Quote Originally Posted by Granyala View Post
Actually it's not even about that.
To put it simply: mods can be used to cheat, esp in PvP environments (less of an issue for XIV).
That's basically the sole reason why MMO companies are against them and ban people if they find out.

IIRC in WoW, a guild used a client side mod to bypass half of Ahn Qiraj and get to the last boss C'thun. Needless to say, that didn't end well.

Yes, copyright blah also factors into this but as long as you don't make a buck off the property, most game companies don't care.
Well I was referring specifically to the other person drawing on screenshots and somehow thinking it's the same as using mods, when legally and practically speaking it is not. Thinking they are the same would be like saying drawing a mustache on a person's actual face is the same as drawing a mustache on a photograph of that person.

And yea I totally understand the various reasons why mods are often forbidden in games, especially the kind that can change how an environment or characters look. They can be used for cheating, even mods that only change outfits, because it can make enemies of the opposing pvp team easier to spot. They can also be used for harassment if the mods allow more lewd visual content than the game or the player's actual outfit permits.

As well, and I can tell you this as a fact because I personally know WoW GMs, SE likely know that if they do permit mods of any kind then their support teams will get customers asking about it. Blizzard GMs regularly get tickets from players asking for help with mods, even though they're not even made by Blizzard. They also get tickets from players who have issues running the game smoothly and the culprit is sometimes a mod. I can see why some game companies would rather avoid this.