Square Enix have announced they have resolved an issue in Final Fantasy XIV, where players may have found themselves trapped in other worlds.
In summation, each regional server is divided into smaller data-centers, and within them “worlds.” For example, the North American server has Aether, Primal, and Crystal data-centers. Within each of them are worlds such as Cactuar, Behemoth, Malboro, and more. Each of these worlds still has the same content as each other.
Along with dividing the load, players can almost freely visit other worlds within their data-center; with a few restrictions on what they can do there compared to their “home world.” This allows players to meet up with friends for raids, or gain bonuses for entering a new or “preferred” world in need of populating. Players can swap data-centers by spending real world money, and under special circumstances.
On April 13th (after changes to what worlds’ statuses), Square Enix announced that World Visiting was temporarily suspended, as players were finding themselves unable to move between them. Those trapped away from their home world were unable to summon retainers, use the Moogle Delivery Service, access housing, and more.
As some players were reportedly trapped on worlds not their own, this came with some irony due to similarities with the plot of the Shadowbringers expansion. Others drew comparisons to the isekai subgenre that is currently popular in manga and anime; which translates as “other world” in English.
Square Enix soon made a follow-up announcement, explaining that as their development team were unable to reproduce the bug, an emergency maintenance was needed across all worlds. The maintenance took place between April 14th 11:00 p.m. PT until April 15th 1:00 a.m. PT. Players engaging in in-game weddings were warned beforehand that dates and times may be cancelled.
The maintenance managed to end earlier than planned, and now players are reportedly able to move around the worlds again. Shortly after the maintenance the Builders’ Progress Report was not displaying properly, but that was soon resolved as well.
In earlier news, Square Enix announced the game had surpassed 22 million registered players worldwide, including those who are registered for the free trial. Content patch 5.5, Death Unto Dawn, is also now available. The mainline quest is sure to prepare players for the next expansion; Endwalker.
Final Fantasy XIV is available to Windows PC, (via the SE Store, and Steam), PlayStation 4, and coming soon to PlayStation 5, and Xbox One. A free trial is available. In case you missed it, you can find our Shadowbringers expansion review here (we can’t recommend it enough!)
Image: Steam
