Server Info

What Our Project Is About

Horizontal Progression Balanced at Level 75

HorizonXI provides its adventurers with a 75-era experience that maintains the spirit of Final Fantasy XI (FFXI) as if SquareEnix had continued to develop the game without ever having raised the level cap above 75. As our name suggests, our primary focus has been to re-create a FFXI experience that ensures horizontal progression for both content and gear. Beginning with our initial launch on December 17th, 2022 with “Chains of Promathia” era content and continuing years into the future, all expansions, including post-75-cap content, will eventually be rebalanced for our forever-75-cap private server. Additionally, HorizonXI plans to effectively “rewrite the narrative” regarding content that many veteran players consider to be “the beginning of the end” for Final Fantasy XI, namely Wings of the Goddess and Abyssea. As such, HorizonXI will present this content in ways that will rework some of the more negative aspects of these patches and stay true to the spirit of what the level 75 cap era was all about – socializing and group oriented play.

A New Sense of Discovery through Era+ Enhancements

HorizonXI adventurers (players) will have the opportunity to engage in an experience that allows them to relive the magic and mystery of FFXI, like when it was first released over two decades ago. We have designed our server to include new and exciting things that keep the spirit of discovery alive, including new experience point camps, slight modifications to previously underutilized equipment, and more to be uncovered in-game. Adventurers are also free to pursue the in-game path that best fits their interests and playstyles rather than feeling forced into playing jobs and strategies most aligned to the META (most effective tactics available) that existed in the past and continues to exist on most current FFXI private servers. Through a light touch to jobs and content that we refer to as our Era+ approach, we have designed a server that will excite and support a variety of players.

Our dedicated balance team has ensured that none of our balancing has drastically altered the identity of the level 75-era experience we all know and love. More specifically, we have accomplished the goal of re-imagining discovery and job viability through slight job tweaks to provide better overall class balance, minor adjustments to key encounters and content, and minor gameplay tweaks. As a result, our version of FFXI still feels familiar while providing an experience where all jobs can participate. Some encounters may even feel a bit tougher than adventures are used to, meaning they may have to rely more heavily on their friends to defeat key encounters.

Who are we

The HorizonXI team is composed of over 100 volunteers who are extremely passionate about Final Fantasy XI. The team is split between developers, balancers, testers, community managers, translators, artists, musicians, game masters (GMs), and community creators. All of the team members are extremely experienced FFXI players, with a combined total of over 1400 years of player, linkshell leader, private server developer, and GM experience. Furthermore, it is especially notable that many of our developers have previously worked on other major FFXI private servers, providing quality content to hundreds of active players. It is our goal to leverage our prior experiences into a polished and balanced stream of 75-era FFXI content for HorizonXI adventurers to enjoy.

While we are currently fully staffed, we are always looking to expand the team if the right talent becomes available. If you are interested in joining our team, check out our #join-the-team channel on the HorizonXI Discord for more information. Please note that this channel is updated frequently.

FAQ

Below is a collection of some of the most frequently asked questions that our staff have received and answered. We will continue to add to this list as more information becomes available. However, please note that anything listed below could be subject to change. Many questions are also answered in our developer blogs. Thank you for your understanding!

Can we dual box?
No, Horizon is a single box server where each IP address can only have one account tied to it.

How do people in the same house play at the same time?
If multiple people in your house want to play, you need to file for an IP exception in our discord. You can also file for temporary IP exceptions for things like LAN parties or visiting with friends - please just make sure you file it well ahead of time to give us time to process!

How will we make accounts and play at launch?
Please make an account on this website. About a week before launch, we will announce that players are able to create their launch characters. Making your character will happen on the website, and it will let you reserve your name. Please note that any characters or names you made during the open beta will be deleted.

Will Horizon have DDOS protection at launch?
The box we have will have plenty of traffic bypass bandwidth to assist with DDoS attacks.

Will you have increased monster spawn rates at launch to account for a large influx of players in the starter zones?
Beginner zones (Ronfaure, Sarutabaruta, Gustaberg) will have a reduction in monster spawn time. Not only will they have reduced spawn time, there will also be more monsters present. Other zones may be affected by this, but we will not be revealing which those are.

Will Horizon have GMs in every timezone?
We have recruited GMs across many different time zones for launch.

What addons can we use on Horizon?
Please check our add-ons page for this and make sure you’re familiar with the server rules. Anything not in the allowed list is not allowed. You can submit a ticket on discord to have an add-on reviewed if it is not already on the prohibited add-on list. If you wish to submit a custom add-on or plugin for review, it must be made publicly available for all players before it can be approved. Approval is still at the complete discretion of HorizonXI staff.

Will there be a server wide linkshell?
No. All linkshells will be player driven.

Will the auction house be stocked with items?
No. The economy of Horizon will be entirely player driven.

When will new expansions and content come out?
When they are polished and ready. We do not have set development timelines because we think that rushes content before it is ready. Horizon will mimic retail releases by implementing expansions in patches similar to but more compressed than how it was done on retail in era. These will be like episodic releases. Expect somewhere around 5-6 patches per expansion, but this number could change. We think releasing entire expansions at once is overwhelming and would feel different than how it was in that era.

Will you give us hints or previews of what changes have been made to jobs and job balancing?
We have released job previews to discuss what has been adjusted for each job on Horizon. We will also be releasing launch patch notes with more information regarding the game’s launch. The core pillar of job balancing for HorizonXI has been that all jobs must retain their level 75 cap identity. The era balance experience has been preserved by only making minimal adjustments to some jobs. Any adjustments directly solve an existing balance problem in era, and all solutions carry the mandates of: (a) feeling appropriate for the level 75 cap era; and (b) pushing a job closer to its core identity in the 75 cap era. Any balancing will be monitored by the developers and actively adjusted as needed once the server has launched.

Will Horizon be using era racial stats for all races?
Yes, Horizon will use era racial stats (this means each race will have different stats).

What jobs will Horizon have at launch?
All of the 15 jobs available in CoP - WAR, MNK, WHM, BLM, RDM, THF, PLD, DRK, BST, BRD, RNG, SAM, NIN, DRG, SMN. Jobs such as BLU/PUP/COR (Treasures of Aht Urhgan), SCH/DNC (Wings of the Goddess), and RUN/GEO (Seekers of Adoulin) will come out when those expansions release on Horizon.

How will you handle balancing gear, weapon skills, abilities and etc. from content that came out after level 75?
Our balance team and developers will be working hard to appropriately balance all of these items for a level 75 cap horizontal progression environment. Each item will be balanced on a case by case basis and they will not simply replace old gear and abilities like they did on retail. Any items, abilities, traits etc. we re-balance can be reflected in game with custom dats.

Will this server be “newbie friendly” for those who have very little knowledge of game mechanics?
Yes! We do not plan on making any content so difficult that a new player couldn't figure it out any differently than in the 75 cap era. You can expect content to get harder as you progress, but it will be a gradual progression. The game in the 75 cap era itself wasn't the easiest game starting out fresh, but we suggest you grab a Linkshell right away just to have people who can help guide you through the process.

What measures, procedures, or ideas do you have in place to ensure the longevity of this project and the server?
To ensure the longevity of the project we have set very specific design goals which will allow us to ensure that we are consistent with our era+ implementation. Beyond that, we have come up with financial requirements that will be split among staff, all of which are very committed to HorizonXI and the private server scene as a whole. As for the codebase, we have a large development team - so if people decide to retire or take breaks others can easily pick up the slack. Outside of that, we have learned from our predecessors and will use past experiences to strengthen our team. This is part of the reason we brought on Community Managers - as part of their job is to ensure that other Staff stay in-line with our Staff Code of Conduct and are favorable to the community. Finally, in an effort to avoid drama, we plan to never accept donations for server/hosting costs - this is something we have learned spirals out of control quickly.

How custom is too custom? How significant of changes/customization can we expect from the + in Era+ on Horizon? How far are you willing to let the customization go before the Era part of Era+ disappears?
In the case of Era+: anything that ruins the core era experience, the difficulty of leveling, outpacing era beloved gear, ruining the story-player interaction, getting rid of iconic era xp camps, job identities, etc. - will be stuff we will likely consider outside of our scope. Other than that, we plan to spice up the experience by maintaining that core identity but adding in new challenges, new features, and things for players to discover. We have many ideas for how to institute our Era+ vision, but rest assured we plan to only really add to era rather than take away or directly change much about it.

How will the revamping of EXP camps be brought to life? How will you add new Era+ EXP camps?
Players will have to explore, test mobs, and figure out what works. We do not plan to release any staff guides on these new camps.

How will Horizon handle things like Grounds of Valor and Abyssea giving EXP from chests? Those really changed the leveling in FFXI.
No matter what content releases we will always keep traditional leveling parties relevant.

Will HorizonXI have home point warps?
No, we will not have home point warps of any kind.

Will Horizon have trusts?
We do not ever plan to implement trusts.

What will the movement speed be on Horizon?
We will be using 40 movement speed, which is 75 cap era movement speed.

Will Horizon have teleports between books? (survival guides)
This is something that is pretty far off because we are a progression server. We will examine that possibility once the time comes, but more than likely we won't allow for most forms of fast travel as that goes against the feel of 75 cap. Again though, it's up for debate and we will probably bring it to the community for feedback if the balance and development teams see it as fair game.

How will you handle the optimization of classic era content in 2022's internet landscape?
The benefit of using AirSkyBoat (“ASB”) is that there are multiple optimizations to the old bases used on other private servers. LandSandBoat (“LSB”) has done fantastic work in ensuring packets are handled in a manner that better suits the bandwidth and speed of packets within a modern setting. Our stress testing during the open beta has been very successful, allowing us to have over 430 players and 100 mobs up in one zone at the same time. We have also done stress testing in large group events such as Dynamis where we were able to get 50+ players in the zone lag free.

Will Horizon have lockstyle?
Yes.