Final Fantasy XIV’s servers are full, thank you very much. They would not like another serving of the players even now hammering away at their log-in pages – they simply won’t fit. Consequently, Square Enix have halted sales of the redeveloped MMO until the game can put its shirt on without all the buttons comically pinging off.
Square Enix said early response to the game has been “overwhelmingly positive” – but the result has been “extremely long wait times” for some, and a long, hard look at the log-in box for others.
“As a temporary measure, we will halt sales of Final Fantasy 14: A Realm Reborn’s digital download products so we can accommodate all of those wishing to play,” they decreed via Facebook.
“We are working to expand our server capacity in the coming days. We sincerely apologise for the inconvenience this causes.”
In a previous statement yesterday, Squeenix reported “an extremely high number of players” in-game.
“Should the number of players continue to increase at the current pace, there is the possibility that our expectations and server capacity will be greatly surpassed,” they wrote.
“In order to be able to welcome a drastically greater number of players, we are starting as early as this week with preparations to increase our facilities, to be ready by early next week. Until that time, we will be continuing to implement [log-in and character creation] restrictions as required, and we ask for your understanding and patience.
“We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience, and once again thank you for your understanding and cooperation in this matter.”
It’s a bum deal for those stuck on the outside looking in. But it’s worth remembering that ArenaNet went through exactly the same series of events at Guild Wars 2’s launch – temporarily turning off sales to “preserve the game experience” for existing players. And that turned out pretty well for them, eh?
Thanks, Eurogamer.