Naoki Yoshida, the head of Final Fantasy XIV, has commented on the use of unauthorized tools in the MMORPG. He wonders why the community always wants tougher challenges only to dilute the experience with third-party software.
While third-party tools and mods are prohibited in Final Fantasy XIV, as there is no anti-cheat system, the developers have no way to monitor the use of these programs. The content is designed so that players can actually manage it without these aids. Nevertheless, it repeatedly happens that players use unauthorized programs to gain an advantage.
Just recently, a raid group that managed to achieve the world-first kill in the ultimate raid “The Omega Protocol” faced a lot of mockery and ridicule from the community. The group used third-party software to conquer the ultimate raid.
The group employed a zoom hack that improved visibility of the combat situation. They also used a hitbox pixel cheat, a cooldown tracker, and other unauthorized aids.
The strong reaction from the community has now also prompted the developers to take action. Naoki Yoshida himself reprimanded the use of these “aids”. He reminded the community that these programs violate the rules.
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Chief developer comments on the add-on controversy
What did Yoshi-P say? In a lengthy post on the official FFIX website, Naoki Yoshida, who is known in the community by his nickname Yoshi-P, spoke about the controversy surrounding the ultimate raid “The Omega Protocol”.
He confirmed the community’s suspicion that some raid groups were using forbidden mods during the ultimate raid. Square Enix, the studio behind FFXIV, would thoroughly investigate the incidents and follow up on relevant reports from the community. They are also using internal data, and some players have already admitted to violating the terms of service.
Yoshida cannot understand why players demand tougher content on one hand but then rely on forbidden programs to make the content easier on the other. By the way, this is not the first time that Yoshida has addressed this issue: FFXIV head is disappointed because the best players do not play by his rules
The illegal distribution of in-game cut scenes, which reveal details of the story, is also something the developers want to put a stop to. Yoshida mentions that there has likely been an internal leak. However, the investigations are still ongoing.
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What penalties do players face? Yoshida makes it clear in his statement that the use of mods and third-party software is prohibited. In the event of a violation, account penalties are possible. These range from a temporary account suspension to a permanent account closure.
He further elaborates that the individual penalties will not be made public. It is not the company policy to make these decisions public. However, screenshots are circulating on Discord servers and community sites showing the extent of the penalties. One of the images features a conversation between a member of the raid group “Unnamed_” and a game master.
Although the player is not banned because he apparently did not use any of the tools himself, all titles and achievements are revoked. Additionally, the game master advises the player to delete the weapons he obtained from the raid “as soon as possible”.
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