The continued Aether lockdown is hurting my FC.

This Aether lockdown is really hurting my FC. A lot of great members, understandably, want to play with their IRL friends who are just now getting into XIV...but the problem is they *can't* because those friends can't get onto Aether which is forcing some friends and great FC members to have to leave our data center entirely.

It's really frustrating. I'm overall happy that all the WoW people have come to XIV, but I'd be lying if I said I don't get upset that that one popular streamer chose my data center and my server to set up camp because it's caused such a traffic jam with no end in sight.

Anyone else similarly frustrated?

Welcome to Balmung circa 2016

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Originally Posted by Valkyrie_Lenneth

Welcome to Balmung circa 2016

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I don't recall a complete lock on the entire data center.

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Originally Posted by OvernightSiren

I don't recall a complete lock on the entire data center.

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Yes, but this was pre cross world travel, so it was of the same effect.

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Originally Posted by OvernightSiren

I don't recall a complete lock on the entire data center.

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Aether was locked just prior to Stormblood's release largely so many people transferred right back after the sever split to Crystal.

I’m sure it’s frustrating but atleast those who want on can get on. The alternative is it remains open and servers crash, people can’t log in at all and then they definitely wouldn’t be able to play.
Fingers crossed a fix comes soon I guess

They probably won't unlock for a while. At least until a bunch of folks transfer off or they split up the datacenter. Which i doubt they'll do.

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Originally Posted by OvernightSiren

This Aether lockdown is really hurting my FC. A lot of great members, understandably, want to play with their IRL friends who are just now getting into XIV...but the problem is they *can't* because those friends can't get onto Aether which is forcing some friends and great FC members to have to leave our data center entirely.

It's really frustrating. I'm overall happy that all the WoW people have come to XIV, but I'd be lying if I said I don't get upset that that one popular streamer chose my data center and my server to set up camp because it's caused such a traffic jam with no end in sight.

Anyone else similarly frustrated?

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It's easy to blame someone or something or anything of that kind for Aether lockdown but you have to understand. It was bound to happen to one of the datacenters. If the lockdown was on another instead of Aether then we will still get folk saying: "The lockdown on our DC is hurting us!"
If SE allowed players to create new characters in Aether then your DC will become unstable. Would you like that?
All we can do for now is trust in the devs that they're working on finding a solution as soon as possible. Its not in their best interest to lockdown any DC

Most likely wont unlock it until they split the datacenter into 2 different datacenters and add new servers.

Unless they can find a way to deal with the global parts shortage to get more servers running, I wouldn't hold your breath.

I feel ya. It's not fun when you can't play with friends or family.

Of course, doesn't mean you can't see about making people on other datacenters if that's an option.

I mean I'm not sure if this company should really care about your FC to be honest. They are trying to fix the issue, and they are not happy with the answer they come up with. Money can't be thrown at it to fix the problem as well.

So im not sure how your fc having impatient people in it is a problem. I also have friends who had to roll on other worlds because of issues in the past, but we have tools outside the game to talk with each other and next expansion we can play.


So this is a non issue.

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Originally Posted by OvernightSiren

It's really frustrating. I'm overall happy that all the WoW people have come to XIV, but I'd be lying if I said I don't get upset that that one popular streamer chose my data center and my server to set up camp because it's caused such a traffic jam with no end in sight.

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Asmongold isn't solely responsible for this. His friend Rich who gets several thousand viewers every stream is also on Aether and he is far ahead of Asmon in the msq due to starting many weeks earlier. Never mind the fact that all the servers in the game were getting more and more players over time since the start of the year. Before Asmon or Rich even got their accounts.

Asmon did bring a huge amount of people to Aether but to place all the blame on him is unfair. He is a major factor but not the only one, and not the biggest factor in my opinion. The biggest contributing factor to this situation is actually the pandemic. Because of that SE have experienced a lot of difficulties getting new server hardware to keep up with the increasing demand of the quickly growing playerbase. I'm honestly expecting EW launch to not be smooth because of it.

Cross data center travel is coming probably next month. Granted it will be regional to start but people on Primal and Crystal can play with their friends pretty soon. Sure it's frustrating but I'm sure it's something they will try and deal with as soon as they can.

The new player invasion was not anticipated and it will take time to fix.

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Originally Posted by LaylaTsarra

Granted it will be regional to start

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Do you have a citation for this? I've been pretty worried that completely open, all worlds to all worlds access, would be a thing and wreak havoc on communities and economies.

I feel your pain. But it is what it is. You know the server shortage is legit when SE can't just throw money at it to make it go away.

Servers are holding up for the most part but you can tell they are put under extra stress with all the people playing - random disconnects, lag in dungeons. It would only get worse, possibly to the point of being unplayable if SE opened them up again. They know the limitations of their technology better than the rest of us.

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Originally Posted by Illmaeran

Do you have a citation for this? I've been pretty worried that completely open, all worlds to all worlds access, would be a thing and wreak havoc on communities and economies.

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They said so in the last live letter, you can find the info in this thread at the end if the "additional updates" section: https://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/...threads/440222

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As for Data Center Travel, we’d first like to get a feel for the feature for its initial release, so at first, you won’t be able to travel to data centers in other regions. For the initial release, players will be able to travel between data centers of the same region.

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Originally Posted by KitKatnip

I feel your pain. But it is what it is. You know the server shortage is legit when SE can't just throw money at it to make it go away.

Servers are holding up for the most part but you can tell they are put under extra stress with all the people playing - random disconnects, lag in dungeons. It would only get worse, possibly to the point of being unplayable if SE opened them up again. They know the limitations of their technology better than the rest of us.

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yeah I doubt any part of their server meetings were devoted to "do you think WoW will implode and we'll get a TON of people wanting to play all at once"

people seem to forget that long range planning usually tries no account for gradual player growth, not explosive surges like what happened this summer. there is no way you can plan for that, especially when hardware is in short supply

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Originally Posted by Valkyrie_Lenneth

Welcome to Balmung circa 2016

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Yes, that's what Balmung went through, but it's not great that we're still dealing with server woes 5 years later. It very much sucks for people who are trying to play with friends. I can only hope they get things figured out before Endwalker. Going to have a lot more angry people if things are still locked.

I am sure if they started actually going after RMT bots, map bots and the other bots in the game, would free up a TON of space....

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Originally Posted by Skivvy

Yes, that's what Balmung went through, but it's not great that we're still dealing with server woes 5 years later. It very much sucks for people who are trying to play with friends. I can only hope they get things figured out before Endwalker. Going to have a lot more angry people if things are still locked.

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I find the server issue really amusing. If you look at open world except for a few zones they are complete ghost towns. SE also has the system in place to create more instances of one zone. It would be better if it was dynamic, but at least they can do it statically. If you removed housing and its awesome implementation from the game. You literally could squeeze all the worlds into one. But the reverse would be impossible since the most important aspect is shared, instance servers. They can't just throw another world onto Aether. Crystal already sees ques for solo instances and we haven't even reached expansion yet. I can't imagine what it is like on Aether.

Im curious to see how the servers are going to be as we get closer to Endwalker and indeed the launch date itself. Curious and a little worried lol.

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Originally Posted by Xaruko_Nexume

Im curious to see how the servers are going to be as we get closer to Endwalker and indeed the launch date itself. Curious and a little worried lol.

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It probably won't be that bad they locked data centre. Also think they have a way of disabling free accounts. If free trial is disabled for two weeks the game will probably be stable and fine. Part of the problem with Stormblood is they refused to put a real lock on Balmung and Gilgamesh. They were also taking cash to skip when the server was locked. Also didn't help that a large percentage of this community likes to pretend SE never does anything wrong and blames players right up till it bit them in the back.

I remember when Balmung was locked, killing our FC and RP scene slowly, and people told us to get over it.

I cannot feel bad. Aether players did this thing where they told tons of new players and streamers that if you want to do end game content, you HAVE to go to Aether. If you go to Crystal, you won't be able to clear anything as it's only for RP. I don't think Aether should be locked forever, but still - I cannot feel bad.

For now, I will hope that it gets better for my Aether friends while I enjoy 40 person queues and new sprouts to play with.

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Originally Posted by Tsumdere

I remember when Balmung was locked, killing our FC and RP scene slowly, and people told us to get over it.

I cannot feel bad. Aether players did this thing where they told tons of new players and streamers that if you want to do end game content, you HAVE to go to Aether. If you go to Crystal, you won't be able to clear anything as it's only for RP. I don't think Aether should be locked forever, but still - I cannot feel bad.

For now, I will hope that it gets better for my Aether friends while I enjoy 40 person queues and new sprouts to play with.

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Are you saying people can't make their own decision without these internet personalities any more?

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Originally Posted by OvernightSiren

This Aether lockdown is really hurting my FC. A lot of great members, understandably, want to play with their IRL friends who are just now getting into XIV...but the problem is they *can't* because those friends can't get onto Aether which is forcing some friends and great FC members to have to leave our data center entirely.

It's really frustrating. I'm overall happy that all the WoW people have come to XIV, but I'd be lying if I said I don't get upset that that one popular streamer chose my data center and my server to set up camp because it's caused such a traffic jam with no end in sight.

Anyone else similarly frustrated?

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Well, you people kept crying about server crashes and long queues (even if most of them were in EU datacenters).

Why are u surprised SE took these measures now?

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Originally Posted by Mika_Zahard

Well, you people kept crying about server crashes and long queues (even if most of them were in EU datacenters).

Why are u surprised SE took these measures now?

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Ah yes, it's the player's fault for getting a data center locked down. Next time players are faced with long queues and constant server crashes they should rush to shower SE with praise instead.

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Originally Posted by Tsumdere

I remember when Balmung was locked, killing our FC and RP scene slowly, and people told us to get over it.

I cannot feel bad. Aether players did this thing where they told tons of new players and streamers that if you want to do end game content, you HAVE to go to Aether. If you go to Crystal, you won't be able to clear anything as it's only for RP. I don't think Aether should be locked forever, but still - I cannot feel bad.

For now, I will hope that it gets better for my Aether friends while I enjoy 40 person queues and new sprouts to play with.

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People can't see Crystal as anything but less than when it comes to raiding, so Aether can suffer through all the quarantine memes now for all I care.

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Originally Posted by Cyreil

People can't see Crystal as anything but less than when it comes to raiding, so Aether can suffer through all the quarantine memes now for all I care.

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Crystal raiders be like

https://i.imgur.com/jfLuhkc.jpg

and don't even realize it

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Originally Posted by Cyreil

People can't see Crystal as anything but less than when it comes to raiding, so Aether can suffer through all the quarantine memes now for all I care.

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I mean, realistically, Crystal is the weakest Data Center for raiding. We have statistics showing Crystal with less than half the average clear rates of Aether and Primal. Naturally, when new players ask about the raid scene, they'll be told which Data Centers cater towards that niche. I'm not going to tell someone they should go to Crystal for raiding when I know Aether is far more active. Just like I wouldn't tell someone looking for a robust roleplay scene to go to Aether when Crystal will be far more accommodating for them.

None of this is to say you can't raid of Crystal or that all Crystal raiders are bad. It just has a much smaller scene.

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Originally Posted by ForteNightshade

I mean, realistically, Crystal is the weakest Data Center for raiding. We have statistics showing Crystal with less than half the average clear rates of Aether and Primal. Naturally, when new players ask about the raid scene, they'll be told which Data Centers cater towards that niche. I'm not going to tell someone they should go to Crystal for raiding when I know Aether is far more active. Just like I wouldn't tell someone looking for a robust roleplay scene to go to Aether when Crystal will be far more accommodating for them.

None of this is to say you can't raid of Crystal or that all Crystal raiders are bad. It just has a much smaller scene.

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unfortunately this is the sort of reputation that will simply spiral. "Crystal is bad at raids" means that people who are interested in raiding primarily will make their characters elsewhere, and Crystal will not get the influx of raiders the other DCs will get.

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Originally Posted by SnowVix

unfortunately this is the sort of reputation that will simply spiral. "Crystal is bad at raids" means that people who are interested in raiding primarily will make their characters elsewhere, and Crystal will not get the influx of raiders the other DCs will get.

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Is that really a bad thing though in this type of mmorpg? A mmorpg lives and dies by the community it wants to hang around. So crystal being the one that does not care about raids. You will easier find people who line up with the things you enjoy also.


I like that crystal is way more laid back, and has all types of players. That raiding is consider fluff more than a must have thing, because many of them know at the end of the day. That gear will be replaced and the carrot chase does not matter.


In every mmorpg I join a RP server even though I don't rp. Why? Because I treat players like NPC that add immersion to the world when they openly rp. Also, rp servers tend to not die as fast as other servers in mmos, and market prices for glamour things tend to be up more from the demand rpers have. So in mmorpgs I love farming and making money. So it is just smart for me to always pick the RP servers for the best business.


The downside to that is, some parts of the community think because of the server I am on. I must be a perverted unskilled furry or something because it is a crystal group people openly expected it to be bad. I could understand if that bothers some people.

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Originally Posted by Moonlite

I find the server issue really amusing. If you look at open world except for a few zones they are complete ghost towns. SE also has the system in place to create more instances of one zone. It would be better if it was dynamic, but at least they can do it statically. If you removed housing and its awesome implementation from the game. You literally could squeeze all the worlds into one. But the reverse would be impossible since the most important aspect is shared, instance servers. They can't just throw another world onto Aether. Crystal already sees ques for solo instances and we haven't even reached expansion yet. I can't imagine what it is like on Aether.

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My experience on Jenova has been fine. About 30 or 40 person queues when I play in Eastern prime time into Eastern late night. And I can't remember the last time I saw a queue for a solo instance and I've unsynced a lot working on animas.

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Originally Posted by TaleraRistain

My experience on Jenova has been fine. About 30 or 40 person queues when I play in Eastern prime time into Eastern late night. And I can't remember the last time I saw a queue for a solo instance and I've unsynced a lot working on animas.

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All weekend while doing different levels of MSQ on Crystal on alts, highest I saw was 4. So Crystal being the quietest of Data centres and we are at 4. Also 4 was not instant, but not a minute wait. I have yet to see reserving instance notification for dungeons though. So they might not share the real world assets. Or possible that at least that is dynamic and tries to prioritize dungeon over solo instance. I have yet to get the locked house error when instance servers are full as well.



Instead of answering another question about glamour. A discussion about how instances work behind the scenes would be more interesting. What shares what and why we see what que. Does airforce gate and chocobo racing take from what pool of resources? Is it same pool and the system is complex enough to allocate resources where it is needed?

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Originally Posted by Wavaryen

I like that crystal is way more laid back, and has all types of players. That raiding is consider fluff more than a must have thing, because many of them know at the end of the day. That gear will be replaced and the carrot chase does not matter.

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Crystal has a lot of drama for many different reasons. Aether is better in many ways. Even on casual content, Aether is better. Crystal does have raiders, though.

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Originally Posted by Zsolen

Crystal has a lot of drama for many different reasons. Aether is better in many ways. Even on casual content, Aether is better. Crystal does have raiders, though.

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What I mean about laid back as in the game itself and the content they expect people to play or do.


Drama happens no matter what, and I don't find that as a bad thing. Heck RP in a sense is drama unfolding. I don't see how one cluster is better than the other as it is about the community and people you meet. I would find it a stretch that other servers have better people. They just have different ones. That is it.


Having options is always good.

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Originally Posted by ForteNightshade

I mean, realistically, Crystal is the weakest Data Center for raiding. We have statistics showing Crystal with less than half the average clear rates of Aether and Primal. Naturally, when new players ask about the raid scene, they'll be told which Data Centers cater towards that niche. I'm not going to tell someone they should go to Crystal for raiding when I know Aether is far more active. Just like I wouldn't tell someone looking for a robust roleplay scene to go to Aether when Crystal will be far more accommodating for them.

None of this is to say you can't raid of Crystal or that all Crystal raiders are bad. It just has a much smaller scene.

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This has been beaten to death over and over since Crystal was introduced. It's the weakest because you people ran away from a brand new data center with no past history to speak of and immediately condemned it because of one particular server that was put on it.

And yet people keep wanting the devs to label servers and data centers as RP servers. Have you ever given it thought as to why they haven't done that? Why don't you learn to co-exist already? We're all playing the same game.

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Originally Posted by Cyreil

This has been beaten to death over and over since Crystal was introduced. It's the weakest because you people ran away from a brand new data center with no past history to speak of and immediately condemned it because of one particular server that was put on it.

And yet people keep wanting the devs to label servers and data centers as RP servers. Have you ever given it thought as to why they haven't done that? Why don't you learn to co-exist already? We're all playing the same game.

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Yup, agree with this.

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Originally Posted by Cyreil

This has been beaten to death over and over since Crystal was introduced. It's the weakest because you people ran away from a brand new data center with no past history to speak of and immediately condemned it because of one particular server that was put on it.

And yet people keep wanting the devs to label servers and data centers as RP servers. Have you ever given it thought as to why they haven't done that? Why don't you learn to co-exist already? We're all playing the same game.

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Balmung and Mateus' presences on Crystal colored its reputation from the very start. At the time of the split, many serious raiders transferred to follow Gilgamesh because it had a strongly established raiding reputation since the time before cross-world PF even existed. With peoples friends and static-mates being forcibly moved to Aether, it's not at all surprising that they chose to follow suit rather than stick around on a roleplay server and watch their static disband. No one can be faulted for deciding to remain with the established community they were a member of, rather than build a new one from scratch for the benefit of a bunch of complete stranger.

p.s You're not doing much for Crystals reputation by attacking and wishing suffering on hypothetical people who you feel have wronged your video-game server somehow lmao.