Reopen @ 25/03/2011 8:00 JSTFollow

As part of power conservation measures enacted following the Tohoku earthquake, our game servers were shut down on Mar. 13, 2011 10:00 (GMT) and services for FINAL FANTASY XIV, FINAL FANTASY XI, and PlayOnline (hereafter referred to as "these services") were temporarily suspended. We have determined a date for the restoration of these services, and would like to share this information with you.

Operating the servers for these services makes up 11.6% of the total power consumed by our Tokyo office (based on February 2011 records). We have shut down our air conditioning system (8.8%) and enacted other power conservation measures, such as reducing lighting in our offices, to achieve over 10% in energy usage reductions. With these energy saving measures in place, we will be able to bring our servers back online and restore service to FINAL FANTASY XIV, FINAL FANTASY XI, and PlayOnline on Mar. 25, 2011 11:00 (GMT). All other services, such as those offered on the PlayOnline website, that were temporarily suspended will also be restored at the same time. Please be aware, however, that we may once again be required to suspend services in the event that the power situation worsens.

We offer our sincere apologies for the inconvenience caused by the temporary suspension of these services, and thank you for your understanding. As noted in our original notice regarding the suspension of these services, customers will not be charged any monthly fees for FINAL FANTASY XI throughout the April billing cycle.

We at the Square Enix group are trying to act in a proactive manner in order to provide support towards the relief and restoration efforts in the face of this unprecedented disaster while providing reliable service to our customers, and we thank you for your understanding and support.

http://lodestone.finalfantasyxiv.com/pl/news/detail?newsId=e70fd526655fc4b001d082eb9389727b455071ef

http://www.playonline.com/ff11us/polnews/news20551.shtml

FINAL FANTASY XI FFXI_EN

Plans to resume services temporarily suspended to cooperate with energy-saving efforts following the quake have been announced. (1/2) #FFXI

FFXI_EN

Further details can be found in the news post. http://bit.ly/hUv6T3 (2/2) #FFXI

Am I the only one reading the english update at
http://lodestone.finalfantasyxiv.com/pl/news/detail?newsId=e70fd526655fc4b001d082eb9389727b455071ef
this way "We've turned off our air conditioning and lights so you can play your stupid game, pity us!"? >.>;

Air conditioning? Didn't they just get hit with a blizzard? Time to bundle up!

<.< >.>

Though no coffee and lights would be a deal-breaker for me if I was working there...:p

Someone please post some Friday meme.

Nice to hear the news, but I feel kinda sorry for them without air conditioning duh.

EU POL

http://www.playonline.com/ff11eu/polnews/news20552.shtml

Edited, Mar 22nd 2011 8:12am by Meekon

AC is probably for the servers

Perhaps, but it must not be necessary for their operation if they're willing to bring them back up without said a/c.

Anyway, I'm going to sleep now. Need to start conditioning myself for Thursday.

Most, if not all, servers need some form of cooling, with that being said, their servers are on pretty old machines, so clunkier and probably not as "defined", in less heat production, as servers being made now with current technology.

I'm thinking the AC they are speaking of, is just the AC for their employee's comfort.

Good news indeed.

7AM EST.

Judging by the numbers cited, I get the feeling they were told they had to cut their power consumption by a very specific degree.

I'm curious about the solution though. It seems like it's something quick to implement. Maybe bringing the servers up is a complex process (diagnostics or maintenance or something), or maybe it's a matter of giving the employees time to get things in order, if they/their families were effected by the quake.

I'd hope it's the latter, but I'd also hope no one was directly effected.

Or maybe it's a stress-thingy. I remember back in ye olde days of NWN (the proto-mmo!), servers would crash, come up, half the server population connects at once... aaaand 5 minutes later the server is down again because of it.

Something tells me 'air conditioning' must mean 'heat' though, given the current season and the forecast linked. I doubt anyone is too worried about overheating with lows in the 30's. :p

I imagine the power they had to cut was about 10%.. they agree to cut the heat/AC, and then run around unplugging various devices to get the next 1.2%..

"Ok, for the next week, you'll have to peddle this bike-generator if you want to work in the light."

On the upside, if a 10% reduction (presumably by all companies/households) is enough to prevent a power shortage, the situation is looking pretty bright compared to a week ago.

Edited, Mar 22nd 2011 8:51am by ItsAMyri