Final Fantasy XIV has been receiving its expansion call for a few days now Endwalker, designed to conclude a support for the game that has lasted for a decade. Endwalker had the daunting task of giving a worthy ending to a very long adventure and, for many fans, this goal has been brilliantly achieved, as the game’s servers show, overflowing with users waiting to jump into the new content. Let’s take a look at how Final Fantasy XIV Endwalker is going, between queues and a success that is difficult to manage.
The end of an era
A turbulent debut to say the least that of Final Fantasy XIV Endwalker, which began its life cycle with a server crisis that made the greats pale MMO of the past. On day one i server dedicated to the contents of Endwalker were so full that they generated queues of hours and hours to play, and even once it was your turn it was possible that an error message would bring users back to the beginning of the line.
An inconvenience that Naoki Yoshida, the director of the game, had foreseen, anticipating it on social networks with his usual humility, which made the community much more willing to forgive this initial limit. Beyond these technical problems, Endwalker was a success that recorded numbers never seen in the Square Enix MMO, to the point that the software house was forced to run for cover, but we will return to this later.
First it’s fair to ask what exactly Endwalker is. This expansion has, as we anticipated at the beginning, the arduous task of completing a story that lasted for more than a decade, making all the remaining narrative lines arrive to the point and concluding the ongoing events relating to the story of Haedalyn and Zodiark.
To do so, Yoshida’s team took an unexpected direction, without focusing too much on the war of gigantic scale taking place throughout. Eorzeabut rather on what happens on the margins, where the effects of what has happened are more serious. Obviously all surrounded by excellent supporting actors, able to leave their mark for hours after appearing on the screen.
In short, Endwalker is without a doubt the right conclusion to the fourteenth final fantasy, also thanks to the dungeons, beautifully made and which make up a perfect duo together with the story created by the team. It is no coincidence that it has been a resounding success among players.
Final Fantasy XIV Endwalker and the weight of success
Endwalker, as we have had the opportunity to tell you briefly, is a real example of how to manage a story that is years long without it lacking coherence. Final Fantasy XIV is not a video game born under a lucky star but over the years, also thanks to the guidance of Yoshida, it has been able to redeem itself, becoming one of the most profitable Final Fantasy ever. However, it is still a title released in 2010.
Although that of the boom in players may uniquely seem like good news, in reality it brings with it a shadow, which derives from the simple observation of the fact that Final Fantasy XIV is too played for its servers to guarantee a satisfying gaming experience for everyone. its players, also due to the semiconductor crisis, which prevented Square from installing new ones.
We’d like to share an update from #FFXIV Producer & Director Naoki Yoshida on the ongoing congestion, additional game time compensation, suspension of sales, error codes, and our upcoming plans. https://t.co/3WcXX6eVkf
— FINAL FANTASY XIV (@FF_XIV_EN) December 16, 2021
Precisely for this reason, Square’s difficult decision has come in the past few hours suspend sales of Final Fantasy XIV Starter Edition and Complete Edition. To apologize, the software house gave 14 days of free subscription to players, who then join the 7 days promised last December 6.
In short, a great success, undoubtedly, but with a bittersweet flavor, given that many players will be unable to buy the game and enjoy its more than excellent gaming experience. It is not clear how long the sales will stop, but it is very likely that this is a situation that will last for a long time to come.