Further Server and System Improvements

As we continue to address server issues, I would like to follow up on my previous announcement regarding the measures being taken to improve this situation.

With the maintenance completed on September 4, we have increased the number of concurrent connections allowed across all Worlds by roughly 60,000 users. For the time being, however, we believe it necessary to maintain login and character creation restrictions, even though they have inconvenienced many of our players.

With the exception of recently added Worlds, each World can now support 7,300 to 7,800 simultaneous logins. Further increasing this limit runs the risk of causing severe lag in all zones. We will continue monitoring server loads to ensure a stable playing environment as we move forward with our plans.

Following the increase in server capacity, we reached 325,000 simultaneous logins, and we anticipate that this number will only increase. Therefore, as our development and operations teams continue to work towards a full-scale upgrade of our servers and systems in order to accommodate more players, we will continue our suspension of digital sales of the game.

During this time, we will be monitoring connections during peak times for each data center. Once we have confirmed that all Worlds and the zones within them are stable, we will continue to monitor server loads and populations in real time as we prepare to upgrade our servers and make other extensive improvements.

The following is a general outline of our major goals to improve overall server and system stability. Specific details will be announced as soon as they are available.

1. Substantially increase the number of Worlds.
2. Create a third duty finder group to further alleviate server stress.
3. Increase the number of servers used for instances.

Even with the increased capacity of all Worlds, the number of simultaneous logins is still reaching the limit. Because increasing server capacity further would result in significant stress to individual zones, frequent restrictions on character creation have been necessary for the most heavily populated Worlds.

Furthermore, since simply adding new Worlds would heavily stress the Duty Finder system, a significant increase to the number of Worlds will be accompanied by the creation of a third Duty Finder group for each data center. We will also increase the number of servers used for instances. We believe these steps will allow for a marked increase in the number of concurrent connections our servers can maintain.

With that said, we have also noticed that many players are leaving their characters idle in game due to the login restrictions we have set in place to maintain server stability. In response to requests to address this issue, we are working to implement a feature that will automatically log out characters that are idle for a prolonged period of time.

The above improvements are scheduled to be implemented next week. We will make an announcement at the beginning of next week with further details.

4. Commence World transfer service.

In addition to our above plans to improve server stability, we will begin service for World transfers. Players who were unable to join their desired World due to character creation restrictions will now be able to move to a World of their choosing.

We realize many players would like to play together with their friends, and preparations for the World transfer service are a top priority. We are also working towards resuming digital sales for those who had planned to purchase the game but were unable to do so.

5. Begin large-scale improvements for long term operations.

Next year will see the PlayStation 4 release and another influx of players. In order to ensure the best experience for all of our customers and customers-to-be, we are carefully monitoring our operations as we continue planning extensive changes to improve the game.

Again, we sincerely apologize for any inconveniences caused by the current restrictions to logins, character creation, and digital sales. I assure you that our entire company is working tirelessly to improve your gaming experience, and we hope we can count on your continued support.

FINAL FANTASY XIV: A Realm Reborn Producer & Director Naoki Yoshida