Final Fantasy 14 finally launched the long-awaited Data Center Travel system it has been working on for over a year. However, it was so massively popular that Final Fantasy 14 had to suspend the system altogether so it could fix it.
Data Centers in Final Fantasy 14 are collections of servers, called Worlds, which are collated together based on region. Until its most recent Patch 6.18, players could visit other Worlds in their Data Center only. With the new system, Final Fantasy 14 players can visit other Data Centers in their continental region.
However, Final Fantasy 14 underestimated just how excited fans were for this feature. Warriors of Light flooded the game, seeking to visit other Data Centers to see Final Fantasy 14 friends on distant servers, or to explore the communities beyond their own. According to Final Fantasy 14, it received over 15,000 visit requests per minute, completely overloading the servers. This caused Final Fantasy 14 to close down the entire system to monitor and resolve the issue.
Unfortunately, this means many Final Fantasy 14 players who were visiting other Data Centers are now stranded away from their home servers. While players can still participate in most features of the game while on other Data Centers, they will be unable to access certain key social elements of Final Fantasy 14 like Free Companies, retainers, or Linkshells. While these restrictions are manageable for a short while, these players will suffer if they are stranded for long.
This unfortunate turn of events has caused some inconvenience with some Final Fantasy 14 players. Luckily, Square Enix is well aware of the issues with the system’s closure, and is working to resolve them quickly. With luck, the Data Center Travel system will be reopened over the course of the next few days. Additionally, once the hype over the Data Center Travel system subsides, its problems will hopefully go with it.
In the meantime, most players are trying to make light of the situation. Similar holdups occurred when Final Fantasy 14 introduced the World Visit system, and that system works perfectly fine now that it has been out for a few years. Some players couldn’t help but draw parallels between this situation and the story of Shadowbringers, when the Crystal Exarch unwittingly trapped certain individuals on another world. Hopefully players can treat their stranded brethren with kindness and hospitality until Final Fantasy 14 can throw wide the gates once more and welcome the travelers back home.
Final Fantasy 14 is available now for PC, PS4, and PS5.
Source: Final Fantasy 14