Update: A player-driven nightclub in Final Fantasy 14 has taken down signs in Texas announcing an upcoming event in the game following backlash from society at large.
One of Rain’s moderators explains on Discord that the decision was made out of “respect”, and that the team’s intention was not [to] worry other communities but to spread an RP event to additional audiences who may be interested in joining, who would otherwise ignore normal spam ads, which is normal “.
To talk to News.com.au (opens in new tab)the team further clarifies that no one has been banned, nor have they heard from Square Enix at the time of writing.
Pictures of the signs quickly went viral on social media earlier this week, raising concerns about obvious conditions for service violations. Final Fantasy 14’s logo is not only included, but one of the characters is wearing what appears to be a computerized outfit from an upcoming event, and has a hairstyle that you can only achieve through modding. In addition, players found that Rain offers erotic role-playing games, which, although not uncommon in Final Fantasy 14, are not clearly advertised on the sign.
While Square Enix usually allows ERP as long as it is private and consent (opens in new tab)producer Naoki Yoshida has warned players modify their characters or data mining information (opens in new tab). While some sections of society were not a fan of the billboard stunt, others were worried that it could lead to the developer squeezing modding further. As it turns out, players usually use mods to change the look of their character – whether it’s wearing a special hairstyle or custom clothing.
Original story: Final Fantasy 14 players make a lot of effort to market their parties in the game, and some go so far as to use billboards.
As pointed out Twitter (opens in new tab)and covered by news.com.au (opens in new tab), a number of signs around the United States are currently announcing an in-game party for other Final Fantasy 14 players that will take place on July 9th. The billboards are apparently located in Austin and Houston, Texas, and are more likely to go live today in other places like California. All ads were organized and paid for by the owners of the virtual nightclub Rain.
A photo of one of these signs was shared by Twitter user @AbyssalFel who also said: “On July 9, 21:00 EST, Rain Nightclub will have a Beach Party !! It’s our BIGGEST night so far, and my character Akiva Balthazar will host Hype! Tweet this again and spread the word, please !! We even have a LIVE PILLAR TABLE !! ” The bulletin boards have the phrase: “Rain nightclub presents summer bash” together with the date of the event and Discord server information for those who want to participate.
According to an answer (opens in new tab) to @AbyssalFel’s tweet, the signs actually did not cost much to rent out, which means that it was totally worth it for the exposure that this particular party and nightclub Final Fantasy 14 will now get. Although it is likely that only Final Fantasy 14 players will find out the content of the ad.
If you did not know, Final Fantasy 14’s nightclubs are the real deal. Often run by selected players or groups of players, the clubs usually have other players working in them as bartenders, dancers and DJs in exchange for game currency. So even if they only take place in the Final Fantasy 14 world, it takes a lot of work to power them, hence the importance of the signs.
Elsewhere, Final Fantasy 14 players have formed a human blockade to prevent access to a notorious role-playing game server – yes, the same one the billboard house is based on.
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