FFXIV Director and Producer Naoki Yoshida discussed the use of illegal, third-party tools during the FFXIV The Omega Protocol (Ultimate) and condemned their usage. He reiterated that such tools is not allowed in-game and will be penalized. This means people who used them will be punished. He also said people who shared the post-clear cutscene or other illicit footage will be punished. Yoshida also said that “for the time being” they will not share the first clear. Yoshida also hinted at the alleged Team UNNAMED_ clear with third-party tools and said, “If the illicit use of third-party tools is made clear through our investigations, I, at the very least, will not recognize that team as the true World First.”
As far as third-party tools for FFXIV and The Omega Protocol (Ultimate) go, Yoshida noted that people found guilty will be temporarily suspended or permanently have their account banned. This is standard protocol for the MMORPG, and the team won’t share the identities and exact punishments. He also reiterated, “I have come across posts from individuals that say things along the lines of, ‘Yoshida allows the use of third-party tools, so it’s fine to use them.’ However, let me make it clear that I have never permitted the use of these tools.”
Yoshida also addressed The Omega Protocol (Ultimate) FFXIV and other videos being shared. People found a way to see the scene in The Unending Journey via an illicit information packet. The team will work to prevent that from happening again. It also punished the person who shared that video online. As for the other illicit video, it appeared it “originated from an internal source.” Again, the team will work to ensure that doesn’t happen again and will issue punishments.
The message from Yoshida ended with his displeasure at what happened and an apology to everyone playing legitimately. Here is his full statement from the end of the announcement. In it, he mentioned refraining from announcing the FFXIV World First race winner for now and acknowledged the team is considering an official raid race.
It is extremely disappointing for me personally to see this commotion surrounding third-party tools once again in the wake of what happened with Dragonsong’s Reprise (Ultimate). As the individual who is entrusted with full supervision over FFXIV, it is my responsibility to enact countermeasures and police the use of these tools, as well as educate people to not use these types of third-party tools—this is especially unfortunate when I, as a gamer, am cheering on everyone who is learning this content by trial and error and putting in the effort to clear. Although unofficial, I am of course apprised of the first team to clear in the World First race, and we have shown our support for everyone in the community by sharing information on the first clears once multiple clear teams came forth, and exact clear times had been confirmed. However, as announced in a previous statement, I plan to refrain from doing so for the time being. We hear the community voice that an official raid race should be supported, and regulations should be decided upon—this is a topic which needs to be discussed internally, so please allow me to keep this as an item for future consideration. The “Ultimate” raid series is the most difficult battle content within FFXIV, and we release this content after testing that it can be cleared without the use of any third-party tools. However, if the presumption is that this content will be tackled and cleared with the use of third-party tools, then any reason to develop high-difficulty battle content seems to be lost. It’s very difficult for me to understand as a gamer what the meaning behind using numerous third-party tools to compete to clear first would be. I want to apologize specifically to the many of you who are continuing towards clearing this content without the use of third-party tools, consistently streaming your progress, and continuing the trial and error process. However, please know that the Development and Operations teams take notice of all your passion. Please be sure to take proper care of yourselves as you continue to tackle The Omega Protocol (Ultimate). If the illicit use of third-party tools is made clear through our investigations, I, at the very least, will not recognize that team as the true World First.
Final Fantasy XIV is available for the PS4, PS5, and PC, and The Omega Protocol (Ultimate) appeared in 6.31.
Published: Jan 31, 2023 10:40 am