Final Fantasy XIV’s Endwalker expansion stormed into early access a week ago, but its server woes rage on like it’s still that first day. Director and producer Naoki Yoshida and his team at Square Enix continue to work towards a resolution as the MMO reckons with infrastructure challenges, and in their latest blog post, Yoshida outlined additional issues players may face when logging in.
Yoshida’s new update acknowledges that Final Fantasy XIV’s servers are still struggling to keep up with player demand even after this week’s maintenance to alleviate congestion troubles. Last Wednesday’s lobby server maintenance and error fixes raised the cap on how many players can wait in line to get in, but it seems some disconnection issues still persist as lines exceed the 17,000 person limit per queue. It sounds like there’s a few other culprits causing those disconnection troubles, too, and the director outlined how you can try to remedy anything exacerbating the issue on the user end.
Error 2002 Causes – Login Queues and Player Connections
If you’ve tried to log in to Final Fantasy XIV at all this week, chances are you’ve at least seen this error once. It’s that ugly message we keep seeing after waiting in a 5,000-person queue for hours, only to get booted in the middle and sent back to the end. Yoshida gave an update on this one in particular last week, but he noted it’s still persisting in today’s response. There’s two reasons for that.
The first is probably what you’ve already heard of before—there’s a whole lot of people trying to get in, and the hardware limitations can’t accommodate. On this one, there’s not a lot you can do as there are just too many people trying to get in line, and the server is booting players to prevent the whole thing from going down. Yoshida and the team are apologetic here, it’s unfortunate and a bit out of their hands, so your best bet is to try outside of peak hours.
That second cause for Error 2002 may be something you’re able to fix a little on your own. The blog post notes that an unstable internet connection could be to blame for why you see some of those disconnects. Since we’re all spending so much time in line, the likelihood we see our place in the queue drop because of a Wi-Fi hiccup has dramatically increased. Yoshida recommends you double-check that connection to make sure it’s stable and try hardwiring in if that’s an option.
Error 4004 and 3001 – World/Zone Outages
Today’s announcement noted any problems with Error 4004 and 3001 should be resolved now. The Wednesday maintenance addressed an issue where players timed out or got booted just as they reached their turn in line to get in. Another update yesterday, December 10, addressed those hiccups one more time, and it looks like that may have done the trick.
At least for now, Yoshida says they haven’t seen any further reports kicks from 4004 or 3001 in the queue. However, 3001 does have a second cause you may still encounter after getting logged into the game. Due to congestion, some zones and Worlds (like Tonberry) temporarily crash and boot the folks occupying those places. In this case, you’ll still see 3001 until Square Enix can find a way to ease the server load.
Error 9002 and 9006 Causes – Kicked During Cutscenes
This one is a little more enigmatic. In the last update, Yoshida asked players to make sure they tap a key once in a while during long cutscenes to make sure their game didn’t idle and serve up an auto kick. Final Fantasy XIV’s dev team is getting several reports of 9002 and 9006, and they’re investigating to see if they’ve missed any factors that may cause the issue here. Yet in most cases, it does seem like this is another caused by an unstable connection on the player side. Again, he’s asking folks to check their setup at home and make sure everything is as stable as possible.
It’s a pretty crummy situation all around. I just wrapped up Endwalker last night, and I’ve spent countless hours waiting in the queue. The trick really does seem to be logging in early North American hours, but it’s not a very viable solution for anyone leaving home for work during the day. Final Fantasy XIV’s team and Yoshida have been apologetic, transparent, and honest about their expectations around server troubles in the lead up to Endwalker; it’s just unfortunate to see all of their hard work launch with such an ugly part added to the experience.
More on Final Fantasy XIV: Endwalker:
- FFXIV Endwalker Dungeon Guide: Tower of Zot
- Twelve Important Details in the FFXIV: Endwalker Patch 6.0 Patch Notes
- FFXIV: What To Do During The “In From The Cold” Quest
Until there’s a better, long-term solution, I’m going to remain as patient as possible and hope the rest of the community does, too. We’re in the middle of a global pandemic, and shortages caused by increased demand and battered supply chains have conjured up an unprecedented scenario for game development teams around the world. They’re working to fix the issue, it’s just going to take time. If you’re irritated by the wait, maybe go play something else for a bit. Endwalker isn’t going anywhere any time soon.
