Longtime Final Fantasy XIV players will remember the hectic launch of Endwalker in 2021. Many waited in two-hour-long queues to log in, while others were met with constant error codes. Although the devs have promised a smoother launch for Dawntrail, a new blog post is warning players that some issues from the last big launch may persist.
To start, paid subscribers will be given priority for login, with free trial users being booted to the back of the line. Data center travel will be limited until at least patch 7.01, and like the Endwalker release, players who go AFK for over 30 minutes will be automatically logged out.
Additionally, traffic for Dawntrail‘s instanced quests will be staggered.
“During the periods immediately after Dawntrail’s early access and launch, areas added in Dawntrail or visited during the Dawntrail main scenario will be heavily trafficked. In order to allow more players to enter these areas, we will be implementing several instances of the same area,” the post reads.
Peak congestion in North America is expected to be from 1:00 PM to 11:00 PM PST.
The Dawntrail expansion for Final Fantasy XIV will be released on July 2, but players preordering the expansion will be able to play a few days early on June 28. The long-awaited release will bring with it a level cap boost from 90 to 100, a new playable race, two new DPS classes, new cities, new dungeons and raids, a new limited job, and an entirely new story arc.