A new post full of FFXIV: ARR information has now been released by Square Enix. The information from the Lodestone is quoted below.

" We would like to thank all our customers for their continued support of FINAL FANTASY XIV: A Realm Reborn.

Since the beginning of official service on August 27, 2013, the number of users attempting to access the game has significantly exceeded our initial estimates. While we are pleased to see support for the game reach far beyond our expectations, the servers were not prepared to handle this influx of players. As a result, our servers have been pushed beyond maximum capacity. In order to allow access to as many users as possible, we have implemented login and character creation restrictions. We understand, however, that these restrictions have greatly inconvenienced our players.

To resolve this issue, we will be performing maintenance from September 3, 2013, at 5:00 p.m. to September 4, 2013, at 3:00 a.m (PDT), for the purpose of increasing the number of available Worlds, reducing stress on the Duty Finder servers, and increasing the number of concurrent logins allowed for each server.

Because login and character creation restrictions have hindered our ability to provide quality service, all FINAL FANTASY XIV service accounts will receive an additional seven days of free play time. Furthermore, users who have yet to enter their registration codes will receive an additional seven-day trial should they register before 11:59 p.m. (PDT) on September 9, 2013. Moving forward, we will continue monitoring the servers to ensure that quality service and support are provided in a timely manner.

The additional seven days will be reflected on service accounts after maintenance has concluded on September 4, 2013, which can be confirmed by accessing the FINAL FANTASY XIV: Mog Station.(http://sqex.to/Msp)

We thank you again for your patience and understanding as we continue to address these issues, and look forward to your continued support of FINAL FANTASY XIV: A Realm Reborn.
"