
Looking at race size distribution each year, one can see that sizes fitting a race or gender's overall image are extremely popular. This year is, of course, no exception. Last year, Elvaan males' popularity moved from medium to large, and this year, the gap between medium and large grew even wider.
Face Type DistributionThe number one face type for each race has remained constant with last year's. Let's take a look at the face type distribution for each race, making sure to pay attention to the minute changes from the number two position on down. 
 LinkshellsLinkshells have become an essential part of life in Vana'diel. Linkshell members may lend you a hand in your struggles, providing you with necessary items or just helping you level up for missions and quests. There are also many adventurers who participate in events planned out by linkshell leaders to celebrate occasions such as a friend's birthday or marriage. Let's take a look at linkshells, those amazing tools that let us share adventures and feelings together. We compiled data on the number of currently active linkshells. According to the data, there were a total of 44,560 linkshells active at least once a day, which comes out to an average of 1,392 linkshells per World.
 ItemsThis section will cover the most common items put up for auction, as well as the proliferation of relic-level equipment. First, let's take a look at the data from the four auction houses. We can tell by looking at the results that there are more and more adventurers trying to improve their synthesis skills, and that users abusing auction houses for activities such as RMT are being regularly banned.
The four top-ranked items for the Bastok auction house have remained unchanged for the last 3 years. Among the newly ranked items this year, number 6 “chunk of mythril ore” and number 8 “pot of honey” both caught our attention. Mythril ore is quite valuable in goldsmithing synthesis when combined with gold dust. Synthesis for goldsmithing is relatively costly, but one can use just “copper ingot” and “brass ingot” as materials to raise one's synthesis skill to 50 and, by selling the results of the synthesis to different shops, a player can raise one's skill at a relatively low cost. In other words, players are most likely synthesizing “mythril ingot” using “chunk of mythril ore” and then “pinch of gold dust” to raise their skill. Also, due to the influence of items that can be synthesized starting out with a mythril ingot, the demand for mythril ingots has been increasing recently. Pot of honey's rank on the list could be considered an obvious outcome when considering it would be inevitable for players searching for beehive chips to find them, and also because there is some demand in Bastok for pots of honey as a material in synthesis for the item “flask of echo drops.”
Just like the other nations, the items “pot of honey” and “beetle shell” have climbed into the rankings, and “bone chip” which was ranked number 6 last year, has jumped up in rank to number 3. These are all essential items for improving one's synthesis skills, and it could be said that their low cost is the primary reason for their popularity. Beetle shells are used to synthesize ”Ponze of carapace powder” and bone chips are used to synthesize different kinds of arrowheads, but “pot of honey” is different in that not only is it used by au laits, but also used to some extent in “coeurl subs” and different kinds of cookies.
Next, let's take a look at the rankings at Jeuno's auction house. As is shown every year, when compared to the three starting nations, the items sold in Jeuno are generally end products rather than materials or ingredients. The reason for the meat mithkabob's unusual rank jump is partially due to the new jobs added in the latest expansion, “Wings of the Goddess.”Adventurers of various different jobs engaged in leveling up enjoy the food effects provided by meat mithkabobs to lower-level characters. Also, because “Jack-o'-Lantern” is also a viable choice depending on the situation and on one's tastes, it may have indirectly helped raise meat mithkabob's ranking. The furnishing “Bahut” exploded into the number 7 position with its quickly rising popularity. It goes without saying that its functionality is one reason for this, but considering that it can be created at a low cost with relatively low skills, its high position shouldn't come as a surprise. “Pot of silent oil” has seriously dropped in rank, but it is thought that the reason for this is the introduction of “sanjaku-tenugui.” It hasn't risen as much as Bahut, but it is battling its way up the rankings and is currently at number 16.
This year's totals of 558 for fourth stage items and 1869 for completed relic items have far exceeded the previous year's totals of 353 and 778. The total number of final stage relics across all Worlds is rapidly approaching 2000 items.
Synthesis SkillsIn this next section, we will be taking a look at this year's data regarding synthesis skills. The last time we looked into synthesis skills was during the 2005 census. How much could synthesis skills have possibly changed in the past three years? We compiled statistics about major synthesis skills and how many characters have skill ranks of craftsman or above. Even if you're just starting out on a synthesis skill, you can use this data as a resource for finding out how many people are involved in the same synthesis skill as yourself. We have not included characters whose skills have not improved at all.
 By assuming an overall view of the statistics, we can see that skill ranks for most synthesis skills have risen. This is easiest to see when looking at the “Comparison of Skill Rank Distribution” bar graphs, especially by noting the increase in characters above journeyman and craftsman. Among those skills, the three most popular are cooking, alchemy, and woodworking. The reason for their popularity is most likely due to the relative ease in raising them.
 The most notable characteristic about fishing is that roughly 50% of practitioners are amateurs. This is most likely due to the fact that only a fishing rod and bait are necessary to fish, and that many of the fishermen included in the statistics may have only fished once. Because fishing is an independent skill, even if another synthesis skill has reached 100, one will be able to raise fishing to 100. Despite that, however, the number of characters craftsman rank or above has not increased since the previous census, possibly due to the difficulty in raising the skill at higher ranks.  Woodworking is peculiar for having a high percentage of journeymen, indicating that many characters use it as a sub-skill. Unlike fishing, the percentage of craftsmen is gradually increasing. Considering that the percentage of veterans has increased to seven times its previous percentage, it could be said that woodworking is one of the easier skills to raise. There are many woodworking recipes that use lumber and, when making lumber from logs, if the player succeeds in a high quality synthesis, that player can receive a lot of lumber from a single log. Whether or not a player receives extra lumber may be the key to raising one's woodworking skill.  After goldsmithing, smithing has the lowest percentage of characters ranked craftsman or above, indicating that it is a very difficult skill to raise. However, for how difficult it is to raise a smithing synthesis skill, high quality items produced through smithing are sold at very high prices. If you are finding it difficult to raise your skill, keep your hand at it and you may find yourself getting rich quick!  Although the number of characters ranked craftsman or above for goldsmithing has increased since the last census, the number still remains the lowest in comparison to the other synthesis skills, and goldsmithing is still considered the most difficult skill to raise. Smithing and goldsmithing are difficult skills to raise because of the high number of recipes that require expensive materials. And, unlike woodworking, when refining ingots (the main ingredient in smithing and goldsmithing recipes), the number of items produced will not change, regardless of whether the synthesis is high quality or not. This could be said about any synthesis skill, but rather than synthesizing with costly items, it is important to check item costs at auction houses and carefully choose cheaper recipes to save gil.  Apprentices and journeymen make up about 50% of weavers. Because leathercrafting and bonecrafting have many recipes that need weaving as a sub-skill, it could be said that weaving is a necessary skill for characters involved in building armor. On the other hand, recipes at adept rank are very expensive, and it is difficult to raise one's skill to veteran. Once one's skill goes above 90, many recipes require smithing and leathercrafting as sub-skills, and one must make various investments simply to raise one's skill.  Like woodworking, there is a high percentage of journeymen, and it seems that many characters are using leathercrafting as a sub-skill. However, if you look only at the percentage of veterans, you'll note that leathercrafting has the second highest percentage of veterans among all synthesis skills and is one of the easiest skills to raise. Once a character becomes an adept, there are many recipes that require weaving or bonecrafting as sub-skills. Leathercrafters can entirely avoid recipes requiring smithing as a sub-skill for raising their skills. Also, there are many high-level recipes with materials that are relatively easy to acquire, and it is quite easy to reach the 100 skill cap when compared to other skills.  Because there are many recipes after initiate that require leathercrafting as a sub-skill, it is necessary to also raise leathercrafting skills in order to raise one's bonecrafting skills. Like leathercrafting, materials for bonecrafting recipes are easy to acquire, and few recipes require a sub-skill once one has become a veteran. However, bonecrafting has the third lowest percentage of characters craftsman rank and above, and it is quite difficult to raise one's skills from craftsman to adept.  Alchemy has the second highest percentage of characters craftsman rank and up. Once players have raised their skills to journeyman rank, they can make items that are useful within burning circles such as hi-potions, or items used for travelling through monster-infested areas such as prism powder and silent oil. Also, one reason for alchemy’s appeal is that successful high quality synthesis will yield players multiple items. With alchemy, it is possible to apply special effects to weapons or armor or to raise one’s skills through recipes that don’t require sub-skills.  Cooking has the highest percentage of characters craftsman rank and higher due to food's position as a necessary item on the battlefield. There are also many characters who continue with another skill as their main skill, while keeping cooking as a sub-skill after raising it to journeyman rank. There are many cooking recipes that use eight ingredients for a single synthesis, but because there are so many inexpensive recipes, cooking skills can be easily and steadily raised. Also, because it does not need any sub-skills, one can become a veteran through practicing cooking alone. Chocobo RaisingWe looked into the different color chocobos Vana'diel's adventurers have been raising, and came up with the following data.
 Home PointsThis year, we once again investigated all characters' home points and came up with some interesting results.
Expansion DataWith the release of the Wings of the Goddess expansion, the world of Vana'diel has expanded further than ever before. The following section of the census focuses on mission progression from each expansion, with data only taken from characters who have accepted mission offers. Let's start out with the Rise of the Zilart missions. Just like last year, many characters have received offers for the last missions after Ark Angels, coming to a total of around 80% of players. Another interesting fact to note is that the percentage of characters who have accepted an offer for “The Last Verse” has increased by about 5% since last year. This is an honor that can only be enjoyed by those who have beaten all of the missions from both Rise of the Zilart and Chains of Promathia, as well as various quests. The road to beating “The Last Verse” is certainly not an easy one. However, the percentage increase may also be due to Chains of Promathia missions being made easier, and experience points no longer being lost for characters KO'd on the battlefield.
Next, we have the mission progress data for Chains of Promathia. By looking at this data, we can gather that mission progress is moving along reasonably well, just like Rise of the Zilart. Because the number of characters who have accepted mission offers for “Emptiness Bleeds” has only increased by 3% since last year, one might think that mission progress is moving slightly slower than Rise of the Zilart--but actually, the number of users who have accepted Chains of Promathia missions outnumber Rise of the Zilart users by 1.5 times. This change is actually very small. Because of the large number of areas with level restrictions, and the elaborate care required to obtain items used to lower the overall difficulty, it's considered difficult to find party members for this particular expansion pack. However, looking at the current situation, the difficulty level has been lowered and now highly useful battlefield items can be easily found at auction houses. Since players who have already beaten a mission's battlefield can gain additional experience points by challenging it again, this has encouraged players to cooperate with each other, making it easier for players to take on the challenges of Chains of Promathia.
Next, we come to Treasures of Aht Urhgan, which had its final mission added on August 28, 2007. When last year's census was released, the most recent mission was Sentinels' Honor, and the percentage of characters that had beaten Sentinels' Honor came to 11%. According to this year's data, the total percentage of characters to have beaten the final mission Eternal Mercenary has already exceeded 15%. By looking at the percentages for each mission, we can see that missions with battlefields are somewhat higher than others. In addition, higher percentages can be seen at missions that end in battles. Even a number like 1% equates into thousands of adventurers, so if you find that you are stuck on one of the earlier missions, chances are, many more are in the same predicament. Try shouting in Jeuno or Whitegate, and chances are you will easily find companions to come to your aid.
Now we continue on to Assault's mercenary rankings.
And finally, we introduce data from the Wings of the Goddess expansion. The following information may drastically change a year from now according to future version updates, but we present the results of our research into allegiance distribution in Campaign and Campaign medal acquisition. Let's take a look at allegiance distribution first. Since all players in the world of the past are bound to take part in the Allied Forces of Altana, and there is no identification to the same allied nation in the world of the present, players can freely pledge allegiance to any nation in the past as they please. As a result, the percentage for each of the three nations is almost equal, with a slightly smaller percentage of players allied to the Republican Army of Bastok.
 Let's shift our attention to Campaign medal acquisition. The best part about Campaign lies in the ability players have to participate as their favorite job for as long as they want. As a result, players are able to acquire medals by laboriously participating in Campaign for even short periods of time.
Your VoiceOne of the most important elements of our community is the ability to listen to players' needs and desires. For the first time in a census, we introduce a section where we take a look at the subjects brought up in GM calls and with the Special Task Force.
The GM Call is a simple and immediate method for voicing your concerns at any time. Let's take a look at how many GM calls are made at each time of the day.
 Next, let's take a look at the topics that are being brought up in GM calls. The pie chart below is based off of the same data as the GM Calls by Region graph. The topic most brought up in GM calls is “Actions disrupting game balance” and accounts for around 30% of GM calls. The most common complaint is regarding characters suspected to be using external third-party programs and, along with “Bug reports,” has been an important source of information for the Special Task Force and FINAL FANTASY XI development team.
We have unfortunately received many reports regarding problems that should have been sorted out through conversation, growing worse and worse until a character is harming another through abuse of the game system. Through these reports and conversations, we have managed to reduce the problem and are looking into changing the game system and GM Policy in order to solve these problems in an easier manner.
Subjects of all different kinds from support to the game system are being brought up in GM calls all the time. In addition to e-mails provided to us by FINAL FANTASY XI users, this is one of the main ways version updates and the GM Policy are changed.
 *For details regarding the pie chart, please click here.
Now let's take a look at the statistics regarding the Special Task Force. Since its founding in September 2006, the Special Task Force has banned around 7,000 violators of the user agreement a month, and frozen around 13,330,000,000 gil. The most important element to our activities has been the information provided by FINAL FANTASY XI users.
The most common subject of these reports has been the use of cheats to automatically repeat particular actions. The majority of these characters automatically engaged in particular actions have been illegally fishing on the coastline or waterside. Continuing on, the next most common reports are regarding characters known as hunters (*), the use of illegal tools/software, and the use of synthesis or auction houses for RMT. At one time, all of these violators of the user agreement ran amuck and were very common, but currently, the range of their activities has grown considerably smaller and they are heading towards extinction. *Hunters: Characters who kill Notorious Monsters, clear quests, and obtain items over and over again with the sole purpose of gathering gil, which is then handed off to RMT groups.
 As demonstrated, the voices of FINAL FANTASY XI players allow us to gauge the community's health and are our most valuable source of information for improving the game.
*For details on unauthorized access, please click here. In ClosingSo, how did you enjoy the 8th Vana'diel Census? Way back in 2002, when we started the first Vana'diel Census, the FINAL FANTASY XI community was still much like a newborn child. Over the years, however, with countless version updates and several expansion packs, our world has grown to a thriving 500,000 accounts across multiple platforms and many countries. We hope that you've enjoyed this year's census as much as we did. In the past year, there have been so many exciting events, such as Fan Festival 2007 in North America, Square Enix Party 2007 and Osaka Altana Festival in Japan, and the Games Convention in Germany. Attendants at any of these events could meet other FINAL FANTASY XI enthusiasts to share their passion for the game. The opinions and requests shared in e-mails, phone calls, and posted on community sites have strongly motivated the development and management teams to continue improving the Vana'diel experience. Be sure your voice is heard! We are working hard for you. The six long years that you've lived in Vana'diel are comparable to the time it takes a newborn to grow up and enter elementary school. And, likewise, our community continues to change and mature as time goes on. I wonder just how our community will evolve in the future. I look forward to seeing all of you in Vana'diel. May 16, 2008 Sage Sundi Global Online Producer  |
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