What about translation mods?

[EnderVAD]

FFXIV officially supports only 4 languages + 2 in non-global versions of the game. However the playerbase is larger than just that. There are a lot of at least Spanish, Russian, and other European languages to cover. In previous years there was made a point about considering to make localizations for such languages, Spanish in particular. However it's clear that this idea was abandoned since that statement is from several years ago.

Because of that there were born tools for automatic translation of in-game text, e.g. Tataru Helper and Echoglossian. Also fans have recently started a Russian localization project and have made a good progress by hand-translating most parts of the UI. My question is: is the current SE's stance about mods really correct? I get that right now by ToS those tools are technically prohibited, but that's strictly due to the fact that they're 3rd party software and modifications. While I don't agree with this, I'm not arguing against that. Instead I'd really like to open this question about a morally correct definition of prohibited 3rd part software/mods. Modders and translators in question are working hard for free to make the game accessible for more people. Which in turn converts to more customers and more money for you. For free. All of this is driven by enthusiasm and love for the game, and I think it's a real shame that such work is still in the no-no area which would drive people away.

I'm sorry if my English is scuffed, it's not my native language.

[Digit4lC4m]

Pretty sure they won't go after you for using translation mod. Come on. Sure, the streamer was banned for using add-on, but you need to look at what kinds of addons he was using that caused GM to take action against said player. And on top of that, he was streaming! Someone reported him, and GM had to take action.

[Necrotica]

Pretty sure they won't go after you for using translation mod. Come on. Sure, the streamer was banned for using add-on, but you need to look at what kinds of addons he was using that caused GM to take action against said player. And on top of that, he was streaming! Someone reported him, and GM had to take action.

Either there are rules or their aren't.

They COULD have taken a more nuanced approach and gone into greater detail about what mods they are headhunting for.

But they did not. So now we have the witch hunts. The community is imploding to the point WoW looks civil.

[SenorPatty]

"Please don't use mods"

"We can't scan your computer"

"There are people who don't care that it doesn't affect them, they will report if they see it so don't broadcast the use to the public".

Now, you born with a brain and you were given critical thinking. After reading those three quotes, surely you can work something out for yourself, can't you? It's really not hard and I don't understand this need to try and get SE to give the green light to something they've never officially given one. Even graphical enhancement mods like Reshade got a 'use at your own risk" statement.

[Haruka_R]

Now, you born with a brain and you were given critical thinking.

Not everyone's that lucky. XD

[DamianFatale]

Either there are rules or their aren't.
The community is imploding to the point WoW looks civil.

I agreed with you until you said this. The community is absolutely not imploding by any means. I see people running around and playing just fine.

[Absurdity]

I agreed with you until you said this. The community is absolutely not imploding by any means. I see people running around and playing just fine.

It isn't literally imploding, more like twitter's kind of imploding where people go on day long rants about this or that but continue to use the platform anyway.
Latest example being when Elon Musk acquired the company and people acted like the world was ending, but the next day they went right back to doing...whatever it is you do on twitter.

[Rolder50]

"Please don't use mods"

"We can't scan your computer"

"There are people who don't care that it doesn't affect them, they will report if they see it so don't broadcast the use to the public".

Now, you born with a brain and you were given critical thinking. After reading those three quotes, surely you can work something out for yourself, can't you? It's really not hard and I don't understand this need to try and get SE to give the green light to something they've never officially given one. Even graphical enhancement mods like Reshade got a 'use at your own risk" statement.

What if a Russian streamer, wants to broadcast to their Russian audience, using the aforementioned mod to translate the game into Russian? Are they just not allowed to stream now?

[Absurdity]

What if a Russian streamer, wants to broadcast to their Russian audience, using the aforementioned mod to translate the game into Russian? Are they just not allowed to stream now?

According to SE's rules they would be in violation of the TOS if they used a 3rd party tool to change the text to a russian translation, so yes.

[Rolder50]

According to SE's rules they would be in violation of the TOS if they used a 3rd party tool to change the text to a russian translation, so yes.

And that is why their TOS and their interpretation of it is garbage.