FFXIV Says “Yes” to Erotic Roleplaying, but No to Real-Money Trading and Stalking
FFXIVRMT, or real-money trading, should become a lot more difficult in the near future. This is also due to serious issues such as stalking. We are less than a month away the launch of Final Fantasy XIV Endwalker. Square Enix has been busy with housekeeping and development work on Final Fantasy XIV: Endwalker. The Prohibited Activity and Account Penalty Policies are the big changes today. Square Enix updated the Support site documents earlier this morning to correct some community issues.
Trade Real Money!
The Prohibited Activity section has been closed down. This includes the use of the Party Finder to facilitate real-money transactions. Square Enix isn’t happy with the offer of clears to certain FFXIV content for real-money cash or in-game gold.
“Until now, we found fraudulent recruitment listings by [real money transactions (RMT]] vendors in Party Finder. We first investigated for RMT activities before issuing penalties,” stated the dev team in , the Lodestone article describing the changes. However, these listings led users to other websites which meant that it was difficult to prove RMT activity. These fraudulent listings were visible almost daily, which has remained the case until now.
“Furthermore because RMT vendors ignore normal gameplay and are only concerned about RMT activity,” Square Enix added. Many of their fraudulent recruitment listing were created in the Duty Roulette category of Party Finder. Square Enix explained that this meant they were easily visible when you open the Party Finder menu. This made them a major problem during normal gameplay.”
FFXIV prohibits Party Finder entries that promise duty-free service for gil, real money, or specific rewards. While the former was the norm, the second and third are new additions. Players can use the Party Finder to request help with clearing or getting rewards. They are also allowed to promise in-game gil. You can ask for help, and offer gil. cannot offerhelp, and ask for gil.
The Party Finder can now be used for community events. The Party Finder is used by many community events and role play events. Square Enix states that this is still permissible. They must however be listed under the “Other” category. It is forbidden to list such events in any other category.
Stalkers Begone
Players have pointed out that the social features in FFXIV do nothing to stop from stalking . It often facilitates stalking. It doesn’t take someone out of your friends list, but name changes and server switches don’t make them disappear from yours. The same character can still be accessed on Lodestone or in friends lists. Players can’t stop potential stalkers following them or interacting with them in-game.
Players who are observant have also noticed that the section on “Harassment”, which is found under the Prohibited Activities, has been updated to include stalking. Stalking other players is now forbidden (which should go without saying, people). These are the examples of stalking that are included in the specific text:
- Despite being asked to stop, persistently moves to places where someone is.
- Persistently sending or directed messages to someone through Tell or another means, despite being asked for a cease and desist.
- You can’t stop harassing someone at their destination or on their housing estate.
- Sending a party request or friend request every day, despite being asked to stop.
- You can create new characters to communicate with someone blacklisted, even if you are asked to stop.
- Despite the fact that official authorities prohibit contact with them in real life, you can still make contact in-game
This section also refers to an “in-game restraint order.” However, it does not provide any details about what that means. Square Enix will impose a “more severe” penalty if a player ignores these. The friends list and Lodestone are not currently subject to direct changes. Some players have requested the ability to make Lodestone characters private. However, this is a good first step to address the problem of in-game stalking.
The “Obscene/Indecent Expressions” section has also seen some updates. This addition applies to chat text as well as emotes.
- You can use a combination of motions and emotes to simulate grinding against another character.
- Use movements that suggest sexual activities using
Don’t worry! Square Enix states that the new policy does not apply to private group interactions. The updated text states that role-playing that involves mildly sexual expressions (such erotic role playing) will not be considered a violation of the new policy if it’s conducted in a private space. Square Enix will need to investigate any chat expressions or emotes. People have different preferences.
