Final Fantasy XIV Executive Producer Blasts Another World First Clear For Using Addons

Final Fantasy XIV has reported the World First clear for the new Omega Protocol Ultimate raid just a week after it came out. The team who managed to snag the coveted achievement though is now in hot water with the game’s executive producer, Naoki Yoshida, for using addons.

Yoshida issued a statement reiterating that the use of third-party tools is “strictly prohibited” following reports and confessions from the offending party. This is the second time he’s drawn attention to the fact and even cited links to previous posts and livestreams about the matter to drive his point home.

“As I have mentioned previously, the terms of service for FINAL FANTASY XIV state that the use of third-party tools is strictly prohibited,” Yoshida said. “This has always been the case and will continue to be so, and unless announced otherwise, there are no plans to enact any changes.”

“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.”

“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),” he added. “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.”

“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.”

The matter is still under investigation and punishments will be meted out to all involved accounts once the team has proved that they used addons. This could range from temporary account suspension, to permanent bans.

The executive producer also responded to leaks of the Omega Protocol Ultimate’s post-clear cinematic, which he says is also against the terms of use. As FFXIV veterans probably know by now, the team takes spoilers and leaks very seriously and even go as far as redacting parts of the patch notes so that they don’t spoil the quests and endings for everybody. As such, all offending accounts have been slapped with corresponding penalties and Yoshida promises to enforce stricter countermeasures against illicit footage distribution.

“We will continue to enact countermeasures against this, and I want to extend my sincere apologies for actions such as these that put a damper on everyone's enjoyment in progressing through and clearing the content. I will continue to keep this at the top of my mind as well as work to strengthen prevention measures,” the executive producer concluded.