A Final Fantasy 14 Twitch streamer was banned on stream mid-raid due to their use of third-party add-ons meant to assist with gameplay. Final Fantasy 14's strict policy toward third-party add-ons makes it extremely dangerous for streamers who publicly broadcast their usage.

Final Fantasy 14 is one of the most popular MMORPGs on the market, rivaling other industry giants such as World of Warcraft, Guild Wars 2, and The Elder Scrolls Online. A popular feature of MMORPGs is the many community-made add-ons that modify the game in certain ways such as displaying more information about what's going on, reorganizing the interface, or helping with boss fight mechanics. While most add-ons are considered harmless and are just minor improvements to the gameplay experience, many argue that certain add-ons are outright cheating. Final Fantasy 14 has a somewhat unusual policy for the genre: all third-party add-ons are bannable offenses.

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It's clear that Square Enix stands by this policy as Twitch streamer BagelGooseFF found out the hard way. While fighting the dragons Nidhogg and Hraesvelgr in the new Dragonsong's Reprise Ultimate Raid, BagelGooseFF found himself suddenly teleported out of the raid and into a small, empty room reminiscent of a jail cell. After a moment, a glowing figure teleported into the room, a GM coming to break the news of the ban. Visible on the stream is the culprit: third party countdown timers for party buffs and debuffs. A small and simple UI tweak, but a bannable one nonetheless.

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Less than a day prior to this, Final Fantasy 14 issued a statement regarding its policy toward third-party addons, stressing that it is indeed a bannable offense and it intends to crack down on their usage. Square Enix also stated that it intends to improve the game's UI so that players won't feel the need to dance around potential bans just to get a little more information during gameplay. Despite being bannable, add-ons are actually hugely popular in Final Fantasy 14, with a "don't ask don't tell" culture surrounding them. Since most add-ons are undetectable, consequences only arise when players advertise them or use damage meters to shame other players for their performance.

Since Final Fantasy 14 is cross-platform between consoles and PC, the availability of addons puts console players at a major disadvantage. Along with the fact that tools such as damage meters are famous for propagating toxic cultures in MMORPGs, Square Enix has good reasons for taking a hardline stance against their use. However, it will take considerable effort to improve the game to a point where players don't see add-ons as worth the risk. In the meantime, Final Fantasy 14 streamers relying on third-party addons to tackle difficult content may want to think twice before broadcasting.

Final Fantasy 14 is available on PC, PS4, and PS5.

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Source: Twitch