Banned for Windower?

[Crosser]

Recently I have been wondering if SE still disapproves of PC players that play the game with Windower. I don't mean the stupid windowed mode that SE gave us a few years ago. I mean the actual Windower with the plugins that makes the game so much more enjoyable. I was wondering also that if they don't have a problem with PC players that use Windower, then does that also imply that they do not mind PC users using Windower macros. For those who don't know what Windower macros offer over in game macros differs in that:

1. The games macros that are limited to six lines per macro key. Windower macros allow for infinite macro lines per macro key.

2. Windower macros are very easy to edit. The in game macros only offer a very select few choices of commands you can use for copying macros. You usually still have to type out most of your macros yourself. However, if someone posts a macro setup that you think would work for you, then all you have to do is do a copy/paste to the Windower macros. You can also show friends your macro setups as well and ask for ideas on how to improve them.

If SE doesn't mind that the majority of PC players use Windower or Windower Macros, then does that also mean that if someone needed to save their macro sets (macros that were made for operating Windower Macros) to the POL server would they need to worry that SE would ban them for saving macros that used a 3rd party software with the game.

[Bumbeen]

I asked a LGM about this years ago at a kirin and he just ignored me.

Of course if they really cared it would be trivially easy to identify and ban people who use windower scripts or spellcast.

[Alhanelem]

Any third party tool is bannable; It's only a matter of whether they can detect you using it or not. The only real way for them to detect tools is if they send data to the server or ask for data from the server in unusual ways.

From what little I ever hear about it, they only ban people in extreme cases; they can't afford to kill off customers when its not absolutely necessary.

[Tsukino_Kaji]

FFXI now has a built in windower, so you can still window and not get banned for 3rd party tools.

[Alkalinehoe]

FFXI now has a built in windower, so you can still window and not get banned for 3rd party tools.

lol at not reading OP.

[Darkshade]

Would likely quit if Windower wasn't available. Sadly I feel the game is not worth playing without it's utility and convenience.

[Alhanelem]

SE could learn a thing or two from them if they really wanted to.

[Darkshade]

SE could learn a thing or two from them if they really wanted to.

I think many of the problems stem from the code being so old and them having to cater to PS2 users. I don't have a problem with it, XI's UI is just very limited and crummy. It works and I'm glad it's lag free unlike XIV but, it leaves something to be desired in several ways.

[Greatguardian]

Technically there's nothing stopping them from updating the Windows UI and leaving the PS2 UI where it is. They just choose not to.

Even if they did, though, they wouldn't be implementing anything as cool as Spellcast (most likely), so people would still use Windower anyways. I highly, highly doubt they care though. Just don't run around shouting about it next to someone who hates you and wants to GM you for anything and everything. For what it's worth, I've never seen someone banned for it.

[Kraggy]

Would likely quit if Windower wasn't available. Sadly I feel the game is not worth playing without it's utility and convenience.
So, apart from the cheating features (massive macro capability, etc) what aspects of the game does Windower make worthwhile?

[Greatguardian]

ITT: Being able to swap more than 6 pieces of gear at a time is cheating.

Is it, by definition? Yes. Does it hurt anyone? No. Absolutely not. Never will. Is it worth complaining about? Not really.

[Kraggy]

ITT: Being able to swap more than 6 pieces of gear at a time is cheating.

Is it, by definition? Yes. Does it hurt anyone? No. Absolutely not. Never will. Is it worth complaining about? Not really.
You know as well as I do the macro system in Windower is used to do a hell of lot more that is impossible with the game as SE provide it than simple gear swaps!

[Greatguardian]

You know as well as I do the macro system in Windower is used to do a hell of lot more that is impossible with the game as SE provide it than simple gear swaps!

Like what? Skillup scripts? Enhancing skillups that don't require a Besieged? Oh no. What ever shall we do.

[Alkalinehoe]

Like what? Skillup scripts? Enhancing skillups that don't require a Besieged? Oh no. What ever shall we do.

These are crazy times we're living in man.

[Runespider]

Would be nice if they condoned certain things like in wow but i doubt they ever will. Honestly I think they can detect it (when you look at all the stuff they can track with the census) but they have no reason to take action on it.

It's not hard to track windower if they really wanted to, timestamp alone is a huge flag waving you are using it but they have no reason to ban large numbers of players for what is really a pointless reason.

[Delsus]

I think they should condone certain plugins like recast and status timer, these are nice to have and are included in 14, so the only reason they wouldnt is because of the PS2 and 360 players. They could however get in touch with the people that still work on windower and see which plugins people use, then they could check if the popular plugins would break the game and if not implement them in the client.

Take Distance, Recast and StatusTimer, these are very light weight and could easily be implemented in the official client and wouldnt be too bad on the ps2 resources

[Vold]

So, apart from the cheating features (massive macro capability, etc) what aspects of the game does Windower make worthwhile?

I think people approve of it over SE's version because it's true fullscreen. Not to mention it doesn't make the game run like crap. I don't know what it is that the windower team did that owned paid professionals so badly, but they did it. SE took us too literally when we asked for a windowed mode. We wanted full screen and alt tab. Not boxed screen and lag.

[Delsus]

I think people approve of it over SE's version because it's true fullscreen. Not to mention it doesn't make the game run like crap. I don't know what it is that the windower team did that owned paid professionals so badly, but they did it. SE took us too literally when we asked for a windowed mode. We wanted full screen and alt tab. Not boxed screen and lag.

lol anyone that does somthing like windower owns paid professionals, PSP custom firmware, Iphone jailbreak, Android custom firmware are all better than the official versions

[Neika]

I use SE windower on my laptop, and I don't find it makes me lag out any worse than I do on my desktop (I play full screen on my desktop). I've never used the unofficial windower, but I have heard of some of the plug-ins, and I would love SE to implement some of them to the game. It'll never happen of course, but it's nice to dream :D

[Arcon]

It's not hard to track windower if they really wanted to, timestamp alone is a huge flag waving you are using it but they have no reason to ban large numbers of players for what is really a pointless reason.

How would they know it shows timestamps on your PC? That information isn't sent back to their servers, so they have no idea. It's not even anywhere in the memory, or in the temporary log file, it's just put on the user's screen before it's shown. So unless you make screenshots of your timestamps and e-mail them to SE HQ, and convince them they're not photoshopped, they won't know you're using timestamps. Same goes for almost all Windower plugins.

[JackDaniels]

lol at not reading OP.

I know, she doesn't read anything in its entirety.

[Laraul]

I think people approve of it over SE's version because it's true fullscreen. Not to mention it doesn't make the game run like crap. I don't know what it is that the windower team did that owned paid professionals so badly, but they did it. SE took us too literally when we asked for a windowed mode. We wanted full screen and alt tab. Not boxed screen and lag.

Actually... for me ... using the in game Windowed mode is faster then the third party Windower. And a lot of people who use the third party Windower app just leave it set to the default settings and run it in a Window sized at 800x600.

There are some negative things about Windower... for example it's setup to load some plugins automatically at start up. Unfortunately... they may cause the game to crash. This was a problem when Windower was being distributed with an out of date plugin which crashed the game every time. I assume the problem has been addressed.

Also the original person behind Windower left a LONG time ago. As did the people he left it to originally. There will come a time when development no one wants to bother (unless they open the source code to everyone and they seem very reluctant to do this).

[Elexia]

Would likely quit if Windower wasn't available. Sadly I feel the game is not worth playing without it's utility and convenience.

Yeah, it is hard to play a game without a ton of plugins.

[Korpg]

I don't think they would ban people just for using windower, there are too many people out there who uses windower to ban.

Banning everyone who uses windower is like committing economical suicide.

[Aurara]

I don't think they would ban people just for using windower, there are too many people out there who uses windower to ban.

Banning everyone who uses windower is like committing economical suicide.

This, the sheer number of people both NA and JP who use it would destroy their income from the game.

[Greatguardian]

This, the sheer number of people both NA and JP who use it would destroy their income from the game.

Eh, I've never been a fan of this argument. People said the exact same thing about the Salvage bans when duping was outed =/.

That said, Windower is 99% harmless (and maintained specifically to stay that way) and adds so much to the game that I highly doubt they care enough to really go after people for using it.

[katz]

Windower does give unfair advantages to the game that non windower users dont get. We all know of people who use it to their advantage and saying its just used to be able to macro gear changes is a bit silly. Personally I have no need to use it as I like the game challenges without using it.

[Elexia]

Eh, I've never been a fan of this argument. People said the exact same thing about the Salvage bans when duping was outed =/.

Yeah, how the game was going to collapse and end because they ban cheaters? That was what, 2 1/2 years ago? Guess FFXI has ended :3

Windower in itself does nothing and the initial argument was "I just want to browse the net or chat on messengers while I play", then SE released windowed mode and suddenly the argument shifted "well it adds functionality SE should have made".

[Malamasala]

Everyone is a criminal. The question is if anyone bothers enough to punish us.

[katz]

You enjoy playing your keyboard like a piano when you play ffxi?

And wtf @ "most people who use windower play at 800x600"

I dont use a keyboard but if I did I can type 120 words a min.

PS I also use a 42" TV to run my xbox

[Aurara]

Eh, I've never been a fan of this argument. People said the exact same thing about the Salvage bans when duping was outed =/.

That said, Windower is 99% harmless (and maintained specifically to stay that way) and adds so much to the game that I highly doubt they care enough to really go after people for using it.
The thing is that salvage dupes were actually game breaking(if you get what i mean?) with windower it's harmless like you said.

[Daniel]

I think the game would die pretty fast if they started banning people for standard windower. I doubt its not an exaggeration to say at least 30% of the NA population uses it.

[Korpg]

I think the game would die pretty fast if they started banning people for standard windower. I doubt its not an exaggeration to say at least 30% of the NA population uses it.

Actually, I think the number would be closer to 90% of the PC users use windower, so about 90% of the American PC users would be closer to that figure.

[Alienmonkey]

I dont use a keyboard but if I did I can type 120 words a min.

PS I also use a 42" TV to run my xbox

So you're still having to hit 3-4 macros per spell then. Is hitting A 4 times every time you want to do something a challenge for you? Or is it simply annoying.

[Byrth]

Actually, I think the number would be closer to 90% of the PC users use windower, so about 90% of the American PC users would be closer to that figure.

I think this is overinflated. I'd believe that 90% of the players that go to forums (including this one) and are likely to reply to a "Do you use Windower" poll "Yes," but Windower makes it easier much to find and respond to such a poll.

I think I list the most reputable NA/JP windower study here: http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxi/threads/3596-TOS-clarification?p=61492&viewfull=1#post61492

[Cowardlybabooon]

I may be wrong about the se widower, but I think the biggest advantage to the unofficial one is the ability to run two instances of ffxi on the same machine. If people needed two comps to two box that would suck.

[Darkshade]

Actually... for me ... using the in game Windowed mode is faster then the third party Windower. And a lot of people who use the third party Windower app just leave it set to the default settings and run it in a Window sized at 800x600.

There are some negative things about Windower... for example it's setup to load some plugins automatically at start up. Unfortunately... they may cause the game to crash. This was a problem when Windower was being distributed with an out of date plugin which crashed the game every time. I assume the problem has been addressed.

Also the original person behind Windower left a LONG time ago. As did the people he left it to originally. There will come a time when development no one wants to bother (unless they open the source code to everyone and they seem very reluctant to do this).

Yeah, but development has been passed on to many other iterations of programmers. I don't see it dieing anytime soon, the only thing that could really kill it is if SE decided to finally upgrade the Direct X used and changed some serious ways in which data is stored in memory. Even then, it would be fixable given the current team cared enough.

[Darkshade]

You enjoy playing your keyboard like a piano when you play ffxi?

And wtf @ "most people who use windower play at 800x600"

Most people I know that use windower play at 1680x1050 or 1920x1080/1200. Would be nice if someday SE could scale the GUI better for these higher resolutions or at least cut the chat box in half.

[wildsprite]

most people I know use windower to allow them to play at the resolution of their monitor or TV if they have one hooked up, the resolutions in the settings are rather lacking

[Korpg]

A lot of people use windower, nobody wants to admit it because that is almost the same as going to the police and telling them that you are an avid speeder.

[Seyrena]

I don't use Windower. But if I did, and I have been considering it, I would use only the ViewDistance and TimeStamp plugins, to increase my view distance to render the entire zone for aesthetic effect, and see what time exactly a message arrives in my chat box. At the moment, I just edit the registry values to make FFXI render the background resolution at 1680x1680 instead of 1024x1024. http://wiki.ffxiclopedia.org/wiki/Graphics

[Juilan]

The way I see it is, most of the advantages to windower, if you want to call them that, are things that make the game more convient and not as focus. Or better yet let it be a background application while you're doing a million other things on the computer. The computer is far too power to just run FFXI, even with the windowed mode (which has lagged every computer I tried it on) doesn't compare. If SE would give me native settings to my resolution for my 42 inch tv where i can force the background higher than the display to give me crisper graphics then I'd stop using it. Other than that I see no reason to use other than the multiple macros to show /recast for everything I use on multiple jobs... though seriously 3 macros requires for doing a ws and then three macros to go back into TP gear...

ps: Darkshade you kick ass

[Seyrena]

If SE would give me native settings to my resolution for my 42 inch tv where i can force the background higher than the display to give me crisper graphics then I'd stop using it.
See my post. It's just above yours.

[Rearden]

Yeah, how the game was going to collapse and end because they ban cheaters? That was what, 2 1/2 years ago? Guess FFXI has ended :3

Windower in itself does nothing and the initial argument was "I just want to browse the net or chat on messengers while I play", then SE released windowed mode and suddenly the argument shifted "well it adds functionality SE should have made".

FFXI was dead until the release of Abyssea, though not because of the salvage bans.

Banning for Windower would be Salvage bans on an exponential scale, comparatively the number of people banned for salvage vs windower (in this scenario) would be somewhere around 5% or less.

[Sealdorie]

Seeing the tp of party members, mp of alliance members, how long your buffs have been up, the distance you are from a target, how much xp you're getting per hour, screen-shots of the chat log with a nifty organized folder system (date/time/zone) are all aspects of windower and its plugins that I see to be harmless to others but convenient for use.

[Alhanelem]

Most people I know that use windower play at 1680x1050 or 1920x1080/1200. Would be nice if someday SE could scale the GUI better for these higher resolutions or at least cut the chat box in half.
Most people I know the fake fulscreen mode- e.g. full screen window with no border. Gives you full screen with alt-tab ability.

If you could do that with the stock window mode, I would happily use it.

[Darkshade]

Most people I know the fake fulscreen mode- e.g. full screen window with no border. Gives you full screen with alt-tab ability.

If you could do that with the stock window mode, I would happily use it.

Yeah same here.

Also for all of those who have to manually edit the registry for your resolutions; I really can't imagine it being too hard to add more common resolutions to the FFXI Config Tool. 800x600, 1024x768, 1280x1024, 1280x720, 1680x1050, 1920x1080, 1920x1200 etc. . . Probably just a few lines of code and would help out the less tech savvy XI player base.

[Fiarlia]

Actually for those who want to edit registry settings without using regedit or windower gui can download the FFXI calculator. It's free (google it), comes with various other very useful parts and allows you to apply settings to the registry with simple clicks to match your desktop resolution.

[Nala]

there are methods of making quasi extended gear swap macros by utilizing the /macro set commands they added a few years back.

[Bubeeky]

I don't use windower, and I've never felt the desire to...I've played the game long enough to know how far away I can cast my spells, I know when my buffs are going to wear, because I use spell rotation to keep up, and I hardly use any more than 1 macro per spell, meanwhile being able to spam cure V for 1100 hp or so with virtually no hate.

Having said that, I have nothing against ppl that use windower...I'm not sure how many ppl I know do, but as long as they aren't hurting anyone with it (and we all know they could abuse it if they wanted), they can use windower to their heart's desire :)

PS. I've always been a PC player in case that matters lol

[Ravenmore]

Whm can go naked with a light staff and still be better then any other job at healing. So only hitting one macro is nothing to be proud. Whm is now the new brd were no matter how bad you gear/skills are, people will still invite you simply to have you.

[Defiledsickness]

for rdm/whm/sch i have gear mixed in to every spell on a macro (i play on 360 so no windower for me). rdm i use staff+grip losing the first 2lines with another line for the actual spell leaving room for only 3more gear swaps.

this is efficient enough as AF3 now beats most of the specialized armor in every aspect. when i want to do more dmg or have better M.Acc i'll just change the armor that doesnt move by hand. so it would've been awesome if they broke the character limit or added more lines, but the macros are decent enough (i could use 2per spell if i cared enough, but i'd rather cure quickly and move to sleep rather then have 10more acc.)

distance doesn't matter its just a luxury for people who pay too much attention and the parser isn't anything a ballista match couldn't tell you. so...ya, this stuff isnt needed at all.

[Eric]

Actually for those who want to edit registry settings without using regedit or windower gui can download the FFXI calculator. It's free (google it), comes with various other very useful parts and allows you to apply settings to the registry with simple clicks to match your desktop resolution.

It's still a 3rd-party program, therefore just as illegal as windower.

[Greatguardian]

Uh, no. It's a calculator. Is Notepad considered an illegal third party program? Internet explorer? Firefox? Microsoft Excel?

It literally does not affect FFXI at all. At best it allows you to edit Registry settings (Windows settings, not FFXI settings. Windows. Settings.) in a GUI rather than messing with RegEdit.

[Fiarlia]

[Removed by Moderator according to the FINAL FANTASY XI FORUM Guidelines (http://support.na.square-enix.com/rule.php?id=20&la=1).]

While this guy is obviously trolling, his point is still valid. Even casting a Cure spell, you'd need more than 5 lines (on most jobs) to equip your maximum Cure Potency set. After that if you're casting any other spell without changing your gear sets you're not performing as well as you could be. The only spells I can think of that are acceptable to cast in Cure Potency gear besides Cure spells are statless spells (like a good amount of buffs, Dia (1/2/3) and so on) and only if you don't have Haste or Fast Cast gear for the applicable slots (perhaps -Enmity, -SIR, and Conserve MP to a lesser extent, but in most cases those stats are negligible and not worth carrying around extra gear for).

And forget using latent gear like Sorcerer's Ring, Medicine Ring, Minstrel's Ring and so on, or Elemental Obi's/Twilight Cape/Zodiac Ring.

Hell, even if by some miracle of chance you can get away with 5 lines of gearswaps in one macro and be performing at your best (read: extremely unlikely), you should still be hitting 2-3 macros per spell unless you're casting with literally no break between spells, in which case add the extra 1-2 macros at the very end, after the last spell you cast when you get a break. Why 2-3 (or an extra 1-2 at the end of spamming)? One for the spell itself, and then 1-2 after the spell completes to equip your idle set; Refresh/Regen/PDT/MDT/Movement gear (which should probably be more than 1-2 macros, but I'm willing to accept simply Refresh gear in a mages set). Some would argue that an extra macro at the beginning to equip Fast Cast gear should be included as well.

I don't care if you don't have access to windower/its plugins/its extended macro possibilities, Bubeeky, you are not performing as well as you could be.

And before you get all hostile, I'm not flaming you. I doubt we'll ever interact so your lack of striving for perfection really doesn't affect me. Even if we did interact in-game, I don't actually expect perfection of everyone, or anyone for that matter, except myself. I'm not saying you're a gimp for this, but if you think you are performing optimally or even adequately, you, sir, are extremely mistaken. Just the little bit above are clear and perfect examples of how you could better yourself if you so desired, all without the use of windower, and believe me, there are many more examples I didn't list because I'm aware that this post will go in one eye and out the other and be taken as an attack and likely responded to in kind or just outright ignored. People that argue and use the points you do rarely want to improve themselves and take any advice/recommendations/pointers as offense.

[SNK]

I don't think they would ban people just for using windower, there are too many people out there who uses windower to ban.

Banning everyone who uses windower is like committing economical suicide.

That's what someone said about how many people who used the Salvage exploit and they're all still here..... owait...

[Daniel_Hatcher]

That's what someone said about how many people who used the Salvage exploit and they're all still here..... owait...

To be fair that was a massive exploit in the game, Windower from what I know of it is and Enhancing program more than anything else.

[Byrth]

If you look at it in terms of an efficiency increase, it's not hard to argue that tripling the incredibly low drop rates in one event in the game actually affects the game less than having all of your gearswaps done automatically everywhere in the game.

[Greatguardian]

To be fair that was a massive exploit in the game, Windower from what I know of it is and Enhancing program more than anything else.

That's not really the point. The point was simply that the argument "They can't do it because they would ban too many people" is inherently flawed.

Is Windower harmless? Yes. Can it be compared to duping? No. But is it at all safe to say "They can't ban us ever because they would end up banning too many people"? Definitely not.

Windower is left alone because it is harmless. If it suddenly had item duplication features, they'd ban for Windower even if it was 99% of the PC population.

[Neisan_Quetz]

Didn't they ban what... from what I'm seeing from googling it, 550 people for that (perma, another 400 got temp banned)? since the beta SE has banned for exploits so Salvage bans wasn't anything unexpected to anyone who didn't think they were somehow 'entitled' to play the game.

[Bubeeky]

While this guy is obviously trolling, his point is still valid. Even casting a Cure spell, you'd need more than 5 lines (on most jobs) to equip your maximum Cure Potency set. After that if you're casting any other spell without changing your gear sets you're not performing as well as you could be. The only spells I can think of that are acceptable to cast in Cure Potency gear besides Cure spells are statless spells (like a good amount of buffs, Dia (1/2/3) and so on) and only if you don't have Haste or Fast Cast gear for the applicable slots (perhaps -Enmity, -SIR, and Conserve MP to a lesser extent, but in most cases those stats are negligible and not worth carrying around extra gear for).

And forget using latent gear like Sorcerer's Ring, Medicine Ring, Minstrel's Ring and so on, or Elemental Obi's/Twilight Cape/Zodiac Ring.

Hell, even if by some miracle of chance you can get away with 5 lines of gearswaps in one macro and be performing at your best (read: extremely unlikely), you should still be hitting 2-3 macros per spell unless you're casting with literally no break between spells, in which case add the extra 1-2 macros at the very end, after the last spell you cast when you get a break. Why 2-3 (or an extra 1-2 at the end of spamming)? One for the spell itself, and then 1-2 after the spell completes to equip your idle set; Refresh/Regen/PDT/MDT/Movement gear (which should probably be more than 1-2 macros, but I'm willing to accept simply Refresh gear in a mages set). Some would argue that an extra macro at the beginning to equip Fast Cast gear should be included as well.

I don't care if you don't have access to windower/its plugins/its extended macro possibilities, Bubeeky, you are not performing as well as you could be.

And before you get all hostile, I'm not flaming you. I doubt we'll ever interact so your lack of striving for perfection really doesn't affect me. Even if we did interact in-game, I don't actually expect perfection of everyone, or anyone for that matter, except myself. I'm not saying you're a gimp for this, but if you think you are performing optimally or even adequately, you, sir, are extremely mistaken. Just the little bit above are clear and perfect examples of how you could better yourself if you so desired, all without the use of windower, and believe me, there are many more examples I didn't list because I'm aware that this post will go in one eye and out the other and be taken as an attack and likely responded to in kind or just outright ignored. People that argue and use the points you do rarely want to improve themselves and take any advice/recommendations/pointers as offense.

lol first I don't get hostile on a forum, no point to it :)

second, I always perform at my best...there's no point in pushing myself past the point where ppl are cured. What exactly is the point of using a useless second macro to macro in extra gear when I'm already curing for more hp than ppl have?

Anywho, u guys assume I don't gearswap...I have gear swaps on literally every macro, I just limit them to within the space provided in one macro. Every spell is optimized for what I need.

I don't take offense at anything ppl say here, but I hope that you guys don't look at someone that doesn't use windower and 45 macros as being gimp...plus, no need for the paragraph at the end hun, it helps to stop arguments and flaming if you try assuming that the person will be nice first :)

PS. I really don't care enough about the forums or any kind of online ego to continue a potential flame war or an examination of what ppl I'll never play with think of me so I'm ending my part in this thread, so good luck to all here and if u see me in game, say hi, blessed be to all :D

[Greatguardian]

[Removed by Moderator according to the FINAL FANTASY XI FORUM Guidelines (http://support.na.square-enix.com/rule.php?id=20&la=1).] [/b]

Not defending anyone. Using a single 6-line macro for anything is pretty damn horrible and gimp. But it's not like your mule is any better. A gimp calling someone else gimp is going to get anyone's attention. Want to be taken seriously? Post under an account that doesn't suck.

Your safeface is almost Leroy level.

[Leonlionheart]

Would likely quit if Windower wasn't available. Sadly I feel the game is not worth playing without it's utility and convenience.

First page I know, but quoted for truth.

I've played for 7 years without it, and I now realize what a mistake that has been.

[Melodicya]

Hello Everyone!

A number of posts were made that were off the topic of this thread. Please try to keep to the topic at hand. Keep in mind that bringing up someone's gear in game will likely lead to an off topic discusison, and can derail a thread. Please also refrain from name calling and personal attacks, as these are also violations of the Forum Guidelines.

If there are any questions about the Forum Guidelines, they can be reviewed here:

FINAL FANTASY XI FORUM Guidelines
http://support.na.square-enix.com/rule.php?id=20&la=1

Thank you for your understanding!

[Lollerblades]

Some people use it some poeple don't ... It's been around to long to ban now and SE would kill off quite a fair few of their players if they where to ban them ... They aint going to do that... if you dislike Windower then dont use it

[Aureus]

Some people use it some poeple don't ... It's been around to long to ban now and SE would kill off quite a fair few of their players if they where to ban them ... They aint going to do that... if you dislike Windower then dont use it
It's not only that; windower corrects some pretty fundamental flaws with the pc version of FFXI. Let's be blunt here, it's 2011, most people expect a MMORPG to have certain features (minimap, macros that don't suck, recast/status timers), and the fact that FFXI is lacking them is a major flaw. ToS aside, the GM staff and the dev team has to realize this on some level, which is why most third party applications are overlooked.

[Kari]

second, I always perform at my best...there's no point in pushing myself past the point where ppl are cured. What exactly is the point of using a useless second macro to macro in extra gear when I'm already curing for more hp than ppl have?

Look at it this way.
You may be performing at your best, and that may be fine for you, however, someone using Windower with SpellCast, will be outperforming you. Although it MIGHT be possible for you to perform that well, you'll be required to spam multiple macros for every action you make, whereas they only require the actions to be made.

Let's say your macros have you set up for Cure, with 50% Cure Potency.
And let's say that you're having a competition with someone who uses SpellCast.
This person is able to idle in their Refresh and -Damage Taken pieces. Before casting Cure, they auto-swap into a fastcast/cure cast time/etc set for maximum cast speed, maybe Haste or whatever else as well. In the middle of the cast, swapping to 50% Potency, AF3 +2 Body to enhance the Stoneskin effect, MND gear, etc. After casting, swapping back to the previously mentioned idle set.

Clearly, you'll be outperformed in this situation.
Does it matter? It highly depends on the situation. What you're fighting, party size, combined skill of the group, combined gear level of the group, etc.
In some cases, the advantage that person would have over you would be minor, or possibly unimportant.
However, in other cases, the advantage could mean the difference between keeping your group alive. Be it the casting speeds, the potency of your cures, the extra cureskin, MP management, whatever.

Not saying "switch to Windower or be forever gimp", just, those who use Windower properly will most definitely have an easier time performing to their maximum efficiency.

----

As for the general topic:
People comparing Salvage Bans to Windower are extremely off.
Salvage duping was something that a player of any game should be aware of the consequences to.
The amount of people who thought it was "okay" to abuse the exploit, are MUCH MUCH less than the amount of people using Windower. Just as well, this was back when FFXI had a fairly large amount of people still playing IIRC.

Banning EVERYONE who uses Windower, would be banning about 70% of PC users, give or take.
From there the game would most definitely slowly die.

[Alienmonkey]

Bless you for that post.

[Arcon]

Can't say I like where this thread is going. It's almost pomoting Windower. Windower is just a convenience tool, you don't need it to be good, you can still suck very bad without it. It doesn't even necessarily make it easier, but just that, more convenient. The best WHM I have ever known in the game never used it. Pressing three macros instead of one isn't any harder at all, just inconvenient to some small degree. but playing to maximum efficiency has very little to do with the amount of macros to press, but more about taking notice of stuff around you, making the right decisions as fast as possible, react to different circumstances as fast as you can and know what to do. Those things no third party tool will help you with.

The thing I'd say is most advantageous to Windower that others don't have is the Distance plugin, because that's the only thing you can't do efficiently without it. Sure, after years of playing you may be able to judge the distance better, but with differently sized mobs and elevated terrain or something, it will throw you off again. Apart from that, Windower is seriously just that, a convenience tool. I know many great players who never touched it and plenty of useless people who abuse it to no end.

[Greatguardian]

People can definitely still suck with Windower.

People can be good without Windower.

But no one, on any server, at any level, from any background, speaking any language, in any reality will ever be performing at their best without it.

Why? Windower makes good players better. And everyone will always have room to get better.

[Alhanelem]

You don't need windower for anything short of achieving perfection. You don't need it to be "good." You don't need it to be "better." You only "need" it to be number one in the whole entire game. For the 99.99999% of everyone who is more realistic than you are, windower is not a "requirement" to be a high end player. If you adjust well enough to the crap factor of the interface, you can perform just the same as any windower user without it; you just might have to press more buttons.

[Greatguardian]

You can be a good player without Windower. I never said you couldn't. In fact, I specifically said you could.

But no matter who you are, or how good you are, you would, invariably, be better with Windower. Every single time.

[Fiarlia]

You can be a good player without Windower. I never said you couldn't. In fact, I specifically said you could.

But no matter who you are, or how good you are, you would, invariably, be better with Windower. Every single time.

Especially if you utilize spellcast to its full potential. Above all other plugins, this alone can make the hugest difference. As I said, it can, spellcast doesn't doesn't make everyone better just because they have it.

[Alienmonkey]

you can perform just the same as any windower user without it; you just might have to press more buttons.

If you actually swapped as much as gear as you should, you would know this isn't actually the case. You end up fighting the interface and juggling macros so intensely that it hinders your focus on the actual gameplay, windower and spellcast relieves that.

[Ravenmore]

You can also use a G15(or what ever the current one is now) key board, it takes a bit of trial and error and playing with delay time between the keys your binding but you can get it were you swap all your gear and swap back to a TP set. Is it easy not realy is it out there and is appoved by SE yes. So only way for SE to know for sure you are using windower is either you stand in town and shout it, since just changing all your gear could simply mean you have hardware to do it.

[Korpg]

You know, I'm surprised this thread has gone as long as it has.

Even though there really isn't anything wrong with windower, Square-Enix has been adamant about the usage of third party tools and for this to go on for 8 pages without being deleted/completely erased is beyond me.

[Ravenmore]

Yeah kinda shock to. Considering that alla and the like lock threads taking about windower because of SE.

[Korpg]

Except FFXIAH.com and BG, they are all about using third party tools.

Of course, when you have one of the first developers as the admin on ffxiah.com, of course they would want to push their products.

[Aurara]

Except FFXIAH.com and BG, they are all about using third party tools.

Of course, when you have one of the first developers as the admin on ffxiah.com, of course they would want to push their products.

This assumption is baseless and wrong.

[Shoko]

That's what someone said about how many people who used the Salvage exploit and they're all still here..... owait...

Just to quote you SNK, but SE in the past has been fiercely adamant about banning the mess out of anyone who manipulates the economy via duping. That's basically what happened with Salvage; the same thing happened to people in 2004-2005 who duped K-Clubs via the Trade bug, and with the first people who got to Tav Safehold and used the NPCs that bought gear back for amounts higher than what they sold for.

I'm sure the 3rd party Windower in itself is a problem for them in which they simply enacted a "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy after they implemented SE's Windowed version to cut down on GM calls. IIRC, a few years ago SE added a packet of coding that tracked Windower users with a version update-- they probably found that a good deal many of people use it to the extent they could lose money if they went on a banning spree.

[Korpg]

It is not baseless and wrong.

There are plenty of threads on both of those forums that promote the usage of windower, and that is a third party tool. BG even promotes that claim bot before Abyssea came out.

[Byrth]

It is not baseless and wrong.

There are plenty of threads on both of those forums that promote the usage of windower, and that is a third party tool. BG even promotes that claim bot before Abyssea came out.

It's my impression that Bluegartr is actually an adamantly anti-botting linkshell. They kick people for botting.

As far as Salvage banning having an impact on the economy, the price of all Salvage mats on Garuda went up after the bannings.

[Hyshio]

SE could learn a thing or two from them if they really wanted to.

I agree with this and as a staff member for windower, I hope one day we can communicate such ideas and possibilities with the dev team. If it wasnt for windower itself, this game wouldnt have made it to what it is now and they know it.

[Greatguardian]

It's my impression that Bluegartr is actually an adamantly anti-botting linkshell. They kick people for botting.

As far as Salvage banning having an impact on the economy, the price of all Salvage mats on Garuda went up after the bannings.

This is correct.

There is a huge difference between a website promoting 3rd party tools, and a website simply choosing not to censor members who talk about said tools. BG itself as a linkshell is very anti-bot, and the administrators have no real stance as far as I know.

They simply don't censor discussion of Windower, that's all. They actually do actively disallow any direct linking to RMT websites though, despite not being a premier site. Heck, it's my understanding that the biggest reason BG is not a premier site is because of the very NSFW content in the General section, rather than anything posted in the FFXI section.

[Korpg]

Not everyone who posts on that website is a member of that linkshell, however.

[Greatguardian]

Exactly. BG as a website? Doesn't promote any 3PP.

Some/most/whatever people who post on BG? Sure, they talk about Windower all the time.

Don't confuse a website's lack of censorship with promotion. People can talk about kicking puppies all they want, that does not mean BG promotes kicking puppies.

[Korpg]

Sorry if it came out that way.

I guess I should make myself better understood.

[Leonlionheart]

If it wasnt for windower itself, this game wouldnt have made it to what it is now and they know it.

Just want to put emphasis on this statement.

Base FFXI (no windower) is played by probably at maximum 15% of the playerbase (on PC). If everyone who used Windower were suddenly gone, I'd think the game would be reduced to about 1.5 servers worth of people.

[Byrth]

Looking at all the stupid decisions SE has made lately, I'm not sure that counting on them to make logical decisions is necessarily wise.

You can be banned at any time for anything or nothing at all. There are a hundred different ways you could get caught in an autobanner and never recover your account. As long as you aren't doing something that gets you noticed by other players and reported, you probably aren't increasing your likelihood of getting banned.

[Zirael]

You know, I'm surprised this thread has gone as long as it has.

Even though there really isn't anything wrong with windower, Square-Enix has been adamant about the usage of third party tools and for this to go on for 8 pages without being deleted/completely erased is beyond me.
I think these days SE are much more keen about improving their game for their customer's liking. I don't think I would know a company that, knowing their product is lacking, wouldn't pay a close attention to it's customers's tinkering and struggle to make it usable to current standards and their needs (ie having fun playing and not having to fight with clunky interface all the time). Sure, SE is very keen on preserving equal gaming experience across all the platforms and I very much appreciate their resolve and respect it, but at the same time they, themselves realise this suffocates growth of their product. SE said several times on these forums regarding simple improvements we asked for (bigger/better managed item inventory, IME keyboard etc and so on) that they would like to, but "spaghetti code" or "PS2 limitations".
To be honest, given their strict view on player equality and fairness, I'm constantly surprised all the windower community doesn't get banned. At the same time I'm surprised PS2 hasn't been dropped yet. I suppose either would hurt significant part of their customers so maybe SE isn't sure they wouldn't look silly by doing that (silly as in a company turning their back to their own loyal customers).
SE has obligations to PS2 users to keep the promise "you can play our game on this platform", they have made. At the same time they need to take responsibility for the crippled state of the PC version. And they might not have a solution to either problem.
Well, FF14 was supposed to be that solution ("hey, you can move to the new and improved FF!") but SE had to take responsibility for their product once again and FF14 has been free to play beta for almost a year now.
Find a solution to these problems and I bet you'll get a chair among their board if not CEO's seat :)

PS: Sorry if this text makes no sense, I've written it multitasking several things ~.~

[Nala]

back on topic its the /macro set x command they added a few years back can allow for extended macros using the in game system, in order to utilize it however requires multiple input from the user still though you can set it up where its easy enough when used proper you can swap all 16 pieces without massive effort.

Example:

macro set 1 control 0:
/macro set 2
/equip "whatever"
/equip "whatever"
/equip "whatever"
/equip "whatever"
/equip "whatever"

macro set 2 control 0
/macro set 1
/equip "whatever"
/equip "whatever"
/equip "whatever"
/equip "whatever"
/equip "whatever"

now by setting up your macros as such all you have to do is quickly double tap control 0 and it will swap up to 10 gear pieces and return you to your home row macro set, you can extend this out to swaping all 15/16 pieces of gear, its what i have been using since they introduced them, /macro has other interesting uses with some imagination.

problem is when servers start getting laggy, also sometimes i might over hit my macros which causes some trouble, but if your dead set on not using windower/stuck on console you can utilize this to optimize yourself a tad better than without.

if you intend to go this route, /macro set should be your first line as itll swap sets faster while still exicuting the whole macro, makes for less laggy extended in game macros.

[Byrth]

I find that "/macro set X" is much less laggy on PC than it was on PS2. PS2, it took almost a full second for my macros to swap. Also, it was my impression that "/macro set X" ends whatever macro you were in, so you'd have to set it up:
/equip ___
/equip ___
/equip ___
/equip ___
/equip ___
/macro set 2

Instead of the other way around.

I used to do this for RDM/NIN tanking, and I'd set a loop so it was like:
/equip x5
/macro set 2

/ma "Dispel" <t>
/equip x4
/macro set 3

/equip x5
/macro set 1

Then I could spam twice, wait for the spell to land, spam again and be bumped back to the starting set. The major problem was the PS2 lag.

[Nala]

/macro set does not end a macro exicution, if it did none of my macros would function right, and to clarify they do function proper with /macro set as the first line.

[geekgirl101]

While Windower does provide a few glossy features it is also doing things that the game doesn't normally allow. It is also a hook for bot scripts and other applications that do things that are not normally allowed, even Windower itself can be used to bot. It's why SE do not approve of it. If you use it then use it at your own discretion, but if you value your account I strongly advise not to use it.

[Byrth]

Actually, unless I misunderstand the theory, Windower itself isn't the hook necessarily. It uses another program to grab the game variables and controls which variables are available for plugin developers to use and manipulate. For instance, no Windower plugin can flee hack because Windower doesn't allow plugins to directly change position.

Basically, if you hear about something that sounds exploitive, it's probably not a windower plugin. They might interface with the program that actually grabs the variables (the same one windower uses), but they aren't actually windower plugins.

[Glamdring]

actually, they are not OFFICIAL plug-ins. despite the disclaimer on the windower site it is a successful platform for interfacing with FFXI. You can write your own code to give the illegal exploits that are the worry for SE and simply daisy-chain them onto windower as your interface. Any halfway decent programmer that wants to do so can write their own exploitaitive code with relative ease and be right back to the days when you could use it to port anywhere, raise your movement speed and change jobs without the benefit of a moogle among other things. And seriously? If it takes a programmer more than 30 minutes to break windower security then even "halfway decent" doesn't describe them.

Do they need to use windower? no, of course not. But why take the time to write your own interface when there's already one that works? It even gets constant support. SE chooses to turn a blind eye to windower for the most part unless there is a blatant cheat (like those I mentioned above), but simply using it at all is a technical violation of the TOS (which has no qualifiers on their forbiding the use of 3rd party programs) simply because it IS a 3rd party program, and thus prohibitted.

I choose not to use it, playing the game as designed, both because I'd rather not risk being banned AND because the challenges built into the game are there for a reason--to make me strive. If I can always see other pt members TP so I never miss an SC attempt, or a burst for that matter some of the challenge is gone for me. If I can target a ??? before it's up so my trade macro is already primed--again, no challenge. I get what I want done based on the skill I've accumulated over my time on XI, I don't need a hand.

[Greatguardian]

You sound like you don't know a darn thing about how Windower and bots work. That's really not surprising though, and I can't say I blame you. The sheer amount of misinformation and straight up falsehoods regarding the relationship between the two is astounding.

Can Windower be used for Botting? No.

Are people "Manipulating Windower" and "Breaking into Windower's security" to create bots? No.

Bots are completely independent applications that hook into running processes of FFXI. In fact, I do believe a vast majority of advanced Windower plugins were shut down or forced to be rewritten after the exploitable nature of FFACE.dll was made public. Because FFACE.dll (a file used in many advanced Windower plugins) could be used to facilitate botting and exploitable behavior, all plugins that used FFACE were required to be rewritten to function without it or simply were no longer allowed.

The Windower team is extremely anti-bot and anti-exploit. Nothing that even smells of bot gets into their approval section. If people want to run bots while they're running Windower, there's nothing they can do to stop them. But that damn sure doesn't mean people are using Windower to bot.

[Glamdring]

GG, I KNOW the current windower crew is anti-exploit, and I didn't say I blame them. What I said is that these type of exploits generally need an undetectable platform to be used (and I don't actually see them being used anymore by most), windower is proven (based on their being used/distributed off the windower site several years ago) to be functional for that purpose.

There are other platforms that can be used and for that matter if you can program a hack you SHOULD be able to make your own interface, but it's there. Just because it isn't done with the windower crew's efforts or support doesn't mean that it can't be used in ways that are not intended or sanctioned by the makers. For an exploit to work (on a sustained basis) it needs to get into the server without being detected so you do want to daisy-chain your exploit on to something that does get through without tripping an SE monitoring program, which windower apparently does.

But you also can't change the fact that simply using windower as-is is a technical violation of the 3rd-party prohibition and SE can use that to ban you just for that if they so choose. The grounds for banning isn't the exploit, it's the 3rd-party program use at all. SE simply chooses to turn a blind eye to it.

[Ilax]

I doubt SE will ever ban for windower, is FAIR to point how everyone is tire of "PS2 Limitation" and windower kinda make the game a bit more interesting to play, survey say like 80% PPL on PC use it. You can be sure of something, if SE start ban for using that program, they #1 will loose tons of income #2 tons of people will just leave the game and never come back.

P.S: Is again the ToS of this forum to talk about 3rd party program, don't you find it special Admin/Moderator did not delete/lock thread? Trust me they know about it and have no real choice to take no action, but don't expect any of SE staff come here and say is no bannable etc, that would for sure insult everyone on Xbox and PS2/PS3. And that would go again they own rule.

[Jerynh]

FFXI was dead until the release of Abyssea, though not because of the salvage bans.

False. Very false.

[Arcon]

What I said is that these type of exploits generally need an undetectable platform to be used [..], windower is proven [..] to be functional for that purpose.

And what are you basing those statements on?


There are other platforms that can be used and for that matter if you can program a hack you SHOULD be able to make your own interface, but it's there. Just because it isn't done with the windower crew's efforts or support doesn't mean that it can't be used in ways that are not intended or sanctioned by the makers.

Actually, it does mean just that. If they don't want you to bot through it, they won't let you, which they don't. You seem to talk about hacking as if it's very easy (and I'm not even denying that), but you don't seem to know how exactly it works yourself.


For an exploit to work (on a sustained basis) it needs to get into the server without being detected so you do want to daisy-chain your exploit on to something that does get through without tripping an SE monitoring program, which windower apparently does.

Windower gets nowhere near the servers. People keep saying that like Windower is hacking SE to get the information they do. The truth is, everything Windower shows you is on your computer, and only there. The TP and MP of your party/alliance members is sent to you by SE's servers. They probably added that years ago because they planned to expand on that. That's how Windower accesses that information. Your position as well as your target's position are also in your memory, which is how Windower calculates the distance.

All movement is done completely client-side. There's a number in your computer's memory that represents your movement speed. If you increase that number, you move faster. You don't need Windower for that (and I don't even think you can edit that with Windower, but I never tried it, it might be). On the other hand, you can access (and edit) it with a lot of completely legal and free tools available. Editing your own computer's memory is not illegal after all. The tools to do this are completely legal. Only how you use them is wrong. Windower doesn't make it safer nor easier to accomplish this. SE has their own protection in place for movement related issues, server-side (your new position is automatically sent to the server, so they can effectively check how fast you're moving).

Also, Windower doesn't monitor your connection to get information about ???s sooner either. Windower doesn't know it's there until the server says so, which is also when you know it's there. It may be in your memory a few milliseconds before it's on the screen, but your connection speed is a way bigger influence on whether or not you get the claim than Windower could ever be.

Windower is definitely illegal, make no mistake about that. But don't make it out to be a magic tool to make your character invincible and able to cheat yourself relics to your Delivery Box, it's definitely not.

[Glamdring]

1. either you don't remember or choose to forget the windower from about the peak of the RMT days. There were continued rants about the bots and such through windower. Since I didn't want to simply bandwagon on the complaints I went and looked up what was available, both through the program and the plugins. Among others, you could change your job anywhere, set your movement speed faster (and slower, although who would), and pile bots for fishing and a few other activities, even auto-bidding at the AH. Although the plugins to do so are no longer distributed through the windower site (and the current guys actually police it to prevent that) as most were simply scripted they can still easily be done. However, they are VERY blatant and anyone trying to do so would be caught quickly by SE's monitoring.

2. Windower is a download. Once you've gotten it from them you can do as you wish with it-on your end. as long as you don't try to upload your cheat to the windower site the team doesn't have the ability to stop anything. The most they can do is modify the code in the next update to try to block whatever the cheat is doing--if they hear about it. However, since most of the cheats are simply a scripted action they probably wouldn't do much, so they don't interfere with their macro functions (also a script) which is one of the main reasons windower is used (huge gear changes, etc.). As this scripting function is the main appeal to using windower they would be unlikely to remove the function just to block a more blatant cheat.

3. Windower interfaces with the POL client to send whatever commands it's set to do, which is the actual server interface, it allows you to do things at speeds that a human generally cant do, and in some cases faster than your "latency" (I'm using the term loosely, accomodating rendering, reaction, typing speeds, send/receive, macro line limits, etc.) allow. So yes, windower does not directly interface with the servers, it interfaces with the interface is I guess a more technical explanation.

The main reason windower is a platform that allows a player to exploit is because it is MUCH more user friendly for inserting outside commands into the game. Certainly you can edit the game commands directly, but look at the number of continually updated files you have to redo or simply sift through? the game is HUGE, iirc it's actually larger than some of the GUI it can run on. Again, MOST of the exploits are simply scripts, and outside of the windowing function, scripting is what windower primarily does (technically script insertion, but same idea). And since SE doesn't actively enforce the 3rd-party ban against windower, if you run your script through it (instead of directly through POL or the like)there's a fair chance it won't get flagged, as the most effective way to catch anything would be to run a time-stamped activity log of an individual player's actions and compare it to benchmarks set at very high levels by someone known to be playing it straight, and if it exceeds that speed you know you are dealing with a 3rd party tool (or a meth addict whose typing skills are unaffected by jitters). This is alot more effort than any company would reasonably spend to investigate anything but a very blatant cheat (again, job changing in the field, teleporting without the benefit of a mage, etc.).

Note that I'm not saying it's being done still. In fact, most of the complaints of botting or auto-claiming are simply rants by players that aren't as focussed on the game as the "bot" (who is simply paying attention, not botting) and thus miss opportunities, in other words, whiners. But if you look at those threads, frequently someone will not only say that it is techincally possible, but a fair number of those posts even say how, and generally there is a reference to windower and possibly a specific plug-in in the explanation.

[Ravenmore]

False. Very false.

Which part because getting anyone to do anything worth a crap before abyssea was like pulling teeth and the whole 2009 we got nothing. How bout the 3 years it took to finish a crappy expansion that was a bunch of overly long CSs with a fight here and there, with you guessed it another freaking earring will meh stats. There not bad but really not great for amount of time we had to wait to get.

The salvage bans only removed the elitest crap that if they had made trick more widely know would have gotten a warning at worst, but since they were so few compared to the number of players at the time.

Really you can only kill kirin, ground kings, grinding salvage, limbus or dynamis so many times before you don't even give 2 flying @#$#s about the event anymore. So people got bored and left.

Yeah at this point in the game you really have to sit in port going on about how your using windower, even then you might get a temp ban for spam or a perma if its your last straw.

[Invader]

The FFXI Gods have spoken!
... I mean mods.

[Emdub]

Greetings!

Thank you for your interest in our Rules & Policies! Please allow me to give a direct answer on this matter.

Third party software use is a violation of our Terms of Service. You can find the following information and more on our Knowledge Base on the Support Center website! Here is some information directly from KB article:12800

Definition
Usage of a 3rd party program is defined as usage of a program, made and distributed by an individual other then Square Enix, which impacts the game play in any way. Usage of any of these types of programs, regardless of if they give the player an unfair advantage over others or not, is strictly prohibited. The following are some examples of such prohibited activities:
- Use of a program or tool within any PlayOnline service that allows any actions to be performed automatically and continuously.
- Changing, combining, reverse engineering, or analyzing game data, as well as creating or distributing utility programs for such purposes.
- Use of any unofficial program to the benefit of any users.

* Please note that players who take advantage of in-game mechanics not intended as normal means of game play even without the use of unofficial programs may also face penalties such as account suspension. If you become aware of any such issue, please report it to a GM or the Special Task Force immediately.

Hopefully, this will provide you with an answer on our stance to any third party software use! If you need any additional information, please feel free to peruse our Knowledge Base here:
http://support.na.square-enix.com/main.php?id=20&la=1.

You may also reach the Special Task Force here:
http://support.na.square-enix.com/contacttop.php?id=20&la=1.

At this time, I will now lock this thread as we have a nice, definitive answer.

Thank you for your understanding and apologies for any inconvenience!

-=Game Master Emdub=-