Here's a possible solution: KICK WHOEVER AFKs FOR MORE THAN 15 MINUTES

[Izcroft]

There are tons of players who just stay there for hours doing nothing, taking up space hence blocking others from trying to log in.

And now SE limits the number of players online, everybody who's already in will be more encouraged to NOT log off even when they go to sleep because A: You don't kick them, B: If they log off they might not be able to log back in again.

So please, like ALL THE REST MMOs, kick people when they're not active for a long time!
This probably won't suffice but it will make more people able to get in at least.

[Eripha]

This all the way. There really is no gain from afking for long periods of time in FFXIV that I'm aware of and SE should really consider this.

[mase123987]

I figured this was already the case...kind of odd it wouldn't be, esp. at the beginning.

[Ahro]

Exactly. This is a standard in MMOs, and I was surprised it wasn't implemented in the Open Beta to begin with. I've seen people who say they're on but have to leave for work. So they leave themselves logged in so they can come home and continue playing 8hrs later. This feature needs to be made immediately. It will definitely alleviate many headaches.

[Gedrah]

I pay the same monthly rate for the game as you do. I have a right to be connected whenever I want, even if I'm idle. When I'm connected it's my business what I do, even if i'm idle. I may appear to YOU to be idling but I may be discussing strategy with my linkshell. Kicking people off for being "Idle"? Nonsense! Square simply over-sold this game by a large margin and now they're scrambling to add more hardware to support all the demand. You people are asking for ignorant things in your panic because you just "wanna play right now" and blame people who appear to be idle for your inability to do so. But remember that the login caps are artificial and intentionally added by SE to cover for their lack of sufficient infrastructure to support demand for the game while they try to add more hardware.

[Izcroft]

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Wow I totally agree with you said. So inspiring and enlightening, and totally not offensive at all, unlike my post, which is absolutely unthoughtful, insane and ridiculously naive. You're absolutely right, that's how mmos should run, afk timer system is ignorant, all the mmos in the worlds have done it wrong.

[Riguel]

This feature needs to be made immediately. It will definitely alleviate many headaches.

With the rate of how things are going, I could only see it causing a lot more headaches. So no, please don't add this as a feature.

[KittyMel05]

This being true as I support the idea of a afk system implemented for those idling for a long periods of time since alot of us can't log in due to our RL and when we have free time and want to relax with XIV, It's this kind of stress that pushes people away after putting money down for a Early Access code and expect at least some gameplay out of it. Alot of us never even got to touch inworld yet! The remaining have and can be patient like myself. I was in Phase 3 Beta and enjoyed this game immensely. Phase 4 I missed out on due to RL and now I got Early Release, Only got a hour gameplay last night and today was hoping to get in at least a couple hours but never even got that. I posted a letter in the forum regarding of this and other ideas since the lot of us do have a RL and things to do first before a game like work, sleep, family, etc. but should be a team effort to give those people a chance whom have not got to play at all or for those that want to witness a Final Fantasy Online experience for the first time upon Early Release or like myself, A part of beta and want to experience this FF experience just by simply logging off and putting game duties aside and concentrate on reality. Pretty frustrating on how today went down for us that could not login but SE can only do so much and while the lot of us wait, We can only hope all will be stabilized very soon so we can join our comrades in game!

[Lunasea]

... I may be discussing strategy with my linkshell.

That isn't what idle means. What it means is not interacting with the connection device (PS3/PC) in any capacity for an extended period of time. If you're typing, clicking through menus, in other words, actually there; as opposed to say, at the movies with your friends... in bed sleeping... at the airport waiting for a flight out of the country. All scenarios right now are pretty much admissible in the games current state.

A few of the current top tier MMOs didn't have auto disconnect after idle at launch. However very very quickly every one of them did adopt it within a couple months of release. Those that didn't adopt it had reasons baked into the functionality of the game (IE. Bazaar in FFXI). This game doesn't have any reason to be perma AFK. So I think it's safe to assume this function will probably be baked into the game within the first couple patches, if not hotfixed in the background.

[Mana_Burst]

I pay the same monthly rate for the game as you do. I have a right to be connected whenever I want, even if I'm idle. When I'm connected it's my business what I do, even if i'm idle. I may appear to YOU to be idling but I may be discussing strategy with my linkshell. Kicking people off for being "Idle"? Nonsense! Square simply over-sold this game by a large margin and now they're scrambling to add more hardware to support all the demand. You people are asking for ignorant things in your panic because you just "wanna play right now" and blame people who appear to be idle for your inability to do so. But remember that the login caps are artificial and intentionally added by SE to cover for their lack of sufficient infrastructure to support demand for the game while they try to add more hardware.

Every other MMO has a form of AFK auto-disconnection, AFK being determined when you do not make any form of interaction with the game over a long period of time, generally included in this is typing, inventory management, and other such activities that don't actively move your character. 15 minutes is to short a limit I will agree to that, but if you leave for half an hour+ then yes, you should be disconnected, giving other people a chance to play, let alone being one of those people that leave it connected for hours on end. It's not a matter of being able to 'play right now' as it is a chance of being fair to everyone.