Final Fantasy 14players on the recently releasedXboxport say they’re being hit with unexpected bans. Those affected report that the ban kicked in after using the in-game chat to look for a Free Company, with Xbox apparently feeling that this has some kind of rule-breaking double meaning.
While it isn’t clear what the issue is with these Free Company recruitment messages, some suspect that Xbox views looking for an in-game guild as self-promotion or even some kind of NSFW innuendo. Appealing the bans doesn’t appear to be working either, leaving one player locked out of in-game communication for more than 60 days.
“I am an Xbox player here and I have just gotten banned by Xbox because they believe that ‘Free Company’ is solicitation in their looking for group posts,” says Reddit user TGB_B20kEn. “I filed an appeal and that got denied and have no idea what else to do.”
TGB_B20kEn also shared the message that reportedly got them banned:
Hello Sprouts! We are currently recruiting for a new Free Company that accepts anyone! Please have Discord because we have PC Players! Pm if interested friends!
Further down in the thread, the user shares more details on the ban. Apparently, the only explanation they were given was, “This account violated the Community Standards and was subjected to enforcement action.” The ban is active for 61 days, and during that time, they won’t be able to, “communicate with others, join multiplayer games, or upload media to the Xbox network.”
Another player says that they’re aware of this issue too. “A friend of mine got a two day ban for listing his recruitment code,” says misterpinksaysthings.“He called and they told him even if it was wrong they don’t do anything for bans that short and he should just wait.”
