Cheaters and Add-ons

[MagicBeans]

Hi, first time posting here and i come with a question, why the devs do little next to nothing to stop the rampant cheating that happens in this game. I know that this is mainly a PVE game and if someone is using splatoon or some type of auto rotation cheat is not affecting my gameplay directly but why theres not a more restrictive system or anti-cheat in the game?

Now I've also heard that the devs can't implement an anti-cheat or any program to check if someone is using something they're are not suppose to because of a certain japanese cybersecurity law that prohibits them for using anti-cheats in their game, how much of this is true and if so which law is it and how can we fight the rampant cheating that happens in the game?

With a new ultimate on the horizon i can only imagine of what type of cheat people will come up with so they can clear the fight...

Is there nothing we can do besides reporting the use of cheats or can we ask more from the devs in regard of more restrictions in game on add-on usage?

[Ath192]

Is there nothing we can do besides reporting the use of cheats

Correct, there is nothing else. The best tip I can give you is to enjoy your gameplay. Even games with anticheats that are so invasive they probe your butt temperature have cheaters. MMOs have been trying to stop RMT for more than 30 years with no success either.

Real freedom is when you do what you feel is right and forget about everyone else.

[kko77]

Right. I have played MMOs since UO (I'm an old gal I know) and FFXIV does a decent job on RMT, esp compared to other modern MMOs like wow. It is slow but they do get people. Cheats, again slow. Usually server side hacks they get immediately but things client side like camera hacks or even targeting hacks in pvp take a while. At least they know what an RMT hellscape looks like... *looks at FFXI*

And I refuse to play games with kernel level root kits for anti cheat. They have not proved to be more effective. I remember when Valorant came out how everyone said kernel level would be a game changer and after six months that changed. The biggest thing a company needs to fight anti-cheat is man power which... most don't want to spend the money on.

[MagicBeans]

I agree that its nearly impossible to stop all cheating, but it shouldn't fall on the players to report each and every case of cheatings happening. Fair play between players should be something SE enforce in the game, it's so weird that there's alot of MMOs out there way smaller than FFXIV that use better anti-cheats systems, in case of FFXIV I don't even think they use one.

[Mawlzy]

I agree that its nearly impossible to stop all cheating, but it shouldn't fall on the players to report each and every case of cheatings happening. Fair play between players should be something SE enforce in the game, it's so weird that there's alot of MMOs out there way smaller than FFXIV that use better anti-cheats systems, in case of FFXIV I don't even think they use one.

As Ath192 notes, genuine anti-cheat software is extremely invasive. The only area in which I'll subject my PC to that is from online poker clients.

That said, it is possible to spot many cheats without the GMs sticking a thermometer up your butt. In other words, rather than probing for banned software, it is possible to see the results of that software through motion (in the case of speed hacking/teleporting) or patterns in and timing of button presses in the case of scripting. Why more isn't done in this area I have no idea.

[UkcsAlias]

Why more isn't done in this area I have no idea.

Because you wont win the battle anyway. Anti cheats are only made according to an effect vs cost balance. Making it very hard, and therefor the cheat itself more expensive is a very basic thing they do. Regular detection does help, but only when reputation matters. RMT bots dont care at all here.

Its also a battle that is impossible to win as there is 1 tool that defeats all anti cheats: emulation. Sure, you can make the game heavy enough to avoid emulation from properly working (and usualy this is effective), but that is still only a race as the lowest setting defines how well it works (the lower the game requirements, the easier it is to emulate).

This is where consoles have an advantage: emulation cannot mimic the key that a device is signed with. So the console dev can ban based on that and also use that to sign firmware for your device so you cannot run your own. But with PCs this is unacceptable behaviour. Linux for example wouldnt support this at all as its not open source then, yet mandatory to get linux to run as most servers use this. Even if all home pcs have such limitation, a cheater might still own a server then and emulate the hardware on that.

Server side machine learning is currently one of the better ways to detect malicious behaviour, as it can consider a lot of factors that are very hard to avoid as a cheater. Even limiting the data sent to users isnt enough, as in most cases games still need to send a location because people emitting footstep sounds. Machine learning could already notice a diffirence in player behaviour for just such footsteps. THe main downside here: it costs a lot for these servers to run. Most of the time not worth it at all (hence only top tier matches might get checked here).

[Turtledeluxe]

The devs are completely aware people use add ons and they don't care. They literally can't afford to care.

FFXIV and add ons should be held in the same regard as peanut butter and jelly.

Also looking at other games will get you virtually nowhere when you're criticizing XIV. That's not only because the core fans will dismiss it, but because it all starts from the top and if SE/Yoshi P don't care, then it's not going to be a major concern.

[Reimmi]

Best you can do is ignore them and know that you're not one of them
unfortunately japan has laws against anti cheat software, specifically putting programs on your PC to track what you're doing

And even if they could, i don't think they would. The casual and RP community uses mods so much at this point that they'd lose way too many subs for a small gain

[lolnotacat]

Yoshi-P has always had a don't ask, don't tell policy regarding cheating.

Mostly it's practicality. A lot of Anti cheat are essentially Root-kits and they are illegal in some jurisdictions. Also, they have to be constantly maintained and updated, which is expensive whether developing your own or contracting out third party. A good chunk of the community also uses mods. Most of them are cosmetic, but there are also QoL mods which in some cases fix issues the game has had since launch (removing clipping), add features which should've been in since launch and will soon be added (chat bubbles), or even help with accessibility issues some players may have (condensing skill chains).

Considering the game is mostly PVE, and the competitive PVE aspect only impacts a tiny portion of the already tiny portion of the playerbase that does the content, it's probably easier to focus on them to verify for cheating and punishing players who openly engage to the point they're getting reported.

[Kes13a]

Yoshi-P has always had a don't ask, don't tell policy regarding cheating.

if I recall, that attitude only applies to mods. cheating is still frowned on.

personally I think the only thing that works against RMT is banning the buyers. Sellers with grow like weeds... but if you hard ban the buyers... thats people's time investment that they lose. banning works, but only if you ban the BUYERS