Final Fantasy XIV Producer Naoki Yoshida has issued a statement following the release of the Endwalker expansion for Final Fantasy XIV Online ( FFXIV ), which saw players stuck in queues for hours trying to get in to the game as well as getting kicked out due to an Error 2002.
In a statement, Yoshida said that players would get an additional 14 days of free play time, following up from the previously credited 7 free days to apologize for the server issues.
“We are aware that the long waiting times to log into the game are preventing players from playing, and for this, we sincerely apologize”, Yoshida says. “In response to this, we recently granted 7 days of game time, but now we will also be granting an additional 14 days”
The FFXIV Producer also announced that they’d solved the issue with Error 2002, which saw players being booted from the queue randomly while waiting. According to Yoshida, the fix would be applied in next Tuesday’s patch.
“In regards to Error 2002 that occurs during login queues, outside of causes related to unstable connections, we have confirmed a bug. This bug was part of a login-related program created back in FFXIV version 1.0, and thanks to the reports and tests carried out by many of our players, we were able to identify the cause of the problem. We apologize for not being able to identify the issue on our end and thank you all for submitting detailed reports regarding this matter”, he said.
They also said they would be putting a halt to sales of the game as well as its free trial:
Players are currently experiencing extremely long wait times due to the dense concentration of play hours which far exceed our server capacity, especially during the peak times, and so we have decided to temporarily suspend the sale and delivery of FINAL FANTASY XIV Starter Edition and Complete Edition. Additionally, although those with an active subscription are prioritized to log in, Free Trial players are unable to log in outside of late night and early morning hours, and so we will also temporarily suspend new registrations for the Free Trial.
In short, since people are buying the game then finding out they can’t play, they’re making it so you can’t buy the game temporarily, at least until the issue blows over more.
FFXIV has had an amazing year for growth, due in part to more people hearing about the game and the so-called WoW Exodus, where popular World of Warcraft Streamers started to cover it instead.
That combined with a lack of ability to buy new servers lead to severe congestion come Endwalker launch, frustrating many players as they spent hours in queue just to get in and play the game.