Square Enix needs to make a add-on detector!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Rilifane

And there's still more!
Not only do arenas have these totally random patterns on the ground that are in no way whatsoever tied to the exact spot and size of aoes, you even have handy dandy markings on the floor for small safe spots. Like that tiny little triangle safespot on 7s bird cleaves that just happens to be exactly on the little arrow marker on the floor. It's magic. And a complete coincidence of course.
Or the front Bough coincidentally ending exactly on the little hitbox arrow.
It's almost as if having some fight knowledge and awareness allows to pixel-dodge with precision because the ground tells you "stand here and you're safe".

---

is it wrong to say that another note is trying to use add on for a pug group?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Oizen

Remember when Squenix promised to take the addons used and implement them into the base game so people wouldn't need to turn to third party tools for features that really should be standard to begin with?

I do.

---

I don't remember any such promise.

I do remember that at every query about adding a DPS meter into the game the answer is a firm "no".

Of course, it may be your misinterpretation of a comment in passing that also included references to third-party addons at some point in the discussion. A promise? I won't believe it until you show me the actual words in a reference I can look up. You'll have to be very specific with the search terms or provide an actual link.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by DPZ2

I don't remember any such promise.

I do remember that at every query about adding a DPS meter into the game the answer is a firm "no".

Of course, it may be your misinterpretation of a comment in passing that also included references to third-party addons at some point in the discussion. A promise? I won't believe it until you show me the actual words in a reference I can look up. You'll have to be very specific with the search terms or provide an actual link.

---

I remember them saying that during a live a letter on some UI mods. In the most recent patch we actually got one i want to say

quick edit:

https://kotaku.com/final-fantasy-xiv...tro-1848901844

https://na.finalfantasyxiv.com/lodes...0c5d56cb2e4547 <-- under Enhancements to the HUD and Other UI Elements

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by TheRealMadruck

Let me make this short and sweet...
In my honest opinion, if you use add-ons you are cheating. Add-ons is why I no longer do Savage raids. The lack of add-ons is why I came to play Final Fantasy XIV from World of Warcraft starting with beta.

It has gotten so bad, that when you go into any pug instance with other players you can actually see who has almost flawless timing avoiding mechanics. Hence cheating.

Now the main motivation for this for me stems from my own experience. I play 14 on the PS5. I don't play on PC like I used to because of accessibility issues. PS5 players cannot use add-ons and many do also play on PS5 would also like to use add-ons but can't(even if I wouldn't recommend it). And yet again, this gives PC players an unfair advantage doing content especially if they use add-ons.

I already know I'm going to get vitriol for this post, but I don't care because I will speak facts. If you use add-ons, Square Enix needs to implement a detector for those add-ons and you need to be penalized for cheating because that's exactly what you're doing. There is no Gray zone to this, using computer programs to give you prompts in fight mechanics is nowhere near equatable to any other thing other than botting.

If you cheat, you should face the consequences of you cheating because it's exactly what add-ons are in ff14!

---

1.) Its not cheating.

2.) I can do most mechanics with my eyes closed due to running the content so many times. I don't need an add-on for that.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by TheRealMadruck

Let me make this short and sweet...
In my honest opinion, if you use add-ons you are cheating. Add-ons is why I no longer do Savage raids. The lack of add-ons is why I came to play Final Fantasy XIV from World of Warcraft starting with beta.

It has gotten so bad, that when you go into any pug instance with other players you can actually see who has almost flawless timing avoiding mechanics. Hence cheating.

Now the main motivation for this for me stems from my own experience. I play 14 on the PS5. I don't play on PC like I used to because of accessibility issues. PS5 players cannot use add-ons and many do also play on PS5 would also like to use add-ons but can't(even if I wouldn't recommend it). And yet again, this gives PC players an unfair advantage doing content especially if they use add-ons.

I already know I'm going to get vitriol for this post, but I don't care because I will speak facts. If you use add-ons, Square Enix needs to implement a detector for those add-ons and you need to be penalized for cheating because that's exactly what you're doing. There is no Gray zone to this, using computer programs to give you prompts in fight mechanics is nowhere near equatable to any other thing other than botting.

If you cheat, you should face the consequences of you cheating because it's exactly what add-ons are in ff14!

---

You're either not very good at the game, or you're baiting people. Mechanics in this game are amazingly well telegraphed, oftentimes, the floor of the boss arena actually shows you where safe spots are in its very design.

If dodging mechanics in pugs indicates cheating for you then you have not understood ff14 combat design in the slightest. Therefore your opinion on how to combat cheating is irrelevant at best.

wow attack of the karans that will leave a impression with the company good luck with that.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Zomkei

or maybe they have done it enough times to know how to do the mechanic properly? i do not understand this. in most endgame content, you have to do flawless timing in order to avoid the mechanics. why is your first response that they are cheaters?

---

It's pretty easy to tell. In P8S doorboss for example, you will see certain players move to avoid mechanics that haven't even actually become possible to read on the client yet.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by LittleImp

It's pretty easy to tell. In P8S doorboss for example, you will see certain players move to avoid mechanics that haven't even actually become possible to read on the client yet.

---

So...pre-positioning? That thing you can do when you know the fight?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Iyrnthota

So...pre-positioning? That thing you can do when you know the fight?

---

This fight in particular has an element of randomness which makes early pre-positionning impossible.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Cheremia

HOW would people know that arenas have markers on themself sometimes and know from those where aoes go, too??? Woaaah....

---

I admit, it took me too long to understand that those random pretty floor patterns are actually not just random pretty patterns. Most certainly people with skill should know about those hints and be able to use them for prior pixel perfect placement.

(I recall the light switch coming on when I did notice that there were safezones, mechanic range hints, add-rez spots, cardinals, and more built into the floor graphics in those ornate arenas. My mind was blown.)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Kazhar

This fight in particular has an element of randomness which makes early pre-positionning impossible.

---

Wouldn't be the first time I've taken a coin flip.

Like, I'm not saying there's no-one using those kind of add ons, but the whole "you can tell cause of the way they do" is a bit much.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Iyrnthota

So...pre-positioning? That thing you can do when you know the fight?

---

Do you think it was 'pre-positioning' and 'fight knowledge' back in P3S or A11S where ACT/Cactbot was able to instantly identify optical sights before it was ever telegraphed clientside?

For some mechanics, the ID of what specific permutation the boss is executing is visible to a parser before it is ever visibly telegraphed on the client.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by LittleImp

Do you think it was 'pre-positioning' and 'fight knowledge' back in P3S or A11S where ACT/Cactbot was able to instantly identify optical sights before it was ever telegraphed clientside?

For some mechanics, the ID of what specific permutation the boss is executing is visible to a parser before it is ever visibly telegraphed on the client.

---

Please refer to my previous email in which I....etc etc

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by TheRealMadruck

I already know I'm going to get vitriol for this post, but I don't care because I will speak facts. If you use add-ons, Square Enix needs to implement a detector for those add-ons and you need to be penalized for cheating because that's exactly what you're doing.

---

Sadly, your prediction was correct. Because Square looks the other way, it’s up to the community to self-moderate, and it seems like more and more players embrace and deeply appreciate the value that plugins and addons bring to the game. And because raiding is run almost entirely by community pressure, there’s nothing we can do but yield to those who have more power and influence than us console/vanilla players. Anything that has a competitive advantage will be propagated quickly over the internet and any attempt to downgrade it, other than bySquare Enix itself, will fail to work.

We also need to realize that FFXIV is nine years old. This is no longer a new game where the code has yet to be explored and people find the vanilla experience refreshing. FFXIV is aging and addons are the most significant upgrade to the game’s backend since patch 2.0. Square Enix has deliberately refused to upgrade the backend or add significant QOL features. Whenever there’s a development void, players will fill it with third-party tools.

It happens to all aging games on PC. It’s sad that our favorite game has fallen by the wayside, but SE has put the power in our own hands to fix it. Maybe it’s time to be like WoW and pick up the slack. After all, with the three(!) new farm simulators that SE just announced for the Switch, they’ve got their hands full and don’t have time to maintain QOL for an old game like this.

Meanwhile SE is using Windower to showcase FFXI, lmao.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by LittleImp

Do you think it was 'pre-positioning' and 'fight knowledge' back in P3S or A11S where ACT/Cactbot was able to instantly identify optical sights before it was ever telegraphed clientside?

For some mechanics, the ID of what specific permutation the boss is executing is visible to a parser before it is ever visibly telegraphed on the client.

---

Aaaaaand it's irrelevant. This would only matter if you hadnt enough time based on the legit tells any attack has. Is cactbot cringe? Yes. Does it warrant infecting the game with anti cheat? No. Anticheat doesnt prevent cheating, no game dev is winning that arm's race. More competent people have tried and failed. Anti cheat however will cause tons of problems for people who arent cheating, always have.

Cheating add on is really minority. Additionally, Having add on does not mean a clear man. Look at p7s way mark. People still cant clear it. If you cant do your rotation, even god tier's add on cant give you a clear

The amount of people I have literally seen justifying using add-ons on this thread during initial fights when they first appear during a patch drop and intentionally conflating this with knowing a fight because you've done it a hundred times for example is absolutely incredible to me.

They will intentionally defend by every metric what is cheating by knowing the mechanics ahead of time during their initial first time doing a fight and yet somehow they consider it not cheating. Just wow!

get a life LOL

man really trying to win bozo awards

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Raoabolic

Meanwhile SE is using Windower to showcase FFXI, lmao.

---

The game allows you to window it and tab out of it now. Why would they need to use windower?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Ransu

The game allows you to window it and tab out of it now. Why would they need to use windower?

---

Windower is a launcher that enables Plugins for FF11. You know... Like -redacted-, which our devs kinda don't want us to use.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by TheRealMadruck

Now the main motivation for this for me stems from my own experience. I play 14 on the PS5. I don't play on PC like I used to because of accessibility issues. PS5 players cannot use add-ons and many do also play on PS5 would also like to use add-ons but can't(even if I wouldn't recommend it). And yet again, this gives PC players an unfair advantage doing content especially if they use add-ons.

---

Talk about crabs in a bucket mentality

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Saraide

Aaaaaand it's irrelevant. This would only matter if you hadnt enough time based on the legit tells any attack has. Is cactbot cringe? Yes. Does it warrant infecting the game with anti cheat? No. Anticheat doesnt prevent cheating, no game dev is winning that arm's race. More competent people have tried and failed. Anti cheat however will cause tons of problems for people who arent cheating, always have.

---

I never agued in favor of an anti-cheat.

It just gets old watching people try to justify that a program that automates and shortcuts aspects of the games combat (which is explicitly prohibited by the developers) somehow isn't cheating. Most of the people that argue in favor of these kinds of programs very obviously have little to no understanding of how they work, or how obvious it is when someone is crutching on it.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Zomkei

why is your first response that they are cheaters?

---

"IF I CAN'T DO IT, NO ONE CAN! WAAAAH!" Is usually the mindset in this kind of thing. Those who can't, often and usually claim no one else could either.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by TheRealMadruck

The amount of people I have literally seen justifying using add-ons on this thread during initial fights when they first appear during a patch drop and intentionally conflating this with knowing a fight because you've done it a hundred times for example is absolutely incredible to me.

They will intentionally defend by every metric what is cheating by knowing the mechanics ahead of time during their initial first time doing a fight and yet somehow they consider it not cheating. Just wow!

---

Might as well crusade against YouTubers at that point because you can easily watch a video and learn the fight before going in. Is that cheating too? Smh. Xeno literally had a P5S clear guide up within four hours of savage launching.

You don't know if someone is using plugins or not when you're running with a group unless you can physically see or hear the plugin. Some people have godly reflexes, some people just can assume how mechanics work based on previous experience with it in other fights (limit cut is a great example since that appears in multiple). My entire static for P5S & P6S did homebrew blind strats and finished both within the first couple of days...are we all just running cact? Lmao.

You underestimate how good some people in the community can be and that's a shame.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by TheRealMadruck

Let me make this short and sweet...
In my honest opinion, if you use add-ons you are cheating. Add-ons is why I no longer do Savage raids. The lack of add-ons is why I came to play Final Fantasy XIV from World of Warcraft starting with beta.

It has gotten so bad, that when you go into any pug instance with other players you can actually see who has almost flawless timing avoiding mechanics. Hence cheating.

Now the main motivation for this for me stems from my own experience. I play 14 on the PS5. I don't play on PC like I used to because of accessibility issues. PS5 players cannot use add-ons and many do also play on PS5 would also like to use add-ons but can't(even if I wouldn't recommend it). And yet again, this gives PC players an unfair advantage doing content especially if they use add-ons.

I already know I'm going to get vitriol for this post, but I don't care because I will speak facts. If you use add-ons, Square Enix needs to implement a detector for those add-ons and you need to be penalized for cheating because that's exactly what you're doing. There is no Gray zone to this, using computer programs to give you prompts in fight mechanics is nowhere near equatable to any other thing other than botting.

If you cheat, you should face the consequences of you cheating because it's exactly what add-ons are in ff14!

---

I agree to some extent that using cactbot and triggers really does give you an advantage over others, else people wouldn't use them in the first place besides for accessibility. But your reasoning for quitting savage raiding doesn't make sense to me.

That's like quiting cycling because some people use electric-assisted bicycles. Sucks you're not playing on an even field, but why would you bar yourself from doing stuff you like because of others? As long as it doesn't affect how the devs design their fights like it does in WoW, it doesn't truly matter.

I still remember that time at the 2.0 when Yoshi.P did promise to gives access to addon into the game and gave players some joy, but we never saw it, and now it exists, the promise long await that is now forbidden...
As for me, i stopped playing end game, because it's giving me headache, with some ADHD troubles, i can't concentrate on the battlefield, there's to much information coming from everywhere. i wished i could have legal addon for that...

We must hunt down the add-on users! Ruin their lives, ban their accounts!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by DivineP

This is exactly why I don't do harder content.

I'll do day one stuff because it's fun as everyone is learning - really looking forward to the Criterion stuff!

After it gets cleared a few times and add-ons appear I don't bother - I can't keep up, people that use Addons and people get snippy. Not worth the hassle.

---

Not everyone does.
I made my own static and we're all on the same page.
I don't really care what other people do, as long as it doesn't effect me, and in my case it did.
High and mighty Cactbot guys think they're hot sh*t, until their add-ons don't work on patch day and are suddenly sick :p

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by ameliaw

Ok Karen.
Maybe you would play better if you stopped paying so much attention to other people's reactions during a raid.

---

Boom. End thread, lol

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Nexxus

I still remember that time at the 2.0 when Yoshi.P did promise to gives access to addon into the game and gave players some joy

---

They were certainly considering it as early as 2014. They apparently decided against it because of DPS meters, back in 2016. At least that is the text from an interview in 2016. (Source: A translation of an interview given to gamer.nl at https://www.reddit.com/r/ffxiv/comme...een_postponed/ )

You'll notice that SE stopped giving out interviews about future plans after 2014. What many consider a 'promise' is "here is a feature we're trying to implement". They don't do that anymore. Consider it the result of accusations of "broken promises" dating at least 8 years back.

I have flawless timing avoiding many mechanics/know what mechanic is coming because I've done the fights before. In the new EX if the boss does donut+stacks I know next is going to be cleave+spread. I have 78 totems, of course I know she always does the opposite of the first mechanic. Same thing happens in tons of fights in this game. Did you know most fights start with a raid wide and then a tank buster because they're teaching you what those two cast bars are? If a boss does a front/back hit that probably means the next hits will be on their sides. If a boss does a dynamo/donut next they're probably doing chariot/out. You don't really need a program to tell you anything if you've been playing the game for a while and can recognize the type of mechanics it likes to throw at you. The only time I can think of where it was obvious someone was using a 3rd party tool was on Diamond EX because people would go to the opposite platform before the boss telegraphed it and there was no set pattern for that beyond if you get stack you'll get spread next.

Yeah I hate it when people use Chat Bubbles to clear content.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by DiaDeem

Remember guys: If you dodge mechanics, you're cheating.

---

Dangit, I knew I was doing something wrong!

Because nobody, doing a mostly scripted and telegraphed encounter hundreds of times would EVER be able to remember it all right?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by TheRealMadruck

Let me make this short and sweet...
In my honest opinion, if you use add-ons you are cheating. Add-ons is why I no longer do Savage raids. The lack of add-ons is why I came to play Final Fantasy XIV from World of Warcraft starting with beta.

It has gotten so bad, that when you go into any pug instance with other players you can actually see who has almost flawless timing avoiding mechanics. Hence cheating.

Now the main motivation for this for me stems from my own experience. I play 14 on the PS5. I don't play on PC like I used to because of accessibility issues. PS5 players cannot use add-ons and many do also play on PS5 would also like to use add-ons but can't(even if I wouldn't recommend it). And yet again, this gives PC players an unfair advantage doing content especially if they use add-ons.

I already know I'm going to get vitriol for this post, but I don't care because I will speak facts. If you use add-ons, Square Enix needs to implement a detector for those add-ons and you need to be penalized for cheating because that's exactly what you're doing. There is no Gray zone to this, using computer programs to give you prompts in fight mechanics is nowhere near equatable to any other thing other than botting.

If you cheat, you should face the consequences of you cheating because it's exactly what add-ons are in ff14!

---

Omg, you used the word "vitriol."

While I may not have worded it the same, I do agree all cheating is bad.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Canadane

While I may not have worded it the same, I do agree all cheating is bad.

---

Not all add ons are cheating

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by FireMage

Not all add ons are cheating

---

Maybe read what I said again.