They need to find a way to detect XIV Alexander and ban people

[caffe_macchiato]

People need to acknowledge that plugins and addons have become a distinguishing feature of FFXIV. Not because they’re mandatory, per se, but because the capabilities they give us far exceed addons from other online games. You can have a packet-sniffer installed which alters the server calls that you send to other players, and people here openly defend that. Any other online game would consider that cheating.

And that’s not to mention the drastic amount of clothing and model replacement addons, which can allow you to change every single equippable item in the game, create entirely new races to override current ones, create new mounts and minions, and make custom poses and animations. This kind of complexity is usually relegated to single player games like Skyrim, but FFXIV has taken those features in spades and with little to no backlash from SE.

Let’s compare to the elephant in the room, World of Warcraft, which many people say has compulsory addons. Those tell you mechanics and add UI features, but they do not drastically interfere with server calls or client side files. In fact, the last time someone attempted to make nude mods, the publisher and all who installed them got banned. Packet-sniffing and changing server calls is absolutely prohibited.

It is a fact that our addons have become more potent and intrusive to the game’s file and packet integrity than addons from any other MMO. And sure, xivalexander “just eliminates animation locking”. Sure, it “just changes your ping”. By interfering with server calls themselves. The most intrusive way of manipulating the game that’s possible for an end user.

There is no high road that FFXIV can claim by being an addon-free experience when other players have almost limitless ability to change game files and outgoing data with zero repercussions.

[Padudu]

snip

This is entirely SE's fault tho. If they didn't want to allow mods they should've just banned them from the get-go. Now modding is prevalent everywhere and enforcing mod banning will piss off a giant amount of people - not only raiders, but RPers, housing players, gposers, casual players, ect ect, who use mods to "enhance the experience".

Anyways, using a plugin to que actions so you don't clip in your rotation or using add-ons to account for ping isn't really all that egregious. Like sure there's always the ~dreaded~ cactbot, but honestly from knowing a couple people who use it..

One person used it to "help" with mechanics and they died well before the mechs even popped off. They were a bad player who never truly learned the mechanics and the rest of us didn't even want to hear about them using cactbot, when they relied entirely and only on callouts.

I consider it to be hella useless when you're actually progging the fight, tbh. But idk, I can only go by my experience from watching other people use it.

Anyways, at the end of the day this doesn't really affect you or anyone unless you go out of your way for it, tbh. If they want less plugin usage, add the shit that people want. Until then, mods will last.

Also, this isn't to say modding at all is okay. It's not and it's not allowed. However, that being said, I frankly don't care enough and I'm not going to defend SE's integrity when they've been mucking up half of this expansion anyways.