by Game director Naoki Yoshida recently acknowledged the frustrations of many Final Fantasy 14 players regarding the user interface, noting that Square Enix “will strive to improve the functionality of the HUD”. This comes shortly after a sudden crackdown by the company on the use of such mods.
“As stated in the Final Fantasy 14 Terms of Service, the use of third-party tools is strictly prohibited. Players found to be using third-party tools will have their accounts suspended or permanently banned for repeat offending,” Yoshida said in a statement.
The executive, on the other hand, acknowledged that players use third-party tools to “expand the HUD and display more information because they feel existing features are insufficient to tackle high-level tasks.” Yoshida went on to say that “in recognition of this, we intend to review the most prominent tools and, to discourage their use, strive to improve the functionality of the HUD. Although it will take some time, we are determined to make it happen.”
This comes a bit late for the team of gamers known as Neverland, who just became the first person in the world to beat Dragonsong’s Reprise. Square Enix was quick to congratulate Neverland before subsequently removing the video showing them clearing this notoriously difficult raid. “The first teams to top Dragonsong’s Reprise have emerged,” Square Enix commented. “Congratulations! For those of you who are still making progress, good luck as you continue to move forward at your own pace! The company went on to say that “we would like to add something about third-party tools.” Members of Neverland were seen using a modified version of the user interface in your video.
“It goes without saying that we are aware of the world races for high-level tasks,” Yoshida commented. “As developers, we are proud to have become one of the few games where they take place and we are delighted to see so many players participate and watch with great interest. But a race must be fair and we sincerely hope that participants do not use third-party tools. In fact, we have only released features that we have shown can be beaten by standard game features.”
Yoshida said that Square Enix wants to “recognize their achievements and add to the excitement of the community,” but added that “if our recognition encourages excessive competition and controversy to the point that players turn to third-party tools, I’m sorry to say that we may have to reconsider.” making comments in the future.
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