Today's report will outline our actions conducted from June 25, 2008 to July 22, 2008 in dealing with players violating the user agreement, as well as details on the activities, results, and goals of the Special Task Force.

Click here for details on the Special Task Force's activities in dealing with players violating the FINAL FANTASY XI user agreement.

Warning Against Unauthorized Access

Unauthorized access has become a serious problem across the internet, and the number of reports to the Square Enix Information Center and the GM team from victims of such access has been on the rise.
We have strengthened our service's security as a countermeasure against unauthorized access, but we ask that users of the Windows version of FINAL FANTASY XI/PlayOnline take preventative measures to safeguard their accounts.
Information on preventative measures in dealing with unauthorized access, necessary procedures in recovering one's account, and all other such information can be viewed on the "Information Regarding Unauthorized Access" page.


Click here for information on dealing with unauthorized access.

Special Task Force Activities and Future Plans

Once again, we received more reports regarding illegal fishing than any other violation of the user agreement. The use of cheats to automatically repeat particular actions and the use of tools that allow enhanced character movement are both included in the "illegal fishing" reports shown above. In May, the Special Task Force shortened the periods between bannings for these two violations and strengthened the Force's overall activities. As a result, although we banned an average of 3,000 accounts each month from January to April, in May we banned 2,000 accounts and in June we banned around 900 accounts, showing a gradual decrease in the number of accounts being banned. It is believed that the reason for this decrease comes from a smaller number of violators returning to Vana'diel after having been banned. The content of reports provided by players also supports this.

Next, we move to the subject of hunters (*1) and the use of synthesis and auction houses for RMT (*2).
While we shortened the periods between bannings for hunters in June, we re-evaluated several problematic issues and worked on improving our activities in dealing with them.
Violators of the user agreement involved in the use of synthesis and auction houses for RMT, as well as the organizations involved, have been engaged in synthesis, the supply of materials for synthesis, the auctioning of synthesized items at auction houses, and the appointment of duties to characters involved in RMT. However, after our activities last December, some large-scale organizations utilizing large numbers of accounts and characters gradually shifted to smaller-scale organizations to continue their activities. Because of this, the Special Task Force re-evaluated our methods in order to more effectively deal with these smaller organizations. Keep your eye out for future reports regarding hunters and the use of synthesis and auction houses for RMT.

*1. Hunters
Characters who kill Notorious Monsters, clear quests, and obtain items over and over again with the sole purpose of gathering gil, which is then handed off to RMT groups.

*2. Use of synthesis and auction houses for RMT
Actions involving selling large quantities of in-game items for gil, which is then traded for real money.

Matters of Concern Within the Community

In the following section, we will be explaining the Special Task Force's direction and plans in dealing with matters of concern within the community.

- My account was accessed by an unauthorized third party and, as a result, I lost my gil and items. I contacted Square Enix to get my game data recovered and I was told that it would take about a week for the work to complete, but I still haven't been contacted. About how much longer will it take?
At the moment, we estimate that it may take several weeks for game data to be recovered.
In order to recover game data, we need to closely investigate each user's account log so that we can accurately understand the details regarding the unauthorized access. This is why it can take a long time to recover a user's game data. We are, however, currently looking into ways to increase the speed of the work involved.
We apologize to the FINAL FANTASY XI users waiting for their game data to be recovered and ask that you wait just a little longer for the process to complete.


- There are groups of suspicious players in areas such as Castle Oztroja and Monastic Cavern that log in only when treasure chests appear and continuously go around opening them.
This is an issue that we received a considerable amount of reports regarding in June. The GM team and Special Task Force noticed that certain suspicious characters are using cheats and tools to search for treasure chests and then warp to their locations once they have been found. We believe we will be able to solve this problem through our actions against players using tools that allow enhanced character movement and by closely observing sellers involved in RMT.

Reporting to the Special Task Force

The Special Task Force relies on everyone's information regarding violations of the user agreement to help keep FINAL FANTASY XI an enjoyable environment, and we appreciate your continuing support and cooperation.

Report to Special Task Force

*Please contact the Square Enix Information Center by telephone or through the "Contract Help" e-mail support under Service & Support in regards to unauthorized access or other concerns regarding your account.
If you become aware of unauthorized access outside of the Information Center's hours of operation and possess multiple PlayOnline IDs, log in from another PlayOnline ID and contact a Game Master (GM). The GM will make the accessed account temporarily unavailable.
However, please note that a GM cannot perform account related actions such as changing one's password, so it will be necessary to contact the Information Center at another time.