A discussion on difficulty gets a very important admission, and even some MORE important questions...

There have been a number of discussions, especially given the Perfect Defense and Embrava nerfs, vis-a-vis the difficulty of some of the content, such as Neo-Nyzul and Legion.

What was responded, between the translated Japanese response and the English edition by Camate, may have very serious ramifications on the remainder of this game, however short or long it might be.

When the JP person basically comes out with a statement translated to:

"I hope you can read this and view it honestly without being offended."

 it basically confirms BluGartr's entire modus operandi with respect to FFXI, at least at first glance.

Camate openly lies to the community out of both sides of his mouth with this whopper, which doubles as a huge admission of something I've been nailing on this forum for about four years now:

"Including comments from many of you that feel like the development team is creating content that they don't want you to beat.

Of course, that's not the case, but the development team does believe it's okay to have content that cannot be beat."

It isn't the case that the content is designed to be impossible, but it is OK for the devs if it is?

That's ridiculous, Camate.  On it's face, it's ridiculous!

It's either such shoddy game design that you really don't want casual players (however you choose to define the term) to pay for and play the game at all, and/or there are some really disturbing questions which must be asked.

1) Is the prohibition on the usage of third-party programs (User Agreement 2.1) a material falsity, and, in fact, upholding 2.1 now becomes a server-wide violation of User Agreement 3.2?

From the official site:

2.1 Cheating and Botting.
You may not create or use any cheats, bots, automation software, hacks, mods or any other unauthorized software designed to modify the Game and gameplay. In addition, you may not take advantage of game system bugs and exploits during gameplay. 

3.2 Disruption.
You may not in any way disrupt or interfere with the Game experience of other players, including without limitation the disruption of SQUARE ENIX’s computers and servers.  

It is clear that the statement Camate and his Japanese counterpart have made indicates that, even to access Legion and Neo-Nyzul, such a high barrier of entry is required that it is almost certain, given the current social realities of the game, that violations of 2.1 are effectively required to be an elite player.

1a) Is Windower legal?

and then 1b) If yes, then is it then not a violation of User Agreement 3.2 NOT to use it (if possible -- which can also raise the possibility of the removal of remaining PS2 support), because of the high level of barrier which is admitted in this discussion?

Additionally, this statement from Camate:

"very good gear and a high skill level"

raises the question:

2) Is part of that "very good gear" third-party programs is part of that "skill" the ability, willingness, and proficiency in using them?

This has been one of the big questions I have had with the BluCheater fuckers for a long time now.  Most of them believe that the vast majority of the players are disrupting the game through sheer incompetence, almost illness-level stupidity, etc.

Given this admission, isn't this effectively a statement that User Agreement 2.1 is, in fact, a complete nullity, and, on top of it, basically a barrier to the progress of the players choosing to abide by it?

This is what BG believes.  That, to be a good player in the game, you MUST subvert 2.1, as a matter of definition, and have no place in the game otherwise.  Everything comes down to that you must have the tools, both in-game and on top of the game, to succeed, or don't even bother trying.

The only difference Camate's post is to this is that there is no statement of legality on Windower.

YET.

3) In response to:

"Of course, because of this, there will be a need to help players gradually strengthen themselves and have a wide selection of moderate content to choose from, so we would like to do our best to fill that need."


No, there won't.  The real question is whether you actually intend to re-create that stratification which existed at 75, here at 99 -- and then basically answer the questions above.


Non-Windower players have no place in Neo-Nyzul -- and it appears Camate is admitting this.


Same with Legion.

So, just what is a "legitimate player"?

At that point, you must...

4) Bring RMT onto the table.  Is the entire existence of the STF, then, a farce designed to, as 2.1 does, hold back players with morals and a conscience from any degree of reasoned success in the game?

Hence:  Should RMT, on a limited scale, be legal?

It's clearly how some of these players not only advance, but also make a good coin RL, in the game.

It is refreshing to see Camate admit effectively (whether he admits to the admission) what I've believed (and have also believed farcical):  That it is acceptable (and I believe it being done) to make content designed to be effectively impossible under the User Agreement.

Now, the question:  Is the User Agreement simply an Animal Farm scenario?  All are equal, some more equal than others?