Square Enix have finally clarified how their controversial “fatigue” system for limiting player advancement in Final Fantasy XIV works – players are not after all limited to 1 hour of play a day, but instead to a much more generous 8 hours a week.


The announcement was made on the internal Final Fantasy XIV beta tester site by the game’s director Nobuaki Komoto, and has since been reproduced by multiple sources:


In summary:

Players earn XP at 100% for the first 8 hours.
For 7 hours over this limit the XP received decreases to 0%.
The time limit for the playtime counter to reset is 1 week.
The XP gain limit is not tied to any class/job but is per character.
Drops and loot are not affected by the XP “fatigue.”

I guess that working people or busy people wouldn't be effected by this system as they can't find that much free time to play anyway, however players who had made a name for themselves from FFXI may find this system to be of ridicule as for a mmorpg players, you need to invest time into the game to make it worthwhile.

Although the system encourage players to try other jobs in exchange, it simply means that you won't be able to play your favorite class all day long. I truly find this decision to be very astonishing as they expect the players to pay subscription fees and yet limiting them to their gameplay time.