Possible solution for cash shop?

[Raidou]

Before I begin.

I'm not sure if other players have suggested what I'm about to post. So, please, don't flame me if so. Just post a link or something and I'll abandon this thread.

Moving on.

I've noticed that many players are upset about the cash shop. With each new optional item added, this just continues to get worse.

My personal opinion? I suppose I'm in the middle. I understand why they made the cash shop, I understand why people support it, I also understand why some are disgusted by it.

Square-Enix would be foolish to not have a shop to be honest. How many players do you see pay for subs months in advance, just to get the special minion etc.?

I see this quite often, and this has been going on since they introduced Veteran Rewards. I'm sure they did some research and found that many players are willing to pay up front for the optional items.

I'm sure that was a huge factor in them making the shop to begin with. I don't think it's fair to attack or criticize those that want to use it either.

Video games have far more digital content than ever before. Sure, I grew up playing video games without this. It was a different era of gaming. Others didn't grow up playing games this way.

Buying digital items for games is normal to them.

With all of this in mind, I'll get to my point before I get even more off topic.

I think Square-Enix should introduce a special type of in game currency.

Similar to games like Guild Wars 2. You earn this currency by doing dailies, finishing challenge logs, special events, etc. Players earn this currency at a slower rate, but they eventually save up a decent amount.

You can eventually use this currency to purchase items from the cash shop, without having to use any real money.

Sure, it might take you a month or so to save up for that new mount. The thing is, you eventually can get it without spending any money in rl. Yes, this is grindy and hardcore.

The thing is. FFXIV has plenty of content that would fit here.

One example is the challenge log. What reason do players have to finish the challenge log each week? I guess the most lucrative challenge to finish is for personal chocobo's.
That bonus exp is nice. Besides that, if you are level 50 most of the rewards from the log are not worth the time.

(Example - Yes, I got some gil and exp for gathering! It's too bad all of my gathering classes are level 50. The exp is wasted.. the gil is not enough. Common problem.)

If they added this special in game currency to the challenge log rewards. I think more players would actually try and finish it each week.

They could also add this special currency to daily beastmen tribe quests. You finish them each day and you get some of this currency. Perhaps you get some for finishing every Daily in the Duty Finder? etc.

Another idea is giving it out as a bonus for doing special holiday events. Along with the special achievement.

Lots of gamers remember the days where you would grind and work hard to unlock stuff in game. This provides a way for players to do that.

Wait, doesn't this just kill the cash shop in the end?

No, it doesn't. If players see that shiny new item and want it right away, they can buy it and have it. If others want it but don't want to spend real money on it, they grind away until they can get it.

Who knows? It just might result in players being more active, using the duty finder more often, finishing daily quests and challenges more often, etc.

Thanks for reading all of this. Please! Leave feedback! I'll do my best to check the comments.

[Titor]

I would support this idea. I really think that all items, content, events, buffs, glamours, whatever should be available without spending money on top of your sub.
If people have the want it need it now syndrome, or just want to further support SE and have the funds, they can. If people want something but do not have the money and do not mind waiting this would be a great solution.

[kyuven]

The only way I could see this happening is if they allowed subs to be purchased and traded as well.
But people would complain. They will always complain, and they will never be happy. The cash shop is just an easy target for them.

[Songi]

They need to let us use some of this useless in-game currency called Gil to pay our subs and whatever items in the cash shop they decide to release. Honestly, with the current rate things are going pretty much all well-designed glamours will be gated by cash shop. With Metallic dyes hitting cash shop its safe to say even those who play the game to dress their character up will be getting locked out of a lot of content unless they swipe their card every minor update.

[TurnBased]

I love this idea. It's a great solution that doesn't break the ingame economy.

[Messenger]

Oh thats a great idea! Lets add more activities and reasons for the folks to glue their @ss on the chair and smash their face to the computer until they earn that much currency just get the mount they want! WOOT WOOT!

Look Mom! I got a Mount! Yippee!, oh hows school? I got C-! YIPPEE!!

[polyphonica]

Oh thats a great idea! Lets add more activities and reasons for the folks to glue their @ss on the chair and smash their face to the computer until they earn that much currency just get the mount they want! WOOT WOOT!

Look Mom! I got a Mount! Yippee!, oh hows school? I got C-! YIPPEE!!

Even if they didn't add a cash shop at all, though, that's precisely the sort of content some of this stuff was bound to be anyway. And if it had been that way and not in the cash shop, it's unlikely that we'd see these complaints, as gating things behind huge walls of grinding is sort of the way of the genre... for better or worse.

[Amateru]

I did mention this solution in a post somewhere in other cash shop threads.

Lord of the Rings Online has this system too. You can grind deeds for an in game currency called Turbine Points,
which can be used in cash shop instead of real money.
I do support that solution.

If cash shop, in which I will never spent my real money on, is going to stay, at the very least they could give us the in game grind currency to use instead of real money.

You have my voice here.

[HakuroDK]

The Challenge Log already exists, why not?

[Raidou]

Thanks for the support of my thread. =)

- About subs being purchased with the currency.

That's an interesting idea. I think Wildstar is doing something like that, but I'm not sure to be honest. I've never played it.

Yes, people will complain. I was just looking for a possible solution here, one that can give players another choice.