Just had the most fascinating conversation with a GM

[ICountFrom0]

I wish, I did indeed spend quite a lot of time attempting to enter central shoud, so I could collect the names and report a few of them.

I should have collected sceenshots, though I probably wouldn't be allowed to post them, due to other players being in them.

Que is well over 500, and it's taking longer to get in then it did at launch, this is... rather bad congestion. They finally got enough bots on to kick everybody else out.

[ICountFrom0]

I'll have to check out Hyperion on an alt. If this is actually happening as described then yeah, it's a real problem, that should be addressed. And 'use world visit' is not an excuse.

That said, the way the OP is written really makes me think this is being highly exaggerated for attention.

Front page of reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/ffxiv/comme...ia_congestion/

Video of it happening

[RareItems]

Video of it happening

Wow, now that's something i haven't seen before. Yeah, Spriggan seems like a brand new Server so all the RMT bots are trying to level up just like everyone else lol. Try to do the quest on a old server on your Datacenter for the time being since all the RMT bots are already established there lol. So for now use the World Visit system.

SquareEnix has an impeccable record of doing Bi-weekly banwaves on RMT/Botters/Advertisers so you can be sure it will be fixed eventually soon.

[Crushnight]

I'll have to check out Hyperion on an alt. If this is actually happening as described then yeah, it's a real problem, that should be addressed. And 'use world visit' is not an excuse.

That said, the way the OP is written really makes me think this is being highly exaggerated for attention.

So i made an alt on Hyperion and have been entering and exiting Central shroud for 20 minutes, the only hiccup i have had with loading is accepting the very 1st quest which could be down to me being an EU resident on NA server getting a hiccup as much as bots.

So few things i could gleam from this.
1. they got the botters
2. the botters have all stopped for now
3. This has all been overexaggeration

If this becomes a daily thing of zone crashing expect heavy action to be taken, if this has been a 1 off thing expect them to look into it to try and prevent it in the future, if this has been overexaggeration bravo you got me.

[ICountFrom0]

So i made an alt on Hyperion and have been entering and exiting Central shroud for 20 minutes, the only hiccup i have had with loading is accepting the very 1st quest which could be down to me being an EU resident on NA server getting a hiccup as much as bots.

So few things i could gleam from this.
1. they got the botters
2. the botters have all stopped for now
3. This has all been overexaggeration

If this becomes a daily thing of zone crashing expect heavy action to be taken, if this has been a 1 off thing expect them to look into it to try and prevent it in the future, if this has been overexaggeration bravo you got me.

I'd say that they got all the bots they wanted to level 5, and moved on to another region, so somewhere else is now undergoing crush. Where, I don't know, but somewhere in the world, the bots are active. How do I know? Multi thousand person deep ques, and being kicked out of the game every 5 to 10 minutes that I am in it.

The game is being crushed to death under the weight of bots.

[Crushnight]

I'd say that they got all the bots they wanted to level 5, and moved on to another region, so somewhere else is now undergoing crush. Where, I don't know, but somewhere in the world, the bots are active. How do I know? Multi thousand person deep ques, and being kicked out of the game every 5 to 10 minutes that I am in it.

The game is being crushed to death under the weight of bots.

The servers were just hit by DDoS which explains the queue, we unfortunately get hit by these usually when they do a big ban wave which is comically sad when you think about it People make bots, SE bans bots, bot owner gets annoyed causing DDoS, SE tries making new anti DDoS maneuver rinse repeat.

Before you even think about typing "just get better preventive measures" YOU DO IT, because you cannot prevent everything it is impossible DDoS will always be a thing, bots will always be a thing, so long as someone finds a way to cheat a system people will take the path of least resistance. The best you could hope for is increase the Bi-weekly bannings to weekly at this stage

[CazzT]

The servers were just hit by DDoS which explains the queue, we unfortunately get hit by these usually when they do a big ban wave which is comically sad when you think about it People make bots, SE bans bots, bot owner gets annoyed causing DDoS, SE tries making new anti DDoS maneuver rinse repeat.

Before you even think about typing "just get better preventive measures" YOU DO IT, because you cannot prevent everything it is impossible DDoS will always be a thing, bots will always be a thing, so long as someone finds a way to cheat a system people will take the path of least resistance. The best you could hope for is increase the Bi-weekly bannings to weekly at this stage

I work for an ISP. We have layer upon layer of DDOS prevention for our commercial customers, which our residential customers benefit from as well. That's just our line of defense and doesn't take into account the business' end of prevention.
There is no excuse for a company as large as SquareEnix to not have enough prevention measures in place that players will not be impacted. You know how hard it is to DDOS WoW? It's next to impossible now because they've put in so many layers. SquareEnix can easily afford to put more layers in place. The only excuse not to is sheer foolishness.

Proof of what OP is talking about, from Reddit. Please beware of foul language.

https://clips.twitch.tv/FitAlertDelicataPrimeMe

This is 100% a problem. OP may sound dramatic but this is preventing new people from enjoying the game sadly.

This should be high on SE's radar when paying customers can't to basic quests and game functions because of Bots.

This sort of thing leads to investors being scared to invest. Because they're smart enough to know this leads to a game people don't play if the problem is not addressed.

[RareItems]

Time Period: Jul. 18, 2019 to Jul. 24, 2019

・Participation in RMT/prohibited activities
　・Accounts terminated: 6,906
　・Accounts temporarily suspended: 46
・Botting activity (Using any number of third party tools that allow for automation)
　・Accounts terminated: 7
　・Accounts temporarily suspended: 27
・RMT advertising
　・Accounts terminated: 456

[ICountFrom0]

Time Period: Jul. 18, 2019 to Jul. 24, 2019

・Participation in RMT/prohibited activities
　・Accounts terminated: 6,906
　・Accounts temporarily suspended: 46
・Botting activity (Using any number of third party tools that allow for automation)
　・Accounts terminated: 7
　・Accounts temporarily suspended: 27
・RMT advertising
　・Accounts terminated: 456

And it looks like for every one of them, there's 20 trying to replace them right now.

[TheLeeroyJenkinsofTanks]

This explains why the servers could be down in the NA servers!! Someone else was mentioning the crazy amount of bots in thanalan. Thank you for being vocal about your concerns. It is thanks to you that things get fixed and addressed. You saw the issue before it had any effect on the servers. Now they actually have to do something about those bots now.