FINAL FANTASY XI: We are pleased to announce the official formation of a special task force as of October 2006 that will operate within the greater management team.

Formation of the Special Task Force

The management and development teams have been continuously working to combat the proliferation of RMT and the use of third-party tools within FINAL FANTASY XI. However, it was decided that the formation of a special task force was necessary to specifically address the various occurrences of misconduct that adversely affect game balance.

Focus of the Special Task Force

This special task force aims to reduce or eliminate altogether any elements that adversely influence the world of FINAL FANTASY XI, and to encourage a fun and fair playing environment. The main targets of the task force are as follows:

- RMT (Real Money Trading)
- Third-party Tools

With regards to RMT, we have begun investigation of around 100 web sites in Japan and 50 in North America, and are planning to focus our efforts on the largest and most active sites (30 or so sites in Japan, and 10-15 sites in North America).

We also plan to continue combating the use of third party tools by introducing measures against a wider range of tools (not just those that increase movement speed), and focusing on particularly notorious individuals and organizations.

Specific Duties

The special task force will continue measures currently being taken against tools that increase movement speed, and also expand investigations to include other types of third-party tools. We plan to focus specifically on those tools that allow automated farming, obstruct gameplay for other players, or are related to RMT activities.

We will address the RMT issue mainly through eliminating the presence of gil sellers, but also by warning or penalizing specific players who buy gil regularly and/or in large amounts.

The task force intends to conduct investigations into gil sellers. These investigations seek to eliminate the channels for RMT transactions, as well as sources of gil, and curtail the activities of those who farm gil for the purposes of RMT.