Minimise the downtime please.

[Runespider]

Keep in mind I do think what has happend in Japan is terrible and I sympathise with the situation there. I'm not saying they should put the servers up and to hell with the power concerns, not at all.

What I'm saying is if this is going to damage the 2+ titles and it's going to be down for a long time why not make plans and host the servers in another country or one of their other offices? I like FFXI and I don't want to see this horrible disaster cause damage to it or Square as a company long term. A big company like Square can take action to keep an important part of their business running surely?

The whole point of this post is if this leads to the servers being down for a long time, a week is nothing.

your original post seemed like you were more bothered about keeping your gaming addiction up

I haven't played FFXI for a few weeks actualy, I'm playing Rift and some other offline games. I still love FFXI though and do care about its future.

[Kindra]

So basic terms this thread is about having them set up back up servers in case something like this should happen again? Your not saying that they have to do it right now or anything just down the road right? And if the downtime should be more then a week you would be ok with that?

I only ask because i wanna make sure i am understanding you correctly

[Randwolf]

Keep in mind I do think what has happend in Japan is terrible and I sympathise with the situation there. I'm not saying they should put the servers up and to hell with the power concerns, not at all.

What I'm saying is if this is going to damage the 2+ titles and it's going to be down for a long time why not make plans and host the servers in another country or one of their other offices? I like FFXI and I don't want to see this horrible disaster cause damage to it or Square as a company long term. A big company like Square can take action to keep an important part of their business running surely?

The whole point of this post is if this leads to the servers being down for a long time, a week is nothing.

No matter how you state it, at the very least, telling S/E to pay attention to how long their servers are down is rude. When you post stuff like this, it makes your cares and concern for the people of Japan seem shallow and fake. Really, S/E does not need your advice on business matters or how to deal with their revenue concerns in a country which was hit by a disaster and is teetering on another one. I have no doubt they are considering ways to lessen impact on things that generate revenue. That would include various options to allow them to legitimately collect gaming fees. Just because they can do it, doesn't mean we need to pressure them to do it. And if you are one of the people that isn't there when the servers come up, I can't imagine it will be any great loss to the FFXI community.

[CaelThunderwing]

you guy's Realise thanks to that earthquake, the affected Regions of Japan are experiencing what the north coast of the US did in 2003? (The great Blackout of '03) and have some sympathy for god's sake! and think of the lost lives!

a Break from the game is Something we all Need. so.. "<Jumping to new area> Real Life" >_> if they haveto keep Power off for too long they more than likely Will move the servers. SE isnt going to let XI/ XIV just end like this you guys should know better -_-

if you guys are anxious to keep and up and up on whats going on i suggest you bookmark http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/index-e.html thats the power company that supplies the power to the area where the server farm is. (your oddly better off viewing it in chrome or IE. it wont display properly in Firefox.atleast not the 4.0 RC1)

[arlais]

That is all. Take a step back. There's people suffering, and SE are doing the responsible thing about it. Taking a week from the game won't kill you.

[Cream_Soda]

So FFXI and FFXIV will be down for an unknown length of time, could be a week, could be a month, could be a lot longer.

I do understand the situation in Japan and I also understand that the situation didn't really effect Square directly that much as a company and the server downtime is more because of the power stations asking big companies to conserve power(correct me if i'm wrong). Understandable, but shouldn't a company the size of Square have some kind of plan being worked out to bring the servers back up asap? (maybe moving them to a different location to get around this or something?).

Would Blizzard let the game be down for an unknown amount of time if this happend, would any of the big TV stations? This maybe just a game but SE is a games company and that's pretty much all they are. Their entire work force exists to make and run games so it's a big deal for them. Something like this is a godsend to your competitors in the MMO field, ie Rift and WoW.

The reason I say this is because I assume long downtime will do damage to the games userbase, downtime on addictive games like MMOs that require a monthly payment and want to keep as many players on board as possible is a bad thing. What if a large number of your subscribers go off and try other MMOs and get hooked on those or if they lose the yearning to carry on with the games, I've had breaks from many games in the past and wholely lost intrest when I had the opportunity to go back.

FFXI is currently in an upsurge and I would hate for that to slide away. If this is a week then that's one thing but if there is a chance it could be extended and go on for a long time I hope there are plans to get around it and get the game back up asap.

Since FFXIV has been run for free for 6-7 months which is being done at a vast loss of money I can assume money can also be spent on something like this, which is far more important to both games and the bottom line of SE as a company long term.

This post is not being mean, it's not trolling it's being realistic.

They care enough about the people of their nation to lose a little money. They're alright in my book.

Hell, we don't even know how many of the employee's families were directly involved and taking leave time right now to help their families whose houses may have been torn down or deal with family deaths, etc.

[NightDagger]

This is something I have been talking about with a few friends. We are all going to play Dragon age 2, but that can only last so long. IF the servers are down for a month i would say 10% or so will not return to the game right away. It may even be higher, the fact is that we are all gamers & when we start a game we want full completion. We want all Achievements or Medals we can get, and that takes time. Everything in Japan right now is horrible & we know SE could really careless about getting their servers up asap (I don't care if it take 2 months to rebuild). The fact is that there is alot going on there & they are on not even close to being top priority for getting their power grid up and running. Just pray for them & accept the fact that Japan is in a time of need. Se knows that if they are down for a longtime they WILL lose some player base, BUT the players will return sometime. Maybe not in the first week back but within a month or two after. Face it they know we are hardcore & we can not just stop playing a game like this over a company making the proper decision.

I 100% agree that a large company like SE that relies on income from their online games should have backup servers in another country to prevent something like this happening to their income. But in the same sense how could they possibly keep both the systems identical? Would you really want them to be loading up the backup servers from LA that have not been updated for 20 hours? Just think you just finished you Emp. Weapon & got 2 pieces of AF3+2 done then Japan has this disaster & they load the LA servers up. Now you do not have the Emp. Weapon completed nor the AF# +2 drops you needed. Would you really like to spend that time completing them again? Hoping that your /random is better then the 10 other LS mates that need the same card/coin or w/e?

It the end we all want to have our game back, but we have to accept the facts in front of us and enjoy the break with our family & appreciate the things WE have.

NightDagger
Lakshmi

[Boldheart]

To the original poster of this thread, server is down for a week or two, no big deal, go play other games, or better yet, go and actually DO something with your life that is not related with playing video games. Maybe if you have the same dedication to your real life achievements, life would not be so bad after all. Quit whining over a week or two of not being able to play FFXI.

BTW, you will not be charged for the month of April for FFXI, which means, should they shut it down for 4 weeks, you have nothing to complaints about. 4 weeks away from FFXI probably a good idea. The sun is shining, go outside and smell the roses... or the polution

Your so cool lol, true post.

Prayers to Japan and the families that are in need. I so agree w/ what SE is doing w/ shutting down the servers but i do have suggestions that wouldnt hurt. Maybe they should have emergency/backup servers in California where there HQ is in the USA for just incase emergencies and what not, but that's not what is important right now but maybe could be future investments. I agree 100 percent w/ what they are doing w/ helping save electricity and helping/caring for those people in need, good job guys. God bless and hope everthing works out and gets back to good.

[Darkren]

They care enough about the people of their nation to lose a little money. They're alright in my book.

Hell, we don't even know how many of the employee's families were directly involved and taking leave time right now to help their families whose houses may have been torn down or deal with family deaths, etc.

Yep, and let them have their time off rather than making them think about building another server in the US.

SE are alright in my book too and loyal players will be loyal!

[Sinthetic]

i agree with Skyrant_Kangaroomouse

also if having the Servers Down for a week 1 month whatever
brings the power back on 1 min sooner to the People there it would be all worth XD

Besides its no big deal man 1 week 1 month till will pass like it always does XD