Cascading failure modes...

So, the basic problem is just "instead of waiting in queue, you get an error that doesn't tell you how long to wait". Some people get in after 20 minutes. Some don't after 7 hours. So people respond by staying logged in overnight, or all day, because otherwise they can't play, so the servers are more full. But, it gets better!

Because of the way the forums are structured, users who can't get into the game can't post on most of the forums, because you have to get into the game to level to post outside technical support. So, for instance, there's a thank-you thread for Yoshida over all the things that have gone well in the relaunch, and all the improvements in the game. I was gonna post in that thread...

But I can't. Because I can't get high enough level. Because the servers are not just full, but artificially full from all the users who are AFKing rather than risking being unable to log in.

All because Square-Enix can't implement a working login queue. (A "working" queue is one which you can reliably enter and wait your turn.)