The highly anticipated Patch 5.5 was released today for Final Fantasy 14 players to enjoy, offering a myriad of content for returning and existing players to embark. As is the case with patch day historically, Final Fantasy 14's influx of players tends to cause problems for the servers as server traffic increases exponentially. In the past, at best, players enter a waiting queue as they load their character into the game world, with numbers reaching the triple digits as soon as the patch is live, to the occasional double-digit number.
In the worst-case scenario, several zones within an area called "instances" are created to prevent severe overcrowding. However, there are some server issues that are unpredictable and extreme that interrupt staple features within the game causing them to become limited until resolved. With this patch, the issues involving the server seem to be one of Square's most extreme, severely crippling a major method of transportation.
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Introduced around the beginning of the Shadowbringers expansion, the World Visit system allowed players to travel across different Worlds through the usage of a major aetheryte. While the players were limited in what they could do, players were able to visit friends from other Worlds, purchase items from another World's market board, and party up for duties. Players who wish to interact with others from a different world will need to be patient as Square temporarily shuts down the World Visit feature in Final Fantasy 14 across all major Data Centers.
According to an official statement from Square, the process in which these errors are fixed is so delicate that extra caution must be made to ensure the entire Final Fantasy 14 doesn't go offline. Each server will be combed, fixing any specific issues directly involving each World rather than a general "fix-all" approach. Unfortunately for players, this means that players cannot visit other Worlds as doing so would disrupt the delicacy, especially on a day where traffic is usually at its highest. In the past, Final Fantasy 14 has been subjected to DDoS attacks, yet it is unrelated to the server issues currently at hand.
Reportedly, the Aegis, Carbuncle, and Odin servers had also received several issues pertaining to their respective servers that had been fixed. Players who are concerned about their housing will be happy to know that demolitions are temporarily suspended, similar to how it was with COVID-19, until Square finishes up the World Visit maintenance. Another issue was later reported by the Square staff involving a cutscene from the recent patch not playing properly, which will be addressed and fixed in a later patch.
Final Fantasy 14 is available now on PC and PS4, with a PS5 beta currently active.
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Source: Square Enix