The firstFinal Fantasy 14raiding groups have begun to clear the Dragonsong’s Reprise (Ultimate) raid, prompting director and producer Naoki Yoshida to congratulate the victors. However, his congratulation came with a stern reminder thatFinal Fantasy 14has a zero-tolerance policy on third-party mods and datamining.
Normally, when aFinal Fantasy 14raid team wins the World First clear for its content, Yoshida congratulates them on their victory personally. This time, he was unable to congratulate them by name, as there was irrefutable evidence the teams had used third-party plugins to help clear the content–a breach ofFinal Fantasy 14’sTerms of Service.
RELATED:Final Fantasy 14 Reveals Weapon Design Contest Results
In the letterYoshida shared withFinal Fantasy 14players, he outlined what third-party tools garnered priority investigations for penalties and explained its reasoning for the forbiddance. Many of these tools provide additional information about a difficult battle to make clearing it easier–which is unfair to other players who aren’t using those tools. Yoshida insists all content inFinal Fantasy 14can be cleared without these add-ons with practice and dedication. In fact, he said using these mods carries more risks than rewards and asks players to refrain from doing so.
He also commented about datamining–the retrieval of files from the game’s servers and leaking them to the public.Final Fantasy 14encrypts its files to prevent datamining, but mistakes happen. Yoshida assertedFinal Fantasy 14considers these leaks “utterly unacceptable,” as they “undermine the efforts of the development and operation teams, but also take away from our players’ enjoyment.” He said leaking such information is grounds for legal action, which it has taken against individuals in the past, and asks fans not to share mined data when it happens.
Most players who read Yoshida’s words took them to heart. WhilemanyFinal Fantasy 14players use mods, most players look down on mods that influence the game outside simple cosmetics.Final Fantasy 14’sdevelopment team is known for its dedication and compassion, so most players will likely obey their wishes and refrain from participating in the prohibited activities.
On the other hand, some fans are frustrated byFinal Fantasy 14’szero-tolerance policy on mods. They assert these mods are essential to completing difficult content like the Dragonsong’s Reprise (Ultimate), despiteFF14’sclaim to the contrary, and find the existing UI is lacking. Some have even posted screenshots proving they use such mods themselves–an interesting decision, given Yoshida explicitly asked players not to do so. Much of these complaints come fromWorld of Warcraftfans, asWoWengages in significant amounts of dataminingand encourages the use of mods. Nevertheless,Final Fantasy 14has said it is committed to improving its own UI in the future to add features requested by players, thereby discouraging the use of third-party tools.
Final Fantasy 14is available now on PC, PS4, and PS5.
MORE:Final Fantasy 14: How To Beat Phase One Of The Dragonsong’s Reprise Ultimate Raid
