If you’ve played Final Fantasy XIV, you’ve probably walked past a mostly-nude Miqo’te dancing in Limsa Lominsa with the RP icon next to their name. If you know, you know. If you don’t, you should keep walking. Today, the developers of FFXIV have issued a major expansion on the rules around harassment, and it includes some specific guidelines on erotic role-playing scenarios.
Using emotes to “mimic grinding against another character” or that are “evocative of sexual activities” is an “obscene/indecent expression” and thus violation of the rules – if you’re doing it in public or with a partner who’s not into the whole thing. Basically, these things are technically against the rules, but you’re only likely to get in trouble for it if you’re reported.
“In the case of role-playing involving mildly sexual expressions (such as erotic role-playing) with a consenting group of two or more players, if it is conducted in a private area, it will not be considered a violation unless a report is made,” the devs explain in the new rules. “However, if you encourage or invite a player to participate in such role-play without being certain of their consent, there is a high possibility that you will be reported and penalized. Please be very careful.”
This is all very funny to see spelled out in explicit terms, but there are actually some meaningful breakdowns on what constitutes the type of harassment that the devs will get involved in. “If all members of a Free Company think that ‘slightly vulgar jokes are not a problem and will not cause offense’, then using expressions that fall under the category of ‘slightly vulgar jokes’ in the Free Company in question will not be considered a violation unless it is reported.
“However, the perception of ‘slightly vulgar jokes’ varies from person to person, and there is the possibility that what you consider to be ‘slightly vulgar jokes’ may be considered unacceptable by others. Please be careful when making these kinds of expressions.”
So yes, we now have the FFXIV devs explaining the concept of consent. Not a bad thing, but certainly a weird one. Anyway, the Endwalker release date is coming up soon, so if you’ve got any celebratory in-game orgies to put together, you might want to start finding your private space now.