The Tarutaru are a diminutive, magical race.

Online RPGs, such as Ultima Online, Anarchy Online, and EverQuest, have become quite popular among PC gamers in North America, Asia, and Europe. Japanese game companies are also jumping on the boat, releasing their own set of online RPGs, an example being Sonic Team's Phantasy Star Online. Square, the popular developer of consumer RPGs, is not going to miss out on the party either. Its first massive multiplayer online RPG (which also happens to be the 11th installment of the ever-popular series), Final Fantasy XI, will be making its way later this spring to Japan on both the PlayStation 2 and PC. Hironobu Sakaguchi, the creator of the Final Fantasy series, along with producer Tanaka Hiromichi and director Koichi Ishii, are the minds behind the game's development. Rest assured, important elements of the series will be kept intact--the core team is composed of Final Fantasy veterans whose tours of service dates back to the first installment.

Like every online RPG, the game starts out with character generation. You can choose from several different types of races: Humes, which are equivalent to humans and are the most balanced race; Elvaan, which are equivalent to elves and are usually dark and tall and skilled in close-ranged combat; and Tarutaru, which are a hobbitlike race, short and small, and skilled in the use of magic. You can choose your gender when playing any of the aforementioned races, but with the following two, you aren't given a choice. Mithra are a feline race of skilled hunters that live peacefully alongside the Tarutaru. Since most of the male Mithras remain within their own land, you'll usually see only female Mithras. Therefore, players can choose only to be a female Mithra in the game. Galka, on the other hand, are a strong and tough ogre-sized race. Their method of creating offspring involves the process of reincarnation, so the Galkas do not have a gender. After choosing your race and sex, players can then customize their physical appearance in the areas of height, weight, facial features, hair color, and other various aspects.

Combat more closely resembles that of PC MMORPGs than what you'd see in a console RPG.

You will then move on to choosing your character's job (or class, as it's called in other RPGs). Some of you may recognize the job system, which was first introduced in Final Fantasy V and was later incorporated into Final Fantasy Tactics. Final Fantasy XI will make use of this system as well. You can choose from several different jobs, such as warrior, monk, thief, white magician, black magician, red magician, and many others. You will be able to learn abilities specifically for that job when your character has earned experience points and gained a level. For example, the warrior can use the ability called "mighty strike," which lets the character score more critical hits during battles. A black magician, on the other hand, can use "pool of magic," which lets you cast spells without consuming magic points. You can also change your character's job during the game, which lets you acquire abilities from different jobs. While each race has its own affinities, it doesn't mean that a Tarutaru is better at being a white magician or that an Elvaan is a more suitable warrior. Rather, there are simply slight differences in each race's initial stats, so you can still choose to become an Elvaan white magician or a Tarutaru warrior.