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

[Karious]

I remember reading somewhere that the devs are constantly implementing modded QoL stuff that modders have put into the game first, like what with the checkmarks next to collected minions and rolls?

[Eastwall]

Is this a surprise? Black ops 3 is a very old game, but there are still a good number of people playing it because treyarch allowed people to mod it and create custom maps. Se is smart to keep one eye closed on this because community can create a lot of content for them. I consider letting people getting away with 3rd party tool part of the game's feature.

[Kes13a]

can "we" actually say that a significant portion of players use mods? where is this appraisal from?

can some leave, I am sure they would, likely clear up some of the housing situation. personally, coming from a game that mods were an absolute requirement to play (WoW) coming here was refreshing, and I doubt I am alone in that. WoW is also very adept at "stealing" the work of others to enhance their game with new "features", so SE doing it is hardly a first in the industry. the mock indignation of them doing it is hardly worthwhile or newsworthy. but shock and indignation is the calling card of the OP.

but without the actual information that the OP is apparently privy to, it is really difficult to determine what portion of the playerbase would leave. I am more concerned about the progress towards a solo game as opposed to a scorched earth policy on mods.

[DixieBellOCE]

Is this a surprise? Black ops 3 is a very old game, but there are still a good number of people playing it because treyarch allowed people to mod it and create custom maps. Se is smart to keep one eye closed on this because community can create a lot of content for them. I consider letting people getting away with 3rd party tool part of the game's feature.

Meanwhile a fair portion of the players do not even have access to said 'illegal tools' because they play on console.

Should console players be getting 'removed' from roleplay because they don't have the illegal ToS breaking tools that PC users do?

Should console players be getting disadvantaged by raid tools that PC users can use?

This is an issue the community caused for themselves by being too heavily reliant on the cheating software available to them. If ACT and every other RP mods were removed from the game, and the players quit because they can no longer play, Its either:
A) Skill issue, get good and dont rely on mods
B) The game was not meant for you in the first place if you cant RP with vanilla game assets. Go play IMVU.

[DixieBellOCE]

can "we" actually say that a significant portion of players use mods? where is this appraisal from?

can some leave, I am sure they would, likely clear up some of the housing situation. personally, coming from a game that mods were an absolute requirement to play (WoW) coming here was refreshing, and I doubt I am alone in that. WoW is also very adept at "stealing" the work of others to enhance their game with new "features", so SE doing it is hardly a first in the industry. the mock indignation of them doing it is hardly worthwhile or newsworthy. but shock and indignation is the calling card of the OP.

but without the actual information that the OP is apparently privy to, it is really difficult to determine what portion of the playerbase would leave. I am more concerned about the progress towards a solo game as opposed to a scorched earth policy on mods.

I dont think there is a single PC player on my datacenter that has played the game for longer than a year that does not use a mod/tool in some fashion.

The entire raiding discord use mods and act, even advertise the use of them.
Every single club discord is full of modded pictures/videos of some of the most hideous characters i have ever seen.
Every single FC discord has a mods channel or has a gpose channel full of modded assets.

Its a plague that has all but destroyed what the game originally was, a combat based MMO.
People cant raid without tools, people cant RP without tools.

XIV has literally just become WoW 2.0 but the addons are 'illegal but not really because they are unmoderated'

[Supersnow845]

^square has done far more to destroy 14’s old design style of a “combat MMO” than the community ever has, dropping the average ShB baby into HW would give them a full on heart attack and those design changes were entirely square enix decision

I’m on console so I don’t use mods but I’d argue mods are half attempting to fix the games terrible source code (Alexander/no clippy) or spicing up a massively homogenised and dated feeling game (RP mods, changes to skill designs)

[MintnHoney]

Should console players be getting 'removed' from roleplay because they don't have the illegal ToS breaking tools that PC users do?

Depends: are they trying to engage in roleplay that requires said tools?

Should console players be getting disadvantaged by raid tools that PC users can use?

No, but to disadvantage someone with something is to somehow hinder them. I somehow sincerely doubt that raiders in any country are using any tools specifically to trip up other players. Using a tool for their own ease of use is not a direct slight against you or anyone else.

This is an issue the community caused for themselves by being too heavily reliant on the cheating software available to them. If ACT and every other RP mods were removed from the game, and the players quit because they can no longer play, Its either:
A) Skill issue, get good and dont rely on mods
B) The game was not meant for you in the first place if you cant RP with vanilla game assets. Go play IMVU.

It's also an issue that stems from the game not providing enough for the players, regardless of the reasons provided by the developers, if any were provided at all. Most people don't make mods for games when it meaningfully provides that which the mod is intending to add.
Have things gone too far?
I don't know. I'm not part of the scene to know. But I do know that I have been basically wearing the same outfit for like 6 years (except for small periods of time here and there, and minor changes to the headdress every now and again) because I just don't like anything else in the game, and I'd be lying if I said I don't envy the mods I've seen for dresses and the like. All that other stuff? It's "whatever," as far as I'm concerned, because nothing that anyone has done has been done specifically to hurt me.

[DixieBellOCE]

Depends: are they trying to engage in roleplay that requires said tools?


No, but to disadvantage someone with something is to somehow hinder them. I somehow sincerely doubt that raiders in any country are using any tools specifically to trip up other players. Using a tool for their own ease of use is not a direct slight against you or anyone else.


It's also an issue that stems from the game not providing enough for the players, regardless of the reasons provided by the developers, if any were provided at all. Most people don't make mods for games when it meaningfully provides that which the mod is intending to add.
Have things gone too far?
I don't know. I'm not part of the scene to know. But I do know that I have been basically wearing the same outfit for like 6 years (except for small periods of time here and there, and minor changes to the headdress every now and again) because I just don't like anything else in the game, and I'd be lying if I said I don't envy the mods I've seen for dresses and the like. All that other stuff? It's "whatever," as far as I'm concerned, because nothing that anyone has done has been done specifically to hurt me.

The way i see it is that regular players are sharing a world with people that are playing a completely different game.

I had a chat a while ago with somebody who frequents the club scene in game, and they admitted to spending thousands of dollars on illegal mods for their character... from body alterations to outfits, hairstyles and other things. THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS. It's kind of sad that people spend that much money on something that isn't even allowed to be in the game to begin with, and the mod developers scalping off these people are the ones that should be the targets for any crackdowns, hence why they try to hide from the public view.

[Mcg55ss]

Let's be completely honest here #1 PlayStation does not have mods, so the release of the Xbox will probably be the exact same thing. #2 morning is mostly big in Western culture as you can see by the Japanese top static that got caught modding. In America it would have been a deal but not as big a deal, in Japan they literally got harassed off the game because they were seen as dishonoring them. #3 not everybody cares enough about mods to quit the game on PC in America. #4 probably the biggest one is where would people go, I mean I'm sure some would go back to wow but they left that for a reason so I don't think they would stay extended period time there so in the end some of the initial wave that ends up quitting will come back. Now is SE going to do this highly highly highly doubtful, and even if they did do this I think it would be something that's inactive on your PC until you enter something like PVP or a raid. So once you enter those queued instances it would scan to see if you're using third-party addons but even then I think that's highly unlikely they would do that

[Shurrikhan]

Let's put it this way:

Let's say a community balance patch comes out for a PvP game you like, finally fixing a huge portion of the playerbase's complaints that had lingered for *checks date* over a decade.

Players play on this community balance patch via a limited-time unofficial Mode that cycles around maybe once per year... and they really, really like it.

But then the limited-time mode ends and access is again limited to the normal game, with all its long-critiqued problems that the playerbase only recently saw solutions to -- by their own hands, no less -- which the developers continue to say would be impossible to address.

Many are miffed and leave the game entirely, or at least until such time as the official game catches up with the quality that'd already been presented by its unofficial offerings.

Would the game be thereby improved for having access to the community-generated improvements? Would it be unreasonable for players to be miffed when told that the solutions they said they wanted, actually went and made, and then subsequently enjoyed pretty much exactly to the extent they thought they would... are again put on the decade-long "Soon™" list or are outright called impossible?

Meanwhile a fair portion of the players do not even have access to said 'illegal tools' because they play on console.

Should console players be getting 'removed' from roleplay because they don't have the illegal ToS breaking tools that PC users do?

Then, unironically, the devs should just continue to pick the most essential elements of those addons and to collect free value from others' unpaid labor. If you'd gain players from easy QoL improvements, you should do so. If you'd lose players from their being miffed at how much better the game could be if you only they were on PC or if you didn't threaten them into curtailing their options, then you should provide those improvements and/or, at the very least, limit what you're threatening.

A) Skill issue, get good and dont rely on mods
B) The game was not meant for you in the first place if you cant RP with vanilla game assets. Go play IMVU.

Neither of these 'retorts' make much sense.

A) If we're getting more players as a result of QoL features in the mods, and --as you have repeatedly claimed-- those QoL features are not required nor balanced around or what have you, then why gatekeep arbitrarily?

B) That applies no more to this game than to any other. "Not impressed by baseline Skyrim, to the point you wouldn't bother playing it? Then shame on you for enjoying it with mods. Get ye gone!"