What happens when Primal & Crystal get full too?

[Jojoya]

Aether comes off Congested status, of course. They can't just shut down the entire region to new players.

Worlds will start seeing some real log-in queues lasting more than the usual 2-3 minutes we usually see. They may also resort to occasional server restarts to force the players using the AFK exploits offline. Those who have been waiting in queue to log in will get bumped to the head of the line while those who had been playing will have to wait their turn to get back in.

if Primal and Crystal also get full, there may be talk of reallocating the servers for Oceania at least temporally to be used as extra temp servers/bringing them online early till new servers can be delivered to the normal DC location. Once new servers are delivered and configured correctly, the whole game would undergo a 24-36 hour maint to ensure all characters were transferred fully intact from the AU servers to the new hardware located with the rest of the NA servers and the Oceania DC goes online. Is it going to cause heavy lag for some people? Absoutely but when the alternative is unstable servers, what can SE do? it's the lesser of 2 evils

I doubt very much that's going to happen with the amount of time and effort already put in on establishing the Oceania data center.

If anything, they would probably try to bring it online sooner using additional remote oversight of third party technicians considering the number of Oceania players that would transfer their characters, not to mention NA and EU players who might transfer some of their characters for the perks you get for transferring to a new world.

[VelKallor]

if Primal and Crystal also get full, there may be talk of reallocating the servers for Oceania at least temporally to be used as extra temp servers/bringing them online early till new servers can be delivered to the normal DC location.

Unlikely. What makes you think that Elemental and the other JP servers wont be as full?

OCE servers launch in 6.1..for Oceanic players.

I sincerely doubt they add new Data Centers any time soon

Unless SE says otherwise, we get a new OCE datacentre in 6.1. Or earlier.

[Rinhi]

east us servers pls

[lezard21]

When I checked last night most of the worlds in JP data centers were Preferred. If Squarenix can't get new servers because Covid, then they could merge some JP worlds and ship in the freed up servers.

[Shironeko_Narunyan]

Fake news. We have queues all the same, whereas all Crystal servers are "preferred".

[technole]

Primal normally has 2-3 servers closed at all times now, it'll probably fill up by EW time but hopefully by then they will have added some new NA servers.

Fake news. We have queues all the same, whereas all Crystal servers are "preferred".

If you actually read what YoshiP explained about the queues, every server has a maximum amount of toons it's able to hold. Just that people are always logging on and off and accordingly that moves the queues. Just they permanently close off Aether servers where the queues start to become unsustainable as 500+ even during off-peak hours is not a good customer experience.

[Jin-]

Growing already slowed down and is slowly returning to normal levels. EW release is another matter but i doubt there will be any kind of issues of those other DCs being closed now

[ForteNightshade]

I suspect they'll eventually start rolling log outs to force off AFK players before quite possibly limiting free trial access. There is very little chance they close all of NA because of the potential financial loss. I have a feeling cross Data Center will be delayed well into Endwalker given how if the servers are struggling this much, I can't imagine what allowing people to visit Aether will do.

The really question becomes if it gets bad enough they consider delaying Endwalker as a whole, which I do think is a realistic possibility. The last thing they would want is for a Stormblood or ARR scenario because the servers simply can't handle the load.

They are looking for temporary ways to increase capacity like software improvements, configuration changes or upgrades but obviously that is just to handle the pressure until new data centers can be made.

I sincerely doubt they add new Data Centers any time soon. Not only is the shortage making that a near impossibility right now, it would likely necessitate server relocation again. Which is not something you want to spring on your playerbase without ample notice.

[Wavaryen]

What will happen? Well...

We summon Exodia the Forbidden One primal, and nuke all the servers at once.

[Shougun]

Can't wait till playing FFXIV is like being part of an exclusive club.

Oh you have a yacht?

Haha, well I've got a subscription to NA FFXIV.

More seriously, best of luck SE servers