Is queue time just a part of the normal game now?

[Elamys]

If you get DCed, you should have a short time to reclaim your spot in game, just like you can reclaim your spot in queue. I live in the country, my internet connection isn't that great, it drops sometimes. WoW was able to do this during Warlords; why can't SE? I sit through a three hour queue, and get disconnected from my internet for 5 seconds - congratulations, back of the line.

Also, sick of hearing the "lol just transfer off Balmung" excuse. There are FAR too many people exploiting the AFK timer now, and more to the point, my friends are here, my medium Mist house, on a prime plot, is here. I'm not going to transfer my main. But is it too much to ask for people to log out when they are done playing the game? Then people tell me "just do the same" - I remind you that, again, I don't have the most stable of connections, nor do I WANT to do that.

Talking about how "if you AFKed before the expac you can't complain now" is a false equivalency. There was no real need for an AFK kick prior to this expansion, which is why they added one now. And there is a difference between AFKing to take a shower or grab lunch, and AFKing while you're at work and sleeping, and not playing the game for 8+ hours.

Lastly, no, character creation was NOT "permanently locked" on Balmung during Heavensward as people are saying. Character creation on Balmung was locked when there was a server queue. So, yes, it was sometimes possible to actually create a new character on Balmung.

Current queue at 3:55PM Central: 3,278. I've been in it for 30 minutes, it started at 3,475. People are simply not logging out.

[Azurymber]

Right now on Balmung it's a 3.5 to 4 hour wait. That seems excessive for any game. The thing that worries me is that SE hasn't said anything about it other than "change servers or wait."

It's going to be like this for the next month+. Asking people to wait 4 hours to play a game seems problematic. Further, you can't really leave your computer during that 4 hours because you can DC from the queue, and if you get in and aren't around you get auto-kicked after 20min.

[Alisyn]

Queue for Balmung right now is 4200. That's easily 3-5 hours of waiting for someone to get on. Overpopulated server by choice or old school transfer, that amount of time to wait to get into a game you pay a monthly sub for is just ridiculous.


Also, turning on each other when it's honestly SE's fault for not locking down Balmung transfers months/years ago is just silly.

[Keridwyn]

Queue for Balmung right now is 4200. That's easily 3-5 hours of waiting for someone to get on. Overpopulated server by choice or old school transfer, that amount of time to wait to get into a game you pay a monthly sub for is just ridiculous.

Played on a high pop WoW world years ago and had queues that long during expac release. It was a reason I went low pop when I started playing FFXIV.

[Alisyn]

Played on a high pop WoW world years ago and had queues that long during expac release. It was a reason I went low pop when I started playing FFXIV.

I came from WoW as well, and played on some of the highest pop servers (Moon Guard and Stormrage). It was never as bad as it is on Balmung in FFXIV right now.

[Keridwyn]

I came from WoW as well, and played on some of the highest pop servers (Moon Guard and Stormrage). It was never as bad as it is on Balmung in FFXIV right now.

Kil'Jaeden during Cataclysm had a five hour wait time with a queue of 3000+. I used to have screenshots to remind myself how bad it could be. I'm also lucky that I don't rp so I actually have more options of places to go.

[Voltyblast]

I agree with the OP: Sure I am on balmung too but I've been waiting for over a week in hope the situation could get better, only to be "welcomed" with a 4k players in queue. If this is SE way to tell me that I should move, alright I'll move...out of the game and play something else!

I mean, I like staying in Balmung because it's where I played all of these years and it gives me a nostalgia feel, since it's where i began all along and i had no clue it was the rp server either (I randomly found out on forums since the cities were filled with spammer bots...remember that?). Sure the rp is nice too but it's the fact that I've played with so many people during ARR - and then see them leaving during the HW fiasco - that makes me wanna stay here. I have made an alt on Omega while this issue gets fixed but I'm honestly growing tired of playing an alt "because I can't log in to my server". Plus it's 551 quests that I have to endure with this alt just to reach the endgame of Stormblood (129 with my main) so I'd love to do it just once.

I wish SE would start fixing this somehow, and already if I may add: Wow had this issue too but we got rewarded with free days and that was a nice gesture, while here not only we had Raublock, pipin savage and the (supposedly and timely convenient) DDOS attack, but now we got a constant congested server?

I should've listened to my instinct and not bother at all....even my friend, who wanted to play the game, is basically thinking to return wow. And I'm guessing most people will say it's my fault for being on balmung because Balmung is evil or something....well all I can say is ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[Uielyave]

SE plllleeease actually put in some effort to fix the problem other than expecting long time players and residents of high pop servers to just up and move away from their friends and efforts.
I came to balmung since the start of ARR. All my friends are here. My COMMUNITY is here. I'd never leave, because i don't want to leave what i love behind.
But getting randomly DC'd and then having to wait 4 friggin' hours is unacceptable! Heavensward wasn't even close to being this bad!

[Ayer2015]

SE plllleeease actually put in some effort to fix the problem other than expecting long time players and residents of high pop servers to just up and move away from their friends and efforts.
I came to balmung since the start of ARR. All my friends are here. My COMMUNITY is here. I'd never leave, because i don't want to leave what i love behind.
But getting randomly DC'd and then having to wait 4 friggin' hours is unacceptable! Heavensward wasn't even close to being this bad!

Blamung probably grew in population since HW

[Mendalas]

Only reason I could say it ok to avoid the afk time out if like if have to get eat dinner or something and the the queue to log back in would be longer then what you would be gone. So if you going to be gone for an hour and the login queue is 4 hours I could see that. But that ones I do find selfish are the one that leave their system on 24/7 while they sleeping or at work yea those guys are A##holes.

I'm sorry but I have to disagree. If you have to be gone longer than 30 minutes, then you should have to wait in a queue to get back in like everyone else. But thats okay because of the auto afk timer would actually kick everyone no matter what they were doing the there wouldn't be near as long of a queue. So basically you could come back from eating dinner and get back on in 10 minutes. See how that works? Wow what a concept.