Mod users in FFXIV are getting out of control

[Bourne_Endeavor]

Obviously most folks aren't going to have the exact body proportions, but there are players out there that make a point of getting their character to look as close to how they look offline as possible. The character's still not technically them, but any unwanted "nudes" being posted would hit closer to home in those cases. Is that still a case of "just deal with it," or is that walking along more dangerous territory? Are you really going to tell them that they shouldn't design their character how they want, just like a lot of folks have already said "well don't wear x glamour then"?

Bluntly stated, yes. I do not mean to come across callous, however making a virtual character appear similar to yourself does not alter the fact they are still virtual pixels and cannot be compared to a real life person. No real world harm will come from someone seeing your virtual "self" naked. And we have yet to even cover how the limited nature of FFXIV's character creator makes actual mirror copies of oneself impossible. You will have sweeping generic characteristics your avatar does at best.

While being uncomfortable is entirely subjective, avoiding outfits because someone, maybe, possibly has a nude mod active will likely drive you paranoid. If you cannot see it, why does it matter? Would you be equally offended if someone imagined you in your underwear/naked to absolve their anxiety? That is essentially what client side mods are; someone's imagination.

I don't think the modding community as a whole should be targeted or condemned (heavens no!). However I don't think OP's concern should be apathetically swept to the side either. There's just too many ways it could go wrong, which is why MMOs these days typically put methods in place to try to prevent mods. I don't like playing the "but the children!" card, but one example is that a lot of minors play this game (like 5-12 year olds). Can you imagine they or their parents' reactions if a nude of their character was discovered online? It's not the kid itself but it would absolutely do something negative. And are you really going to tell a parent "well you should have looked up this mod and made sure your kid didn't wear x glamour!"?

And those minors have no business playing as the game is rated Teen. Minors also play Call of Duty, but it isn't Activision's problem if they are offended, hurt or in anyway negatively impacted when the game is rated above their age. Putting the technical aside, how is a teenager negatively impacted by seeing a naked body in a video game? This inherently implies nudity as a whole is something bad and shameful before a certain age. I find that a far worse message to send a teenager. Regardless, they will only see nudity if someone links a screenshot, which is a great way to get yourself banned in-game. What I would tell the parents is to report the person sending your kid screenshots like that because they're an idiot. If said kid found pictures on Reddit or Twitter, well, that has nothing to do with Square Enix. Both sites also implement a NSFW check, which someone has to turn on to see said images. So...

[ShadowHunterrX]

So being naked is a offended thing now in irl and ingame ? Some have coconuts and some have a frankfurter. Who cares !

People are way to fast offended these days and it's not making the world a happier place.

[DreadRabbit]

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Yes, because not a single person in this thread has ever touched a T+ game before they were 13. But I do see your point. In the end it's the parent's responsibility.

But remember that 13 is still a minor. So the people using the mod in the way that a good number of posts are describing (the ones that have mentioned more creepy behavior) are risking a heck of a lot in that they're dealing with an NSFW mod while interacting with said minor. That's absolutely a gray area that's worth discussing.

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All great responses, and believe it or not I agree with most of them.

However, my point is that a lot of folks in this thread are being very callous about the issue and are dismissing just how morally grey this is. We live in an age where people are increasingly more and more defined by their digital personas, and often times they don't really have a choice in that matter. So while I and most folks in this thread wouldn't really care if someone saw their avatar naked, I can't blame the people that would. And as games and technology keep evolving as do character creation systems, this isn't an issue that's going to go away anytime soon. If anything the lines are only going to continue to become more blurred as the industry grows.

Anyway, this isn't the Sims where you have agency over every character in your game, and thus there's absolutely zero issues if you make everyone naked all the time. This is an MMO where other people have agency over their avatars, and dragging them into your (general you) voyeurism can be an issue.

I've seen some folks mention the mod(s) are used for themselves and consenting partners. That's fantastic! (not sarcasm, I do think that's great). But that's not what OP is talking about. They're talking about people making everyone naked and the abuse that's already been seen by it as well as the potential abuse that's there. If it's just pixels and people shouldn't care then why is consent an acceptable defense of the mod, but not an acceptable defense of the people against it?

As for "it's just pixels!":

Yes, they're just pixels. So what's so special about FFXIV pixels that we have to defend the ability to see them naked? Especially in an age when you can get any kind of nude of any quality of any kink you could possibly ask for? For the record: I'm not against the mod existing, but I am curious why the "it's just pixels" argument applies to people unhappy about the mod, but not to the people defending it.

[Crystal_Raven]

but I am curious why the "it's just pixels" argument applies to people unhappy about the mod, but not to the people defending it.

Honestly? This is wasted time from the development side. Why would they waste their time and bother to find a way to patch this type of stuff out potentially ruining dozens of other perfectly fine mods that improve the game visuals a little or whatever because some people can't get over the fact that it's just pixels?

You can shut off one mod specifically, it's either all of them or none, i'd rather not have every single mod out there shut down just because someone is upset over....pixels.