The surprises keep on coming for Dragon Quest IX. Today, Square Enix unveiled a new type of quest for the game: "Wi-Fi Quests."

Wi-Fi Quests are quests which require the cooperation of large masses of Dragon Quest IX players. The quests, assigned by the World Inn Cooperative (I'm sure Square Enix's official English translation of the name will be far more creative), can only be cleared by having all DQ players work together.

While the above description is a bit vague, the topic of the first quest should give you an idea of what Square Enix is going for here. The first quest, which runs from today through midnight on September 30, asks that players simply upload their save file via Wi-Fi. The goal is to reach 500,000 uploads.

Uploading your save file is an option that appears at the Dragon Quest IX title screen once you've advanced to a certain point in the game.

Square Enix plans on using the data it collects via this quest to make public statistics on Dragon Quest IX play trends. Sample results can be seen at DQIX information page. Based on the charts at the page, we'll get to see where most players are located, and what titles and jobs are most popular.

Sample data.

To make sure the stats are accurate, the Square Enix asks that you set your age, title, and location accurately, and also select your favorite job for your main character. For overseas players, the information page actually acknowledges you and asks that you select "other" for your location.

This first Wi-Fi quest seems more like market research than an actual quest, but I imagine Dragon Quest fans are interested in finding out how others are playing the game.

Beyond the data collection, though, there does seem to be potential in a system where all players have to team up to perform tasks. We'll have to see what kind of ideas the game's designers come up with in the future.

Even if you don't care to take part in the market research, there's good reason to participate. If the goal of 500,000 uploads is reached, Dragon Quest Sword's Setia will appear in Rikka's Pub as a special guest character. She's known for her fashion, so she'll surely bring with her some sweet avatar items.

A special guest indeed.