Many Final Fantasy XIV Online players who enjoy the social aspect of the game may now need to reevaluate the practice of gifting items to other players.
In an attempt to curb increasingly prevalent issues regarding real-money trading (RMT), Square Enix has issued vicarious restrictions tied to the FFXIV gifting feature, which allows players to gift items from the FFXIV online store directly to players that they have on their friends list. This follows an extensive update from yesterday on how the developer plans to continue fighting RMT.
Now, to gift items to friends, they must have been a part of the player’s friends list for at least 72 hours, removing the possibility of gifting items to those who have just been added. Players are now also unable to gift others one-time use items, such as minions, mounts, and Orchestrion rolls, all of which are some of the most popular items that can be purchased for real money from the online shop.
Various players on Reddit pointed out how this impacts events that some hold of their own volition in the game throughout the year, and even how it limits the generosity that some Free Companies (FCs) showcase toward their members. Both player-held events and FCs are some of the most enticing features of FFXIV that keep players coming back to the game, particularly during dry periods of content.
Square noted in a news update that although it expects players to continue bypassing its regulations and using RMT to obtain items via the online store, all accounts involved in the process will be subject to penalties for violating the User Agreement. It is unlikely that, despite immediate community backlash, these changes will be reverted.
