Square Enix to Compensate Final Fantasy XIV Players for Server Problems
Square Enix has apologized for the overloaded servers of its mmorpg Final Fantasy XIV. The server issues are due to the early access of the Endwalker expansion becoming available this weekend, bringing significantly more players online.
Final Fantasy XIV producer Naoki Yoshida writes that the server issues affect all regions. “The number of simultaneous logins has reached the hardware limit, with the result that logging in is extremely time-consuming, especially during the ‘peak’ hours when most players are active,” explains Yoshida.
According to Yoshida, players complain about long queues when trying to access the server. Also, players run the risk of losing their place in the queue when there are more than 17,000 players in the login queue.
Because the queues are so long, the developers suspect that there is a higher chance that players will be removed from the queue due to connection problems. To keep the connection stable, players are advised to use a wired internet connection instead of WiFi as much as possible.
As compensation, Square Enix is giving a week of free play to players who have the full version of the game and an ongoing subscription. Players who try the full version of the game for free for 30 days will also be compensated. Yoshida writes that more compensation may follow in the future, if the servers are still not working properly.
The Endwalker expansion will be officially released on December 7. The expansion will include the Sage class, which is mainly focused on healing. Endwalker also includes the new Crystal Conflict pvp mode, in which two teams of five players must transport a crystal from one side of the map to the other.