Final Fantasy XI borrows page from WoW, offers authenticators
by Krystalle Voecks 
Mar 12th 2009 at 12:00PM
Filed under: Fantasy, Final Fantasy XI, MMO industry, News items
With the rampant MMO account hacks that happen every day - and especially the seemingly high numbers that occur in Final Fantasy XI that we've heard about, we're glad to hear that this change is coming. Square Enix has announced that, like Blizzard, they will be offering an account authenticator security token to players, helping to ensure that their accounts are safer in the future from random hacks. There's no immediate information available on the exact cost or when they'll be offering them through PlayOnline beyond "in the near future", but we're sure that players will snap them up. Also, the FFXI variant will also be coming with a special in-game bonus "which may just prove indispensible during your many adventures in Vana'diel!"Of course, if you're a follower of [GM] Dave, game-master and celebrity Chef de Cuisine to hungry dragons in Final Fantasy XI, you'll likely have heard about this already. He claims to have been the one to think up security tokens years ago, before his supervisor nabbed the idea, and landed a promotion (and [GM]Dave's wrath) out of the deal. (Can you warp supervisors to zones full of dragons without them catching on, we wonder?) Ultimately, whatever the genesis of this decision is, we're sure the FFXI community is glad to see security tokens coming.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Philip said on 12:51PM 3-12-2009
As a former FFXI player and current WoW player, let me reassure you that WoW was a late-comer to the idea of authenticators. Lots of companies whose employees are road warriors or who work from home use the authenticators when tying in to the company servers. In order to connect to my Outlook email I have to use a VPN with one of these authenticators, coupled with a 4 digit extension that I have commited to memory.
That being said, its good to see another MMO offering protection to their customers. In the long run, its less work for their customer service department.
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Krystalle Voecks said on 1:26PM 3-12-2009
Oh, I think we're all well aware of security options like this. I've worked in NOCs as well and had to use one to log into any of my accounts.
Blizzard was, however, the first MMO company that I'm aware of to use the keychain authenticators for customers with game accounts. As such, they get the credit for starting it as an option for players within the genre. If another MMO company did it first for customer's accounts, then I'd agree with you.
MrLee said on 3:59PM 3-12-2009
Lol why do people thing Blizzard invented everything? Banks have been using those keys for YEARS! Also, they give them away to their customers because, you know they actually care about their customers security rather than seeing it as a way to make a few more million dollars.
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fester said on 7:36PM 3-12-2009
Who the hell claimed Blizzard invented the key fob? Nice strawman argument. But they were the first MMO company to support one, and for that they deserve some props. My bank doesn't even have that option despite my requests that they add it. It's pretty messed up when my WoW account has more security options than my bank account.
Evi said on 11:58AM 3-13-2009
Fester: I hear you. My bank's web site is shockingly insecure compared to other sites. ING Direct practically asks me for a retinal scan, but my bank just wants a name and password... a name and password I wasn't allowed to pick and can't figure out how to change, I might add.