FF14 Summer Bash event breaks servers after renting billboards

The biggest party in Final Fantasy 14 history featured good times, two-hour queues, and a lot of controversy.

After a controversial ad campaign, an FF14 community event may have broken records as the largest player-promoted event in the game’s history. The Summer Bash, hosted by in-game guild Rain Nightclub, attracted attendees with real-life billboards advertising the event. While exact numbers are not known, stream numbers point to thousands of players being in attendance. 

The party was originally intended to be one of Rain Nightclub’s regular events, but someone from the group spent money on a real-life billboard advertising the happening. It drew controversy for featuring datamined clothing and the official Square Enix logo. Despite that, the stunt still drew many players to the event. Thousands of players showed up to the party, leading to the biggest community event in all of Final Fantasy 14.

How the Summer Bash community event broke FF14

The main draw of Summer Bash was a set of DJ performances. The biggest community event in Final Fantasy 14 included performances from multiple DJs including popular Twitch music streamers djayYAMS, DJ Potate, and YourOneTrueKING.

Since FF14 parties have a cap of 1,500 entrants, players began queuing up for the event hours in advance. The resulting queue times exceeded two hours for some participants.

The sheer number of players posed a problem for the Balmung server, obstructing quest progress for some players. Not content with just standing around, players started their own dance parties around Mist, Ward 23, and Lower La Noscea. FF14 has a strong sense of community even for an MMORPG, so many were happy to wait.

As far as foul play, very little went wrong with the event. A few chat spammers were apprehended by game master mods, but besides those few incidents, it went surprisingly smoothly. The positive reception of the event may have an impact on future events.

While Summer Bash was a good time, it still poses questions for Square Enix due to its unconventional promotion. Real-life billboards featuring official logos and datamined outfits could lead to new friction between the players and developers. Regardless, the Summer Bash should remain the biggest community event in Final Fantasy 14 for quite some time.