Final Fantasy 14 cracks down on players who use mods
A Final Fantasy 14 streamer was jailed in-game, banned for 10 days, and banned from Twitch for a week for using mods in the MMO amid an apparent crackdown on their use.
As reported by Polygon, Twitch user Bagel Goose was streaming Final Fantasy 14 with mods active (which altered its own visuals without affecting other players) when his character was teleported to an in-game prison for a moderator’s judgement place.
Various mods have been created to change players’ HUD and make things like damage output (an important stat for high-level players) clearer, but a May 9 blog post by Final Fantasy 14 director Naoki Yoshida made it clear that even these are forbidden.
There is no way my tank was pulled from the DSR mid-turn to get a 10 day ban on a clean account. i hate it here
— Melo (@MeloArkwind) May 10, 2022
While these mods may not be harmful to other players, Yoshida said that analyzing every existing mod to determine its appropriateness is “physically impossible, which is why we decided to simply ban the use of all third-party tools and software. “
The conversations between the player and presenter in prison are kept fairly secret, and while Bagel Goose’s incarceration can be seen on YouTube, all videos of the judging and subsequent punishment were apparently removed soon after uploading.
The Final Fantasy 14 host isn’t triggering the Twitch infraction, but it appears Bagel Goose was reported to the streaming platform after his in-game incarceration and thus also received a seven-day ban from Twitch.
Another streamer, Hiroro_FF, was also recently jailed in-game for using mods, but the details of his suspension are unclear and his Twitch account remains unbanned.
While Final Fantasy 14 has gone from strength to strength over the past few years, it’s not without its problems. The game has suffered a digital real estate crisis, and Yoshida has asked PvP players to act with more respect or face potential bans.
Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelancer who occasionally thinks about tweeting @thelastdinsdale. He’ll be talking about The Witcher all day.
https://www.ign.com/articles/final-fantasy-14-cracking-down-mods Final Fantasy 14 cracks down on players who use mods
