Final Fantasy 14's Yoshi-p weighted on Mods after popular custom character sharing mods are turned off
Blog Andrew Joseph 29 Aug , 2025 0
Final Fantasy 14's community is once again in a dilemma with the use of mods in the game, so much so that the game's producer and director Nikida (yoshi-p), Yoshi-P) Weight.
First, some background. While modifications are extremely common in many games, including other MMORPGs like World of Warcraft, Final Fantasy 14 has always been slightly hostile to them. This is not to say that players don't use mods in FF14 – they definitely can. But formally, they don't allow it. Even so, Square Enix has largely been running on the policy of letting Mods slide for a long time…as long as players aren’t too loud or obvious about it. So players might use mod to customize the UI, or just change the appearance of the character on their own screen. As long as they do not interfere with other people's games or Very public about their mod usagemost publishers turn a blind eye to it.
However, this strategy is not always made for Square Enix, especially because players lack permission for which Square Enix is not something that is immediately banned. Recently, the mod has once again entered the developer's crosshairs. Earlier this year, Yoshi-P himself Threat legal action After a MOD walk, you can track other people's player data – obviously there is no mod allowed by any standard. But recently, a different, less problematic mod has entered this discourse: mare synchronization.
Mare Synchronos has been popular for years among Final Fantasy 14 players, especially the role-playing community. Essentially, it allows those who use it to “synchronize” the appearance of the character with other players. Here is an example. If I'm playing FF14 and don't have a lot of cool gear to dress up my character and don't want to run for any reason to get what it needs to get it, I can use a mod that allows my character to fully display the way I want – but only on the screen. However, with MARE Synchronos, everyone else who uses MARE Synchronos can do it return See the look of that modified look. Players who don't use mods will see my character wearing any bland gear I actually wear. Crucially, Mare doesn't actually change the appearance of the character – additional MOD is required for this. The mare just lets you see other mods and can see them.
But, a week ago, Mare Synchronos announces closing. The reason for the citation is that it has received a “legal investigation” around the project, and after reviewing the options, the creator decided to put it down. It officially turned black last Friday. Although some fans were not shut down, even claiming that they ultimately expected it, many other fans were very upset. Although Mare's developers have not specified legal questions about who it is, many speculate that this may be Square Enix and even participated in the official FF14 forum to complain about third-party mods shutdowns. Currently, it's even bombarded on Steam, currently sitting in a “mixed” recent review with “very positive” total reviews.
That's what prompted Yoshi-P to speak out. exist Lengthy posts on the official Final Fantasy 14 websitethe producer reiterated his past attitude toward mods: he tolerated them. He said that position has not changed. Yoshi-P explained that it was made entirely for his own personal use, which only affects personal use, which is good for him. “I want to emphasize the importance of players following two rules: their play style does not infringe on others and does not negatively affect the core games mentioned above, their services, or the intended game design.”
Yoshi-P went on to give a detailed look at his meaning of “negatively affecting the game design” and “infringing others.” He provides an example of Player A who likes to raid and raid by successfully completing the ultimate raid and obtains new titles and weapons. Player B has no time to raid, and uses a MOD, which allows them to see characters with the same title and weapon as the player.
But what causes the problem is when Yoshi-P starts to affect others. If Player B’s changes can be seen in some way, “this greatly negates the invested collaboration, time and effort, not to mention that they may be proud of their achievement.”
He went on to illustrate another unacceptable example: a mod that allows players to freely equip optional items purchased from the FF14 online store and display them to others:
“Some might say that the Square ENIX is blamed for trying to make money, requiring players to spend extra money on optional items,” he wrote. “We operate our servers and data centers for twenty-four hours a day, three hundred and sixty-five days a year, hoping that our players will enjoy a reliable gaming experience. Currently, global inflation is paying fast, allowing servers to rapidly increase their power costs, making the cost of servers, and not even wanting to get subscription fees for subscriptions. The deficit, FFXIV may no longer be able to operate.
In the third example, Yoshi-P mentioned the possibility that the MOD shows a completely naked character. Even if it's only displayed on the player's screen, he explained that it may still be harmful. For example, if a player posts a screenshot of his naked character on social media, FF14 may face legal consequences.
“The laws that regulate video game content have become more stringent by the year,” he said. “These laws are for the protection of minors and various reasons, but the fact remains that they become more stringent. It is our responsibility to serve to comply with all available FFXIV laws, if we cannot do that and can ban our game distribution. This is another example of the damage to our services.”
Yoshi-P ended his post saying he intends to listen to players’ feedback and attempts to increase the player’s freedom to equip different types of gear. He concluded: “While respecting the long-term tradition of modifying PC games, I ask all players to enjoy within the scope of certain basic rules and thus respect our games.”
Although this post contains some much-needed clarification, it does ultimately leave Final Fantasy 14 in the same weird dilemma state: mods are not allowed, unless no one knows you are using them, that's fine. While this may be enough clarification for many players, it is still a frustrating place for those who build a play style around the modification community and the products it offers. At least on the console, no one has any concerns.
Rebekah Valentine is a senior journalist at IGN. You can find her post on bluesky @duckvalentine.bsky.social. Is there a story tip? Send it to [email protected].