Proposal: A Solution to Third Party Tool Problem

[Reelos]

This still relies on Square Enix taking a stance on what tools are acceptable and those that aren't. At the end of the day, the vast majority of third party tools in the entire toolset are never going to be deemed acceptable so an official plugin framework would still results in a lot of lost functionality for many users.

Not to mention that a lot of the problem also relies on the fact Square Enix seemingly have very few if any client-side mechanisms to detect or prevent the use of these tools. An official plugin framework doesn't really solve the wider problem in this discussion as the existing tools would continue to work.

This entire discussion on third party tools is a useless loop of people getting upset at those using it and people getting upset at the prospect of them going away. Until Square Enix just come out and say they're adding a kernel level anti-cheat like Riot Vanguard (used in Valorant and League of Legends) or something of that nature, the situation will never change and you'll be able to keep using these plugins without Square Enix knowing about it.

No. They need to take a stance on which information they are willing to provide. not which tools are using them or how they use them. It is a massive difference

[Reelos]

No. They need to take a stance on which information they are willing to provide. not which tools are using them or how they use them. It is a massive difference

I should add, that this would also be groundwork for those detection mechanisms. since they can then start to create a watcher for the game's data.

[Reelos]

This entire discussion on third party tools is a useless loop of people getting upset at those using it and people getting upset at the prospect of them going away. Until Square Enix just come out and say they're adding a kernel level anti-cheat like Riot Vanguard (used in Valorant and League of Legends) or something of that nature, the situation will never change and you'll be able to keep using these plugins without Square Enix knowing about it.

You are not wrong about that. I gotta add this then. I am not mad. I am as annoyed by this loop as you are. What I am trying to is break this loop. Since there would be clearity which we are lacking right now

[Larirawiel]

This still relies on Square Enix taking a stance on what tools are acceptable and those that aren't. At the end of the day, the vast majority of third party tools in the entire toolset are never going to be deemed acceptable so an official plugin framework would still results in a lot of lost functionality for many users.

Yes and no. Some functionality like parsers would not work anymore. But otoh you could have new functionality, which is not in the current mods.

Not to mention that a lot of the problem also relies on the fact Square Enix seemingly have very few if any client-side mechanisms to detect or prevent the use of these tools. An official plugin framework doesn't really solve the wider problem in this discussion as the existing tools would continue to work.

There are some non-intrusive methods to prevent the usage of modifications. They could start to encrypt parts of the client or use methods like ASLR. This would make it way harder to create reliable interface mods. But atm they do nothing.


Cheers

[Reelos]

I am not really going on the UI stuff really. Cause from what I gather after playing this game for about 10 years, it really shows enough information and the design isn't that bad (while I agree that more designs would be appriciated).

[Ranaku]

This is mostly a Brainstorming attempt.

Wouldn't it be easier for both sides to clearify what is allowed an what isn't, if there was some sort of ground both parties could ground their Statements on?

Instead of saying that they would implement some functions some third party tools provide, wouldn't it be better to make those which are not harmful to the game experience available for Console players as well?

tl;dr: If the FFXIV development Team would create official interfaces for some Game relevant data to clearify that this data is accepted to use in a thrid party tool and NOTHING else but data these interfaces provide, would that somewhat solve this dilema?

This would change nothing besides making some of the plugins/mods not break the ToS anymore. Which would as i said change absolutely nothing at all besides maybe prevent "some" bans but seriously the work that would take is not worth it for the results. The other mods would still flourish and everything would be basically the same. And most of the peps who get banned nowdays are anyways not those who just use mods but those who harass others with parses etc. which would be still not allowed.

All it would do is create more work for the devs to install a framework for these mods and police them so no harmful virus or gamealtering plugins get into the players hands. Which is actually not that uncommon in WoW, there was a incident i well remember where you could force other players to certain actions like trading through a plugin. Which would be a nightmare for XIV i bet.

[Reelos]

And most of the peps who get banned nowdays are anyways not those who just use mods but those who harass others with parses etc. which would be still not allowed.

Which is excatly my point. there wouldn't be any "if you don't talk about it, it is fine" stuff going on anymore, but a clear "no. unallowed in all cases".
The side point would be, that console players would get these allowed addons accessable, which is also a win in my book.

All it would do is create more work for the devs to install a framework for these mods and police them so no harmful virus or gamealtering plugins get into the players hands. Which is actually not that uncommon in WoW, there was a incident i well remember where you could force other players to certain actions like trading through a plugin. Which would be a nightmare for XIV i bet.

Only if you are able to push any information into the interface. if it is a read only interface, that would not be possible. (trust me. I faced this before myself)

[Bad_Luck]

New to MMOs eh? This isn’t a negotiation dawg.