Why the Final Fantasy XIV Subreddit Went Private
On June 12th, several subreddits started going “dark”, in response to planned changes to Reddit’s API that threaten to dismantle many third-party apps for browsing their platform. At the forefront of these protesting communities was Final Fantasy XIV subreddit (/r/ffxiv), forcing fans of Final Fantasy XIV elsewhere for discussion, memes and fan art content.
Christian Selig, creator of popular third-party Reddit mobile app Apollo, expressed shock over Reddit’s newly announced policy to charge developers who make API requests. Selig noted that Apollo alone made seven billion requests over one month; thus necessitating an annual payment of $20 Million just for him using Reddit API!
Many users rely on third-party apps for accessibility options, including settings enabling visually-impaired people to browse Reddit – features lacking from Reddit’s first-party app – and moderation tools used by its unpaid moderators. Pricing changes would eliminate many third-party mobile applications as well as eliminate functionality of Reddit Enhancement Suite browser extensions.
Reddit users from subreddits such as /r/FFXiv have joined thousands of others in opposing the changes, demanding either that Reddit revise its planned pricing for API access, or provide functionalities found in third-party apps to aid moderation and make their app accessible for visually-impaired people.
Initial plans called for an 18-hour “blackout”, yet many users felt this short period would make less of an impactful statement than anticipated. Therefore, many subreddits have chosen to remain private until their demands have been fulfilled; at time of writing /r/ffxiv plans on staying locked until June 19, when polling of their community users regarding whether to remain private will occur.
There’s currently no clear timeline or plan in place regarding what will become of all of the communities who have made their subreddits private, meaning those still hoping to engage in discussion and networking among fans of Final Fantasy XIV may no longer have access to Reddit itself but can turn instead to its associated Discord server which remains busy with activity.
