Since talk began of Squaresoft's fist venture into the online gaming forum, RPG players everywhere have eagerly anticipated the release of Final Fantasy XI. However, this may prove to be one of the fist times that Square, a leader in the RPG industry, fails to live up to expectations. Apparently, Square's underestimation of the level of interest in their title has led to their PlayOnline server being overwhelmed with players. Also, the billing company used by Square was unable to process the flood of registrations. Even the website for PlayOnline experienced technical difficulties with this massive influx of players, rendering support services unable to accomodate the legions of upset FFXI'ers.
Squaresoft has since determined one of the major causes for the server problems is faulty registration codes, which accompany each copy of Final Fantasy XI individually. Consequently, those with copies of Final Fantasy XI that have an invalid registration code will be unable to access PlayOnline, and FFXI, until the problem is fixed. Moreover, registration codes must be fixed on an individual basis because the source of the problem cannot be determined. As a result, many people who purchased copies of Final Fantasy XI will be unable to access the PlayOnline network to play the game for some time.
A toll-free number has been provided to contact Square for customer support regarding Final Fantasy XI, (0120) 540-882. Furthermore, Squaresoft president Youcihi Wada issued an annoucement that user fees for FFXI and PlayOnline will be suspended as compensation for the severe problems that have prevented players from accessing FFXI until 6/30/02. Ironically, it appears as though the supreme dedication of Squaresoft's fan base may have caused the first major difficulty the company has encountered in its recent history.
[Source:] Square Extreme
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