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Square Enix bans more FFXI accounts

  • By Patrick Caldwell, GameSpot
  • Posted Jul 24, 2006 5:03 pm PT

Third-party hacks spur the MMORPG maker to suspend or terminate more than 2,000 accounts--the second batch of bans in as many months.

Another month, another set of bans.

Square Enix, maker of Final Fantasy XI, announced Friday it has banned or suspended more than 2,000 game accounts in July due to players' use of "malicious" third-party programs--which the company says can "destroy" the massively multiplayer online role-playing game's economy.

The company did not clarify how many of those 2,000 accounts were banned, and how many were suspended.

"Today, a number of accounts which were confirmed to have violated the user agreement by using unauthorized third-party software tools within Final Fantasy XI to enable abnormal in-game movement were discovered and have been suspended or permanently terminated," the company said in a statement.

"We would like to take this time to remind our players that the use of any third-party tools will not only destroy the in-game balance, but will also encourage RMT (Real Money Trade) activities," the company said. "We will continue to take strict actions against those individuals that we have confirmed to have used such tools."

The news follows Square Enix's crackdown of 250 accounts in June over money-farming and real-money trading, which is the practice of selling in-game currency for cash in the real world. Concerns over real-money trading prompted the Japanese government--particularly worried about large-scale money-mining operations in video games--to launch its own investigation last week.

Earlier this month, a different MMORPG--Ultima Online--received a similar round of account cancellations. Ultima Online's publisher, Electronic Arts, banned 180 accounts and removed 15 trillion gold from the in-game economy--a total whose real-world value ranges from $15 million to $60 million, depending on estimates.

92 Comments

  • Cloud737

    Posted Dec 29, 2006 6:08 am GMT

    I agree with Square that money farming is against the rules, but nowhere does it say RTM isn`t allowed. And even if it`s not, the rule can easily be circumvented. You can just say you "donated" the money to a fellow user, and if they said you seemed like you are selling it you can just say that you pretended to sell it to make it feel like an economy.
    Whatever the case, no one can stop RTM now. Not even the governments.

  • rattail19

    Posted Dec 1, 2006 7:19 pm GMT

    cloudstrife75-
    "Today we learn a valuable lesson... cheating doesnt pay! "

    It does, but only 'til you get caught.
    But really, to have the in-game economy so bad that you HAD to use the RMT services to get ANYWHERE is horrible. Seriously, how many people would have to be farming for that to happen? It's ridiculous. Pity, too... Such a good game. Good to hear that many of the RMTers've been banned.

  • videogamr49

    Posted Jul 29, 2006 9:23 am GMT

    I think cheating in an MMORPG is as low as a person can get on a game. Glad to hear that they banned those for using third-party cheating software. I don't know why anyone would want to cheat.

  • jaefrmbk2k

    Posted Jul 27, 2006 6:26 am GMT

    you guys shoulda did it like this: waah, cheating ____ ______. oh, please. get over ___ . stop the bumbaclaat ______.

  • dan_avalanche

    Posted Jul 26, 2006 7:44 pm GMT

    I quit FFXI over a year ago because I couldn't level anymore. It was pathetic, the game was at a point to where you had to buy in game money with real money to get anywhere, the Economy was that bad. Nor could you afford to level up any crafts because it costed so much money to get the materials. This should have been done a long time ago . . .

  • rokkuman09

    Posted Jul 26, 2006 2:12 pm GMT

    rulo_rezn0r FFXI is for hardcore gamers not like casuals like you...plus there are over a half a million players do your research ok?!

  • theshoveller

    Posted Jul 26, 2006 12:41 pm GMT

    If the people use the actual hacking tools you can get for it, then they deserve to be banned. But if they start cracking down on people using a windower and only a windower, then I think that they'll be going a little too far. I sometimes (but rarely) use a windower so I can talk to my one friend who doesn't play while I'm playing. If Square included playing in a window as an option, then they wouldn't have that problem.

  • universquall

    Posted Jul 26, 2006 12:17 pm GMT

    [This message was deleted at the request of the original poster]

  • Riverwolf007

    Posted Jul 26, 2006 9:36 am GMT

    this crap will never go away because there are people in the world that feed their families through being gold farmers, so hmmmmm, violate the end user agreement or watch your kids get scurvy, what the hell do you think they are going to do?

  • EMAN2g

    Posted Jul 26, 2006 12:58 am GMT

    >_>

  • Kruza

    Posted Jul 25, 2006 12:51 pm GMT

    Still over 500K people on FFXI people. O_O

  • axia_777

    Posted Jul 25, 2006 12:44 pm GMT

    I dont play FF11 but this is good because cheaters and gold famers suck monkey balls. All cheaters and people like them in all on-line games should be banned from playing any on-line games forever.

  • Vato_the_dragon

    Posted Jul 25, 2006 12:29 pm GMT

    you idiots XD thers almost 2-3k acounts on each server on ffxi and theres aboyu 8-7 servers

  • comthitnuong

    Posted Jul 25, 2006 12:13 pm GMT

    i thought the only mmos being played were wow and guild wars

  • cesarotromundo

    Posted Jul 25, 2006 11:31 am GMT

    wow.....no one cares anymore

  • jaefrmbk2k

    Posted Jul 25, 2006 11:25 am GMT

    [This message was deleted at the request of a moderator or administrator]

  • stiker71

    Posted Jul 25, 2006 11:09 am GMT

    Wow i didant even thing there were 2000 accounts on FFXI..........

  • smiley17O

    Posted Jul 25, 2006 11:00 am GMT

    if you ban 2000 of them then there will be almost no one left playing the game... lol

  • anamnawshad

    Posted Jul 25, 2006 10:57 am GMT

    People are so stupid and lazy..........

  • TheGamer4Life

    Posted Jul 25, 2006 9:44 am GMT

    I think its absolutely ridiculous that people would PAY money because they are too lazy to get to a higher level on a VIDEO GAME!!

  • leviathanwing

    Posted Jul 25, 2006 9:36 am GMT

    sometimes i wonder if people post in these news segments just to hear themselves type... maybe i should take up an outdoors activity.... na, na ,na, na, na, na fishing... fishing... fishing.....

  • NWJuniorFan

    Posted Jul 25, 2006 9:31 am GMT

    Why are you guys talking about Microsoft and Xbox Live?

    First of all, these people were banned on PC, you can't use third party programs on your Xbox. Second of all, Square-Enix banned them, not M$.

  • acummuta

    Posted Jul 25, 2006 9:05 am GMT

    BTW 02EclipseGT...you don't need Gold LIVE to play FFXI, which is the $50 a year membership. Silver LIVE is free and is all you need for FFXI.

    Oh, and I'm not a bottle thrower or a Harley rider.

  • SemiMaster

    Posted Jul 25, 2006 9:04 am GMT

    Personally, this is a bit late for them to finally crack down on that. This would have been interesting over a year ago when people still played FFXI.

  • MasterChief777

    Posted Jul 25, 2006 8:55 am GMT

    Normally I enjoy the fact that games are becoming more like real life, but being able to pay your way to the top? Not exactly what I had in mind.

  • 02EclipseGT

    Posted Jul 25, 2006 8:37 am GMT

    [This message was deleted at the request of a moderator or administrator]

  • acummuta

    Posted Jul 25, 2006 8:10 am GMT

    The problem, SnuffDaddyNZ, is not about banning people and saying "oh shoot, there goes 2000 more people!" No, the people they're banning are screwing up the economy and the structure of the game. It's like in anything in life...equal playing field. Why should the cheaters get special privelages? Why should all the honest players going the legit route suffer? When you start to mess with the balance like that then EVERYONE feels like they have to cheat just to keep up. That is unfair to everyone because cheating costs them even more money, and costs them their integrity. They maybe didn't want to HAVE TO cheat, but they did only to "stay in the game" as it were.

    Cheating should be banned, and I agree with others, that it should be addressed early on, not so late in the cycle of it's life. Perhaps the influx of 360 players brought light to the situation. Perhaps it's because new players just getting on for the first time felt like they were getting the screw job in a messed up economy and Square Enix listened.

    I play this game on the 360. And I may be one of the few that plays on a more casual level (meaning every now and then, not ever day). I have been thinking of quitting for a while, but every time I hear news like this, it encourages me to stay on. If things can become more affordable, prices drop in the auction house, and excessive dirty money is removed from the economy I may stick it out.

    But I have to give a shout out to whoever talked about making traveling faster. Amen! Traveling is ridiculous in this game. It took me a while to get over how slow people move (before chocobo days). That and...why does a airship pass cost so dang much???

  • poliveto

    Posted Jul 25, 2006 8:03 am GMT

    well, there WERE over 500,000 users, not characters, but actual accounts. There are about 1.6 million characters total on all servers, this was as of late 2005.

    Since the 360, that number, i'm sure, has gone up still. WIth all the expansion packs new quests, areas, items and jobs, the game still has its fun moments.

    Is FFXI that good?? Yes, but not when cheaters buy gil offline and hike prices ingame on those who play honestly.

  • caveturd

    Posted Jul 25, 2006 7:25 am GMT

    Yeah...um, whatever they said.

  • vicsrealms

    Posted Jul 25, 2006 7:13 am GMT

    Wow. There are more than 2000 people still playing that game? Thats news to me. I thought it would have died when World of Warcraft came out.

  • XY12Burnz

    Posted Jul 25, 2006 6:47 am GMT

    180 UO accounts? What's that, like 25% of the total people still playing it?

  • rey06

    Posted Jul 25, 2006 6:24 am GMT

    is FFXI that good? i guess not.

  • wingchunstudent

    Posted Jul 25, 2006 6:15 am GMT

    Simply put, QUIT CHEATING! There I feel better.

  • hemakm3

    Posted Jul 25, 2006 5:40 am GMT

    Stop cheating,cheaters!

  • chrisdojo

    Posted Jul 25, 2006 5:38 am GMT

    dang. that's alot of ownage.javascript:submitPostAjax();

  • WolfieZero

    Posted Jul 25, 2006 4:43 am GMT

    Personally, I've been tempted by RMT, but in the end of the day, what do I get out of it?

    I play a game to have a sense of achievement in that I earned this much money and got these cool items which helped be get to this level.

    More out of self respect I earn gil. So when I'm there struggling to level and get gil, it pisses me off I see some actual noob with top class equipment running round thinking he owns the place, where I'm there killing mobs and earning respect.

  • shizwill03

    Posted Jul 25, 2006 4:42 am GMT

    Good.

    Now hopefully when I log on sometime this week things are more affordable.

    I hope.

  • PelekotansDream

    Posted Jul 25, 2006 4:40 am GMT

    I aint no hacker, but atleast they aint charging people to pay to play a game they already bought.

  • Needles-Kane

    Posted Jul 25, 2006 4:12 am GMT

    Good, online hackers are pathetic scum.

  • volumesoxxs

    Posted Jul 25, 2006 3:38 am GMT

    wow, that sucks.

  • puppiemaster

    Posted Jul 25, 2006 3:31 am GMT

    My nephew plays the game most days and met his girlfriend while playing it, hes in nerd heaven. Long live FF XI he says,

    That reminds me I must ring him to see if his account now banned!!

  • talonduvall

    Posted Jul 25, 2006 3:24 am GMT

    Well like I always say. They that can't, hack.
    There's always someone who isn't happy until they ruin the game for legit players. I mean come on if you suck bad enough that you have to hack to keep up with the legit players, then what possible fun could there be other then ticking people off. All in all it just boils down to people needing to get a life.

  • Devilwillcry

    Posted Jul 25, 2006 2:33 am GMT

    MMO Hackers deserve this. If your not gonna play fair don't play at all. I hate it when I run into someone that is hacking in an online gmae it just ruins the experience for everyone. It is nice to know some developers are taking action.

  • exedeath

    Posted Jul 25, 2006 1:58 am GMT

    If they keep this up then I will actually want to play the game again. It really destroys the game when you don't have to work for stuff. Instead you pay 50 bucks to get a couple million gil, and then everyone is running around with all the best stuff they can get their hands on way before they are supposed to have it. I actually know someone who buys gil from these people, and that is the most retarded thing anyone can do. If you wanna buy fake money with real money. I got some monopoly money that I can sell you. It's the same thing.

  • eiru

    Posted Jul 25, 2006 12:51 am GMT

    atleast someones doing something!!!!!! Not like Gravity and Blizzard!!!

  • Fusekazuki

    Posted Jul 25, 2006 12:45 am GMT

    All I have to say is too little too late. SE has prided it's self on being reactive instead of proactive. This wave of baning is only a flexing of muscle on their part to instill fear in the player base. I don't think they ever took a step back and said "Wow over 2k in accounts is a lot, why are so many people cheating? Why do we have the numbers to make up just about a servers worth of people?" Hell on my server the general idea is that you need to cheat at end game just to win. Everyone uses hacks at HNM and Kings is the general thought honestly.

    This wouldn't be the case if they were banning and suspending accounts at the very beginning when the JP's made a good portion of the hacks like Mr.Argus and such. Then maybe they could have slowed down the Gil Farmers from gaining a foothold in the market like they have. There are still a few things they could do help like getting rid of the Price history on the AH or making more items rare/ex.

    Well what can ya do? You can talk about it forever and hope that SE is listening( they are not unless your JP), quit the game, or just continue playing and hope for better days.

  • insane956dv

    Posted Jul 25, 2006 12:20 am GMT

    yay

  • NoShenanigans

    Posted Jul 24, 2006 10:51 pm GMT

    As a former FFXI user, this is good. People involved in always camping mobs and buying/selling gil really hurts the server. Around Christmas, prices were 2 times what they should have been, and it really hurt everyone. The game is about balance, and it is unfair to players who actually make an effort to do everything normally, the right way.

    As for the comments on no one plays the game, grow up. The game has been out for over 3 years, it has updates all the time, and it will probably be around for another two years. If those things weren't happening, the servers would be shut down and you would not hear a news report about this. There are about 5000 people on every server. Usually 2-3k are playing at one times(and there are a lot of servers). FFXI isn't going anywhere anytime soon.

  • Nawras

    Posted Jul 24, 2006 10:45 pm GMT

    Trading real money for game money? Genius addiction.

  • Quezakolt

    Posted Jul 24, 2006 10:40 pm GMT

    i'm all for the banning of RMTs accounts. It's not like in a single-player game.. in here it just messes with everyone, and we deserve fair play.

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