Yoshi-P is not happy with the latest round of FFXIV mod users who breached the MMO game’s terms of use to finish the new Ultimate Raid in patch 6.31. The game’s producer expressed his displeasure in a new Lodestone blog post, where he reminded players that using mods and addons is never acceptable or even necessary.
“It is extremely disappointing for me personally to see this commotion surrounding third-party tools once again in the wake of what happened with Dragonsong’s Reprise (Ultimate),” Yoshida said.
“As the individual who is entrusted with full supervision over FFXIV, it is my responsibility to enact countermeasures and police the use of these tools, as well as educate people to not use these types of third-party tools—this is especially unfortunate when I, as a gamer, am cheering on everyone who is learning this content by trial and error and putting in the effort to clear.”
Final Fantasy XIV mods and add-ons are a bit of a complex subject. The game’s terms disallow using them for any reason, though players often mod their characters’ hair or clothing or use third-party photo mode mods with more options than the game’s in-world camera. Others use addons in high-difficulty content to help predict enemy behavior.
While Square Enix is aware of their use, they typically go unpunished – unless the user is careless enough to make them publicly viewable or speak openly about them online. That was the case with the Dragonsong Reprise incident Yoshida mentioned, where the user in question actually streamed themselves using the mods.
One reason mods were appealing for patch 6.31 players is the unofficial World First Race, a community event to see who can finish the UItimate Raid first. Yoshida said that, while not officially endorsed, the event is something he followed closely and commented on – but not anymore. Instead, he’s discussing the viability of official raid races with the FFXIV team.
Written by Josh Broadwell on behalf of GLHF
