Another world challenge for the Final Fantasy 14 Ultimate Raid has been undermined by cheaters who were caught because of a single pixel. Ultimate Raids are among the most challenging missions within the MMORPG with different groups trying to be the first ones to complete them in an unofficial and community-driven competition.
The recent patch 7.1 introduced a new Ultimate Raid, Futures Rwritten which is the third consecutive raid to be marred by the cheating scandal. Initially, the team known as GRIND was reported as the winning group as it was noted by MogTalk creator and World Race tracker Frosty.
However, it was soon revealed that the team had used a cheat hack which was detected through a single pixel. The incriminating pixel is connected with the Pixel Perfect Plus plugin, as PC Gamer suggests.
It reveals a precise character hitbox and this tool is especially beneficial for avoiding AoE attacks in an Ultimate Raid where a lot of attacks across the battle arenas increase the challenge.
It is essential to note that third-party plugins are prohibited in Final Fantasy 14, consequently Frosty has disqualified GRIND from the competition. Frosty on X in a statement mentioned that his team is investigating the plugin which was used by the team and its capabilities.
He also added that GRIND did not give authority to his members to make use of the plugin and did not give permission for the actions he took. Following the incidents, producer and director Naoki Yoshida expressed his disappointment regarding the use of third-party modifications. In 2022, Yoshida indicated that the Final Fantasy 14 team would review all the major tools and to make sure that they are not used, they would boost the functionality of the HUD, yet after two years, the prevalence of these tools continues.
