Square Enix has warned Final Fantasy XIV players they may face server congestion when the FFXIV Endwalker expansion is released next week. While the team has managed to optimize servers in time for the launch, they’ve not been able to add the new Worlds due to the ongoing component shortages.
As many would expect, the launch of a new expansion will always increase player numbers for a short period of time. Square Enix is expecting the release of Endwalker on December 7 to be no different and they’re even predicting record login numbers. The problem is they’ve not be able to add the promised new Worlds to the game as the ongoing semiconductor shortage has meant they’ve not been able to acquire enough server machines. They have “implemented every other measure that was possible,” including upgrading the matching servers for higher performance, increasing processing speeds, optimizing processes, and increasing the number of players who can login simultaneously. Despite this, they are still expecting congestion to occur.
When a world reaches the maximum number of players, login queues will occur. Those who own the full version of Final Fantasy XIV will be prioritized over Free Trial players, but there is still likely to be wait times. However, Patch 5.57 introduced a feature players can use to try and avoid congestion if they wish: Visit Another World Server. This allows players to login to a quieter world in the same Data Center as their home world.
Players are also asked not to create new characters during peak congestion times. Those who are inactive for 30 minutes will be logged out, as well, to clear space for players. Finally, high traffic areas, such as the new areas introduced with Endwalker, will also be instanced so there will be multiple versions of the same area available to accommodate the higher number of players. Square Enix has said that world and server statuses will be announced through their Twitter channels and they will try to keep players updated with the latest developments as time goes on.
[Source: Final Fantasy XIV]
