A controversial third-party plugin used by some Final Fantasy 14 players has been permanently shut down following a cease and desist notice.
A message on the PlayerScope discord (shared on reddit) details the web back-end has been taken offline and all stored data has been “permanently and irreversibly deleted”, while the plugin files have been completely removed from GitHub and GitFlic. “There will be no further updates, support, or development from my side,” said the tool’s creator.
While PlayerScope hasn’t specified where the cease and desist notice has come from, back in January this year Final Fantasy 14 producer and director Naoki Yoshida shared news Square Enix was considering taking legal action against the creator of a third-party tool.
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Eurogamer has contacted Square Enix for clarification.
Yoshida has long warned players against using third-party plugins, which are strictly prohibited in Final Fantasy 14. He’s repeatedly called out players for cheating during Ultimate Raid challenges.
However, the PlayerScope tool in particular has been used for nefarious intentions.
The plugin would allow anyone to search for a Final Fantasy 14 character name to receive that player’s account details, including information of all characters on that account. Player information was also uploaded to a central server combining all data. Essentially, this allowed for in-game harassment and stalking.
In short, as one reddit user put it, the plugin was a “stalker’s wet dream”.
“We strive to offer and maintain a safe environment for our players, which is why we ask everyone to refrain from using third-party tools,” said Yoshida back in January.
In February, Square Enix stated it was making changes to how characters were blacklisted, although third-party tools were able to get around this – something the company admitted was “very problematic”. While it had countermeasures in place, Square Enix did not disclose what those were.
Now, however, PlayerScope has been completely shut down. “This wasn’t an easy decision, but it was necessary,” said the tool’s creator.
Still, while players have mostly praised the decision, some have concerns the database of player information may still exist elsewhere.