Square Enix warns of congestion ahead of Final Fantasy 14 Endwalker release
The End(walker) is nigh.
Square Enix has warned of heavy congestion in Final Fantasy 14 Online ahead of the Early Access period and release of new expansion Endwalker.
The MMORPG already suffered from congestion earlier in the year due to a mass increase in its playerbase, many of whom will be jumping back in for Endwalker.
A new post in the Lodestone states that servers have been optimised in advance. However, due to the global shortage of semiconductors, Square Enix has been unable to add new Worlds, meaning long wait times as current Worlds reach maximum capacity.
"We would like to apologise for making this sort of announcement at a time when many of you are looking forward to the expansion, as well as for inconveniences that may be caused by congestion," states the post.
"Although we were unable to add new Worlds, we have implemented every other measure that was possible... We will further enhance our monitoring of the situation to allow for as many players as possible to log in. We ask for your understanding and cooperation regarding this matter."
Login wait times are expected to be long and will prioritise paying players over those on the free trial. Since Patch 5.57 there's also a feature that allows players to log into a less-crowded World within the same Data Centre.
In addition, new characters cannot be created on a World experiencing congestion, so players are advised to do this outside of peak hours.
The post also highlights a previously added feature where inactive players are automatically logged out after 30 minutes, in order to prioritise active players.
Visit the Lodestone for the full explanatory post.
Square Enix has also released the preliminary patch notes for Patch 6.0. This includes content added in preparation for Endwalker, including new playable content (such as areas and quests) and a host of new items.
Game director Naoki Yoshida apologised last month for the expansion's two-week delay, saying his own "selfishness" was to blame.