Cannot log in on one character only after crash (POL-3001)

[Aquilees]

It seems like we all have at least one dead zone. Check this out, Tahrongi Canyon is my dead zone, I get stuck on a time out there every singe time. So I go over to my brothers house and try to log in and it works, so I move myself out of the zone. But when I enter Port Sandoria on his network i get the time out and cannot log back in. Port Sandoria is fine on my network though, so we both have a separate dead zones. Mine Tahrongi Canyon and his Port Sandoria. I reconfigured my router following the directions as well and that did not help. Honestly though, how can any of us believe that all of this is just coincidence and we all have a router blocking a specific zone for each of us that worked just fine before the latest update. Does it not seem like its very much possible that there is a hardware malfunction on your end Square Enix? It just does not seem logical that so many routers can have the same problem at the same time covering so many different zones.

For those of you who are still stuck, I'm pretty sure that if you can get yourself logged into the game on a network other than your own you will be able to move your character from that zone. And then do your best to not go back there.

*Edit* I should clarify that when I got my character out of Tahrongi Canyon i logged in as a guest user using my brother's computer with his installed copy of final fantasy XI and not my own. Not sure if that matters, it might though.

[Foulu]

I'm stuck in Davoi
Walked in to get a dynamis trig and never got past downloading data screen
Same thing when i try to relog for the past 12 hours

[AzieltheLiar]

Waiting for SE James to come back with more advice, port numbers, or another explanation. Was able to play for a few min today, due to going to a friends house to move my character out of Qufim. Zoned into Qufim again in the hope the issue was fixed, only to get stuck in the loading screen again unable to unlock myself til next weekend when he is off work. All ports are still configured to James' specifications with no change. Friend has the exact same cable internet service by the way. Only used auto router settings over there too, which makes me curious to the port explanation again. I don't WANT to quit, so other suggestions would be appreciated greatly...

I'm only waiting til my next billing cycle for a fix. $70+ for a week and a half of service and content is ridiculous...

[Bobar]

I can confirm that this issue certainly does occur with my internet connected DIRECTLY to my PC/360/PS2 (same zones/characters on each system). I have connected directly, bypassing my router completely and still experience the same problems. My ISP does not block any ports. There is no way this is an issue with all of our collective routers suddenly crapping out on all of us

From what I have read, your world (i.e. Phoenix, etc) is a network of servers. One particular server may contain many zones. For example, the server(s) that handle the Port Jeuno zone, may also handle Tahrongi Canyon and Port San d'Oria, etc. So even if Tahrongi Canyon is virtually empty, the combination of people in all of those combined zones mean it is not allowing additional people to enter any of those zones. This would explain why when the peak time ends, I can get back on (even in P.J.) and not have any trouble. Peak time ramps up... I'm stuck for many hours.

Not sure if this is 100% correct, just my understanding reading from someone who had this issue in 2005 and was pinging servers and noticed that multiple zones were grouped together onto individual servers. That's why this *could* be resolved by ensuring routers have all ports open... but obviously that's not working here.

Probably not an easy fix. Just wait it out If the problem continues around the end of the month, I'm considering cancelling for a month or two. No reason to pay if I can't play.

[Bobar]

Received my new router today (Linksys E2500). Set everything up. No trouble at all. Played FFXIV for hours this morning. No trouble. Got on FFXI. Leveled a bit, changed zones to La Thiene Plat. Stuck again in Downloading data screen. This occurs on 3 routers now, with and without port forwarding set up, or port triggering, or even DMZ. This occurs even when I bypass my router completely. This occurs on PS2, Xbox 360 and PC. This occurs regardless of 2400-5000+ logged into Phoenix.

This is not my problem any more. The tech support forums are filled with this very problem. This is affecting many players. I'm cancelling my account until this gets fixed. I've been playing with no trouble since Jan 2006. May 2011 update and/or server merge is where the issue started. I'm not coming back until I read in this forum that this problem has been fixed. Pretty frustrated over this issue and SE's support. I appreciate that folks at SE are trying, but this has been a poor experience. I'm voting with my dollar.

Hope to come back, but I'm gonna move on for now.

[darkhorror]

I am having the same problem. This morning I warped from bastok to port jeuno. Got stuck on the downloading data part and now can't log into my main. I got on my mule and that still seems to work fine. I am currently plugged directly into my cable model. It's an Arris TM502G which I got from comcast. Turned off firewall to test it out. Tried checking the files to see if anything was wrong with those, but no luck. Not really sure what else to try, I have tried unplugging my modem, restarted my computer a couple times.

Is there a way to test and see which port, or IP might be getting blocked? I am trying to isolate the problem but haven't had too much luck.

[Gargantuan]

I started getting this same problem earlier today. My main got stuck zoning into Davoi. All of my mules have no issues and I've never had any connection issues ever before this. Nothing in my system was changed. I've done all the router resetting, etc and nothing worked. Getting POL-3001 error.

[Nakir]

I got stuck last night zoning into Qufim Island from Port Jueno, I can log in on all of my other characters including one that is set in Port Jueno with no problems. This is not a router issue on my end, it is obviously a server issue or an issue relating to the update. This is quite obvious by the sheer number of incidents... I have been in this game since the PS2 start, and every time there has been a connection issue I have received that same canned response that must come from their "Company Handbook". I personally plan to CANCEL my accounts with SE if service is not restored shortly, they are not getting my money if I cannot play and if they receive a large amount of deactivations they WILL respond. The last time this happened to me was when they were bringing the XBOX 360 users online from the beta server to the main server...

[Myrid]

After reading all these posts, this sounds like a routing issue to me... It's not happening to me or I'd try this myself.

If someone is experiencing this and has a little tech background, what I'd like to know:
If you can get your stuck character moving again by logging in on a friend's PC, use Wireshark or some similar packet tracking program to find out the IP address of the server you're talking to.
Take that IP address back home and try to ping it and trace it.

It may not be a problem with either your ISP or SE's servers. It's likely somewhere in-between.

[Sorel]

I began experiencing this problem myself 3 days ago zoning between North Gustaberg and Abyssea - Grauberg. I ran down the list of suggested remedies and nothing has worked. I attempted to contact SE support shortly after the problem arose and to this day have yet to receive any type of response from them. I have restarted my modem, my router, and my PC to no avail. I have tried a direct connection to my PC, bypassing my router, and the problem still persists. I have port forwarded and still the problem persists. I have done my best to try and isolate the problem, but I am still lost. I, like many others, had to lean on the help of close friends to retrieve my character.

I have been a customer for seven years, using the same configuration, and I have never once had experienced a problem like this personally. I don't want to make a sleight against SE, but as a long time paying customer, I feel I deserve better customer service at the very least. I've done my best to give you the benefit of the doubt about the issue, but after seeing the continuous boilerplate responses on here and from others, I have begun to reconsider. I don't think I'm asking for the world, in all honesty.

So even though I've regained control of my character, I am unable to access Abyssea - Grauberg, of which I had plans for. Now I can not participate in events there, and to be honest, I'm cautious to zone places in general now. I am paying a monthly fee to play a modern day MMO, not an NES game from the 80's that I have to blow into or play in a certain way to prevent it from crashing on me. It's reasonable for you to ask your customers to take certain steps to remedy the situation, but when said remedies fail to have their desired outcome, you in turn must take action in some form. The silence is deafening, Square.