A static team has finally cleared the TOP Ultimate for the first time. Unfortunately, the party has been revealed to be using illegal mods.
The Omega Protocol is the latest Ultimate Raid players have been trying to clear for several weeks. While many gamers have been progressing smoothly with each run, some raid parties have boasted that they have already finished the TOP. However, these people didn’t win their FFXIV Gil fair and square from the Raid. Yoshi-P has even displayed his dismay towards players who used illegal mods.
First-Time TOP Clears Caught Using Illegal Mods
Ultimate Raids have been the pinnacle of Final Fantasy XIV raiding, and many parties with FFXIV accounts have been trying to be the first team to clear this challenging encounter. The Free Company UNNAMED_ attained the title as the first party to finish Ultimate TOP. Unfortunately, videos have surfaced wherein team members didn’t abide by the game’s rules to clear the Raid.
Several clips of the UNNAMED_ clear were posted online, showing that they used illegal mods to help them clear the Raid. The vod showed that one party member could view the Raid from an isometric perspective that zoomed out beyond the normal field-of-view limit. Players quickly realized that some raiders, if not all, were using illegal mods to complete TOP.
Aside from the zoom-out add-on, it was also reported that the party used other tools, such as the hitbox guide, that gave them an unfair advantage. It is most likely that the Japanese raid team resorted to using mods due to the community-organized World Race for Charity. This challenge monitors and recognizes the teams that clear Ultimate raids first. In response to the current situation, the organizers have clarified they tend to focus more on registered event participants and streamers.
While this modded completion run is technically the first TOP clear in the world, many players consider it invalid due to unfair advantages, and more people are asking Square Enix to step in. There has been a push from the community to have the devs only count streamers for the complete number so that it can be easily verified if they cheated or not. While it can be an effective strategy to prevent people from using mods, it does provide an extra strain on computers since gamers are required to stream their runs.
Yoshi-P is Extremely Disappointed
Square Enix’s Director, Yoshi-P, has shown his displeasure that mods have once again made a significant appearance in the game’s ultimate raids.
A similar situation occurred during Ultimate Dragonsong’s Reprise. Many parties resorted to using 3rd party tools, including add-ons that show a hitbox, safe zones, and even a voice command that would announce the next attack. Yoshi-P reminded players that using plug-ins is never necessary and will never be acceptable in one of the Lodestone blog posts.
Square Enix has been lax in the crackdown on third-party tools since most of these are harmless. The devs have adopted an “If we don’t see it, no harm will happen to our players” policy. While the studio does not promote the use of such programs due to Japan’s strict laws on the matter, it recognizes that these tools are purely for cosmetic purposes and don’t require strict regulations. Unfortunately, the proliferation of game-altering mods may change the devs’ stance.
Plug-Ins in Final Fantasy XIV
Add-ins in FFXIV has been a hot topic in the Final Fantasy community as Square Enix has explicitly stated that they do not support nor allow the use of 3rd party programs or apps in the game. However, most of the available plug-ins have been ignored since they allow changes to cosmetics and swapping assets without altering the gameplay. Unfortunately, players caught using add-ons are still subject to sanctions.
It is undeniable that many players are still using mods of some kind. Whether or not these add-ons are purely for cosmetic purposes or for making certain content easier, any time type of third-party tool is against the game’s rules. The devs still need to introduce an automated system to detect and auto-ban bot users, so Square Enix still relies on manual reports. However, the game may be implemented some anti-cheat programs in the future.
Players who use mods for purely cosmetic purposes shouldn’t worry about getting banned if they don’t stream it or get caught. However, players should remember that 3rd-party tools will never be permitted, so gamers should use their discretion whether they want to keep their modded painted eyebrows. One thing for sure is that players should always refrain from using game-altering plug-ins for farming FFXIV Gil.