** PLEASE DO NOT REPLY TO THIS POST **

TIMES ARE IN GMT + 0


All source pertaining Final Fantasy XIV in this thread are taken from Official Website such as The Lodestone & The Forums.
Please do not reply to this post as it serves as a News Hub Informants.

This post has been edited by shojikun: Aug 31 2013, 11:50 PM

[Follow-up] Regarding Preparations to Increase the Capacity of our Data Centers (Aug. 27)

Thank you very much for playing FINAL FANTASY XIV: A Realm Reborn.

We would like to make a clarification regarding our previous announcement “Regarding Congestion in Japan Data Center Worlds (Aug. 27)” in which we stated that we are preparing to increase the capacity of our data centers.

The first half of the announcement regarding login and character creation restrictions was directed towards our players who would be playing during peak hours in Japan data center Worlds.

However, the second half of the announcement regarding increasing the capacity of our data centers was meant to also encompass North American and European data center Worlds and not just be limited to Japan data center Worlds.

We deeply apologise for causing concern amongst the North American and European community due to our lack of clarity. Capacity will be increased for data centers in all regions.

Once again, thank you for your understanding and cooperation to help us welcome more players to the game.

Several Worlds Login Difficulties (Aug. 31)
We are currently experiencing stability issues with the Japan data center Worlds due to congestion.

The issue is being addressed, and new updates will follow as additional information becomes available.

We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.

[Date & Time]
From Aug. 31, 2013 around 3:50 p.m. (GMT)

[Details]
- Unable to log into the Japan data center Worlds.

[Affected Worlds]
Japan data center Worlds
-Aegis
-Alexander
-Anima
-Atomos
-Bahamut
-Carbuncle
-Chocobo
-Durandal
-Fenrir
-Garuda
-Gungnir
-Hades
-Ifrit
-Ixion
-Kujata
-Mandragora
-Masamune
-Ramuh
-Ridill
-Tiamat
-Titan
-Tonberry
-Typhon
-Ultima
-Valefor

By Naoki Yoshida, Producer/Director of Final Fantasy XIV

Further Details on Access Restrictions
This is FINAL FANTASY XIV: A Realm Reborn producer and director Naoki Yoshida and I would like to take the time to personally apologize once again to all those players who have been affected by the extended World login and character creation restrictions which have been in place for the past several days. I also understand that apologies will not help you get logged in, so I would like to give you an update on the situation at hand and the various measures we are currently employing to alleviate the situation.

Concurrent Connections

On the night following the announcement of our plans to temporarily limit sales of the download version, A Realm Reborn recorded upwards of 218,000 concurrent connections. This is in spite of the fact that the peak login times for separate regions around the world arrive at differing intervals. We estimate that without time zone differences, the total number of concurrent connections would number anywhere from 300,000 to 350,000.

As many of you know, this is the second launch for FINAL FANTASY XIV─something unprecedented in the MMORPG market. Considering the outcome of our first launch, our sales estimates for this one were decidedly conservative, as we believed that there would be a more gradual rise in users over the opening weeks and months.

Instead, to our pleasant surprise, we experienced tremendous support from a great number of players who were eager to get into the game from day one. To ensure that these players, once logged in, were able to play in a stable environment, we were required to implement login restrictions which kept server population near maximum capacity without exceeding those numbers.

The fact that we had to implement these restrictions is a direct result of my inaccurate sales and login estimates, and as producer, I must accept complete responsibility for this misstep. Each and every player who has been affected has my deepest apologies.

The Reasoning behind Login Restrictions

Each FINAL FANTASY XIV: A Realm Reborn World server has been designed to support a maximum of 5,000 concurrent connections. This is not the maximum number of characters which can be created on a World, however, but the maximum number of characters which can be logged into that World simultaneously. When more than 5,000 characters log into a World at once, there is a higher risk of server crashes and login errors. The restoration of crashed servers is usually followed by a rush of players attempting to log back in, which, in turn, puts a strain on our lobby server, and can ultimately have an adverse affect on all of the Worlds.

To prevent this from happening, we felt that the safest course of action would be to limit logins. However, we would like you to know that the restrictions are under constant surveillance. We are currently monitoring login numbers on all Worlds 24 hours a day, and actively removing/applying restrictions as soon as we detect even the smallest fluctuation in concurrent connection numbers.

Currently, peak login times for each region are occurring from approximately 9:00 p.m. to midnight. During this three-hour window, Worlds are more likely to have login restrictions implemented. These temporary restrictions are expected to continue until the time that we can execute the measures we have planned to alleviate the current situation. Those measures, including the addition of new World servers, are listed, in detail, below.

Character Creation Restrictions

As stated above, the maximum number of simultaneous connections each World server can handle is 5,000, while the number of characters which can be created on a World is several times that amount. This estimate of 5,000, however, is based on those characters being somewhat distributed over all the in-game areas (zones).

At the game’s start, however, while everyone is still at a low level, the majority of players are concentrated in the three city-states and surrounding areas. This can not only lead to a lack of enemies to slay (preventing quest progression), but also see area servers overloaded, and ultimately lead to crashes.

Fortunately, differences in total individual play time, login times, and character/class progression will eventually lead to players being more spread out within each World. Once this happens, there will be less need for both login and character creation restrictions.

As is the case with logins, our team is working around the clock, monitoring the current population of each area in each World, as well as the class level of each character, and adjusting new character creation restrictions based on their findings. Unlike login restrictions, we believe that character creation restrictions may take slightly longer to be removed, as there are still great discrepancies in the distribution of characters across Worlds, and we thank players for their patience and understanding in this issue.

Adding Worlds and Alleviating Server Load Issues

A server is essentially a high-spec PC, with each FINAL FANTASY XIV: A Realm Reborn World being made up of several of these machines. Creating a new World involves physically acquiring the servers, installing the necessary programs, and conducting internal functionality tests...all before opening the World to the public.

As the login data gathered from the Open Beta test (in which anyone, including those who had not purchased the game, could participate) was inconclusive, it was during the Early Access period that we had a clearer picture of the scope with which we would need to increase World capacity, and on the 25th of August began making preparations to do so significantly.

As of this post, the servers have been acquired, the essential programs installed, and we are currently in the process of conducting our internal tests. Once these tests have concluded and the Worlds go live, we believe we will be able to better accommodate a greater number of our players, making logging in less of a hassle.

In addition to increasing the number of Worlds, we are also optimizing the Duty Finder (party matching) management servers in an effort to reduce server load and ensure better stability when using this feature.

Currently, the Duty Finder servers split our data centers into two groups of 25 Worlds, and then do the party matching from players from within the same data center. We have determined that by adding new Worlds, the Duty Finder servers will not be able to process the additional data as long as there are only two pairings of groups to match from. Therefore, we have decided to create additional groups to alleviate this problem before it occurs, and by doing so, reduce the burden on the Duty Finder servers, and ultimately allow more players to access the feature.

The development and operations teams are currently concentrating 100% of their efforts into the aforementioned tasks and are on pace to have both completed by the beginning of next week and then released to the public once our final tests have concluded. Once a date and time for the implementation of the measures have been solidified, we will release another announcement on Lodestone outlining the details. We ask that you bear with us for just a few days longer while we make the final push.

Resolving AFK Character Issues

From several users on some of our more congested Worlds, we have received requests for a feature which automatically logs out characters who are AFK for an extended period of time. We are actively looking into the implementation of such a feature, but have decided to first concentrate our efforts on increasing the number of Worlds and optimizing the Duty Finder servers.

In Conclusion

The development and operations teams are working diligently to combat the login issues which many of our users are currently facing, and ask for your continued patience and understanding over the next several days as we move to solve these problems.

To thank all of you for bearing with us for so long, we will be looking into different ways to reward our loyal fans and customers, such as an extension of the free trial period. Details on the plans we have in the works will be announced shortly.

In conclusion, I would like to say that we have been overwhelmed with the positive response for A realm Reborn, which is why it doubly pains us to implement any sort of measure that may restrict people from joining us in Eorzea. We sincerely apologize for the unwanted stress these restrictions have caused, and thank you immensely for the understanding you have shown over the past week. The fixes are almost in place and we look forward to seeing all of you very, very soon.

Thank you.

FINAL FANTASY XIV: A Realm Reborn Producer & Director Naoki Yoshida

08/31/2013 9:22 PM
[Recovery] Recovery from Several Worlds Technical Difficulties (Aug. 31)
During the following time period, players on the Japanese data center Worlds were being disconnected from certain instances.

We are pleased to announce that the issue has been addressed. We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused.

[Date & Time]
Aug. 31, 2013 from 12:47 to 12:51 (GMT)

[Details]
- Players were disconnected from instances.

[Affected Worlds]
Japanese Data Center Worlds

08/31/2013 9:57 PM
Regarding Character Creation Restrictions (Aug. 31): Follow-up 3
Currently, we have stopped allowing the creation of new characters in the following Worlds:

Adamantoise
Aegis
Bahamut
Balmung
Carbuncle
Cerberus
Chocobo
Coeurl
Diabolos
Durandal
Excalibur
Exodus
Faerie
Fenrir
Gilgamesh
Goblin
Gungnir
Hades
Hyperion
Ifrit
Ixion
Kujata
Lamia
Leviathan
Malboro
Mandragora
Masamune
Moogle
Odin
Phoenix
Ragnarok
Ridill
Sargatanas
Shiva
Siren
Tonberry
Typhon
Ultima
Valefor

In the event of any changes in the situation, follow-up news posts will be posted here as well.

We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause and thank you for your understanding.

http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/threads/76132

Login Issue Update
I know many of you are still affected by the World login and character creation restrictions, so I would like to give you all a brief update on the progress of the measures we are taking to alleviate this situation.

Current Server Status

To ensure as many players as possible can log in and create characters on existing servers, our development and operations teams are monitoring server load and population around the clock, placing and removing restrictions with even the slightest fluctuation in numbers in order to maintain near-full capacity on each World. We are still experiencing maximum concurrent connection numbers of over 230,000 users. This number, however, has taxed some of our instance servers, and is causing unexpected down time here, as well.

Scheduled Maintenance for Wednesday, September 4 (Japan Time)

The addition of new Worlds, as well as the adjustments to the duty finder servers, will be complete as of tomorrow. We will then enter our final internal testing phase of these features in preparation. If the results from these tests are favorable, we will conduct an extended all-World maintenance on Wednesday (Japan time). Once the new Worlds are implemented and the duty finder server load has been redistributed over smaller World server groups, we believe that many of the login issues that players are currently experiencing will clear.

When Worlds do finally reopen after the maintenance, we expect a rush of players trying to log back in. To prevent any further login issues, we will be using the utmost caution when restarting each World. Please understand that there may be some congestion at this time.

The development and operations teams are currently dedicating their full resources to alleviating the issues at hand and providing all of our players with a stable environment in which to experience the realm of Eorzea.

Free Trial Extension

To apologize to our loyal fans who may not have been able to login or create characters during early access and the days immediately following launch, the development and operations teams are currently considering providing all player accounts with an additional seven days to their free trials. This includes non-legacy players from 1.0, who will be given new seven-day free trials. Trial extensions will be awarded after the aforementioned server maintenance on Wednesday. Details on the trial extension, including the extension period, will be released in a separate post as soon as they have been solidified.

We thank our fans again for the overwhelming support you have shown us over the past week. The response to FINAL FANTASY XIV: A Realm Reborn has well exceeded our expectations, and unfortunately resulted in our inability to provide the service which we originally intended. We humbly ask for your continued patience as we work to alleviate the issues as we truly appreciate all of our fans. We are very sorry for the frustration that has resulted from these problems.


FINAL FANTASY XIV: A Realm Reborn Producer & Director Naoki Yoshida

09/01/2013 9:19 AM
[Follow-up] Recovery from Several Worlds Technical Difficulties (Aug. 31)
We were experiencing technical difficulties wherein players are being disconnected from instances on the North American and European data center Worlds. As a result, customers who were disconnected from said content were unable to log in.

We are pleased to announce that the issue has been addressed. We apologise for any inconvenience this may have caused.

[Date & Time]
From Aug. 31, 2013 19:53 to 23:15 (GMT)

[Details]
- Disconnected from certain instances.
- Unable to log in after being disconnected from certain instances.

[Cause]
-Congestion to certain instances

[Affected Worlds]
North American and European Data Center Worlds
- Adamantoise
- Balmung
- Behemoth
- Cactuar
- Cerberus
- Coeurl
- Diabolos
- Excalibur
- Exodus
- Faerie
- Gilgamesh
- Goblin
- Hyperion
- Lamia
- Leviathan
- Malboro
- Midgardsormr
- Moogle
- Odin
- Phoenix
- Ragnarok
- Sargatanas
- Shiva
- Siren
- Ultros


09/01/2013 7:45 AM
[Follow-up] Regarding Character Creation Restrictions (Sep. 1): Follow-up 4
Currently, we have stopped allowing the creation of new characters in the following Worlds:

Aegis
Anima
Atomos
Bahamut
Balmung
Behemoth
Cactuar
Carbuncle
Cerberus
Chocobo
Coeurl
Diabolos
Durandal
Excalibur
Exodus
Faerie
Gilgamesh
Goblin
Gungnir
Hades
Hyperion
Ixion
Lamia
Leviathan
Malboro
Mandragora
Masamune
Moogle
Odin
Phoenix
Ragnarok
Sargatanas
Shiva
Siren
Tonberry
Ultima
Ultros

In the event of any changes in the situation, follow-up news posts will be posted here as well.

We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause and thank you for your understanding.

09/01/2013 4:02 PM
[Recovery] Recovery from Several Worlds Technical Difficulties (Sep. 1)
During the following time period, players were being disconnected from instances on the Japan data center Worlds.

We are pleased to announce that the issue has been addressed. We apologise for any inconvenience this may have caused.

[Date & Time]
Sep. 1, 2013 from 6:48 a.m. to 7:00 a.m. (PDT).

[Details]
- Disconnected from certain instances.

[Affected Worlds]
Japan Data Center Worlds.

09/01/2013 6:10 PM
[Recovery] Recovery from Several Worlds Login Difficulties (Sep. 1)
We were experiencing technical difficulties wherein players on the Japanese data centre Worlds were unable to log into on FINAL FANTASY XIV: A Realm Reborn.

We are pleased to announce that the issue has been addressed. We apologise for any inconvenience this may have caused.

[Date & Time]
From Sep. 1, 2013 8:04 to 8:43 (GMT)

[Details]
Unable to log into several Worlds.

[Cause]
Issues with server program

[Affected Worlds]
The following Japanese data centre worlds:
-Aegis
-Alexander
-Anima
-Atomos
-Bahamut
-Carbuncle
-Chocobo
-Durandal
-Fenrir
-Garuda
-Gungnir
-Hades
-Ifrit
-Ixion
-Kujata
-Mandragora
-Masamune
-Ramuh
-Ridill
-Tiamat
-Titan
-Tonberry
-Typhon
-Ultima
-Valefor

09/01/2013 7:50 PM
Several Worlds Login Difficulties (Sep. 1)
We are currently experiencing technical difficulties wherein players on the Japanese data centre Worlds are unable to log into on FINAL FANTASY XIV: A Realm Reborn. The issue is being addressed, and new updates will follow as additional information becomes available.

We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.

[Date & Time]
From Sep. 1, 2013 11:20 a.m. (GMT)

[Details]
- Disconnected from certain instances.

[Affected Worlds]
The Japanese data centre worlds


09/01/2013 8:14 PM
[Recovery] Recovery from Several Worlds Technical Difficulties (Sep. 1)[
During the following time period, players were being disconnected from instances on the Japan data centre Worlds.

We are pleased to announce that the issue has been addressed. We apologise for any inconvenience this may have caused.

[Date & Time]
Sep. 1, 2013 from 11:15 to 11:40 (GMT)

[Details]
- Disconnected from certain instances.

[Affected Worlds]
Japan Data Centre Worlds

09/01/2013 9:54 PM
Several Worlds Login Difficulties (Sep. 1)
We are currently experiencing technical difficulties wherein players on the Japanese data centre Worlds are unable to log into on FINAL FANTASY XIV: A Realm Reborn. The issue is being addressed, and new updates will follow as additional information becomes available.

We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.

[Date & Time]
From Sep. 1, 2013 13:31 (GMT)

[Details]
Unable to log into several Worlds.

[Affected Worlds]
The following Japanese data centre worlds:
-Aegis
-Alexander
-Anima
-Atomos
-Bahamut
-Carbuncle
-Chocobo
-Durandal
-Fenrir
-Garuda
-Gungnir
-Hades
-Ifrit
-Ixion
-Kujata
-Mandragora
-Masamune
-Ramuh
-Ridill
-Tiamat
-Titan
-Tonberry
-Typhon
-Ultima
-Valefor

09/02/2013 3:25 AM
[Recovery] Recovery from Several Worlds Login Difficulties (Sep. 1)
We were experiencing technical difficulties wherein players on the North American and European data center Worlds were unable to log into on FINAL FANTASY XIV: A Realm Reborn.

We are pleased to announce that the issue has been addressed. We apologise for any inconvenience this may have caused.

[Date & Time]
From Sep. 1, 2013 18:00 to 19:15 (GMT)

[Details]
Unable to log into several Worlds.

[Cause]
Issues with server program

[Affected Worlds]
North American and European Data Center Worlds
- Adamantoise
- Balmung
- Behemoth
- Cactuar
- Cerberus
- Coeurl
- Diabolos
- Excalibur
- Exodus
- Faerie
- Gilgamesh
- Goblin
- Hyperion
- Lamia
- Leviathan
- Malboro
- Midgardsormr
- Moogle
- Odin
- Phoenix
- Ragnarok
- Sargatanas
- Shiva
- Siren
- Ultros

09/02/2013 11:13 AM
Recovery from Several Worlds Login Difficulties (Sep. 2)
We were experiencing technical difficulties wherein players on the North American and European data center Worlds were unable to log into on FINAL FANTASY XIV: A Realm Reborn.

We are pleased to announce that the issue has been addressed. We apologise for any inconvenience this may have caused.

[Date & Time]
From Sep. 2, 2013 2:27 to 2:32 (GMT)

[Details]
Unable to log into several Worlds.

[Cause]
Issues with server program

[Affected Worlds]
North American and European Data Center Worlds
- Adamantoise
- Balmung
- Behemoth
- Cactuar
- Cerberus
- Coeurl
- Diabolos
- Excalibur
- Exodus
- Faerie
- Gilgamesh
- Goblin
- Hyperion
- Lamia
- Leviathan
- Malboro
- Midgardsormr
- Moogle
- Odin
- Phoenix
- Ragnarok
- Sargatanas
- Shiva
- Siren
- Ultros

[EU] All Worlds Maintenance (Sep. 4)
At the following time, we will be performing maintenance on FINAL FANTASY XIV: A Realm Reborn to perform the operations listed below. During this period, FINAL FANTASY XIV: A Realm Reborn will be unavailable.

[Details]
- Addition of new Worlds
- Implementation of countermeasures to handle the influx of concurrent user counts as a result of split processing the duty finder
- Address several known issues

* Clients will update automatically upon launch after the date and time below.

* We will announce details of the fixes at a later time.

We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause and thank you for your understanding.

[Date & Time]
From Sep. 4, 2013 00:00 to Sep. 4, 2013 10:00 (GMT)
* The completion time may be subject to change.

[Affected Service]
FINAL FANTASY XIV: A Realm Reborn

09/02/2013 5:40 PM
[Follow-up] Regarding Character Creation Restrictions (Sep. 2): Follow-up 6
Currently, we have stopped allowing the creation of new characters in the following Worlds:

Kujata
Typhon
Valefor
Aegis
Durandal
Gungnir
Masamune
Ridill
Bahamut
Tonberry
Mandragora
Chocobo
Carbuncle
Shiva
Moogle
Odin
Exodus
Faerie
Lamia
Siren
Coeurl
Sargatanas
Diabolos
Gilgamesh
Leviathan
Balmung
Excalibur
Hyperion

In the event of any changes in the situation, follow-up news posts will be posted here as well.

We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause and thank you for your understanding.

09/02/2013 9:26 PM
Several Worlds Login Difficulties (Sep. 2)
We are currently experiencing technical difficulties wherein players on the Japanese data centre Worlds are unable to log into on FINAL FANTASY XIV: A Realm Reborn. The issue is being addressed, and new updates will follow as additional information becomes available.

We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.

[Date & Time]
From Sep. 2, 2013 12:49 (GMT)

[Details]
Unable to log into several Worlds.

[Affected Worlds]
The following Japanese data centre worlds:
-Aegis
-Alexander
-Anima
-Atomos
-Bahamut
-Carbuncle
-Chocobo
-Durandal
-Fenrir
-Garuda
-Gungnir
-Hades
-Ifrit
-Ixion
-Kujata
-Mandragora
-Masamune
-Ramuh
-Ridill
-Tiamat
-Titan
-Tonberry
-Typhon
-Ultima
-Valefor

09/03/2013 12:52 PM
Several Worlds Emergency Maintenance (Sep. 3)

At the following time, we will be performing emergency maintenance on Japan Data Center Worlds to restart servers as a temporary countermeasure against server congestion and to fix the data of characters unable to log in due to the 90000 error. During this period, the Worlds listed below will be unavailable.

* The 90000 error was originally scheduled to be addressed during tomorrow’s maintenance but has been moved up to today due to its large scale impact.

We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause and thank you for your understanding.

[Date & Time]
Sep. 3, 2013 from 6:00 to 9:00 (GMT)

* The completion time may be subject to change.

[Affected Worlds]
North American/European Data Center Worlds
- Aegis
- Alexander
- Anima
- Atomos
- Bahamut
- Carbuncle
- Chocobo
- Durandal
- Fenrir
- Garuda
- Gungnir
- Hades
- Ifrit
- Ixion
- Kujata
- Mandragora
- Masamune
- Ramuh
- Ridill
- Tiamat
- Titan
- Tonberry
- Typhon
- Ultima
- Valefor

This post has been edited by shojikun: Sep 3 2013, 01:01 PM

09/03/2013 4:00 PM
Server Congestion and Trial Period Extensions (09/03/2013)



We would like to thank all our customers for their continued support of FINAL FANTASY XIV: A Realm Reborn.

Since the beginning of official service on August 27, 2013, the number of users attempting to access the game has significantly exceeded our initial estimates. While we are pleased to see support for the game reach far beyond our expectations, the servers were not prepared to handle this influx of players. As a result, our servers have been pushed beyond maximum capacity. In order to allow access to as many users as possible, we have implemented login and character creation restrictions. We understand, however, that these restrictions have greatly inconvenienced our players.

To resolve this issue, we will be performing maintenance from September 4, 2013, at 0:00 to 10:00 (GMT), for the purpose of increasing the number of available Worlds, reducing stress on the Duty Finder servers, and increasing the number of concurrent logins allowed for each server.

Because login and character creation restrictions have hindered our ability to provide quality service, all FINAL FANTASY XIV service accounts will receive an additional seven days of free play time. Furthermore, users who have yet to enter their registration codes will receive an additional seven-day trial should they register before 23:59 (GMT) on September 9, 2013. Moving forward, we will continue monitoring the servers to ensure that quality service and support are provided in a timely manner.

The additional seven days will be reflected on service accounts after maintenance has concluded on September 4, 2013, which can be confirmed by accessing the FINAL FANTASY XIV: Mog Station.( http://sqex.to/Msp )

We thank you again for your patience and understanding as we continue to address these issues, and look forward to your continued support of FINAL FANTASY XIV: A Realm Reborn.

09/04/2013 3:00 PM
FINAL FANTASY XIV: A Realm Reborn Updated (Sep. 4)
A version update was performed on FINAL FANTASY XIV: A Realm Reborn at the following time.

* Clients will update automatically upon launch after the date and time below.

[Date & Time]
Sep. 4, 2013 at around 6:10 (GMT)

[Affected Service]
FINAL FANTASY XIV: A Realm Reborn

[Update Details]
* Update details will be announced at a later time.

09/06/2013 5:04 PM
Regarding RMT Advertisements
Having confirmed in-game advertisements for RMT* sites, we have taken the following actions to address this issue.
*RMT (Real Money Trade) is selling account or game data with actual currency in the real world.

Period: Aug. 24, 2013 to Sep. 5, 2013
-Accounts receiving disciplinary action for RMT advertisement: 518 Accounts -Action Details: Permanent ban from FINAL FANTASY XIV

In addition to chat filters, we will continue to address RMT activity through cooperation with our GM teams and STF (Special Task Force). If you are solicited by an RMT company in-game, please do not respond.

Among the accounts banned during our investigation, we have confirmed that many of these accounts were hacked. In order to protect your information, we please ask that you protect your Square Enix Account information. We also strongly recommend using the Square Enix Security Token to increase account protection.
For more information about the Security Token: http://sqex.to/o8p

When you see an RMT advertisement, please file a report by using the in-game command [System Menu] -> [Support Desk] -> [Contact Us] -> [Report Cheating].

*What is a STF (Special Task Force)
STF is a special team that eliminates any cheats or actions that would have a negative impact on FINAL FANTASY XIV, and aim for the safety of the community and maintain the play environment. More specifically, they control issues related to RMT or use of outside programs that are not part of the GM's control. Information gathered and confirmed in game by the GMs will be analyzed by the STF and will be applied to the countermeasures against cheats and RMT actions.

This post has been edited by eugenelimys: Sep 6 2013, 05:43 PM

2013/09/07 07:30 Improving the Security of Your Account
Recently we have seen a rise in reports of player accounts being compromised. In order to better safeguard your account's security, please take a moment to review the following tips:

- Avoid sharing account passwords across multiple online services Please note that if you use the same account name or password as your Square Enix account on other online services, a security breach at any of the other online services could potentially lead to your Square Enix account being compromised.

- Use complex passwords that are resistant to guessing If you use repeated strings of characters, phone numbers, birth dates, or other information that may be tied to your identity, this may make it possible for individuals to access your account simply by guessing its password.

- Change your password
If your current password does not adhere to the guidelines listed above, or if you believe that there is any possibility of your password having been compromised, we recommend that you change your password by going to the following page:

https://secure.square-enix.com/account/app/svc/reminder?

- Add extra security to your account with a Security Token or Software Token

To further strengthen the security of your Square Enix account, we highly recommend using a Square Enix Security Token or Software Token to act as an extra layer of protection against unauthorized access.

A free, downloadable smartphone app is available at the following locations:

Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?..._software_token

Itunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/square-enix...d617970570?mt=8

Physical security tokens are also available for purchase here:
http://www.square-enix.com/na/account/otp/

Also, please note that accounts that are suspected of having been compromised will have their access temporarily restricted. Once login has been restricted, an email notification will be sent to the primary email address registered to the Square Enix account. This email will contain instructions on how to remove the login restriction. Players will be asked to reset their passwords and log in again.

Please visit the following link for more information about login restrictions.
http://support.na.square-enix.com/j/lbna

We kindly ask for your cooperation in helping us better safeguard your personal information and account information.