Internet is rife with porn surrounding characters from franchises that are aimed at children. This isn't a new thing and FFXIV isn't a unique example, and that's without delving into porn commissions which were a thing way before any type of custom mod. I'm not saying people shouldn't be responsible, because they should, and whether or not it involves a child but especially so, (mmorpgs, ffxiv specifically, have an overwhelming adult playerbase, fortunately) you should not be exposing people to unsolicited NSFW materials, period. Unfortunately, this often falls flat, because the vast majority of FFXIV affiliated Discords are either 18/21+, and usually have at least one NSFW channel. Safeguarding, particularly where minors are concerned, has to be a constant, rigorous process and a combination of player responsibility, parental supervision and proper moderation enforcement.

Beyond players being banned in-game for freely hosting or advertising such content, I don't imagine things will escalate beyond that. And if Square Enix moderation actually cracked down more frequently on Third Party Mods, then it would follow that players would be more discreet concerning Third Party Mods. If anything, the ambivalent attitude towards 99% of Mods or how they're shared (still extremely possible btw) reinforces the idea that they can't feasibly moderate them effectively.

Syncshells we're a great idea in theory, but pretty poor in practice when you consider that people cannot and will not keep their mouths shut. The convenience, and ease of access, while great in execution, bred a very lackadaisical mentality surrounding not just this particular Mod, but Mods in general.

Personally, I don't care about people circumventing a cash shop that I highly dislike. And I value the achievement of doing something versus getting a shiny participation sticker for it. If you want more subs, make the game better. If you adopt a complacent attitude towards development, players are going to adopt a complacent attitude about opening their wallets.

And one of the largest ironies, is that the fans of the playground variant of the mod is still, allegedly, available and being used to this day. Hmm...