I understand the server queue issue, that is, more people than anticipated trying to play the game. I do not understand the AFK issue: I was on this morning (U. S. Central Time) and I would say about half of the characters I saw in the city zones were just standing around as placeholders.

This is inexcusable on Square Enix's part. Kick these people off, and I'll bet the "1017" error would largely fix itself.