In perspective, before and still after WoW, most MMO don't have a huge player base, so Final Fantasy XI having a stable 500,000 is very good. For a Final Fantasy MMO it may not have done as well as expected, but Square's first foray into a different genre was successful - they are creating another FF MMO because of the success FF XI brought.

As for my area in the world, I know a few people played but didn't stay with it, playing WoW instead for the most part. I played FF XI and thought it was a good game that needed some things fixed; I still sometimes have the urge to play the game.