Players in the popular MMORPG FFXIV have been reporting Xbox account bans for using the term “Free Company” within the game’s online chat. This comes after the successful launch of FFXIV on Xbox which has enjoyed top spot in the free games category. The general thought behind this is that “Free Company” is much like “Free Roblox” or “Free Nitro” used by scammers, flagging accounts for Microsoft account bans.
A popular thread on Reddit was one of the first to expose this:
“Free Company” is the name of guilds in FFXIV, so this comes as quite a shock that it’s possible for the term to trigger bans. So far this seems to be limited, with a few reports of this occurring, but still, something to watch.
Users Impacted by “Free Company”
Beyond the main Reddit post, users on Twitter have reported similar issues:
Per the advice in the thread, probably best to avoid the built in Xbox LFG for a hot minute and use the party finder. That and you can refer to a “Free Company” as FC for the time being. Although it’s expected that this will be remedied rather quickly considering the FFXIV community has been working hard to make Square and Microsoft aware of the issue.
Not the First Time
Players received a similar shock in Baldur’s Gate 3 when scenes that involved nudity were screenshotted, which resulted in quick bans on those accounts. While appeals were generally honored, it’s still very stressful for an account to go through the process of being banned.
Microsoft Criticised for Xbox Auto-Upload Stance Following Baldur’s Gate 3 Nudity Bans – IGN
In addition, lots of common words from FFXIV are blocked in the chat, like “savage” which is a common term in MMORPGs.
Free Company Bans Rare
While there has been a lot of community discussion about it, there have only been a few reports of players impacted. So, this may be nothing but a few growing pains for the Xbox release, but still, something to note. Any kind of language that’s not apropos in a public setting may get you banned these days so it’s important to be on your best behavior.
If you’re worried about bans at all take the following precautions:
- Never say anything inappropriate or would violate a game’s code of conduct.
- Behave as best as you can (generally as you wish you’d be treated).
- Play fairly and be respectful to other players.
- Have patience with newer players and remember that everyone has to start somewhere.
- Have patience with players with sour attitudes. Never go on their level; you may not see immediate action taken against the worst offenders, but it always catches up.
This is true in any game, but if you behave well even if you’re caught in some random bizarre ban like this, it’ll be much easier to talk yourself out of if your account is squeaky clean.
