Reset time with xpansion. Lets deal with the cheating finally.

[KuroMaboroshi]

I agree, but I also cannot deny their benefits. If you don't have anything to hide, you have nothing to fear. :P

I am very glad Yoshi-P and by extension at least part of Square Enix take a very principled stance on this (sadly not all of Square Enix, as evidenced by their use of intrusive DRM and Anti-Cheat measures in some of their other games).
It doesn't matter if people got nothing to hide, what's on your computer is still no one's business but yourself. No one allows strangers into their home either. If someone has nothing to hide, then congratulations, you are lucky to belong to a group that needn't worry about such things. But because that's not true for everyone, it is a right worth defending on principle, even if it is over something as "pointless" as a video game scanning your computer for botting software.

[Setesh45]

I am very glad Yoshi-P and by extension at least part of Square Enix take a very principled stance on this (sadly not all of Square Enix, as evidenced by their use of intrusive DRM and Anti-Cheat measures in some of their other games).
It doesn't matter if people got nothing to hide, what's on your computer is still no one's business but yourself. No one allows strangers into their home either. If someone has nothing to hide, then congratulations, you are lucky to belong to a group that needn't worry about such things. But because that's not true for everyone, it is a right worth defending on principle, even if it is over something as "pointless" as a video game scanning your computer for botting software.

I agree, but pretending to be a saint in hell gets you nothing good.
Most people use Chrome as their browser for example, Chrome by default scans your processes and activity and sends it to Google. By default this scanning software is also running in the background when you are NOT using the browser.
If you don't believe me go to settings, open advanced settings, system and the first line will surprise you.

People who have this active on their PC also complain about game protection. At least game protection does something good for you in exchange.

[KuroMaboroshi]

I agree, but pretending to be a saint in hell gets you nothing good.
Most people use Chrome as their browser for example, Chrome by default scans your processes and activity and sends it to Google. By default this scanning software is also running in the background when you are NOT using the browser.
If you don't believe me go to settings, open advanced settings, system and the first line will surprise you.

People who have this active on their PC also complain about game protection. At least game protection does something good for you in exchange.

Sorry to say, but I use Firefox, not Chrome, with adblocks and a solid amount of tracking protection plugins. I only ever browse in private mode to ensure no record is permanently saved on my computer. I suppose the one big step I haven't taken yet is using Tor. I always disable as much telemetry as I can on my OS and any software I use. I am the maniac who always goes through all the options on those annoying "we use cookies" popups on websites to make sure they are all disabled ere I use the website. I refuse to buy games that come with bloatware like Easy Anti-Cheat and Denuvo. I am no expert, but for a layperson I would say I care a decent amount.
If that is still "pretending" for you I am not quite sure what standards I should aspire to before I have the "right" to demand that everyone's privacy should be respected. Privacy which is a right in and of itself anyway and should not have to be demanded to begin with. No amount of good in exchange in-game could ever be worth that.

I have principles, just like Yoshi-P, and I would stop playing XIV if they added spyware to it because of those. Which is why I am glad it does not, and hope that continues to be the case (and thank the Twelve it seems the development team agrees), cause I love this game and would very much like to keep playing.

[Galasomeone]

I agree, but pretending to be a saint in hell gets you nothing good.
Most people use Chrome as their browser for example, Chrome by default scans your processes and activity and sends it to Google. By default this scanning software is also running in the background when you are NOT using the browser.
If you don't believe me go to settings, open advanced settings, system and the first line will surprise you.

People who have this active on their PC also complain about game protection. At least game protection does something good for you in exchange.

I always felt that Chrome is a steaming pile but I didn't know it did this. No I don't use Chrome. I use Firefox too. Not quite to the extent he does, but yes script blockers/etc in there. I don't want to get infected from anywhere and I don't want "personalized ads" from places like Amazon to show up on other pages. I consider Discord to be a steaming pile as well. Yes when I have to use it I do but it often messes with my sound settings if left running so I force it shut completely when I quit using it. If you just try to shut it down it doesn't, it keeps running in the background. I don't want anything that does that.