Square Enix is banning players who use suggestive adventurer plates, apparently due to a recent crackdown on enforcing Final Fantasy 14's terms of service. Players have speculated that their bans stem from their characters posing suggestively on their adventurer plates, after receiving an email stating that they breached the game's rules on "obscene/indecent expression".
The players who received these bans had "lewd" adventurer plates. One featured the character in their underwear, posing suggestively, and the other was posed to jokingly simulate a sex act. The suspensions are temporary, but it indicates that Square Enix will be coming down hard on what it perceives to be inappropriate behaviour in the MMO.
"This notice is to inform you that we have suspended the FINAL FANTASY XIV service account registered to this e-mail for obscene/indecent expressions violations", reads one of the emails shared. "The world of FINAL FANTASY XIV is much like the real world, in that it is populated by users of all ages hailing from a variety of regions and social backgrounds. The FINAL FANTASY XIV User Agreement was created to ensure that all of those users could relax and enjoy themselves."
It is likely that this stems from a passage in the user agreement. This section of the terms of service reads as follows:
"In general all expressions of an obscene/indecent nature are prohibited. If a report is filed and the prohibited activity is confirmed, a penalty will be issued. This applies to not only text based expressions such as chat, but also to expressions that use emotes and or character movements in ways that are sexually explicit".
Of course, it goes without saying that Final Fantasy 14 players are hardly the first bunch of gamers to simulate sex acts online. Teabagging has been around for as long as crouching. And I'm sure you can figure out what happened when Overwatch added a push up emote. However, with Final Fantasy 14 servers filling once more, it seems that it doesn't want its audience to feel uncomfortable.