Yoshi-P Warns of Legal Action Against 'Stalking' Mod in Final Fantasy 14

In early 2025, a mod for *Final Fantasy 14* named "Playerscope" sparked significant concerns about privacy and "stalking" within the gaming community. This mod, which was capable of scraping hidden player data, including character details, retainer information, and linked alternate characters on a Square Enix account, raised alarms about the potential misuse of player information.

Playerscope enabled users to track specific player data from anyone nearby, sending this information to a centralized database controlled by the mod's author. This was done regardless of whether a player was specifically targeted or merely in the vicinity of someone using the mod. The tool accessed sensitive data such as "Content ID" and "Account ID," which could be used to track players across different characters by exploiting the Content ID system introduced in the Dawntrail expansion.

To avoid having their data scraped, players needed to join a private Discord channel for Playerscope and opt out. This meant that anyone not in the channel was potentially vulnerable to data collection, highlighting a severe privacy risk. Community responses on platforms like Reddit were vocal, with users expressing fears that the mod's purpose was to facilitate stalking.

The mod gained significant attention after being discovered on GitHub, leading to a surge in its use. However, due to violations of terms of service, Playerscope was removed from GitHub and allegedly mirrored on other sites like Gittea and Gitflic. Investigations by IGN confirmed that the mod was no longer available on these platforms, but it might still be circulating in private communities.

Naoki 'Yoshi-P' Yoshida, the producer and director of *Final Fantasy 14*, addressed the issue on the game's official forum. He confirmed the existence of third-party tools like Playerscope that accessed non-public character information and hinted at potential legal action against such tools. Yoshida emphasized that while personal information like addresses and payment details could not be accessed, the use of these mods was a violation of the game's User Agreement and posed a risk to player safety.

Despite the prohibition on third-party tools, mods like Advanced Combat Tracker are commonly used within the raiding community and referenced on platforms like FFlogs. Yoshida's statement, however, marked a significant escalation in addressing the issue of unauthorized mods.

The FF14 Community Responds

The *Final Fantasy 14* community responded critically to Yoshida's statement. Some players felt that the proposed solutions did not address the root cause of the problem, with one user suggesting that the game should be updated to prevent such data exposure. Others expressed disappointment that the statement did not acknowledge the need for better client-side protection against such privacy breaches.

As of now, the author of Playerscope has not issued a public response to the controversy.