Before you start:
On December 2nd, 2021 at 8:23pm EST the first of two patches for Endwalker became available to download. Depending on what system you're playing on the size is between 8gb - 10gb and should take roughly 20 minutes to download and install on a nominal High-Speed Internet connection (Sorry, CenturyLink folks!) Use these 20 minutes to prepare. You're going to need:
- Comfortable clothing.
- A set of headphones or a high-quality sound system.
- Hydration and caffiene (Don't just grab the coffee! Fill your water jug as well!)
- A few light, non-greasy snacks.
- A good book.
- Tissues (Optional).
It's also wise to do some light stretching before you start. Work out those kinks, make sure you're limber and relaxed enough to sustain sitting for a couple of hours. We're going to be here for awhile.
The "Other" Download.
The Final Fantasy XIV team has partnered with Embody to create an Immersive 3d Sound pack for headphones. This is a premium option (Currently $19.99) separate from the game and a free trial can be downloaded from https://embody.co/pages/ffxiv should you wish to try it out. Once downloaded you're required to do several steps for setup, including taking a picture of your right ear and uploading to Embody's ear database.
Yes.
They want a picture of your ear.
Once you've set up your free trial you can enable immserive audio from within games sound options. But, once again, this is an entirely optional addition to your game and it is not necessary by any means. Whether it is worth it or not may take a bit of time to tell.
Logging In
Once you're all patched up - and have sold the rights to your ear to a soundscape company - the fun can begin! You'll be treated to a brand-new login screen complete with an epic score by Masayoshi Soken and a new attract movie that features all of the Scions in full preparation for what is about to come. The character select screen should look about the same as normal, but there is a new addition you may not have seen before when attempting to log in:
Expect Login Queues to be a way of life for the next two weeks, though launch day will probably be the day with the most congestion and it should taper off every day thereafter. Expect to wait somewhere around 20 minutes per 1500 people ahead of you in the queue. For the period after Launch AFK times have been reduced across all Eorzea to try to maximize the amount of people actively playing the game at any one moment, and Queues are enforced across all logins. There isn’t a way to circumvent them and cancelling out of the queue will put you at the back of the line.
During your wait you may be tempted to keep your eyes glued to the count, reveling every time it goes down. Or you may feel like the numbers aren’t really dropping because they haven’t updated in quite some time. Don’t! The queue length does not update per login/logout and only changes numbers every minute or two. You won’t get much information from the screen so use this time to read that book you brought, have a couple of snacks, catch up on some Critical Role, or pass the time talking to your friends in your Free Company. You’ll be in soon enough!
We’re in!
Congrats! You’ve made it into the game! But hang on, don’t go rushing off to get the first MSQ quite yet.
Depending on your system hardware you may experience slight issues displaying the massive amount of concurrent player characters in an area at any given time. Luckily, there’s an easy way to fix that (As well as make it easier to see your quest objectives: Under System Config > Other settings > Character and Object quantity you can find a way to set the number of displayed characters and objects to a minimum.
Doing this will not only help ease your systems pain at seeing 1,000 bunny bois hop shirtless across the screen but should also help you identify quest giving NPCs and Objectives. Another helpful tool is the F12 key on PC. With default keybindings this will automatically select the nearest NPC from the pile of PCs surrounding them and help you identify where to click.
What’s next?
Pray, return to the Rising Stones in Revenants Toll and speak to Alphinaud to start your journey to the end! You’ll be traveling to many places only mentioned before and seeing sights you’ve only heard about. Down your coffee, crack your knuckles, get those tissues ready, and settle back for an hour-long introduction to Endwalker.
