Alright, I’m going to come out and say it: Mods are a result of a game being played out for so long, in so many ways, it becomes boring/a chore. This dates all the way back when Steam first announced Steam Workshop. You could play a game, but if it has no REPLAY VALUE for the player after the fact(which XIV does in *some* content) for whatever content the player is seeking, they do one of the three:
A) Quit the game and play something else. - The most common answer.
B) Self-impose challenges on the gameplay itself(i.e. No Healer Clears).
C) Add Mods for flavor or for extra content that is generated by player creativity - or in some cases, for cheating.
While we do adhere to FFXIV’s EULA, Third Party Tools have been around for a long, long time - even all the way back in 2.0 with Parsers for raiding. The FFXIV Development Team in my opinion took down Mare because of the potential of it causing a security breach similar to what happened with the previous one since it looks at character data.
The other argument I’ve read in the other thread is that it’s because of MogStation Item Sales being down, though if the Developers decided this was the route to take action…they do not realize the irreparable harm they have caused to both XIV’s team(on top of what already has been seen as problematic in other topics/criticisms of the game) as well as the communities that see that for what it is: It’s all about the $$$$.
So, regardless of what optics are taken, it is a lose-lose for both sides short-term. Long Term we don’t know - but there are ramifications for the actions taken that I will quote Gabe for, as he said it best:
"Piracy is almost always a service problem and not a pricing problem."
Look at FFXIV’s problems since post-patch Endwalker, and you’ll see the writing on the wall considering the development team themselves have looked to the Third Party Tools themselves for help with their Combat UI - but isn’t that a bit convenient the community is doing this because they want accessible options in the game? Yeah - and it’s a good problem to have because they have ideas that are getting flat-out ignored on XIV’s Dev Team until the community screeches in a cacophony about the elephant in the room that has not been addressed.
It’s not only hypocritical on their stance in regards to Mods, but also shows how they are lacking in their development. It has been said time and time again that content made in this game is not made to last with their development time - and the fact that Occult Crescent came out like slop does not help that problem either alongside what happened with Cosmic Exploration. The development cycle has also been discussed by various YouTubers(Rinon has a good video on this) and is a point of criticism.
So, what fills the void? Player Generated Content. Whether it be storytelling, or other activities like clubbing, when one has done all they wanted, this is where they turn to - and eventually, the modding scene if exposed enough. This is where I will stare at Mog Station and think “is this worth my money to buy for an aesthetic?” Considering we can preview it at an Inn Bed, it helps a lot before buying.
The problem with this however is monetization practices that have been getting more and more aggressive since the inception of the store. When Endwalker came around, there was a thread that had plenty of problems with Mog Station, but the main argument was the Quality of Unique Items compared to what we got in Dungeons which becomes reused assets that are undyeable. This was especially so when we got the Woodland Warden set, which was high quality compared to a bunch of sets in-game that were given from dungeons - and while this may be okay, it’s an issue when it is consistent.
What the XIV Development Team needs to take in mind is that if they don’t improve their service and listen in regards to glamour and content, then people may resort to piracy or third party tools to make content for themselves or just to look pretty. It’s a major issue that they need to figure out before 8.0 so they can implement it on launch instead of afterward(since there is still time in 7.3). As things stand, they are going to have to take a hardline stance on Third Party Tools eventually instead of the grey area they’re standing in right now along with their very white and black Terms of Service.
That said, I’d like to discuss this and look for a solution that doesn’t include mods or leads to them yet again if possible.
Continue reading...
A) Quit the game and play something else. - The most common answer.
B) Self-impose challenges on the gameplay itself(i.e. No Healer Clears).
C) Add Mods for flavor or for extra content that is generated by player creativity - or in some cases, for cheating.
While we do adhere to FFXIV’s EULA, Third Party Tools have been around for a long, long time - even all the way back in 2.0 with Parsers for raiding. The FFXIV Development Team in my opinion took down Mare because of the potential of it causing a security breach similar to what happened with the previous one since it looks at character data.
The other argument I’ve read in the other thread is that it’s because of MogStation Item Sales being down, though if the Developers decided this was the route to take action…they do not realize the irreparable harm they have caused to both XIV’s team(on top of what already has been seen as problematic in other topics/criticisms of the game) as well as the communities that see that for what it is: It’s all about the $$$$.
So, regardless of what optics are taken, it is a lose-lose for both sides short-term. Long Term we don’t know - but there are ramifications for the actions taken that I will quote Gabe for, as he said it best:
"Piracy is almost always a service problem and not a pricing problem."
Look at FFXIV’s problems since post-patch Endwalker, and you’ll see the writing on the wall considering the development team themselves have looked to the Third Party Tools themselves for help with their Combat UI - but isn’t that a bit convenient the community is doing this because they want accessible options in the game? Yeah - and it’s a good problem to have because they have ideas that are getting flat-out ignored on XIV’s Dev Team until the community screeches in a cacophony about the elephant in the room that has not been addressed.
It’s not only hypocritical on their stance in regards to Mods, but also shows how they are lacking in their development. It has been said time and time again that content made in this game is not made to last with their development time - and the fact that Occult Crescent came out like slop does not help that problem either alongside what happened with Cosmic Exploration. The development cycle has also been discussed by various YouTubers(Rinon has a good video on this) and is a point of criticism.
So, what fills the void? Player Generated Content. Whether it be storytelling, or other activities like clubbing, when one has done all they wanted, this is where they turn to - and eventually, the modding scene if exposed enough. This is where I will stare at Mog Station and think “is this worth my money to buy for an aesthetic?” Considering we can preview it at an Inn Bed, it helps a lot before buying.
The problem with this however is monetization practices that have been getting more and more aggressive since the inception of the store. When Endwalker came around, there was a thread that had plenty of problems with Mog Station, but the main argument was the Quality of Unique Items compared to what we got in Dungeons which becomes reused assets that are undyeable. This was especially so when we got the Woodland Warden set, which was high quality compared to a bunch of sets in-game that were given from dungeons - and while this may be okay, it’s an issue when it is consistent.
What the XIV Development Team needs to take in mind is that if they don’t improve their service and listen in regards to glamour and content, then people may resort to piracy or third party tools to make content for themselves or just to look pretty. It’s a major issue that they need to figure out before 8.0 so they can implement it on launch instead of afterward(since there is still time in 7.3). As things stand, they are going to have to take a hardline stance on Third Party Tools eventually instead of the grey area they’re standing in right now along with their very white and black Terms of Service.
That said, I’d like to discuss this and look for a solution that doesn’t include mods or leads to them yet again if possible.
Continue reading...