Final Fantasy XI Online Premier Site Summit
July 25, 2008
by Scott "Thayos" Pesznecker

The first day of my new life began at 6:10 a.m. Thursday.

In my small Seattle apartment, I woke up groggy from roughly five hours of sleep. Breakfast could wait for the airport. I showered, grabbed my bags and kissed my fiance goodbye.

Two hours later, I was streaking across the sky.

I was on my way to the 2008 Premier Site Summit at Square Enix headquarters in El Segundo, Calif. I had been looking forward to the trip since June, when Pikko invited me to go with her on behalf of Allakhazam. The summit, she said, gives the Final Fantasy XI development team a chance to share thoughts and ideas with the premier site administrators, who represent the playerbase. For us, it would be a chance to get a glimpse inside SE headquarters, to learn more about the future of the game and -- for first-timers like me -- to get acquainted with the makers of Vana'diel.

As the trip grew closer, this site summit took on added meaning for me. After seven years as a reporter for daily newspapers, I recently found a new writing job at an online marketing firm close to Seattle. Wednesday -- the day before I got on the airplane -- was my last day in the newsroom. My work with Allakhazam was a big reason why I opted to leave journalism. I enjoy Web editing and working with online communities.

Through playing FFXI, I stumbled upon an entirely new career in online copywriting and editing.

How fitting, I thought, that on the first day of my new life, I was heading down to El Segundo.

My plane landed at Los Angeles International Airport just after noon. I immediately shed my black jacket, which I often rely upon to keep me warm in the climately challenged Pacific Northwest. I walked down to the baggage claim, where scores of people were camping the conveyor belts waiting for their luggage to spawn. My blue duffle popped rather fast, and I claimed it without hesitation. Then I walked outside, hailed a shuttle bus and was en route to my hotel on the edge of the airport.

After getting checked in to my room, I called Pikko's cell phone and left a voice mail saying I had arrived. I also called a member of my social linkshell, who lived in the area and planned to come by after getting off of work. I went back downstairs and lifted weights in the fitness center, ate lunch in the hotel restaurant and grabbed a non-fat, no-whip mocha at the hotel coffee shop. I found a comfy chair in the hotel lobby -- where wi-fi access was free -- and browsed through recent forum topics on Allakhazam.

Meanwhile, people streamed in and out of the hotel, on and off the elevators and back and forth from the restaurant, bar and pool. I wondered if any of them were here for the summit, or whether any knew of FFXI. The number of people who play online games in their free time is larger than many would believe. Last season, when my fiance worked at Best Buy for some extra money, she repeatedly met people who played FFXI, including some who knew me from the Web site.

That's the most interesting thing about FFXI. I have shared many memorable experiences with people around the globe. The night I got my joyeuse, more than a dozen people from several countries helped me camp Charby through the course of an entire night. I am always humbled by the kindness and generosity of people I've never met. There are so many people who make this community great.

Pikko is one of those people. We met in early 2006, long before my days with Allakhazam. My social linkshell was building a Chains of Promathia mission static, and there was a post on the Garuda forum from a certain Tarutaru white mage who needed a linkshell. She wanted a social shell, a place to hang out and have fun, with friends who could help out with CoP. Sounded like the perfect fit, and it was.

A year later, our CoP static finally reached sea. Many of us in the group -- not sure if Pikko did -- had cold beers ready for a celebratory drink. Spread out over six times zones, we congratulated each other, retraced our greatest battles and reveled in our new, amazing accomplishment. It was special, and meaningful, as if they were all in the room with me, seated on the small, brown couches in the duplex where I lived at the time.

Only they weren't really there.

I closed my laptop, hopped on the elevator and walked into my 10th floor hotel room. The dry, overly developed landscape of Los Angeles spread out before me, prematurely fading amid the smog. I could barely make out the outlines of three clusters of high-rise buildings. Each cluster seemed larger than the core of downtown Portland, where I was born and raised.

Then I got a message on my phone. It was Pikko!

Half an hour later, I was back in the elevator, heading to the lobby to meet her and a couple frequent visitors of Allakhazam. The elevator doors opened to what I assumed was the lobby, and I blindly stepped out in front of a small group of people. Standing at 6 feet, 4 inches tall, I towered above them. Out of habit, I glanced at the people in the group -- and there she was.

"Pikko?" I asked.

"Wow, you're so tall!" she said.

********

Los Angeles is a big place.

The last time I was in LA, I was a sportswriter for the college newspaper at the University of Oregon. The Ducks were playing the Texas Longhorns in the Holiday Bowl in San Diego, and I was crashing for the weekend with a friend who worked in San Bernardino. I remember going to the beach, seeing the UCLA campus and shooting hoops at a school. I remember being amazed by the smog, and by how vast the city seemed.

Again, I was amazed.

We drove past the headquarters for EA games on our way to dinner and dessert in the Sawtelle district, known for its strong Japanese-American community. Driving was Pachichachi, a regular on the Allakhazam forums. Pikko and Mr. Pikko sat in the back seat. We talked about what we do when we're not plugged into Vana'diel, and we shared some details of our in-game lives, too. Pachichachi, who teaches in college, talked about work he and others have done to study the real-world aspects of online games, such as their economies and social constructs.

My friend from my social linkshell, a manthra white mage named Kaerwyn, had hoped to have dinner with us. Sadly, an unfortunate incident caused him to leave work a bit late. Kaerwyn, who assembles film at a movie theatre, was nearly urinated upon by a senile old man who couldn't find his way to the restroom. He was forced to stay late and do some cleaning when he found a wet spot in a corner where the old man had been standing. Gross.

We were joined by Kappachan, another frequent poster on the Allakhazam forums. After browsing a few shops, we sat down to eat at a restaurant that served food on small meat skewers. Pikko, Kappachan and Pachichachi gave me tips on chopsticks etiquette. The food was great, and I did pretty well with the 'sticks. My only major screw-up was when I tried to eat two pieces of chicken at once. I didn't know the chicken pieces had bones running through them. Thankfully, the group forgave my shortcomings.

Soon after dinner, I got a call from Kaerwyn. He had finally reached the Sawtelle district. I left the group and walked down the street toward where Kaerwyn had parked. I had never seen a picture of him, but I spotted him from 100 feet away. Like me, he was tall and wiry, standing on the corner across a busy intersection. I told him I saw him, and I began waving my free arm through the air. The tall figure on the opposite corner looked around, saw me and waved back.

When Kaer finally made it across the street, we shook hands and we hugged. I hadn't known Kaer for as long as I've known Pikko, but he is one of the most active members of our social linkshell. Pikko and I conquered Promathia, and Kaerwyn and I stopped Alexander -- an epic battle won with 3 seconds to spare.

That night the six of us chatted and snacked on chocolate and vanilla cream puffs at a restaurant called Beard Papa. It was great to hang out with such nice, normal, like-minded people. I talked with Pikko and Mr. Pikko about mixed martial arts and our times in game. Kaer and I took pictures of ourselves together on our cell phone cameras. We sent the photos to a linkshell member in Arkansas who we knew would be jealous.

Pachichachi left after dessert, while the rest of us returned to the hotel. We later made a late-night run to In-N-Out Burger. Famous in California, In-N-Out is a unique fast food chain based in southern California. The place is packed at all hours of the day and night, and the menu is delightfully simple: burger, double-double, fries, pop and shakes. That's about it.

After In-And-Out, I walked Kaer back to his car (he parked around the corner in a rather dark, scary place) and we all said our good nights. I told Pikko I'd meet her in the hotel lobby at 8 a.m., so we could prepare for when the people from SE came to pick us up around 9:45 a.m.

I returned to my hotel room and laid back on my bed. The ESPY Awards show was rerunning on ESPN. I watched it for about 15 minutes, turned off the TV and closed my eyes.

I didn't open them again until Friday morning.

*********

The cavern was dark, frozen. We rushed through the tunnel, aware of the deadly foe ahead. It wanted to kill us. We hoped to kill it first. The cave opened up into a large, open cavern. It hovered in the middle, waiting for us. Our ninja and thief launched their attack. Our black mage unleashed his strongest nukes. Myself and our other red mage both chainspelled. The snoll grew in its fury. Its blows fell hard on our ninja. Our nukes fell on it like rain. The decisive moment came when it seemed we were out of magic. It happened in a few seconds. Dragel and I ran forward, both of us using convert. Then came our Tarutaru white mage. It was her turn. Pikko Pots uttered a benediction. Then she shouted: "Suck it, Snoll Tzar!"

I stirred awake, starred briefly at the ceiling and then rolled to look at the clock radio.

It was 8:05 a.m.

The next 20 minutes passed in a blur. I jumped in the shower, got dressed and grabbed my notepad, a last-minute souvenir from the newsroom two days earlier. Once downstairs, I saw no signs of Pikko. I walked over to the hotel coffee shop for Part 1 of my daily espresso fix.

I didn't even hear Pikko walk up from behind.

"You're easy to pick out in a crowd," she said.

********

The limo rolled toward El Segundo on the way to Square Enix headquarters. I had never been in a limo. The ceiling had a metallic finish, and fancy glasses and cans of pop were stored along the walls behind the seats. The leg room could have been better, but I wasn't complaining.

Pikko and I were sitting near the back of the limo. Across from us were the site administrators from Online Welten and Jeux Online, two European premier sites. Next to them sat a Canadian couple who manage FFXI Vault. To Pikko's right were two administrators from Warcry. The administrators from Stratics and FFXIclopedia were sitting near the front. To my left, in the very back of the limo, FFXI community team members Matt Hilton and Robert Peeler sat like kings on plush, leather seats. Minutes earlier, they had greeted us in the lobby of our hotel near the airport.

The limo pulled into the parking lot of Square Enix. We got out, admiring the company's sign near the building's rooftop. I had never thought about what the headquarters building would look like. I played the first Final Fantasy game when I was around 11 years old. It was life changing. The storyline fueled my passion for storytelling. For fun I wrote a 200-page fantasy story, with a main character named Garland. I've always viewed the Final Fantasy series as something more than a string of simple games. They were great. They were epic.

And now, here I was.

We walked inside, then took the elevators up to the Square Enix lobby. I had seen pictures of Pikko standing in this spot, with the crisp, glowing Square Enix sign on the wall behind her. Oversized boxes for the various Final Fantasy games were set in a row beneath the sign. We had just a minute to "ooooooh" and "awwww" before we were led down a hallway to the Alexandria conference room and asked to be seated around a long table.

We were soon joined by members of the FFXI development team. We met Sage Sundi, the global online producer; Mocchi, a FFXI community planner; Saori Hill, community and service assistant manager; Yasu Kurosawa, North American online producer; and community manager Kenji Nakamura. I am not sure what I had expected them to be like, but I was amazed and impressed by how approachable and down-to-earth they were.

Next on our itinerary was a tour of the Square Enix offices. One of our first stops was the PlayOnline Info Center. Several employees wearing headsets sat at computer stations, each undoubtedly talking to players about their problems with the game. Watching them, I thought of a good, in-game friend of mine who used to call Square Enix repeatedly in the wake of the infamous ranger nerf. As the other site administrators looked around the office, I listened in on the call center workers. I heard pieces of many conversations. It seemed all of them were talking to people whose accounts had been hacked. As we walked through more offices I remembered something Pikko and Exodus had said after last year's site summit. Final Fantasy merchandise was everywhere. There were posters on walls, calendars on cubicles and tiny action figures on desks. Life-sized cardboard cutouts of characters hung out in the corridors. It dawned on me how much fun it would be to work here.

Eventually we walked through a door at the end of a hallway into another room full of computers. The lighting was slightly dim, and few people in there seemed focused, but laid back. This was the legendary GM office. The handful of game masters were focused on their monitors, dealing with player calls. They looked up to say hi, then went about their work.

Again, I wondered if I'd ever met any of them in game.

 

********

I don't remember what that October day was like, but I can certainly guess.

It was a warm, sunny in Merced.

Rain rarely fell in Merced. The city was in the low point of the San Joaquin Valley, which stretched through most of central California . I always likened the valley to Tatooine, the arid home planet of Luke Skywalker. And if the valley were Tatooine, then Merced was most certainly Mos Eisley (you will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy). I always thought it was a plausible comparison. George Lucas was raised in Modesto, just 45 miles to the north.

On that day, I was probably excited to be walking into Best Buy. I always love it there. I walk the aisles, take in the ambiance of the speaker systems and gaze up at the stunning flat-screen televisions. I can't afford them, but it's fun to dream.

That day, though, I actually entered the store to buy something.

I had eyed the small, white box for quite some time, locked away behind the glass beneath the other PlayStation 2 games.

Two years prior, I ran my first marathon in my hometown of Portland, Ore. My time was an admirable 3 hours and 28 minutes -- far better than I had ever expected. Unfortunately, in my all-out effort to push myself, my knees had taken an abusive pounding. Five months later, I was on the operating table in a small California foothills town. My knee turned out fine, but I was sidelined from running until the late summer of 2003. Once I got my legs back, I began thinking about another marathon. I set my sites to repeat the Portland marathon, to prove that I could make a comeback. In early October of 2004, I did it.

As elated as I was, I remembered what happened the first time. I remembered the pain in my knee when I tried running just days after the race. So, this time around, I would find something else to do. I wouldn't run again so soon.

That something was at Best Buy, down below the games, locked away behind the glass.

The salesman came over, unlocked the case and handed me the small box.

Vana'diel was in my hands.

************

We sat silently in the Alexandria conference room as Sage Sundi and the other developers answered our questions about Final Fantasy XI.

The Escalade limo had just brought us back to headquarters after a nice lunch with the development team and other SE staff members.

To me, this was just another great moment in an already fantastic day.

In the back of our minds, though, I think all of the admins knew the importance of this Q&A session. Around the world, we knew the thousands of gamers who play FFXI would be waiting to hear the most recent news from the mouths of the game's creators.

A lot of people wouldn't care that SE's information manager plays Fantasy Football, or that SE's attorneys have been seen dueling in their office with giant Sephiroth swords they had confiscated, or that Sage Sundi seemed to hang on our words as much as we hung on his. At the end of the day, some players just want to know about the future of Vana'diel.

Many admins took notes in their laptops. Pikko scribbled notes on handouts we were given. I clutched a pen from the hotel and jotted notes in my trusty reporter's notebook. The developers touched on most of our questions. In the past, I had always interpreted their responses as vague and undecided. In person, I could see they wanted to tell us more -- or that they couldn't wait for us to find out -- but they had to use restraint. They had to choose their words carefully, balancing the urge to say more with the requirement to say little.

After the first Q&A session was finished, we chatted with the development team about how we could help each other. I talked about the possible benefits of holding more frequent interviews with the development team, and other site administrators raised the possibility of hosting live chats with developers on different Web sites. It was a good conversation that left me feeling hopeful and energized about the future of Vana'diel.

The site administrators were then asked to stand up and head to the Behemoth conference room down the hall. On the way there, Pikko was giddy over another conference room called the Mog House. While the other administrators gathered at Behemoth, I snapped pictures of Pikko pointing happily at the sign. No doubt she was thinking about her weekly radio show, The Mog House, which was unfortunately in the midst of a three-week hiatus.

We weren't in the Behemoth room for long before we were called back over to Alexandria. We walked in to find several Xbox 360s had been set up in front of seven flat-screen monitors. Matt Hilton took a seat in front of the game station at the head of the table. The rest of us crowded around.

He spoke. I was floored.

********

All was quiet in South San d'Oria.

I ran through Victory Square, ignoring a group of adventurers who stood scattered around the auction house. I kept going through the narrow walkway along the armor and weapon shops, and I didn't slow down as I passed the glimmering fountain and the Lion Springs Tavern.

Bounding up the stairs, I had expected to see dozens of people waiting near the trail markings. It was our time to enter the realm of Dynamis, to strengthen members, to lock horns again with the next incarnation of the Shadow Lord.

Only there was no one else here.

I leaned against the tree, waiting for someone to show up. No one came.

My heart sank. I'd had a feeling it would come to this. For many months, I had bonded with my fellow adventurers in this amazing linkshell. We had conquered many Dynamis realms. Once, when our leader could not make it, I even led us to victory in a memorable run in Jeuno. We battled with amazing strength, and we stood for each other. The Shadow Lord himself could not touch us, so long as we stood together.

Alas, our linkshell's beloved leader could not control the fate of the group. For the linkshell actually belonged to another adventurer, and he made the decision to merge our group with outsiders from another world. The experiment had good intentions. Sadly, all did not end well. The most seasoned adventurers in our band of fighters were no longer welcome when the linkshell changed. The new members hungered for adventure -- but not in the Dynamis realms.

I stood beneath the tree, wondering if my time had come. It was not an easy decision. As a lifelong red mage, I had long dreamt of wearing the fabled chapeau from the frozen northlands. Had one more fallen, it would have been mine. It was a goal I had never expected to accomplish, yet suddenly it was at my fingertips. I could almost touch it. Many times, I had imagined what I would do when it dropped. I wanted to throw a party in Whitegate, and thank my friends from all over the world. After all the strife, and after all the time I'd spent helping others, it would be my crowning achievement as a red mage.

I looked around. I was still alone, under the tree. Nobody was coming.

I didn't want to give up.

There was no other choice.

********

I couldn't believe it was happening.

Matt Hilton had just told us what we were about to do. We'd be the first in the world to experience the Nyzul relic weapons. Each site would test one weapon, and we couldn't choose which one. There was a palpable sense of excitement in the room. The site administrators were glowing with excitement. The development team was, too.

I sat in my chair, not wanting to get excited, not wanting to be disappointed, not wanting to hope our weapon would be the Murgleis -- the Nyzul Isle red mage relic.

It was.

I could hardly contain myself as I sat down at a game station. Pikko, seated at the game station to my left, promptly sent me an invite. Yasu, the North American Online Producer, crouched down between us to explain the weapon's amazing convert enhancement.

Minutes later, we were rampaging through a special assault area, tearing through mobs with swords for the ages. The sword itself looked nice, and the relic's Death Blossom weaponskill was breathtaking.

The first in the world, I said to myself.

We had 10 minutes to play with the relic swords before the next four administrators were called to test their weapons. Pikko and I joined the others. We crowded around the table, watching the screens intently, appreciating the rare opportunity to see these relics in action.

I couldn't stop smiling.

I had wielded the Murgleis.

And if Thayos is a direct reflection of me, then I guess he did, too.

*********

Tenzen won the first time, but this time, we were ready.

Pikko, Dragel and Jetamio were stronger than they were the first time around. Tenzen didn't know that, but he'd find out.

The battle was fierce, the blows were brutal. Zarovich beat on Tenzen with his mighty axes, while his crab pet assaulted the three Tarutarus who were casting nukes from above. As we did against the Snoll Tzar, Dragel and I both used chain spell. Jetamio, a thief, slashed the samurai with her daggers. Gravatusimiasma, our ninja, swung his katanas and unleashed ninjitsu magic.

Pikko stood back, keeping us alive with her powerful white magic.

On this day, the samurai from the Far East didn't stand a chance. The finishing blow was a nuke from Dragel. Tenzen fell to his knees. The pathway opened before us.

Then we were standing in the glowing seascape of Al'Taeiu. After a year of strife and fellowship, of epic battles and grand adventures, we had finally accomplished what we'd set out to do. We had made it to sea. We were eager for the final challenge of battling the Twilight God, but none of us wanted this moment to end…

In a small duplex in Everett., Wash., I walked into the kitchen and opened the fridge. On the bottom shelf was a single bottle of beer, which I had saved specifically for this special occasion. I grabbed the bottle opener from the silverware drawer and sat down on the couch. I leaned back, beaming at the image on the television screen.

There we were, standing on the shore of a new land, despite the six time zones and the thousands of miles that separated us.

We were six friends who might never meet, yet united by something special.

No one could take that from us.

*******

After one last Q&A session, the 2008 Premier Site Summit was declared over.

Yet it really wasn't finished.

We piled into the Escalade limo, which took us back to our hotel so we could drop off our bags and our laptops. Then we piled back in, and the folks at Square Enix treated us to a luxurious dinner at a Korean barbecue restaurant.

We sat shoulder-to-shoulder with the staff of FFXI, using chopsticks to snag succulent pieces of beef and pork from grills built into our tables. The president of Square Enix's North American and London offices joined us, taking the seat across from Sage Sundi. The development team thanked us for coming and we thanked them for having us. They passed out gift bags containing stuffed chocobos and key rings symbolizing the starter cities of Windurst, Bastok and San d'Oria.

Several bottles of beer were ordered for our table. We passed around our glasses to be filled up with brew. Pikko and I sat across from each other, surrounded by members of the Square Enix staff.

We talked, laughed, ate and drank.

It was the best glass of beer I've ever had.