Entertainment news and discussion on TalkFuse.
Upcoming Final Fantasy 14 update should massively cut down on dungeon queue times
Final Fantasy 14 will expand matchmaking across logical data centres within the same physical region from 10 November. The change is intended to shorten waits for specific duties, particularly alliance raids, and make it easier for players to find groups for high-end content.
The feature follows a successful trial on Japanese servers. It will also extend party finder, cross-world linkshells, fellowships, friends lists and direct messages across those data centres, while making travel between them easier. The game’s four physical regions are Japan, Europe, Oceania and North America; cross-region travel is not part of the announced update.
In short
- Matchmaking will span logical data centres in the same region from 10 November.
- The change aims to reduce waits for specific duties.
- Group-finding tools will also work across those data centres.
Steelman: both sides, in good faith
The strongest fair case each way — we don't pick a winner.
The case for
Expanding matchmaking across data centres within each region should give players a larger pool of people to form groups, which could reduce waits for less frequently played duties and high-end content. Extending social tools and travel may also make it easier for friends and communities to play together, while the successful Japanese trial offers a reason to expect the change to help.
The case against
A larger matchmaking pool may not shorten queues equally for every duty or at every time, so players could see little improvement in some situations. The broader links between data centres may also make communities feel less locally connected or complicate how players find and coordinate with familiar groups.
Explained simply
Final Fantasy 14 is an online role-playing game in which players team up to tackle “duties”, including dungeons and large alliance raids. Its servers are grouped into logical data centres within four physical regions: Japan, Europe, Oceania and North America.
Players are usually matched with others on their own data centre, so the number of people available for a particular activity can affect how long they wait. The announced change will let matchmaking draw from more data centres within the same region, and extend some social and group-finding features across them; it will not include travel between regions.
This matters most for activities that need many players or attract fewer people at a given time. A larger pool could make groups easier to find, while keeping the expanded matching within each physical region.
Entertainment Gaming Software Technology