IN regards to the server congestions

[Ogmion]

I don't know if they'll read any of what's posted here, but thank you Yoshi-P and team for creating such a wonderful game! I am extremely happy to see it finally getting such wide recognition in the west.

[technole]

YoshiP is always fruitful with his technical explanations, and always appreciate it. it jives with what many of us were already thinking. They simply outgrew their growth plan in multiple regions, The queues that operate like an airport runway, to the challenges of upgrading the server infrastructure during these times.

[Duraeus_Entenu]

I enjoy this game. I enjoy this franchise. I love that the creators put in their time and energy, and even when they're sick (looking at you, Soken), they sacrifice what they have left to give it all to us.
Words aren't enough to fully express it, but I'll try.
Thank you. I am glad. :) I mean that from the bottom of my very soul. I don't know if Yoshi-P, Soken, or any of the staff at Square-Enix will ever see this, but I just want it to be on record.
This series came out the year I was born. It has been an absolutely massive part of my very existence since the earliest years of my youth, starting with Final Fantasy Tactics, and eventually moving on to both the older games and the newer ones.
I have no doubt that you guys (Square-Enix staff and their affiliates) are tired, sore, worn out, maybe a little hungry, but you keep on going. You deserve all the accolades, all the praise you get, and you certainly deserve a good vacation. XD
I wish I could travel there and just give you all a big hug, each of you, and thank you personally for gifting me and entire generations the joy that is the Final Fantasy universe (that goes for you, too, Sakaguchi-san and Uematsu-san!). Unfortunatley, I realize that's a little tough for anyone, nevermind me. So I'll just have to settle for this random (not-so-random) blog post.
You are ALL part of a great family now, and any of us would fight for you. Please keep doing what you love to do so long as you love to do it, just don't wear yourselves down until there's nothing left. :) We won't put any blame on you.
Again, thank you. I am glad.
---Duraeus Entenu, faithful fan and goofy Irish mutt---

[Liam_Harper]

Sorry gotta rebuke this, Blizzard made a post regards to their server congestion that was very technically stated when shadowlands released, SE isn't the only ones to address this. Blizz rarely needs to ramp up their servers as its already really high end (cutting edge in industry actually) which is why you don't see it much.

True, but it's more the developer attitude (which applies to the game in general) and indepth explanation given. There's also a difference between server congestion at an Expansion release where you might expect it and having a completely unexpected surge in players during what's normally a quiet time for MMO's and then apologizing to your players for not being prepared enough for it.

Not going to turn it into a bash at Blizzard though, all I'm saying is respect to SE.

[Theodric]

True, but it's more the developer attitude (which applies to the game in general) and indepth explanation given. There's also a difference between server congestion at an Expansion release where you might expect it and having a completely unexpected surge in players during what's normally a quiet time for MMO's and then apologizing to your players for not being prepared enough for it.

Not going to turn it into a bash at Blizzard though, all I'm saying is respect to SE.

I'd take it with a pinch of salt, personally.

I don't doubt that the development team are passionate about the game but we also need to remain grounded and realise that these companies spend a lot of money on finding the best way to put out a message in a way that will be beneficial to the game's reputation and PR. Any official statement is likely combed through by lawyers and PR agents.

It's the nature of the industry, or rather pretty much any major business these days.

[Pirana1]

I had read recently that part of the reason for them not getting more servers up and running was as simple as parts not being available due to the virus. Anyone that's tried to purchase video cards in the last year have a pretty good idea of what's going on, maybe not to that extent, but a rough idea.

Communication is key in any line of work, and Yoshi hit that one out of the ballpark. It's communication like that, that will not only retain players, but garner more.

Kudos to the team for pushing forward.

[Xaruko_Nexume]

Im used to gaming companies launching games and expansions inaccessible for days with no apology or communication. The 1-3 minute waits ive been having on Famfrit are nothing. Thanks SE.

[Feronar]

There is one more thing I would suggest: Add "AFK auto-logout circumvention" to the list of prohibited activities.

■AFK auto-logout circumvention
When AFK auto-logout is active, meaning players will be logged out automatically after a given period of inactivity, "AFK auto-logout circumvention" is defined as the use of any device, script, or other means to defeat the auto-logout system and stay logged in despite the player being absent from the computer or console.

And be sure to enforce it.

[Raiya]

Let's be honest even the most optimistic player a few weeks ago could not have predicted a surge of this kind during what's normally the dead pre-expansion period. World of Warcraft's 9.1 patch falling flat on it's face is definitely a factor in all of this and combined with the likes of Asmongold and Bellular as well as other popular streamers actively giving the game a go and ENJOYING it has finally led to an unprecedented surge in demand and interest by the gaming community. We've seen this with the likes of numbers on steam reaching all time highs for example and the huge amount of sprouts across all server's leading to ARR areas being as busy as ever. The fact that they're having to reintroduce the AFK timer something that has only ever been employed during new expansion launches at what is normally the QUIESTEST time during the game's development cycle speaks volumes at just how much demand for the game has surged in the past few weeks.

Alot of the information regarding their difficulties is understandable too given both the current real world conditions as well as unprecedented demand. We already knew the dev team was hamstrung by quarantine restrictions making setting up the oceanic data servers alot more difficult so it's no surprise this would impact the north american and european servers too if they have to inspect these as well (international travel is only really begun reopening this month in both continents) and full vaccination is required to enter these regions atm. As for the difficulty in sourcing new server hardware it's completely understandable you only have to ask anyone in the PC gaming community in the last few months how much of a nightmare it's been to source the newest CPU and EXPECIALLY GPU's without being ripped off by scalpers or paying far above MRSP. Even earlier this year is was a nightmare to source certain motherboards and even PSUs. At the very least they are bringing foward plans for new server's and capacity increases as soon as they can secure the hardware needed to do so.

Overall for what it's worth while new players might find things a bit difficult the game IS worth buying if only the base pack thats like €10 so you can queue up. This is also a blessing in disguise as Endwalker during the last LL was stated to have nearly triple the preorders compared to shadowbringers. Had this happened during Endwalker itself we'd be drowning in a sea of dissapointment memes right now! At least with all this happening now it's alerted the dev team to how much demand the game could potentially have and that we are definately in need of a new server or 2 on the NA and EU datacenters.

[Cerbolt]

It's nice that they've actually acknowledged the problem and are attempting to fix it, so kudos to them.