Final Fantasy 14 Dawntrail has had a shockingly trouble-free launch. The MMO’s last expansion, Endwalker, had hour-long queue times and got so popular Square Enix had to stop selling it, but Dawntrail has been effortless in comparison. I played every day during the early access and full launch, with congestion hitting highs of just 100 players. Within minutes I was in the game, and the entire community enjoyed similar stories. This is because Square Enix took plenty of measures to make Dawntrail’s launch a simple one, but now one of those features is going away.
I was expecting Dawntrail’s launch to be a nightmare, with thousands of us sitting on the menu screen listening to that iconic music as we waited to finally get into the MMORPG. That never happened though, as Square Enix’s Final Fantasy 14 Dawntrail congestion plans paid off in a big way. Queues were small, servers were stable, and FF14 had its highest concurrent playercount ever recorded.
This was thanks, in part, to Square Enix’s probationary Worlds. The developer made a new Shadow data center with four Worlds to mitigate queues, encouraging existing players to log into this server to help ease wait times. Square Enix’s plan worked, and now this Final Fantasy 14 data center is being shut down.
FF14’s Shadow data center is shutting down on Tuesday August 27, with travel to this server ending on Friday August 16. Square Enix asks that you “return to your Home World using the Data Center Travel system,” before the shutdown. Maintenance is planned for the shutdown period, and characters visiting the Shadow data center at this time will be automatically transferred back to their home World.
Square Enix noted at launch that Final Fantasy 14 Dawntrail had an “exceptionally smooth” launch, and this focus on easing congestion was a big part of that. I expected to see game sales suspended just like with Endwalker, but this never happened. A combination of server upgrades, more Worlds to play on, and some changes to the rules helped keep FF14 afloat during Dawntrail’s launch.
It hasn’t all been straightforward for the new expansion though. Square Enix says it’s aware of complaints about the new graphics update, with fixes on the way. Players are reporting that their Warrior of Light’s face now looks weird, with Thancred’s new face model not going down well with fans either.
Our writer Ken says the newest expansion “delivers resoundingly in its second act” in his Final Fantasy 14 Dawntrail review, giving the MMO’s newest story content a 9/10. He had a lot to say, and I can’t wait to dive in after I finally finish up with Endwalker.
If you’re still in the middle of exploring Tural and want some help we’ve put together all the Final Fantasy 14 Dawntrail Aether Current locations, otherwise, check out our Final Fantasy 14 server status guide so you know when the MMO is next going offline.
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