Regarding Reports on Recent Connection Problems with the NA Data Center

[Dualgunner]

Would it be helpful if I documented and posted all of my hops to the server? Let me know if there's anything I can do to support the investigation and thank you for your swift response on this matter

[Einmimiria]

Would it be helpful if I documented and posted all of my hops to the server? Let me know if there's anything I can do to support the investigation and thank you for your swift response on this matter

Yes, that would be very helpful. You can also try giving that information to your ISP, tell them exactly where you think the issue is. Reporting it to us will help us investigate, but we ultimately can't control how your ISP routes to our server.

Thank you for your patience and cooperation everyone.

[Einmimiria]

Good afternoon and thank you for posting on the Final Fantasy XIV Technical Support Forums.

I’d like to thank everyone for bringing this to our attention and for your continued patience. We will be starting an investigation into this issue. We’d like to collect some additional info regarding players’ inability to log into the game or any affiliated websites. However, this information does require some personal information that we do not want you posting on the official forums, for your personal security. As such, we are sending an email directly from the Square Enix Support Center to which we would be grateful if you replied with the requested information. These will be sent to the email address associated with your Square Enix accounts, so make sure to check this and reply as soon as you can. We are doing it this way to protect your identity and the integrity of your accounts, as such please DO NOT POST ANY OF THE REQUESTED INFORMATION IN THE FORUMS. Unfortunately, we do not have a solution at this time nor can we guarantee we will find one; however, we hope to collect as much information as we can in order to assist our customers. Please contact your ISP and report the issues to them as well; the more reports that are made the more can be done about it.

Please note that not everyone in this thread will receive this email.

I do apologize for the inconvenience this has caused all of you and we hope we find some way to alleviate the issue. We hope we can be of assistance in helping you enjoy the exciting world of Final Fantasy XIV!

[Syrehn]

Good to hear this is being looked into, it's seriously affecting raids and other in-game activities. A few things worth noting:

1)

We’d like to collect some additional info regarding players’ inability to log into the game or any affiliated websites

Regarding this specific issue, players have the ability to login to the game, but the affected parties just rubberband/lag all over the place (possibly even D/C); it's the same with the website as well. Not being able to log in is not the issue.

2)

Please contact your ISP and report the issues to them as well

While I agree it doesn't hurt to let our ISP know about the problem, as noted from the numerous trace routes the bulk of the problems seem to be coming from NTT nodes. As such, there really wouldn't be anything that our ISP's can do regarding that issue. Had the problem been occurring on a COX node for example, then we would obviously be reporting to them to fix it.

To the best of my knowledge, NTT is being contracted by SE/FFXIV for their American services. This means that it would require SE tech support, whichever tier has the capabilities to do so, to open a request with NTT to look into the instability issues. I'm unsure whether or not these nodes can support the load they're carrying at peak hours which appears to be contributing to the problem.

I sincerely hope this issue can be resolved, because as noted, it's made in-game activities unplayable.

[Ariellendera]

Good to hear this is being looked into, it's seriously affecting raids and other in-game activities. A few things worth noting:

1)

Regarding this specific issue, players have the ability to login to the game, but the affected parties just rubberband/lag all over the place (possibly even D/C); it's the same with the website as well. Not being able to log in is not the issue.

2)

While I agree it doesn't hurt to let our ISP know about the problem, as noted from the numerous trace routes the bulk of the problems seem to be coming from NTT nodes. As such, there really wouldn't be anything that our ISP's can do regarding that issue. Had the problem been occurring on a COX node for example, then we would obviously be reporting to them to fix it.

To the best of my knowledge, NTT is being contracted by SE/FFXIV for their American services. This means that it would require SE tech support, whichever tier has the capabilities to do so, to open a request with NTT to look into the instability issues. I'm unsure whether or not these nodes can support the load they're carrying at peak hours which appears to be contributing to the problem.

I sincerely hope this issue can be resolved, because as noted, it's made in-game activities unplayable.

Good Morning,

We do apologize for the inconvenience you have experienced. We are trying to find the best way to assist everyone with their connection issues, but because of the dynamic nature of the network and the multiple parties involved, we have little control over the matter. Please note that there are many parties/companies between you and the servers, this means that if there is a hiccup along the way (sometimes caused by local conditions), we may have trouble assisting. The nodes through Los Angeles (operated by NTT) has no connection or affiliation with Square Enix. Because of this, we recommend that you report your connection issues and packet loss to your ISP and specify exactly where the problem is occurring. We are escalating this on our side as well so it can be investigated and reported. Unfortunately, we cannot get a fix at this time, but we hope we can assist in any way we can.

We hope we can be of assistance in helping you enjoy the exciting world of Final Fantasy XIV!

[Syrehn]

The nodes through Los Angeles (operated by NTT) has no connection or affiliation with Square Enix.

Are you 100% sure there is no affiliation (rhetorical question)?

From my understanding this and this would seem to suggest otherwise.

Either way, I'm hoping it all gets ironed out in the long run so that my raid team can continue to play together. Thanks for working through all this with us, and escalating the issue, we appreciate all the help we can get.

[Einmimiria]

Are you 100% sure there is no affiliation (rhetorical question)?

From my understanding this and this would seem to suggest otherwise.

Either way, I'm hoping it all gets ironed out in the long run so that my raid team can continue to play together. Thanks for working through all this with us, and escalating the issue, we appreciate all the help we can get.

We apologize for any confusion, please allow us to clarify. The nodes themselves are operated by NTT. As such, we do not have direct control over them nor can we control how you are routed through them. This doesn't necessarily mean you aren't using the NTT network to connect to the game. What was meant is that NTT is not a part of Square Enix's service and our actual influence over the nodes is limited at best.

[drebbe]

Good Morning,
The nodes through Los Angeles (operated by NTT) has no connection or affiliation with Square Enix.

This is a straight up lie.

Your IP whois reports "NTT America, Inc. (NTTAM-1)"

https://www.whois.com/whois/204.2.229.10

[cieli]

My boyfriend and I have been having the same issue. I've contacted support and so far none of their suggestions has worked. We are in Arizona.

We did expert roulette today and our games froze every 2 seconds, lasting 10 seconds to a minute of stagnant screen. Unplayable.

If Square Enix doesn't fix this soon, they will be losing a lot of their player base. I won't continue to pay for a game that I can't even play.

[SGAllaria]

Me and a buddy both have been experiencing this for a while. We assumed it was still DDOS attacks. We've been having lag that lasts 1 to 2 second frequently, 10 second DCs occasionally, and at least 1 disconnect a night. We can't do any serious content with this amount of lag and DCs.

We are also in the Phoenix Metro area and use the ISP COX. I will try to call them tomorrow. I hope SE try's to leverage their voice in this matter if they can.