Final Fantasy XIV's Lodestone Site Trends Amid Unofficial AI Data Collection Controversy

The official player information site for the popular MMORPG "Final Fantasy XIV (FF14)", "Lodestone" (commonly known as "Lodestone" or "The Lodestone"), has suddenly trended on SNS platform X (formerly Twitter), causing significant ripples among users. The controversy began when numerous reports emerged that an unofficial "Mirage Prism (Glamour) AI site" was unauthorizedly collecting user character information from Lodestone and using it for AI training.

This unofficial site reportedly "extracted" character appearance and equipment data, publicly available on Lodestone, without user consent, and published it as its own database. Furthermore, it has been reported that the site includes a deceptive prompt for users to "log in to Lodestone via the said site" when requesting data deletion, leading to widespread warnings about phishing scams and account information theft.

Strong complaints and concerns have been voiced by users, such as "They've put my data up without permission" and "It's dangerous to enter your Lodestone password into that site for a deletion request." It has also been pointed out that the very act of being prompted to "log in to Lodestone from an external site" is extremely risky, with some users reporting they have changed their passwords as a precaution.

In response to this situation, many FF14 players have accelerated their efforts to switch their Lodestone profiles to "Private" or "Limited Public (Friends/FC only)" as a self-defense measure. There have also been reports of the site temporarily becoming inaccessible due to a surge in traffic to Lodestone, indicating the seriousness of the situation. On the other hand, some users have expressed concern that "if a large number of people make their Lodestone profiles private, it might, in a way, undermine the very essence of an MMO (Massively Multiplayer Online game)."

Regarding the problematic site, a flood of demands for swift action from the developer, Square Enix, has emerged, with comments such as "They just extract data without permission and then say 'we won't respond individually except through the contact form' – are they kidding?" and "We want the developers to put a stop to this quickly." Users are strongly urging others to report the issue to the official support, stating, "Basically, the official channels can only act based on reports from individuals."

This incident has once again highlighted the importance of user data privacy protection and online security. A prompt and appropriate response from the FF14 operation team is now imperative.

The context

For non-Japanese readers, here's some background:

• Final Fantasy XIV (FF14): A highly popular Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game (MMORPG) developed and published by Square Enix. It has millions of active players worldwide.
• Lodestone: This is FF14's official community and player information portal. It functions as a public profile page for each player's in-game character, displaying their appearance, gear, achievements, and blog posts. Players can choose to make their profiles public, visible to friends only, or private.
• Mirage Prism (Glamour): In FF14, "Mirage Prism" is the in-game system that allows players to change the appearance of their equipment while retaining its original stats. This is often referred to as "glamour" in other games. Players frequently share their unique character glamours (outfits) on social media, making character appearance a significant aspect of player expression.
• The Controversy: The unofficial AI site reportedly scraped public character data, including detailed appearance and equipment information, from Lodestone without consent. This data was then allegedly used to train an AI, potentially for generating new outfits or characters based on existing player designs.
• Phishing Concerns: The most critical security concern is the unofficial site's alleged prompt for users to log into Lodestone *through their site* to request data deletion. This is a classic phishing tactic designed to steal login credentials, as it makes users believe they are authenticating with the official Lodestone site when they are actually providing their username and password to the malicious third party.
• Player Reaction: Players are outraged by the unauthorized data collection and the high-risk phishing attempt. Many are taking immediate self-preservation steps by making their profiles private, leading to a temporary overload of the Lodestone site. There's a strong call for Square Enix to intervene, as the official developer is typically the only entity that can take legal or technical action against such a third-party site.