At this point will FFXIV collapse if all mods and third party tools disappear?

[Shurrikhan]

And even ACT is arguably only needed by one player per static, if that. Beyond that it's just a helpful individual learning tool, rather than a way to check where a group's strategy can be revised on review of a pull-log (or whether the current strat would be able to make it ahead of enrage or would need to be greedier, though such considerations are rarer these days).

[Alleluia]

I'd bet the majority of the playerbase doesn't even know mods are a thing that can happen. So... no.

[Syln]

I mean if mods were fully endorsed by squeenix i would be playing right now.

[VelKallor]

At this point will FFXIV collapse if all mods and third party tools disappear?

No.

FF 14 has a long way to go, can manage without them.

[Zeastria]

Regardless of your opinion on mods, you cannot deny the fact that mods exist for a reason.
The need for mods pretty much shows that there is a desire for improvement/change!.

Some ppl use mods bc of disability, and their only way to even play this game is by using mods to help them.

[Jokerz_93]

Uhm…
There are really cool stuffs if someone knows how to brows by their interest.
I’d tell to you to check on XIV Archive and if NSFW stuffs bother you just uncheck the option.

Modding is also used by comm to enchant their experience.
Game devs, all of game devs not only CBU3’s one work with limitation…a lot especially if they are working on an old MMO who must run on a wide range of different systems.
That’s fair but if someone has a god-like build and they like to play the game, why the can’t have the possibility to go further?
There are mods that enchants the texture definition of hairs for example or mods that upscale the normals eyes textures and mods that upscale the resolution of in game armours/items.
They are easy cool stuffs to do and try, to be fair.

How many of you like tattoos?
It’s a pity that the game has no option for them, beside the things you can affix to your chara’d face in the editor.
Also, VFX mods are a thing you should check too.
There are so many mods that are unrelated to the NSFW scenario which are made just to make the game feel more modern.
Of course you don’t have to use them.
You can choose and whatever is your choice it never has to diminish and disrespect the work behind them.
Mods are not a kick in CBU3’s face.
They are an helping hand.

For the raiding part.
It is true that there are some cheats out there that helps people in clearing contents.
Surely those plugins were made by the intent the amplify the audience within the “hardcore” player base.
They are made with the intent to help people with disabilities.
Cactbot helps who lacks of focus.
XIV combos helps who has difficulties to press 1-2-3.
Zoom hacks and AoE detectors helps to build strategies.
But, as for the things are now, the most of Hardcore raiders don’t use any of them and if they used them and those plugins were removed from the game it would be a drop in the ocean.
The big fact is if ACT would be removed.
Once you have learned the fight it’s just a matter of get gud and repeat the same skills in the same order.
Once you leaned it the only thing left to do is to go high in the chart, a chart that is unofficial and run by this bad guy known as FFXIV Logs.

ACT doesn’t provide any help in game.

If plugins were removed, indeed a lot of raiders would quit and this would be because there would be nothing left for those raiders to play with.
The fun is to reach the 99/100 and to know “I’m above the avarege”, the fights are just a part of it.

I’m a mid-core raider.
I’ve used all the plugins/cheats for the sake of knowledge.
I got my 99s just using Party Icons and Bubble chats.
Now, a tier later, I’m even tired to open up ACT and I can tell you that the only way to know the worth of something is when you dive your hands into that dirty mud and feel with your own sense how it looks like.
The rest is just bla bla bla…nosenses.

[TheNight]

Can we have a conversation about this where people don't pretend that discord is what the Dev's mean?

That isn't the point of my post though? I said Discord is not ToS-violating. The point is that the developers are exploiting free labor from the community, and without Discord servers sharing information and creating hubs for socializing, a lot of players would have quit by now, and cotent like BA will be truly dead.

[Remish]

Mods would never go away because when you burn one bridge down another is rebuilt. Modders would find a new loophole to leak mods back into the game. It may not be as stable and secure, but I've never known a game to actually mod proof themselves forever unless that community simply gave up and did not think it was worth the effort. It's the same vein as when game devs patch out glitches and the speedrun community finds new ones. As long as there is community will, there is a way.

Now for fun theory crafting sakes: This game would experience probably one of the, if not the biggest earthquake it has ever experienced if Mods went away (including Discord though I highly doubt they'd erase third party sites, especially ones that they themselves use). If ACT went away, it'd probably go back to how ARR raids felt where people were judged on their mechanical ability and not their damage. People would stare at the aggro bar like they used to, to think they were doing good DPS. The PF would fill up with static recruitment ads as well as Reddit. I'd imagine Reddit would still be permitted even if Discord was removed. The SQEX team has been known to browse the unofficial Subreddit. The world races would take a serious blow and quite frankly they'd still find ways to "cheat" for lack of a better term. The amount of people that are already fed up with the direction this game is going would quit the game citing that it was the final straw. It'd be very catastrophic. Every social media influencer would be covering this subject and it'd make global news. Linkshells would make a comeback, Free Companies might make a comeback. Fellowships would probably remain dead because without external cites like Discord they still serve no purpose. Venues would come crashing down and struggle to stay afloat. For most purposes, to put it simply, just remember what 1.0 and 2.0 were likely and the community would most likely become a similar environment to that except a bit more ghost townish since we're super spread out. The game would quite literally have its own exodus. Some people might gradually return a few years along the way overtime. But the population would probably significantly drop down to its old ARR/HW population. (Which is more than a 50% decrease). The reason it won't completely plummet is because of loyalists, purists who never modded in the first place. And console players who were unlikely tainted in the first place. The other thing is there is a severe lack of other games to play, so even though the population would drop, there would be some that stick around because there still isn't anything else to play, and removing mods isn't going to magically make another game sound worth picking up.

So I really think the game will do just fine without all the extras mentioned in the OP.

Only maybe the hardcore gamers would suffer without....but then again if hardcore gamers are always looking for "add-ons" to make the game easier are they really "hardcore" ?

Depends on your definition of hardcore. Would you consider speedrunners in other video games as being hardcore? If so, it might surprise you that the speedrun community is plagued with add-ons. Not for their live runs, but to measure game mechanics and discover new ways to break the game. A speedrunner using a modified practice rom isn't much different imo to using ACT. (cooperate legality aside). I'd even argue that it's the hardcore players that make the add-ons in the first place because they know what kind of data they are trying to draw. A true casual would probably never know the difference between Direct Hit and Crit's potencies if a hardcore player didn't research the truth out. Often times, it's the hardcore players that figure out why some additions to the game are actually bad. If we were unable to graph and process data, we'd just live in a world where the devs make changes, tell us it's good for us, and we'd accept it without ever proving them wrong.

[Payadopa]

Most of what the OP said is a detriment to the game while also conveniently leaving out console players. I guess they don't exist then? lol

[ChonkGoblinSuprem]

Modders say the same brain dead crap about literally every game.