Originally Posted by
atom0s
It's always a great laugh when someone who also openly violates the games ToS tries to call someone else out for it. All you've done is drawn an invisible line in the sand declaring what you personally feel is 'ok' to use vs. what is 'not ok' and are calling out people who don't adhere to your made up standards. You should also call out the entire Windower team, Ashita team, your linkshell members, your podcast co-host, etc. who all openly admit to using various tools/addons/plugins/etc. You have confirmed this yourself on your podcast. (Yes I have listened to episodes in the past because I do actually care about the game and try to keep up with things even though I don't and haven't actively played for years.)
In the eyes of Square, anything third-party violates their terms of service, there is no mentality of 'well the community thinks its ok so it must be ok' with them.
So taking that into account, you're personally no better than anyone using any kind of third-party tool for the game.
From your own admissions, your own videos/screenshots, your own usage on various sites, you violate the terms of service as well by using:
- Windower
- FFXIDB (minimap)
- GearSwap
- Timers
- Equipviewer
You use third-party sites that break the ToS in order to function such as:
- FFXIAH - Uses third-party custom tooling to connect to the AH servers directly.
- BGWiki - Uses third-party tools to decode, decrypt, dump and reimplement the information from the games DAT files.
- FFXIDB - Uses plugins for Windower (Guildwork/FFXIDB) to collect information from players to build its site information.
Your own guides explain to people how to use these things as well.
In SE's eyes, it's all against the rules and would lead to a ban if they caught you using any of it.
Note to the creators of anything I listed above, I am not calling you out or anything, just pointing out this manchilds hypocrisy.
As for more specific points to your post:
Uh what? Everything related to third-party tools for this game has ALWAYS been out in the open and easy to find. What are you talking about? The only place it wasn't discussed was in-game for obvious reasons. You can go use WayBackMachine (web archive) and go look at all the various sites from back in the day that completely and openly discussed everything thirdparty for this game, including Windowers forums. No idea when you started playing, but if you think it was hidden back in the day, you're clearly mistaken. Was there some hidden/private tools made over the years? Sure. But they do not even come close to making up any amount of majority in comparison to what all is available that can be found easily or openly discussed.
FFXI has always had third-party tools made for it, since the literal start of the game. Regardless of what kind of tool it was (cheating or not) they've existed.
Let me enlighten you on some facts/information in regards to the third-party / RMT scene since you are just making up nonsense that isn't true. Firstly, I am not RMT personally. I don't sell anything in-game. I don't even play the game and haven't for years. And when I did play, I wasn't RMT then either. I have personally never sold anything in-game. I still own and have my only and original character as well. I have never owned a second account/character. (Not including mules on the same account obviously.)
Next, you're sorely mistaken if you think my API fuels the RMT market. Not even close. The (very few) Chinese RMT that make use of the open source bots using my API (ie. CurePlease, EasyFarm etc.) are the ones you see disappear from shouts when things update/break. That is not even close to any meaningful percent of the actual RMT on this game. They are just a small vocal group that do not give a shit about being banned. They literally cycle alliances worth of characters every week. They start up a group fresh each week, bot as much as they can, transfer gil around characters and get banned shortly after.
The actual RMT on this game do not use my API or public bots. They make their own stuff entirely. And guess what most of those people write their frameworks/bots in? Windower addons.
OH NOES! BETTER STOP USING WINDOWER AND POST THEM AS BEING EVIL BOTTER PEOPLE IN THIS THREAD!!
My API is also nothing special, it is simply the current iteration of a tool/interface that has always existed for this game. Here's a quick rundown of the history in regards to similar things that have existed:
- Pre Windower days; JPs had their own tooling/interface that did similar to pull some basic info from the game.
- Azaril (the original Windower creator/dev) created a similar interface called FFInside. This was later deprecated because its functionality was moved internally into Windower and other tools replaced it.
- FFACT was the next major/main replacement. It interfaced with XI and was used with another third-party tool, for a different game, called ACTools. (I was part of the team that made this.)
- FFACE came after, made by RZN, which eventually replaced FFACT when it was discontinued. (I inherited this when RZN walked away from XI.)
- EliteApi was a fresh interface API I made because FFACE's code base was not ideal to use/continue supporting.
In regards to what my EliteApi offers, it's nothing special. Everything it does can be done in Ashita or Windower addons. And guess what? People already do that.
There's copies of both CurePlease and EasyFarm that remove the need for my API and make use of a Windower addon instead written by someone else.
My API is literally not special, at all. It's simply there to replace an interface that existed before it to keep various tools working. (It's not just bots that make use of it either. You just prefer to focus on that aspect of things.)
'most all the bots' is again, entirely wrong. The only ones affected were the low-effort Chinese RMT that don't care about being banned and cycle characters weekly.
As for the changes to my work, if you actually did any effort to fact check yourself (which we all know you never do), you would have found it was done on purpose to actually help remove those Chinese RMT from using my API. I'm sure you won't believe me, and I don't really care if you don't, but during that down period, I added several backend checks/code and some connection related things to specifically target those RMT to make the API stop working for them.
In regards to the money stuff, its my software. I'm completely within my own right to ask for some means of kickback for it. I could out right charge money for it tomorrow, it's still perfectly within my right to do so.
My being well known does not come from 'selling illicit tools for various games'. Feel free to show me any ounce of proof that is why I am well known, in any games community. In XI, my reputation comes from the countless years of time I've put into this game to create and release things, for free, for people to enjoy and use. 99% of what I have done for this game is released for free. The small 1% of things I have done that have any kind of money linked to it are just that, a miniscule part of my time.
Let alone 'made a living'. You think the money I make from the tools I do ask for a donation to use, or the small amount of donations that the API has brought in is a living lol?
You're insane. If I tried to live off that income alone, I'd be homeless.
My income and living does not come from anything related to XI at all. This game and the work I do for it is nothing but a hobby. I enjoy reverse engineering games, making tools and sharing information.
You singled me out because you are a butthurt manchild that thinks I am sitting here making millions off this game. You couldn't be further from the truth on anything you've said.
Again, I don't RMT. Never have and never will. I still own my original, and only, character/account. I never sold gil or items from it either.
I am not part of the RMT scene of this game either. The closest to it I am is that my sites Discord offers channels for people to buy/sell/trade. But I have literally no involvement in the transactions.
I do not middleman or offer any kind of service like that.
I do not make a cent from those channels or any transaction that happens.
I don't make anywhere close to even 4 figures from this game, let alone 6-7 like some of the people that RMT do.
The work I do, and many other third-party devs do, is thankless work. The only time I get feedback/communication from most users is when something breaks and they come to bitch about it.