After a major community outcry over the past month,Final Fantasy 14developer Square Enix has finally pronounced itself overprivacy and safety concerns introduced during an updateto the blocking function last year.
In aforum statement, the series producer anddirector Naoki Yoshida acknowledged the problem and the potential avenues of action that Square Enix is considering to mitigate the issue.
According to Yoshida, theFinal Fantasy 14team is considering two options. The first, decidedly more friendly one, is sending a formal request to the offending plugin’s owner for the delisting and deletion of it.
Final Fantasy 14 New Emote Is Straight From A Famous Anime
Final Fantasy 14’s latest emote is going to look very familiar to Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure fans.
The second potential solution would be to pursue legal action against the creator.It is not clear what exactly that would entail or under what jurisdiction it would fall in, butgame developers suing community membersaround the globe are nothing new.
In his closing statement, Naoki Yoshida reiterated that the use ofthird-party toolsis prohibited inFinal Fantasy 14, largely due to safety concerns as demonstrated here.He also asked that players refrain from sharing details about such pluginsto avoid encouraging malicious users.
What Is The Final Fantasy 14 Account ID Problem?
Changes to the game’s blacklist system introduced withthe Dawntrail DLC updatehave moved a lot more client-side data than previously, which allowed plugin developers to exploit that.
The main vulnerability comes from the account ID.Previously, players could only take action toward someone’s character name. This made it easy to circumvent blocking by creating a new character but also allowed players toavoid harassmentby using another character under the same account.
With theDawntrail update,blocking someone prevents their account from interacting with you, but the game does this by blocking a given user ID, accessible client-side.
Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth Celebrates Over 40 Award Wins, Is It Your GOTY?
Final Fantasy 7 has gotten a lot of accolades from critics in 2024. It has won the hearts of game critics, has it won yours?
Plugins like PlayerScope, the main offender thatdrew Square Enix’s attention, allow you to see the account ID of someone’s character, making it nearly impossible to hide from someone by using a new character.
The invasive nature of PlayerScope led players to speak out against its creator, who refused to take down the plugin despite security concerns.
In the event that PlayerScope complies with Square Enix’s demands,the company would still need to work on shielding the user IDs from other players. Otherwise, it is a matter of time until copycat plugins appear.
Final Fantasy 7 Remake Part 3 Story Sure to “Satisfy The Fans” Claim Producer
Square Enix devs are confident the concluding chapter in the Final Fantasy 7 Remake series will satisfy fans regarding the game’s story.
