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Regarding an Item Duplication Exploit
Good day, adventurers. This is the Special Task Force (STF), the team charged with investigating and suppressing unethical conduct that negatively impacts players’ FINAL FANTASY XI experience.
Several days ago we confirmed that some players were using an external program to create duplicates of specific in-game items. We would first like to apologize for the concern that this has caused, as bits and pieces of this information were posted on unofficial fan sites and message boards.
This message is to inform you of the measures we have taken to address the exploit and the punishment disseminated to the culpable parties.
Background Information and How We Have Addressed the Exploit
On the night of November 12 (Japan time), we received a bug report stating that it was possible to receive an unlimited number of Beastmen’s Medals and Kindred’s Medals. We acted immediately to verify the report, and determined that it was, in fact, possible to duplicate the items in question. We consulted with producer Akihiko Matsui and temporarily removed the affected NPC as a provisional emergency measure.
The development team then undertook a detailed investigation and confirmed that the exploit did exist and pinpointed concrete methods for consistently reproducing said exploit. As part of the emergency maintenance on November 14 (Japan time), we implemented a server-side fix addressing the exploit and have confirmed that it is no longer possible to duplicate items in this manner.
Player Punishment for Abuse of the Exploit
While the development team worked to fix the underlying cause, the STF focused on investigating suspicious players. We have completed our investigation of all characters who interacted with the NPC in question from early last week until the NPC was temporarily removed, and discovered that 45 players used the aforementioned exploit. We terminated the accounts of those 45 players on November 13 (Japan time).
We take the integrity of the game very seriously, and are widening the scope of the investigation to determine if any players used this exploit before the period in question, and whether or not it was possible for similar exploits to be used on other NPCs or items. If we discover any related conduct, those players will be punished in the same manner.
As we have communicated to players since the game’s inception, the use of external programs in FINAL FANTASY XI violates the Terms of Use, and we will take all necessary measures against players who do so, up to and including account termination. We would like to take this opportunity to again warn you against using such programs, as doing so will put your account in jeopardy.
If you witness any suspicious activity in-game or read information on how to perform such activities on external sources, do not try them yourself or distribute the information to others, and instead report them to the STF immediately.
We will continue to remain ever vigilant against suspicious activity in FINAL FANTASY XI and ask for your continued support in ensuring a level playing field for all players.
