Nightclub events and parties are common in the MMORPG, often with DJ sets on Twitch. But owners of the Rain Nightclub bought four billboards in Texas and California to advertise their event, which included modded outfits and use of the Final Fantasy 14 logo (thanks PCGamer). The event is a beach party on the Balmung server on 9th July - this Saturday - that players can access with the new data centre travel feature. However, the billboards feature characters wearing modded outfits datamined from the forthcoming Moonfire Faire event. Modding is strictly prohibited in the game. They also include the official game logo (with trademark) despite Square Enix not being involved. What’s more, Rain Nightclub is known for its NSFW content and lists erotic roleplay services on its website, which would surely attract the ire of the publisher. An image of one of the billboards was shared on Twitter in a now-deleted tweet by DJ Potate, a DJ hired to perform at the event. They claimed the event was not an infringement of the Material Usage License as “the club makes no money/profit”. “So what if we made a billboard, you don’t have to look at it, you don’t even have to come to our party, but for that to be a reason you go after people that weren’t even involved with the idea for it is really sad, and I really hope the portion of you all who came here to troll ignore us and go back to whatever it is you actually like doing since we aren’t it,” said Revarious in the Rain Nightclub Discord. That Discord has since been removed (and the invite link from the billboard has now been taken by a parody server) and the nightclub website has been temporarily turned off “till things calm down”. The event has ignited the Final Fantasy 14 community, which has responded with both outrage and memes.
Square Enix has not publicly commented on the situation. It’s unclear if the Discord and website removals were takedown orders or not. Fans are concerned that this may be the final straw in the use of mods in the game. Producer and Director Naoki Yoshida recently cracked down on the use of UI mods following the completion of the Dragonsong’s Reprise raid.
