In September, Square Enix announced it would begin experimenting with a cloud-based Data Center solution to deal with Final Fantasy XIV’s ever-growing population of players. Now, as part of the FFXIV Fan Festival 2023 in London, the first stress test for this FFXIV Cloud Data Center has been unveiled.
The FFXIV Cloud Data Center stress test will be a unique opportunity for players. In it, they’ll find their new, fresh characters boosted to level 80 and primed to take part in any content they should want to in the game, all to test the limits of this new Data Center solution. Here’s everything you need to know about the FFXIV Cloud Data Center stress test
When Does the FFXIV Cloud Data Center stress test Take Place?
The FFXIV Cloud Data Center stress test is set to take place between Nov. 21 to Nov. 27. However, this is apparently an “approximate” date, and may be subject to change. The six-day window will give players a full weekly reset’s worth of playing time in the Cloud Data Center.
Related: FFXIV Calendar
How do I Join the FFXIV Cloud Data Center stress test?
To join the Cloud Data test, you’ll need to create a brand new character on the NA Cloud Data Center (Beta). To do this head to the Data Center selection on the main menu of FFXIV, and then select the NA Cloud Data Center (Beta) at the bottom.
You can only do this during the stress test duration, and attempting to create a character on the beta server ahead of time will cause your game to show an error and crash. Once the stress test starts, you’ll be able to create a character in one of the Worlds on this Data Center.
What are the benefits of joining the FFXIV Cloud Data Center stress test?
A character created during the FFXIV Cloud Data Center stress test is temporary, and will be deleted after the test concludes. To facilitate people playing during the test, Square Enix is offering Tales of Adventure Items (job boosts) for all Main Scenario Quests (MSQ) and jobs through Shadowbringers, and 50 million gil. With this boost characters made on the NA Cloud Data Center (Beta) will be able to take part in almost any content available in FFXIV.
Additional details
The FFXIV Cloud Data Center stress test’s “physical” location is in North America (East Coast) and ping and latency to the servers will be difficult for people not in that region.
During the test you’ll only be able to play on new characters, and they’ll be deleted at the end of the test. Data Center travel will be unavailable, so no transferring characters or getting that 50 million gil to another player. You also won’t be able to back up your configuration settings. Overall, this is a unique opportunity to take part in this test, and have a fresh character boosted to take part in any content you’d like.
