Update 7.21 only launched on Final Fantasy XIV: Dawntrail yesterday, but the Cosmic Exploration project is already being maxed out on some servers. The MMO set in the Final Fantasy universe headed into the great expanse of space (again) with yesterday's big update, giving fans a new project to work on. But it seems that Square Enix may have underestimated the dedication of its fan base, as several servers zoom through the new task at lightning-fast speeds.

Cosmic Exploration is a new feature in the popular Final Fantasy MMO, but it seems that more casual players might not get to play it. The communal project works similarly to the Ishgardian Restoration initiative from the Shadowbringers expansion, asking payers to work together to upgrade a planet as a group.

As of this morning, many servers have already maxed out the entire colony upgrade, leaving many players without the opportunity to participate. Onvyran has shared their disappointment on Reddit with the community at the speed that their server managed to complete the new feature.

Dedicated Players Have Already Completed Cosmic Exploration On Many FFXIV Servers

More Casual Fans Didn't Get The Chance To Participate

The Cosmic Exploration feature has players utilizing their skills, teamwork, and massive mechs to turn a barren planet into a thriving colony. As players contribute to the location, gathering materials and crafting contributions, the location undergoes visual changes. The more the colony expands and grows, the bigger and more robust it will appear to players. Anyone who shows up too late to participate will get to see how the location has changed over time, but won't get to contribute anything to its evolution.

Unfortunately, the last part is happening to more and more players who log on a mere day after the update went live, only to find that there's nothing left to do for the new feature. The Redditor shares their experience with the Cosmic Exploration feature, noting that the project had already been completed by the time they got home from work. "The progress is already in phase 3. cannot contribute to it anymore," they write. "This makes me feel really sad," they add, since it means they don't get to actually participate in the community project.

New Final Fantasy XIV Update Is Leaving Some Fans Behind

Casual Players Can't Compete

Many players in the comments share the original poster's disappointment at missing most of the event, despite their best attempts to be available for the update launch. Some comments describe reworking their schedules to accommodate the update release but still finding most of the Cosmic Exploration already completed by the time they're available.

Reddit KoriKitsu notes that the issue can be exacerbated by your location. They write: "Some servers finished before some time zones would we awake. It's really wild." The Final Fantasy XIV development team are fairly in-tune with its fanbase, so they may take these issues into when deg their next event of the same kind. Until then, players will just have to hope they're on one of the few servers who haven't yet completed the entire event in less than a day.

Source: Onvyran/Reddit, KoriKitsu/Reddit