Thanks for mentioning that. That's another thing. Whatever database management system they're using for ffxi is really inefficient. I'm not a database expert, but I'm pretty sure that modern relational or object-oriented DBMs blow older hierarchical systems out of the water in terms of efficiency. I'm willing to bet that the inventory lag issues are more related to an outdated DBM that they don't want to change rather than where the servers are located geographically.
point: FFXI's technology is holding development back.