It’s been almost a decade since the (re)launch of critically acclaimed MMORPG Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn, yet many players believe that the FFXIV report system is still just as limited and clunky as it was when the game was released. Currently, the only quick report option players can take from the game’s chat window is for players engaging in RMT activity, and reporting any other issues such as harassment or cheating requires digging through a series of confusing and often useless menus.
“I have over 10,000 hours played in this game,” says popular FFXIV streamer and YouTuber Zepla, “and I swear I had no idea how deep the jank goes.” In a new video talking about the report systems, Zepla shows off the process of trying to file a report, poring through menus in an attempt to demonstrate how convoluted it is. Despite having played FFXIV “almost every day for seven years,” Zepla admits she wasn’t even aware that some of the menus existed until she dug into them for this video.
The one straightforward option is reporting players for RMT (real money transaction) activity – used for players who are selling the likes of gil or boosting services, usually through third party sites. In this instance, filing a report is as simple as right-clicking on the user’s name, selecting ‘report,’ and clicking the option to ‘report RMT activity.’ However, this is the only TOS breach that Square Enix appears to have deemed urgent enough to present in this quick menu.
If you have any other gripes with your fellow Eorzeans, the process is dramatically more obscure. Perhaps they’re typing vulgar messages in chat, cheating in the game’s PvP modes, obstructing other users from playing in a normal fashion, holding a real-life political rally, or impersonating another player or organisation – all of which fall foul of the game’s terms of service. Yet the ‘contact us’ option on the in-game support desk only offers two buttons, one to report cheating and another to report harassment.
Actually trying to use these forms isn’t easy either – bringing up a clunky menu that asks players to write in a box which is already full of developer-written but player-editable text describing the requested details to file a report. If your complaint falls outside these categories, a circular series of menus deep in the in-game support desk lets you click through several possible categories, but only offers a link to the Square Enix support website (which can neither be clicked on nor copied for easy access).
Once you’ve typed in that link manually, then, you are required to dig right down to the very bottom of the page to find a “report bugs or offending players button” (which Zepla only finds using the browser’s text search function). Here, you can “report a case to the special task force” – which includes the vague option to “report other violations” and requires players to enter far more details than should be required to file a simple report.
“It’s not even about modernising the game,” says Zepla in conclusion, “this would be bad in any era. Please fix it – this is a completely unacceptable state for part of the UI to be in.” Other players in the video comments, on Zepla’s Twitch stream, on Twitter, and on the game’s subreddit have also chimed in recently, talking about their experiences with bots and reporting a general consensus that players have rarely, if ever, heard feedback after using the game’s special task force report form.
It’s worth noting that FFXIV does have a reputation for taking toxic players seriously, and people are frequently suspended or banned for griefing and harassment. However, even threads discussing this often have comments from players who aren’t sure where to find the report options in the first place.
In a recent interview with PCGamesN, FFXIV director Yoshi-P talks about accessibility and how the game aims to improve player experience. We also now know the FFXIV patch 6.18 release date, which is bringing new worlds to the multiplayer game in July.