Once again, Square Enix has lowered restrictions on gifting mounts, emotes and other select items between players of Final Fantasy 14. The community is relieved at being able to treat each other a little, for however long the possibility remains open.
Today, April 2, a 'Buy For a Friend' option in the online store will let you pick up a present for an account you're fond of. The selection, according to the official site, is: Mounts (Single Character), Minions (Single Character), Emotes, Orchestrion Rolls, Face Paint, Chocobo Barding, and Fashion Accessories.
It's not specified for how long these will be available, so if you're thinking of getting one for a buddy, I'd put your cash down sooner rather than later. Square Enix severely limited this practice in October 2022 primarily due to scamming, because it opens the game up to exploitation from people using fraudulent or ill-gotten financial means. They can buy the object, gift it, then resell it while the money from the original purchase is caught up in fraud litigation.
Members of the community are happy to see it come back. "Awesome, I can now gift my husband without having to unsuspectingly get into his pc and log into his account," says one commenter on Reddit.
"Finally, was so upset when I realized I couldn’t buy stuff for my friends," another states, while others are a little surprised at the menu: "There are face paints in the online shop? I've never heard of them, are they modern aesthetics?" a player humorously asks. They've since found them.
One person muses the "select categories" are ones "less likely for RMT traders to try and profit off." Whether there's anything to that, I don't know, but it seems plausible, and how much that happens might be the deciding factor in gifting remaining possible.
