Third party tools are a game design failing in a multi-platform game

[Johners]

WoW is an interesting example, that did actually start to get a model editing scene at one stage early on in vanilla if I'm remembering it right. That got stomped hard and fast because people started using it to put huge spikes on player models stopping people from hiding in corners/huts etc in PvP, something that was pretty important given WoW's PvP focus.

FFXIV really doesn't place anything like the same value on the PvP experience as it's client/server tick rate clearly shows. So it's a rather different situation. Model and texture edits are really only a win for SE as it keeps people invested in the game when a content drought might cause them to unsub and head elsewhere. UI stuff is a similar boat, this should be the community designing and beta testing ideas which SE should have been plucking the pick from. Honestly? Even if it's far from being for everyone, the Skyrim stuff is fine as long as people remember to keep it within Fight Club rules.

You have to step all the way up to the bots before things genuinely start getting harmful for the game proper. Below that, it's just being being stupid or toxic.

World of Warcraft has interesting examples of the "grey area" the community talks about in FFXIV. Before they added transmog (glamour) into the game with patch 4.2, there was this third party tool called tmorph. This allowed you to change your character and mount model client-side to others in the game based off of the model ID. Then people started using the same tool to alter the size and model for the flag in Warsong Gulch. It didn't change the hit box but it made it easily visible from the entire map and the call for each entrance/floor to attack when pushing to return your flag became much easier.

The problem with FFXIV modding being under Fight Club rules is that everyone knows and it's not a secret. When you have Limit Max coming into this game from World of Warcraft, asking for a one-for-one replica of his WoW UI on stream in front of 1000s of people, it exposes the entire community to everyone. The same thing happened when Asmongold interviewed a lewd modder on his stream last year, it exposed that entire community to everyone beyond the existing boundaries of the FFXIV community.

WoW is also a really good example, even with officially support UI plugins, of how these tools develop over time and the impact it has on the game. Blizzard have even recognised that a certain level of combat addons go too far but they're not in a position to just flat remove them because it could remove functionality that smaller QoL addons rely on. Combine that with basically no improvements to the stock UI and having to use some addons is pretty much a requirement these days.

Square Enix would be naive and fairly misguided to keep ignoring it at this stage. Even if some of it is "harmless", almost none of it can be moderated.

[Magikazam]

WoW is also a really good example, even with officially support UI plugins, of how these tools develop over time and the impact it has on the game. Blizzard have even recognised that a certain level of combat addons go too far but they're not in a position to just flat remove them because it could remove functionality that smaller QoL addons rely on. Combine that with basically no improvements to the stock UI and having to use some addons is pretty much a requirement these days.

It almost as if you missed the part where they limited what combat addons could show or do after WoD. It not like addons ruined the game and that they can't fix it. Also as a WoW veteran I can't recall the models changing mods you talking about. never seen them out of non-official server so I will call BS on that one.