The Final Fantasy 14 community has been having discussions over two billboards (now taken down) in Austin and Houston, Texas. These signs showed two game characters with the words, "Rain Nightclub Presents Summer Bash" along with a Discord server link. While nightclub parties in the MMORPG are common, this real-world advertisement was a first, and it has gotten a lot of backlash.
The Rain Free Company had characters with modded outfits on the billboard, which has been in the midst of a big mod crackdown by Square Enix. Also, the advertisement used the Final Fantasy 14 logo, which may mean the players could face a lawsuit. Outside of memes, players are annoyed by the nightclub's actions, as it may have consequences on other players.
Final Fantasy 14's Crackdown On Mods
The particular mod seen in the billboard was actually datamined from the upcoming annual Moonfire Faire event. This is occurring nearly two months after Director Naoki Yoshida made a public statement against third-party tools, defining them as tools that make content easier to complete, tools that modify the UI to display more info, and the use of packet spoofing tools. Additionally, he included "Any actions or public statements that promote the use of third-party tools." Unfortunately for Rain Nightclub, their advertisement fits the last statement.
This statement was partly in reaction to Team Neverland, who beat the Dragonsong's Repise raid with the help of mods. They were the first to win the race to beat this difficult raid, however Square Enix then claimed their win was not official because of mods. Yosida said that players using these third-party tools will even have accounts suspended or permanently banned. Data mining, in particular, is a matter that Yoshida got into as well. He made it known that datamining and leaks are utterly unacceptable and can be met with legal action.
The Billboard Backlash
In the game itself, players have gathered around the house the nightclub party is to take place in and are ensuing chaos via mounts, emotes, and cosmetic explosions. The billboard got a ton of backlash and shared a lot of information as to the FC involved, their website, and their server. Now, the nightclub's Discord server and website have been taken down.
Final Fantasy 14 is trending on Twitter, with a lot of fans worried about the consequences of this public display of datamining, mods, and ERPing. Many players are concerned that Square Enix will hammer down far more limitations on mods. Others are less concerned about Square Enix and more concerned that this billboard will give other role-players and clubs bad representation. Lastly, fans are worried this billboard incident will upset the peace between the players and game developers.
The Consequences
While there has been a loud backlash in terms of the Final Fantasy 14 community, there has been no news of Square Enix having a reaction yet. The billboards are reportedly taken down by the owners' choice, and not because Square Enix told them to. The community is waiting for Square Enix's response with bated breath, as there is no doubt that the billboard has shown obvious rule-breaking in Final Fantasy 14's Terms of Service.
Modding has been a long-standing issue for the developers, but they turn a blind eye to it as long as it is done privately and does not touch the experience of other players. Additionally, this nightclub is for ERPers, which stands for erotic role play. Like mods, developers have found ERP to be okay as long as it's between consenting people and done privately. With both of these issues put on public billboards, fans worry that the developers will rethink their stance on these issues. The worst-case scenario is that Square Enix will crack down not just on the Rain Nightclub, but on general mod and ERP communities.
Final Fantasy 14 is available now for PC, PS4, and PS5.
Source: Square Enix