Final Fantasy 14 devs invent solution for inevitable Dawntrail server queues

Final Fantasy 14 is gearing up for the launch of its upcoming Dawntrail expansion, set to enter early access on June 28, 2024. Expansion launches are typically the most exciting times for an MMORPG, resulting in a significant influx of new and returning players. This surge often leads to the dreaded login queues that plague almost every modern MMO.

Besides the terrible login times, overpopulated servers lead to instability and disconnections. This causes inconvenience even for players who managed to get into the game, as they can get logged out and forced to rejoin the queues all over again. However, the Final Fantasy 14 developers have devised a clever solution to alleviate server load for the launch of Dawntrail.

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New Probationary European Data Center might help Final Fantasy 14 devs battle the never-ending Dawntrail login queues

An apparent solution to the login queues for the Dawntrail launch is introducing a new Data Center. For the EU, this would boost server capacity by roughly 20 percent.

However, there are several drawbacks to adding a permanent new server that might outweigh the benefits of a smooth expansion launch, potentially negatively impacting Final Fantasy 14 in the long run.

Player retention for an MMORPG typically declines once the hype of an expansion is over. While the launch might create the impression that a new server is essential, queues tend to become manageable after two to three weeks. This was evident during the Shadowbringers and Endwalker expansions as well.

On the other hand, a new permanent European Data Center in Final Fantasy 14 could negatively impact certain aspects of gameplay, such as the Party Finder economy. Raiding is one of the major endgame activities in the game, and Party Finder is crucial for facilitating it.

However, between the two EU Data Centers, i.e., Light and Chaos, the latter already experiences a deficit of players in Party Finder. This leads the remaining Chaos players to Data Center Travel to Light.

A new Data Center will only exacerbate the ongoing issue by drawing players away from the other two servers, further diminishing their populations. Moreover, it is both costly and resource-intensive to maintain.

However, the Final Fantasy 14 developers have devised a clever solution to ensure a smooth Dawntrail launch without affecting the population of the other two EU Data Centers. The new Probationary Data Center, Shadow, will allow players to travel between Data Centers to prevent other servers from being congested. But it won't permit the creation of new characters.

The Final Fantasy 14 devs announced the addition of the new Probationary Data Center on Lodestone (Image via Square Enix)

The Final Fantasy 14 developers made a Lodestone post, revealing the details of this Probationary Data Center:

"Probationary Worlds will be restricted from new character creation and the Home World Transfer Service but will otherwise function as regular Worlds where players will be able to enjoy their usual activities, such as undertaking quests and duties, or matchmaking via the Duty Finder. We hope these Worlds will serve as helpful alternatives when your usual data center is congested."

They will monitor the number of concurrent logins to decide whether to make this a permanent addition by allowing character creation and Home World Transfers. However, the most likely outcome is the closure of this Probationary server to preserve the population density of the other two Data Centers once the expansion launch hype has settled down and the player base has returned to normal.