After years of waiting and promises of a new an innovative MMO experience, Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn has finally arrived. Gamers everywhere are getting their first taste of Square Enix's MMO relaunch, and finding out what's new and what's still the same.

Unfortunately, as it turns out, some gamers have been unable to get in on the Final Fantasy XIV action, as Square Enix has halted digital sales. But that's not because there's anything broken with the game, mind you; it's actually because the game's servers simply cannot handle the tremendous player load.

Square Enix broke the news on their Facebook page earlier this week, saying that they have put digital sales on hold until they expand their server capacity. The message says that should be within the coming days, but no official timeline is given.

Due to the overwhelmingly positive response to FINAL FANTASY XIV: A Realm Reborn, we are currently experiencing extremely long wait times for users to be able to log in and play. As a temporary measure, we will halt sales of FINAL FANTASY XIV: A REALM REBORN’s digital download products so we can accommodate all of those wishing to play. We are working to expand our server capacity in the coming days.

This announcement shouldn't come as too much of a surprise to current Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn players, as most assumed Square Enix would do something to combat the long wait times. North Americans especially have been hit with troubles getting online and playing, while the Japanese market (Final Fantasy's key demographic) has had greater success.

Obviously, server overload isn't unheard for an MMO launch, but when it's for a game that already started off on a bad foot and is hoping to make good this second go-round. then getting from crippling server outages to smooth sailing is a must. Whether halting digital sales is a smart decision is another thing - as it could either convince gamers the MMO is worth checking out or could discourage those who are casually interested.

The most positive thing to come out of this announcement, though, is that the Final Fantasy XIV servers are busy, so clearly gamers are interested in checking this game out. Granted, these players are all people who purchased the game at retail and are enjoying their free trial, but hopefully the MMO experience will be running at its optimum level by the time subscriptions are required.

Have you had a chance to hop onto a Final Fantasy XIV server? What do you think of the MMO relaunch? Will you invest a significant amount of time in the game?

Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn is available now for the PC and will be out some time in 2014 for the PS3.

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Source: Square Enix