The Final Fantasy 14 community is once again in the blink of an eye on the exploit of mods in the game, to the extent that the producer and director of the game, Naoka Yoshida (Yoshi-P), weighed.
First, some background. While fashion is an extremely common practice in many games, including other MMORPGs, such as World of Warcraft, Final Fantasy 14 always had a bit more hostile relationships with them. This does not mean that players do not exploit mods in FF14 – they absolutely do. But they are not officially allowed. Despite this, Square Enix has been acting for a long time, which allowed the modes to slip away … as long as players are not too deafening or obvious. Therefore, players can exploit mods to adapt their user interface or change the appearance of their character on their own screen. As long as they do not interfere with other people’s games or, say, being very public about their exploit, the publisher mostly closed his eyes.
But this strategy did not always work for Square Enix, especially because of the lack of true clarity for players, which will be permissible, compared to what immediately prohibits. Recently, Mods were again in the programmer’s crosshairs. At the beginning of this year, the Yoshi -P threatened legal actions after fashion could follow the data of other people – a mod, which is obviously not allowed by any standards. But recently another, less of course, a problematic mod introduced into the discourse: Synchronos mare.
Mare Synchronos is a mod that has become popular among Final Fantasy 14 players for years, especially in the case of roles. Basically, it allows those who exploit it “synchronize” their performances with the performances of other players. Here is an example. If I play in FF14 and I don’t have a lot of chilly equipment for my character’s clothes, and I don’t want to launch the content needed to get it for any reason, I can exploit a module that will allow my character as I want – but only on the screen. However, in the case of Synchronos KLA Also See this modified appearance. Players who do not exploit the module will see my character in any flat equipment that I really wear. And critically, the mare does not allow you to change the appearance of the character – you need other mods. The mare simply allows you to see other mods and be seen.
However, a week ago, Mare Synchronos announced that she is closing. The quoted reason was that he received a “legal inquiry” around the project, and after reviewing the option, the creator decided to end it. Last Friday it was officially dim. While some fans were unsuccessful by closing, and even claimed that they finally expected it, many others were deeply nervous. Although the developer Mare did not determine who the legal investigation came from, many speculate that it was probably Square Enix, and even took the official forums FF14 to complain about closing the external fashion. At the moment, he is even bombed on Steam, now he is sitting in the “mixed” latest reviews compared to “very positive” reviews.
This is what prompted Yoshi-P to speak. IN Long post on the official Final Fantasy website 14The manufacturer repeated his past the displayed attitude in Mods: he tolerates them. This attitude, says, has not changed. Fashion made only for their own personal exploit, which only affect the person, explains Yoshi-P, they are fine with him. “I would like to emphasize the importance that players follow two rules: that their game style does not violate others and that they do not negatively affect the basic game, its services or intended game design, as mentioned above.”
Yoshi-P describes in detail exactly what he understands, “negative affecting the intended game project” and “violating others.” He offers an example of a player, player A who loves the raid and acquires a fresh title and weapon, effectively finishing the highest raid. Player B has no time on the raid and uses a module that allows them to see his character with the same title and weapon as player A., if it displays it only on the player B screen, this is not a problem for Yoshi-p.
However, where Yoshi-P questions that it begins to influence others. If player B changes are perceptible to the player and in some way, “it significantly negates this cooperation, time and effort, not to mention the pride they could feel in their achievement.”
Then he illustrates another example that is unacceptable: a mod that allows players to freely equip optional items purchased in the FF14 online store and display them to others:
“Some may say that Square Enix is guilty of trying to earn money, demanding that players spend additionally on optional items,” he writes. “We serve our servers and data centers twenty -four hours a day, three hundred sixty -five days a year, hoping that our players can enjoy reliable experience in games. Currently, global inflation is reflected at a fast pace if at this point increasing the costs of electricity, earth costs, and even servers themselves. Deposit, FFXIV may not be able to act anymore.
In the third example, Yoshi-P mentions the possibility of fashion, which shows a completely naked character. Even if it is displayed only on the player screen, it explains how it can be potentially harmful. For example, if a player publishes a screenshot of his naked character on social media, FF14 may encounter legal consequences.
“The laws that regulate the content of video games are growing more every year,” he says. “These provisions are aimed at protecting minors and various other reasons, but the fact is that they become tangibly stricter. We are obliged to provide our services in compliance with the provisions of all countries where FFXIV is available, and if we are unable to do it, the distribution of our game can be prohibited. This is another example of individual damage.”
Yoshi-P finishes his post, saying that he intends to listen to players’ opinions and an attempt to increase the freedom of players to equip various types of equipment. “During a long customary tradition of PC games, please, all players, in turn, respect our game, enjoying fun within some basic rules,” he saves.
Although this post contains very needed explanations, it ultimately leaves the Final Fantasy 14 in the same strange condition in which it has always been: not allowed fashion, except that no one ever knows that you are using them. Although it will probably be a sufficient explanation for many players, it is still a potentially frustrating place for players who have built their styles of the game around the modding community and what it has to offer. At least on the console no one has anything to worry about.
Rebekah Valentine is a senior Ign reporter. You can find her post on BlueSky @duckvalentine.bsky.skyla. Do you have a hint with history? Send it to ralentine@ign.com.
