The History of Final Fantasy XI/2004

==2004 – Chains of Promathia==
The final two worlds open up in 2004, with the final count being 32. This would last until 2010. Later in the year, Chains of Promathia is released.
Jan. 1st, 2004 	    New Year’s Lucky Monkey Family 	    New Year’s Lucky Monkey Family 	
Jan. 1st, 2004 	A monkey family appeared in Vana’diel to celebrate the new year. Papa Monkey, Mama Monkey, See-No-Evil, Hear-No-Evil, and Speak-No-Evil appeared in every outdoor area in Vana’diel.
Trading items to Papa Monkey resulted in temporary buffs such as Protect, Shell, Blaze Spikes, Enfire, etc being received. These buffs only lasted 30 seconds to 1 minute. Occasionally, players would receive the New Year's Gift item.	 	
Jan. 8th, 2004 	    Playonline member accounts exceed 500,000! 	    Playonline member accounts exceed 500,000! 	
Jan. 8th, 2004 	  	 	
Jan. 12th, 2004	    2003 RPG Vault Awards Prize Winner 	    2003 RPG Vault Awards Prize Winner 	
Jan. 12th, 2004	Final Fantasy XI receives the “Online World of the Year” and “Outstanding Achievement in Technology” awards 	 	
Jan. 19th, 2004	    Gamespy’s 2003 Game of the Year Awards in North America 	    Gamespy’s 2003 Game of the Year Awards in North America 	
Jan. 19th, 2004	Final Fantasy XI receives the “PC MMORPG of the Year” 	 	
Jan. 12th, 2004	    Announcement made regarding Dynamis Public Testers 	    Announcement made regarding Dynamis Public Testers 	
Jan. 12th, 2004	It was announced that developers were looking for beta testers to participate in testing the upcoming Dynamis content. The beta would take place at “REAL VANA’DIEL”. 	Participants were recruited, and the beta test was broadcast on the official Final Fantasy XI website via their live feed “Vana’diel Wind”. On the day of the event, the developer who was the guide played the character “Destiny” who wore the Opaline Dress. This was the first time players saw the dress, and it became a popular topic of discussion after that.
Players doubted the legitimacy of this beta test, and figured it was more of a bandwidth test and publicity awareness event than actual content testing.	
Jan. 28th, 2004	    Player Character Recall Service Started 	    Player Character Recall Service Started 	
Jan. 28th, 2004	A service started to recall players accounts or characters who had their information deleted. One restoral was available per Playonline Account. This service was offered free of charge. 	Although greatly appreciated by the community, it was rumored that the service was implemented due to one user incident that happened beforehand.	
Jan. 29th, 2004	    Friends List Plus Beta Test Invitation 	    Friends List Plus Beta Test Invitation 	
Jan. 29th, 2004	Friends List Plus was a service that allowed you to check the online status of your friends list and send/receive messages free of charge. The service was accessed on the Internet through the official Playonline website, and a connection to the Playonline client wasn’t necessary.	 	
Jan. 29th, 2004	    Total Characters in Final Fantasy XI tops 1,000,000! 	    Total Characters in Final Fantasy XI tops 1,000,000! 	
Jan. 29th, 2004	  	 	
Jan. 30th, 2004	    First Screenshot Contest Winner Announcement 	    First Screenshot Contest Winner Announcement 	
Jan. 30th, 2004	The first screenshot contest winner was announced on the official Final Fantasy XI website. Winners of the contests had their images added to Playonline’s Extras section under “Greeting Card Downloads”
Theme: My Favorite Place
First Place Winner:
Nickname : Sanzoku-O (Japan)
World : Diabolos
Place : The Sanctuary of Zi'Tah
Player's comment: The forest softly embraces a battle-weary heart.
Reviewer's comment: Featuring bold composition and beautiful sunlight cascading down on the trees, this entry wins the first prize by unanimous decision. Many players consider the Sanctuary of Zi'Tah their favorite place, but this picture best captures its grandeur and ethereal atmosphere.	These “Greeting Cards” could be downloaded onto your Playonline Viewer, and then emailed to anybody in the world or sent to people on your friends list. 
Typical themes were scenery, birthdays, congratulations, and the like. This was the era when E-Cards were very popular on the internet, so many people took advantage of them. Winning the contest and having your image added to the gallery was a great honor. Below are the runner-ups.	
Feb. 3rd, 2004 	    Final Fantasy XI wins awards at RPGamer Awards 2003 in North America 	    Final Fantasy XI wins awards at RPGamer Awards 2003 in North America 	
Feb. 3rd, 2004 	Final Fantasy XI receives the "PC RPG of the Year", "MMORPG of the Year", "Staff's Choice MMORPG of the Year" and "Best Music of the Year". 	 	
Feb. 23rd, 2004	    Friends List Plus Beta Test Concludes 	    Friends List Plus Beta Test Concludes 	
Feb. 23rd, 2004	  	 	
Feb. 26th, 2004	    Dynamis Released 	    Dynamis Released 	
Feb. 26th, 2004	
{| style="background: #F9F9F9; border: 1px solid #AAAAAA" width="100%" 	
{| width=100% style="border: 2px dashed red; border-radius: 5px; background-color: #eae9e9" 	New Features & Content
Feb. 26th, 2004	
*The first edition of Dynamis was added, including four initial zones:
**Dynamis - San d'Oria
**Dynamis - Bastok
**Dynamis - Windurst
**Dynamis - Jeuno
**Relic Armor implemented for all current jobs.
*NPC Escort quests added to the game.
*Moghancement effects have been added to Furnishings.
*This update introduced the Rune Weapons via the Strange Apparatus devices.
*The Goblin Footprint was implemented across Vana'diel.	 	
Category:History