Lessons learned from today: the Launcher and Error 2k2

[Quor]

Two weak points made themselves apparent today. The first being the issues that many people suffered with the Launcher such as the 503 and 504 errors that prevented the Launcher from performing even it's most basic functions. This was exacerbated by the fact that people who were using the XIVLauncher add-on were able to get into the game with much greater success than those players who were using the official Launcher.

Luckily these issues were more or less resolved within about an hour or so, but they still crop up on occasion even hours after the servers have opened.

The second weak point is the 2k2 error, specifically how it completely crashes a PC player out of FF14 back to desktop. This carries the risk of running into the aforementioned Launcher issues and there have been complaints of people getting locked out of their accounts due to repeated password entry, which is likely tied to another Launcher issue (as these people are able to log into the Mog Station with their credentials just fine). Many of us have had the experience of finally making it into a queue only for a 2002 error to dump us out of FF14, at which point attempts at re-entering our position in the queue are consistently frustrated by further 2002 errors. Sometimes we get lucky and we can get back on and be in position so that we don't lose our queue progress, but oftentimes we don't, and at least a portion of that can be attributed to having to go through the entire Launcher login process after each 2002 crash forces us out of the game.

I understand that perhaps the 2k2 error forced close of FF14 is an anti-DDoS protection factor, but given that the same doesn't happen on the PS4/5 versions of the game, I have to call into question the reasoning behind that. A small timer of 10-15 seconds where someone is locked out of attempting to connect to the server would accomplish a similar end while simultaneously avoiding the tedium and frustration of entering your login credentials for the umpteenth time.

From my perspective as a player, it would seem that the Launcher and the 2002 error are the two weakest links in the login process. The Launcher is quite clearly showing it's age; when an add-on provides more consistent functionality than the most basic part of the login process we have a major problem. As for the 2002 error, while I can appreciate the need for anti-DDoS measures to prevent servers from being overwhelmed, there has to be a better way than simply booting people back to their desktop, forcing them to deal with a Launcher that's not entirely reliable. Forcing someone back to the main menu with a short cooldown on accessing the server connection via the login function would be a far better approach compared to the current one.

[Hyperia]

They know what are the problems and what they need to fix it. It they can’t get the hardware to do it. They even offered way over market prices to get it but no luck.

They will add a new DC when they can get the hardware, but nobody knows when that will be. SE can’t use generic servers either as the game is optimized to run on specific hardware.

In my professional job, if somebody asks me do a laptop, I have to tell them to wait at least six months, yes six. That is how bad things are. Servers are much much worse.

[Quor]

They know what are the problems and what they need to fix it. It they can’t get the hardware to do it. They even offered way over market prices to get it but no luck.

They will add a new DC when they can get the hardware, but nobody knows when that will be. SE can’t use generic servers either as the game is optimized to run on specific hardware.

In my professional job, if somebody asks me do a laptop, I have to tell them to wait at least six months, yes six. That is how bad things are. Servers are much much worse.

This has nothing to do with getting more servers. They've been open and up-front about the limitations placed upon them by the worldwide shortages, and any reasonable player of this game will understand this.

This is about a mechanic that has existed in the game's login process since ARR was launched. Error 2002 kicking people out of the game and forcing them through the launcher login process again - which takes time and can cost you your queue position - is the problem. Even just keeping people in the actual game instead of force closing it down to desktop would be an improvement. Add a 30s timer after the fact so that people don't flood the login server with requests immediately after dropping if need be. But as it stands now this is not acceptable.