Australians/OCE players have the hardest time playing this game, help us SE!

[Austere]

There are a lot of technical issues that affect Oceanic players trying to play this game. They've existed for as long as I've been playing and I haven't seen any progress towards fixing them:

1. Confusing Server Region/Purchasing Restrictions
Australians utilize a subsection of the EU square enix website for purchasing the game, game time cards etc. Of course, this isn't immediately obvious when googling the game for the first time so it is quite possible and likely to accidentally buy an NA copy of the game as an Aussie which then means you have to get a refund in order to buy a copy of the EU(AU Subsection) copy of the game. This differentiation is so unnecessary and has affected a few people I know who I've tried to get into the game. This is also combined with the strict Steam/no-Steam delineation, but that is something which also affects everyone else.

2. Inability to download the game easily
Every single one of the people I've tried to get into this game has had issues even downloading it, myself included. Without fail, all of us have gotten [30413][25008][20495] issues trying to download from Australia, meaning it wont let us download it normally without having to try a bunch of different solutions to even get it to work at all. VPN, changing IP server, ipconfig solutions, router configuring, mobile hotspot etc. This is a huge pain, and as I said this has happened to EVERYONE I know who plays or tried to play the game.

3. Server lag
Playing with higher ping is nowhere near as smooth as some other MMOs I've played with Australian servers. I love this game but you can definitely notice the difference in ping, which is a shame. The Shadowbringers changes have meant that more classes are more fast-paced than before, and the game's promise of "you can play this comfortably even with 250 ping" is becoming less true. Only having closer servers can fix this.

All of these factors can leave a bad taste in people's mouths when they've probably heard so many good things about the game and are immediately hit with multiple caveats when even trying to access the game in the first place. Someone shouldn't have to say "Oh you want to play? Ok well make sure you go to this website and create an account and then go here BUT MAKE SURE ITS THE AU VERSION ok then go back to this website (make sure its correct place) if you buy from here you can't buy from this other place oh you're probably going to have issues downloading the game here try solution A, B, C etc"

I really hope SE fixes these solutions, because I imagine they are stopping people from playing the game.

[Duskane]

also like to add buying stuff on Mogstation/online store pricing is also Euro pricing which gets annoying especially when we get a over seas fee.

needing a vpn to update/install the game also gets annoying.

[Austere]

also like to add buying stuff on Mogstation/online store pricing is also Euro pricing which gets annoying especially when we get a over seas fee.

needing a vpn to update/install the game also gets annoying.

totally true, the SE AU website has AU pricing but the mog station doesnt ;_;

[Kamatsu]

2. Never had that problem myself. I've installed the game multiple times (due to HD failure, nothing to do with the game) and never had any issue with the game downloading it's files or updating itself. Never had to use a VPN, mobile hotspot, other ISP, etc to install/update the game.

I am however using the Steam version, so downloading the main files comes from Steam itself - but any patch updates and such come directly via the launcher, and I've never had an issue or error with them.

3. This is part-and-parcel of playing online games in Australia. Unless they want to fork out lots of money for an OCE/Australian server for the limited # of customers they have... there's not much they can do, and the thing is by now... a lot of Aussie/OCE players would not relocate due to having friends/FC-mates/etc on the NA/European server that they'd have to leave if they moved. There are ways for Aussie/OCE players to compensate somewhat for this (such as certain VPN's and similar), but otherwise... *shrugs*

I'll also be upfront that I don't do Savages or PvP. So can't really comment on those - but for doing normal dungeons, trials, alliance raids, 8-man raids with multiple different classes... I've not had too terrible a time.

1. My biggest gripe with the game is being charged Euro for everything. Subscription, MOG station, etc all cost euro. I really wish they would at least charge us in our own currency... or let us choose between Euro & NA$. I hate having to always do currency conversions when I'm considering buying stuff from the MOG Station - and yes I know being able to choose between Euro and NA$ doesn't remove this, but it would let me at least pick the currency that will cost me the least due to exchange rates.

[Austere]

2. Never had that problem myself. I've installed the game multiple times (due to HD failure, nothing to do with the game) and never had any issue with the game downloading it's files or updating itself. Never had to use a VPN, mobile hotspot, other ISP, etc to install/update the game.

I am however using the Steam version, so downloading the main files comes from Steam itself - but any patch updates and such come directly via the launcher, and I've never had an issue or error with them.

3. This is part-and-parcel of playing online games in Australia. Unless they want to fork out lots of money for an OCE/Australian server for the limited # of customers they have... there's not much they can do, and the thing is by now... a lot of Aussie/OCE players would not relocate due to having friends/FC-mates/etc on the NA/European server that they'd have to leave if they moved. There are ways for Aussie/OCE players to compensate somewhat for this (such as certain VPN's and similar), but otherwise... *shrugs*

I'll also be upfront that I don't do Savages or PvP. So can't really comment on those - but for doing normal dungeons, trials, alliance raids, 8-man raids with multiple different classes... I've not had too terrible a time.

1. My biggest gripe with the game is being charged Euro for everything. Subscription, MOG station, etc all cost euro. I really wish they would at least charge us in our own currency... or let us choose between Euro & NA$. I hate having to always do currency conversions when I'm considering buying stuff from the MOG Station - and yes I know being able to choose between Euro and NA$ doesn't remove this, but it would let me at least pick the currency that will cost me the least due to exchange rates.

I'm glad you haven't had any issues with downloading the game but me and everyone else I know has.

And as to your server statement, other online games have had similar circumstances, have put in servers anyway and haven't had any issues. FF14 is a huge game in the MMO market and the dev team have expressed wanting to put in servers in the past.

Thirdly, as someone who plays both Savage and PvP, timing is key and while there is some lag compensation in the game, some classes feel clunky to play compared to playing on a lower ping (I speak from experience)

Straight up AU pricing would be acceptable, considering the SE website already has it.

[BemaniAK]

words

FYI the patching issue is not consistent, myself and 3 friends have never had issues patching, however Australians do run into this issue far more than other regions, I know multiple people who have been completely unable to patch, one has also then still been unable to patch even after getting a brand new PC and moving to the other side of the country with a completely new network setup, VPN is the only thing that allows them to patch, and it doesn't seem to matter whether you're using Steam or not.

The restrictions imposed by high ping are really not part and parcel at all, when I played WoW on US servers, there was basically no difference in what I could physically do, the UI would do some funky things sometimes but it never prevented me from pushing a button that a low-ping player could push at the same time.
In FFXIV there are mandatory changes you have to make to some rotations depending on class when you're on high ping, and it locks you out of the freedom to double weave, a lot of classes have a guaranteed DPS drop on high ping, tanks can't emergency double defensive, etc.
In easy content it doesn't matter at all, it's easy, the performance drop only matters when that performance drop costs you a static slot, or requires you to spend an extra week getting gear to down the DPS check dummies, or gets you killed in pvp by someone on 1% health that a double-weave could have killed.
However, even keeping in mind that this mostly rears its ugly head in high-end content, it has flow-on effects, how could they consider decreasing the GCD if it would probably increase the gap between high and low ping DPS? How could they start changing rotations to make double-weaving more standard if a chunk of their playerbase isn't allowed to double weave? What about NIN? I heard some people were a bit annoyed about the Mudra changes, but would those changes have been necessary if there wasn't a big group of NINs who were neutered by high ping?

The high-ping issues are most likely a legacy problem, I don't think I need to explain just how little Square would have been thinking about responsiveness at 200+ ping when they were first making XIV 1.0, but the issues in this game are very specific to this game, they aren't just how ping works, they're caused specifically by a lack of adaptability to high ping.

[Ash_]

While I haven't had any network problems playing on a JP server, paying for game time is proving to be much harder now. In recent months practically every UK/EU site has stopped selling game time cards/codes. You can only buy from the SE store or risk one of those dodgy key selling sites. And the Aus SE store won't let you use Paypal, despite advertising it as an option.

Which is the only thing I would like them to fix at this point for us, make it easier to sub to the game and buy from the mogstation.

[Shibi]

I've been caught out by that silly gametime card thing myself. It took a bit of back and forth but the sorted it out. Shouldn't be needed, to be honest. But then, I guess, we are in Eurovision now

The inability to update is a pain. VPN is the fix, but gosh, I've wasted so many hours over the years on it. This error and the workaround is something that needs to be heavily documented, so that any new oceanic player, on seeing these always-there errors knows to fire up a vpn and get past the first 500MB or so.

Lag, is lag, and I doubt that we will get a server. Although the JA server is a little better.

On the NA servers I end up off the platform in a few trials a lot, by the time the telegraph ends on the server end, I am just seeing the start of it on my screen, so while it looks like I escape it in time, woosh and dead.

PVP at 400ms... forget it, it's something I have rarely been able to do in 10 years of playing MMOs.

[Xiomara]

Another trick to fix the error is to tether your phone to your PC via USB and download the patch that way. Worked for me the one time I had the issue.

[Kamatsu]

I'm glad you haven't had any issues with downloading the game but me and everyone else I know has.

I'm sorry you, and others, have been having these issue's. I wish it was known what was causing it so it could be resolved for those who are having the issue.

Straight up AU pricing would be acceptable, SE website already has it.

It's a bit sad that SE's main site and store uses our currency, but we're still forced to pay in Euro's for the game.

Aussies run into this issue far more than other regions, I know people who been unable to patch, one has also then still been unable to patch even after getting a brand new PC and moving with a completely new network setup, VPN is the only thing that allows them to patch, doesn't seem to matter whether you're using Steam or not.

That is baffling. I wish I knew more about programming/etc to have an idea of what could be causing this issue.

Did the ppl change ISP's after moving? (Asking cuz if everyone having same issue is with same isp... then that isp could have dodgy routing to XIV update server, which is causing the problems)

In FFXIV there are mandatory changes you have to make to some rotations depending on class when you're on high ping, and it locks you out of the freedom to double weave, a lot of classes have a guaranteed DPS drop on high ping, tanks can't emergency double defensive, etc.

Actually been thinking about this and you're right on this - I know I've seen ppl talking about being able to get off X skills/combo's in a dps window... something I've never been able to do due to the latency issue. So even though the game does have some consideration for higher latency, it still does effect play.

Not sure what SE could do other than make a whole new server though, and would it be a viable option? I dunno... it would depend a lot on how many Aussie/OCE players they have and cost's for hosting.

Also, have you tried the Japanese server's? I dunno what the latency to them is, they might be better than to Eu or NA. However you then have language barrier to deal with.

The high-ping issues are most likely a legacy problem, I don't think I need to explain just how little Square would have been thinking about responsiveness at 200+ ping when they were first making XIV 1.0, but the issues in this game are very specific to this game, they aren't just how ping works, they're caused specifically by a lack of adaptability to high ping.

Yep, but at this point... can they actually fix those issues in the code-base of the game? I know lots of ppl have talked about the spaghetti code of XIV over the years (and no, I have no idea how accurate or not that talk is). Could they re-work / fix XIV's coding to compensate better for high-ping players?

Or would that require a whole new engine / remake / etc Thus likely only going to happen if/when a new FF MMO is put out.