Error logging in with Steam - FFXIV can not communicate with steam

FFXIV Cannot connect to steam error, have to restart the launcher and log in 10-20 times just to get in the game, has been happening for 48 hours now.
Can't log in with the launcher directly because it's a bloody steam account too, and we can't log in with the ffxivboot.exe anymore since they locked it down.
It's not just me, 3 discord servers I am part of have more than 100 total reports, everywhere from EU, OCE, JP, NA.

Really need to manage this kind of error or communicate with your playerbase if you're going to lock us to authenticating through steam now.

Good morning! Thank you for posting in the Final Fantasy XIV Technical Support Forums.

We apologize for any inconvenience that has occurred when playing Final Fantasy XIV. If you are still experiencing this issue, please try the following troubleshooting as it may help resolve it:

1. From your Steam Client, open the Settings panel by selecting "Steam > Settings" from the top left client menu.
2. In the Settings panel, select the Downloads tab and you'll find the "Clear Download Cache" button at the bottom.
3. Then select "Confirm" to acknowledge this will clear your download cache and that you'll need to login to Steam again.

You can also try launching the game via the Steam library.

Hope to see you online!