the mod/addon is getting out of hand and is spreading to other platforms JUST STOP!!

[Zaene]

1. Depending on his location, yes or no - that yes being with major caveats. There are people in South America who have better ping than I do, and that is the "advantage" that XIVA provides - simulating better ping by reducing the animation locks by a set value that cannot be changed unless one is extremely determined and goes against the wishes of the developer of the tool. Your friend can utilize a VPN to gain similar effects to their gameplay.

2. It absolutely is not fair, just like how it is absolutely not fair that those of us who live in states such as New York or New Jersey experience the same ping to NA servers as we do to EU servers. XIVA provides something that should already be ingame natively - and it proves that it's something within the games capabilities to do and provide for users. Your skill should not depend on where you live or whether or not you can have access to a VPN or XIVA.

3. Some of the best players in my group play best on the PS4. I play my best with an MMO mouse. If your friend plays well on PC, they play well on PC. If they play well on the PS4, they play well on the PS4. Addons cannot force you to play well - see the mass amounts of people who utilize addons and still play like hot garbage. Addons are not a replacement for skill, the majority of them merely do what the game should already be doing.

4. He should not, and does not have to. And if anyone tells him that he needs to, then he knows to avoid them because they likely are hot garbage. This is the mindset of most who use addons. No one will force you to use an addon, you do not need an addon to play the game at high tiers, and those who do use addons typically only use them to supplement the game with features that should already be in the game.

I agree with the vast majority of this. I too hope that SE can implement a systemic change to their game that can quash the need to use add-ons. I'm not very optimistic however. In the meantime, I wonder how the game will evolve. I honestly don't want a situation to arise where there is a large gulf between people who have add-ons which (may) provide advantages the average player doesn't have and other folks.