Square Enix plans to add new servers to FFXIV. While there is still a long way to go, this could help solve the game's lingering housing problems.
The real estate market in Final Fantasy XIV is a bit like the real US market right now: a lot of demand, but not enough supply available. Square Enix's MMORPG has had a housing problem for years with new lots sold out within seconds of their release.
Not to mention how expensive the apartments are in FFXIV; only the Free Company and players with lots of final fantasy xiv gil can buy one. As more and more players flock to Final Fantasy XIV, the number of homes available per player continues to shrink, even as the developers add smaller living options.
It was clear that the game was starting to crumble under pressure from player numbers. The digital version of Final Fantasy XIV is kind of sold out on the Skrill Enix website, and director Naoki Yoshida recently addressed the server congestion issue and even asked fans for help by asking them to stop creating characters during the Avoid peak times of congestion. As the server load continues to grow, questions arise, including how the development team plans to accommodate all of these new players.
Square Enix may not be able to fully meet the demand for housing in FFXIV. There are currently four Housing locations in the game: Misty in La Noscea, Lavender Beds in The Black Shroud, Goblet in Thanalan, and Shirogane in Hingashi. Each server contains a total of 5,760 housing plots - a fraction of the players on each server. If a player does not enter their FFXIV home lot for an extended period of time, it will be confiscated, the house demolished, and the property resold. But when this happens, there is no smooth system for handover to the next buyer. The episode counts the time to sell and prompts players to camp in front of the logo and send an interactive button to try to buy it when it shows up.
As announced at the Final Fantasy XIV Fan Fest, a new data center will be opened in Oceania, providing new, more stable servers to players in Australia and New Zealand. Not only will this help improve connectivity for actors in these regions, but it will also reduce the congestion on servers in other data centers as actors in Oceania can now migrate from North American and European data centers to the new data center. This in turn means that a total of more residential building lots are available for all servers and data centers.
However, this isn't a quick process and it may take a while for Final Fantasy XIV to get new servers outside of Oceania. According to the Final Fantasy XIV website, the Oceania data center will be upgraded "sometime" around the release of 6.0 and the Endwalker expansion. It also states that Square Enix “will then prepare a new server or data center for 7.0.” Being generous with the schedule, this means that new servers could not arrive until late 2022 at the earliest.
As Yoshida's post shows, there are some major issues preventing the team from adding more servers. Certainly, the COVID-19 pandemic has restricted travel options and prevented the server infrastructure team from carrying out actual construction work. At the same time, a global shortage of semiconductors has made the procurement of server parts a problem. It is clear, however, that the FFXIV team plans to add more servers, which ultimately means more places to live and more options available.
This may be frustrating for new players, but for anyone staying with Final Fantasy XIV long term, the apartments will at least get a little more accessible. Patch 6.1 will also add a new residential area, Ishugard. But while eager homeowners wait for the new server, all they have to do is follow a few real estate tips from fans on Reddit.
