I'm sure I'm not saying anything new, here (29 pages of 40 posts! TL;DR), but I feel the need to throw down my two cents in my own words.
Developmentally and mechanically, I don't have much against a cash shop. I support it, even. I want the game to succeed and I want to fund it.
Didn't take the opportunity to celebrate a holiday, but want the item? Feel free to pay. It lowers the prestige of having been there, but raises money for the game. That's all well and fine; I wasn't flaunting my pumpkin head in some sucker's face 'cause they chose to skip Halloween that year, anyway, and it's not like they're selling the Dalamud Horn.
Needless to say, selling
any item that provides
any advantage in
any way beyond aesthetics is clearly something that would make a lot of people lose faith in the game. Even selling the extra inventory space of extra retainers creeps dangerously close to that line, but who didn't have a mule or two in FFXI? It's not like they limited inventory to any degree that any meaningful advantage could be gained from 4 retainers beyond the ability to be a hoarder. SE realizes this, and that's wonderful.
But they've missed something just as important.
Selling items that were directly created for the cash shop, never giving fans the chance to celebrate them and obtain them by supporting the game in the right time or by having a certain level of skill (or determination), violates the
spirit of this game and everything I've seen from it so far. When I see an exciting new item in a preview, you want my first reaction to be
"I can't wait to get that!" not,
"Wow, I hope it's not cash-only.
" And that's what I'm going to think from now on. That's going to be my first reaction to a beautifully designed piece of gear or a minion that brings a smile to my face: "Wow, I sure hope they didn't create that just to wall it off for a fee." Is that what you want to expect from us? Is that what we can expect from you? Should I be ready to accept that my subscription isn't worth your best work on anything that doesn't have stats on it, anymore? That's not the spirit of
A Realm Reborn.
There should always be a chance -
some chance - to get
any item - just from being a loyal subscriber.
Yoshida-san, I've been with you since the beginning, and I know you're better than that.