Account Penalties
Account penalties are disciplinary actions taken against players who are negatively affecting the experience of others or causing a disruption to the service itself. If SQUARE ENIX finds evidence of activities that violate the FINAL FANTASY XIV User Agreement or SQUARE ENIX Account Terms of Use, or otherwise interfere with the operation of FINAL FANTASY XIV or the SQUARE ENIX Account service, SQUARE ENIX may issue penalties against the player’s service account. All account penalties are issued after an investigation has been conducted.
Players that have previously received a penalty to their account must take extra care to abide by the rules and policies to avoid losing access to their service account permanently, as the severity of account penalties taken against a player increase with each instance, up to termination of the service account or even the SQUARE ENIX account. Certain behaviour, however, may warrant immediate termination.
Penalty Types
Caution
Cautions are intended to inform players that continuing their current course of action may result in a violation of the FINAL FANTASY XIV User Agreement or SQUARE ENIX Account Terms of Use. While cautions are not penalties, failing to heed a game master’s (GM) instructions may result in the account being penalised.
Warnings
Warnings are issued for minor policy violations.
Warnings will be issued to players by a GM when evidence of an action that violates the FINAL FANTASY XIV User Agreement or SQUARE ENIX Account Terms of Use is found. When the warning is given, the GM will give instruction to the player to cease such conduct in the future. This type of account penalty is recorded permanently on the service account, but does not result in a suspension of the player’s service.
Service Account Suspensions
Service account suspensions are issued for severe policy violations.
A suspended service account cannot be used to access FINAL FANTASY XIV for the duration of the suspension. The type of suspension issued is dependent on the severity of the violation and past record of the player. A player does not necessarily need to have received a prior warning to receive a suspension. The following are the different types of suspensions a player may receive to their service account:
24 Hour Minimum Suspension
These types of suspension are usually issued to players committing the least severe service violations. Please note, after receiving a 24 hour suspension, your next violation will result in receiving a 72 hour suspension regardless of the type of violation committed.
48 Hour Minimum Suspension
This is the least common suspension type. These types of suspension are usually reserved for special case violations that don’t fit within the confines of a 24 or 72 hour suspension.
72 Hour Minimum Suspension
These types of suspension are usually issued to players committing the most severe policy violations. Additionally, accounts that are dealt a 72 hour suspension will be investigated and considered for termination. In these cases, the suspension remains in place until the completion of the investigation, even if this exceeds the 72-hour period.
Any service accounts that are associated with the same service as the suspended service account may also be suspended.
For example, if you have a SQUARE ENIX Account with multiple FINAL FANTASY XIV service accounts and you receive a suspension on one of the FINAL FANTASY XIV service accounts, all other FINAL FANTASY XIV service accounts may also be suspended. However, any associated service, such as the Account Management System or SQUARE ENIX Members, will still be available to you during the suspension period.
Special Note Regarding Suspension Durations:
When a player is suspended, they will immediately lose access to the service account for the duration of the suspension. However, actual suspension periods start at 0:00 on the next day of the suspension being issued.
For example, if a player receives a 24 Hour suspension at 12:00PM, the player will immediately lose access to the service for the minimum suspension period plus the remaining time in that day. For this example, the total suspension time would be 36 hours.
Account Penalties Escalation
All actions taken against a service account are recorded permanently. In the event of a player committing multiple violations, the previous violations and service account actions are taken into account.
For example, if a player has received a warning on the account, the service account will likely receive a suspension for a violation that may warrant just a warning for a player that has not receive a warning previously.
Additionally, players that have previously received a suspension on their service account will immediately receive a 72 hour suspension for the next violation and be reviewed for termination, regardless of the violation type.
Service Account Termination
A service account termination can be placed on an account in the event of a severe violation or as a result of escalation of account penalties. A service account termination will permanently remove your access to FINAL FANTASY XIV. In addition, any other FINAL FANTASY XIV service accounts that are associated with that Square Enix account will also be terminated.
For example, if a player has five service accounts for FINAL FANTASY XIV and other SQUARE ENIX account services and receives an account termination on one of the FINAL FANTASY XIV service accounts, they will also lose access to the other four FINAL FANTASY XIV service accounts, but retain access to the other SQUARE ENIX services.
Service Accounts that have been terminated will not be reinstated under any circ*mstances. Refunds are only given in exceptional circ*mstances. Please review the Refunds section in the FINAL FANTASY XIV User Agreement for further information.
NOTE: There may be instances where the Square Enix Account, as well as any service accounts, is terminated.
FAQ Article: 56910
FAQ Category: [In-Game/Game Contents] / FAQ Sub-category: [Rules and Policies]
