Adjust the Monthly Fee

[Arioche]

I've played this game since release day on PS2 and as much as I love it the simple truth is that it's old. The game is no longer in its prime and it's almost a little cruel to continue charging as much as a brand new MMO. The fee isn't going to stop me from playing, but I know it would be a lot more appealing to old and new players if it were even brought down to around $7. There wouldn't be profit loss with a new wave of players, and the 2 best ways to bring them in are Price and a graphical overhaul, the later option I'm sure is already out of the question. So, I would love to know if any fee adjustment is in the near future.

[bungiefan]

The FFXI subscription fee is dropped to $7-8 if you have an active FFXIV account that you are paying monthly fees on... Of course that requires that they be charging monthly fees for FFXIV.

[Misi]

If it were old with no new content ever, ( yes we still have to count the add ons as something new) then I'd agree with the fee being changed. I think the price is reasonable if you are only playing XI. The XI and XIV discount price is ok, but unless they changed it again, that discount is only temporary and not permanent. (would be much more appealing if it were permanent)

[Mirage]

This game is already pretty cheap compared to many other MMOs. I think the current fee is fine.

[Octaviane]

The fee is fine. I don't know anywhere else you can pay $12.95 a month for unlimited entertainment whenever you choose.

[Garota]

Not this thread again...

[Rafien]

Keep the same price for one account, but discount it for every additional account that is registered to the same card.

[Raxiaz]

I like Rafien's idea.

And $12.95/month really is probably the cheapest you can get for this quality of an MMO.

[Scuro]

Keep dreaming, you honestly think that for how much of a flop FFXIV was (which is now a free to play let me remind you incase you fell into some intellectually deficient coma these last couple of months, and by just looking at it, you can tell this game was not supposed to be free to play and cost an ass load of money to make by the sheer graphic content.), and how dependent they are on FFXI. Not to mention how much subscriptions they lost during the earthquake shut down on top of hardcores being sick and tired of feeling like the content of FFXI today is too casual. That they would honestly consider lowering the subscription rates for FFXI? I'm sorry but we live in the real world, you know... where people have to make money to feed their families in the video game industry, not where video games are spewed out of some Willy Wonka like wonder factory for the players. People do actually have to live off of these games in order to fund their day to day lives. So again, realize that we are not the only one's in a financial crisis, so are the makers of this game. And again... wake up, this is the real world.

[Ceinwyn]

Game is so bad now, it should be free to play, honestly.
Only a matter of time till it's dead, Se did so cruel things to it.
If it was Free2play, i would still play it sometimes, eventually... >.>
Makes me sick but the Game is a bad joke with abyss now.
I don't know how u can so easily destoy a great game like this one but SE did...stupid, just stupid and sad,
however, some people seem to enjoy the actual game
(I don't know how u can enjoy the game in its actual status but it's cool :P) and that's fine, have fun!
But Se won't win more players through the destruction of the game, how it was used to be,
they will only lose alot of all players, like me.

[Scuro]

I'm pretty sure the Census has proven the above account of this game being dead anytime soon, to be false. People will continue to play this game, regardless. However, what I will agree on is that if SE wants to see more people play, they have to come out with a new expansion of new content, new areas, new mobs, new quests, missions, storylines. The players are getting restless, but if SE went to a free to play model.... that would not do anything good for the game. That would basically be SE admitting defeat, because if you can tell me games that go to free to play and then come out with massive expansions to entertain its customers. I'll be shocked.

People whine about Abyssea killing the game and such, yet as I've told my friends before, the sooner you accept that this content is what the game is now, much as the transition from CoP content to ToAU content, the better. The problem is a lot of the hardcores originate from the ToAU era, and have no idea how much of a change that content inflicted on the game when people would say "ToAU killed the game! Booo hooo me this game is going to suck and no one will play it!" Yet look.... the game is still around. The more you want to gripe about the game, the more you will be unhappy, but if you suck it up and deal with it as many of us hardcores that have been playing since NA release have, you'll find that AByssea can be enjoyable. Times change, and so does the manner in which things are done. The game is still challenging, and still takes a massive time commitment (I'm sorry but if you've tried to skill up defensive skills and 3-5 weapons.... you know that Abyssea doesn't remedy every hardship of this game). So again, this game by no means should be free to play, and if it is, then people advocating for it will realize how much of a folly they have aided in when they realize this game die in terms of new content and receive treasure casket revamps, and mob distribution revamps from that point until the end of the servers. Thank you.

[Catsby]

Subscriptions are kind of becoming a thing of the past anyways. Most online games are going free to play/microtransaction. It's just that some publish/developers know what they are doing(riot, valve, nexon) and some do not(CCP, Bethesda, Activision(didn't say SE because that's against the forum guildlines! ~.^)).

[Scuro]

I could not disagree more =)

[Romanova]

Most online games are going free to play/microtransaction.

which is terrible.


Fee is fine. not nearly enough low subscriptions to justify free to play or lower rates at this point.

[Scuro]

Now this is something that actually makes sense and oh idk.... is true haha.


If you want a payment method as you stated, then go play games that have that type of payment method. SE has already stated that they will not go free to play, and they will not do micro-transactions because the model for it was crap. Because well.... its a terrible idea haha.

[Catsby]

Now this is something that actually makes sense and oh idk.... is true haha.


If you want a payment method as you stated, then go play games that have that type of payment method. SE has already stated that they will not go free to play, and they will not do micro-transactions because the model for it was crap. Because well.... its a terrible idea haha.

Well, you're wrong about it being a bad idea. Short of "I don't like it T_T" there are nearly unbeatable arguments for why F2P is the superior model. The increasing prevalence of free to play games supports this. Also, point me to where SE said they wouldn't go F2P since I'm interested in reading about it.

[Scuro]

I said they wouldn't do microtransactions because of an interview with the directors stating that the models were a failure for such things. Also due to SE's current state as well as the state of its 2 leading games FFXI and FFXIV, Do you honestly think a F2P model will be coming out anytime soon? Cuz I sure as hell don't. They are hurting to get that money back, to kick it over to a F2P is stupid, and practically business suicide. F2P is for games that are not going to be expanded on further and are hoping to make a bank off of software copies and sponsors. Games with fees actually come out better, while one can argue some of these new F2P's, alot of them are short term successful but won't last as long as a 8 year giant like FFXI has. So my reason for saying no to F2P, is because it should be blatantly obvious how bad of an idea that is lol.

[Catsby]

I said they wouldn't do microtransactions because of an interview with the directors stating that the models were a failure for such things. Also due to SE's current state as well as the state of its 2 leading games FFXI and FFXIV, Do you honestly think a F2P model will be coming out anytime soon? Cuz I sure as hell don't. They are hurting to get that money back, to kick it over to a F2P is stupid, and practically business suicide. F2P is for games that are not going to be expanded on further and are hoping to make a bank off of software copies and sponsors. Games with fees actually come out better, while one can argue some of these new F2P's, alot of them are short term successful but won't last as long as a 8 year giant like FFXI has. So my reason for saying no to F2P, is because it should be blatantly obvious how bad of an idea that is lol.

This is tremendously incorrect.

F2P business model has proven to expand a game further much faster than a subscription model. With F2P you have a much higher potential to reach more customers because the barrier to entry is a couple steps lower. People are more willing to try something when there is no obligation to pay up front and willing to stay if there is no cost to do so. How the game generates profit is of course the tricky part.

Earlier online games struggled with this because the items you bought enhanced performance and were generally unobtainable to those who didn't pay the premium. This is where the term "pay to win" came from and why many people still think F2P is a quality standard and not a business model (because it often acknowledged the fact that the game sucked and you could buy your way to the parts that didn't...maybe). This is what happened with FFXI and abyssea in my opinion. When released the non pay content that came with them was bland while abyssea content provided players with crazy benefits (amazing gear, blazing fast exp, a new tier of ultimate weapons etc).

Let's imagine for a second that FFXI is already F2P and visions of abyssea is about to come out. It's free so when that update hits you will have access to those first 3 abyssea zones without paying. On the FFXI main page you see an advert for a limited offer $10 abyssea booster pack, what could it be? Ideally, it would look something like this;

an additional 10 traverser stones
a voucher for one of the new cruor armor sets
a voucher for one of the new job emotes
a stack of temp elixirs while in abyssea
a clionid or limule costume belt
a level 1 hooded cloak body piece with a gilgamesh, shinryu, or abyssea decal on it

Now look very carefully here. All of the enhancing items you would receive are accessible to a player regardless if they paid or not. This basically a premium for early adopters but you also get unique non game enhancing items to distinguish yourself. If this package came as a non rare item that activated once you used it then you could give it as a gift to friends or trade it to players in exchange for something else allowing you to buy multiple boosters. I can guarantee you that this would have sold as well if not better than abyssea add-ons as they were since you could buy multiple boosters on one character. As it stands now there is way or reason to buy an add-on more than once unless you are activating it on separate accounts. If you were unable or unwilling to pay for the booster pack then you miss almost nothing.

edit: I would appreciate it if you could link me to that interview you mentioned.

[Scuro]

No point in responding to this further, doesn't make sense too. This post is dead, because its pointless for good reason, so later.

[Catsby]

whatever bro. still waiting for that link. :3

[Ziyyigo-Tipyigo]

The FFXI subscription fee is dropped to $7-8 if you have an active FFXIV account that you are paying monthly fees on... Of course that requires that they be charging monthly fees for FFXIV.

That is (was?) a limited-time offer. If things had gone as planned, you'd only get the reduced price on FFXI for 3-4 months, as I recall.

[Dalorian]

Your out of your mind! Taking money away from this game will just make matters worse and this game would go under for sure! I love this game and would like to see it around for many more years to come. I've seen a flood of new players since the release of the new ultimate collection.

o.O F2P being superior? I've been around the F2P market and all the games lack content, story, and not to mention the unbalanced idea of players being able buy their way to the top ranks with rediculous items. Though this is untrue in some F2P games (who only require you to pay money for cosmetic upgrades), the quality and service of subscription based games just isn't there (with the exception of LoL). If your in to mindless grinding, generic storylines, and the lack of balance then F2P is for you, lol. The only good about the F2P market is some of the hardcore PvP based games but games of this nature (mmorpg's) the market is a failure (in terms of quality). But on the upside its free (to an extent) and you get what you pay for. And I've spent WAY more money on F2P games in a month than I ever spent in a subscription game with a bigger end game content let down than anything you'll EVER see in any subscription based game (with the exception of subscription games gone F2P and IF new content is added it dulls in comparison to the pre-existing content). P2P games have provided a fun, fair, and balanced gaming experience for gamers for years. The idea that F2P games have an advantage over P2P games because it allows the players to have an experience without having to pay upfront is a rediculous idea, that's what free trials are for (yes i know FFXI made a stupid mistake by doing away with theirs yrs ago instead of just limiting the usage privileges of the trial accounts).

End result: P2P > F2P

[Catsby]

Wall of Text. [1 Red 1 Colorless]

If target player reads wall of text he/she gains a sanity token. If said player accumulates 5 sanity tokens they must leave the game.

Many forum trolls will breeze through responses with frightening pace. But nothing stops them like an unedited, unproofread wall of text.
[0/5]

You need to reread what I typed. Carefully. For a moment there it seemed like you did but then you started strawmaning half of what I said.

[Dalorian]

lol, my wall of text is only a few lines longer than something you posted earlier. If I were strawmanning you I would have said something like this:

"People who think F2P games are superior to P2P games are a bunch of mindless idiots who have to buy their items because they suck at these types of games."

but in fact I never downplayed or said one bad thing about you. The first paragraph was directed towards the creator of the thread just fyi and I simply stated my opinions of F2P games.

If you want my opinion about your marketing idea for a F2P FFXI, its not a bad idea (as far as marketing goes) but still I dont really like it simply because someone could continue to spend cash, if they have it (you'd be surprised), and continue to obtain these items without having to work for them. If you limited one per player you wouldnt make any money and your going to have to come up with more sales pitches than just some items you can obtain in game. When you start selling items that you absolutely have to buy in order to obtain them, people with the cash will start racking in the game dough, hardly fair.

Simply put, P2P games create an environment where everyone does there part equally and are all on level playing fields, where skill and wit get you where you want to go (and sometimes wiki lol) not the size of your wallet. Its just more fun that way, in my own opinion.

No, I'm not a troll, nor am I strawmanning you, just simply pointing out why your idea is such a bad one. No hard feelings :)

Note: Just because an idea can make you money doesn't make it a good one;)

EDIT: I hope this format suits you better:D

[Catsby]

It does suit me better, thanks. You would be surprised how much easier it is on the eyes when you break stuff down.


but still I dont really like it simply because someone could continue to spend cash, if they have it (you'd be surprised), and continue to obtain these items without having to work for them.

People who pay premiums generally get a little more for their money. In a F2P environment you don't buy performance you buy exclusivity. Somebody mentioned Riot earlier and that's a halfway decent example. In that case you fork over 20 bucks and you get a different skin/animation/soundset for your preferred character. You can also use that 20 bucks to buy tiny buffs for a character loadout but those buffs are also available using the currency you collect just by playing the game. That's the important part right there. Things that affect gameplay are accessible via money/gameplay. Things that are shiny, money only. Riot could take it a step further and offer discounts on future purchases for paying customers, automatically enter them into sweepstakes, give them early access to new content ect to sweeten the deal.

In my opinion nobody has gotten it right yet but they are making pretty solid efforts. I predict that in the next 5 years or so there will be F2P models that make us wonder why we ever settled for anything else.

[Arioche]

^This. Kind of foolish how many people are saying micro-transaction is bad. Riot started out incredibly small and is now a pretty powerful company because of 1. free game 2. micro-transaction 3. good game content.

And I understand companies need money, I am in the game industry (herpderp). I was never implying F2P or only giving them like... $1 a month. IMO if they just removed the fee for extra characters, it would be perfect. WoW and Warhammer both have monthlies around 12-15, but you can make as many characters as you want. When I played War I had somewhere around 25 characters spread over a few servers... That would be a painful bill if it were on FFXI ^^;

[Dalorian]

I agree that Riot has done something right. Unfortunately I don't think their methods would work for FFXI because they are two completely different types of games. I actually play LoL regularly and absolutely adore Riot. I can't help but spend money on the game lol.

Definitely agree that FFXI needs to do away with the extra content ID charges. Would make my FFXI experience a much happier one.

[Catsby]

Definitely agree that FFXI needs to do away with the extra content ID charges. Would make my FFXI experience a much happier one.

Would you be happier if those extra content ID charges provided extra content? Because that's what I'm trying to suggest. What if that extra dollar per month gave you other benefits instead of simply raising another character. Among them perhaps letting you change character races once per month.

[Dalorian]

Would you be happier if those extra content ID charges provided extra content? Because that's what I'm trying to suggest. What if that extra dollar per month gave you other benefits instead of simply raising another character. Among them perhaps letting you change character races once per month.

Yes, something other than providing me with just 1 additional char/$/month reguardless if it cost a little extra. To have as many chars as I really wanted, I would end up spending a fortune in fees. :(

Maybe different account tier types with different prices that provide services that do not effect gameplay or even being able to unlock certain features after having an active account for so long, much like the gold worldpass idea.

Should probably open a new thread for this one.

[Catsby]

I would thumbs up the thread. Many MMOs have benefited from being re monetized. Just look at LoR online and Crimecraft.

[Catsby]

Oh look what popped up a couple days ago..

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/extra-credits/3689-Microtransactions

get lectured! :3

[Mookies75]

I've played this game since release day on PS2 and as much as I love it the simple truth is that it's old. The game is no longer in its prime and it's almost a little cruel to continue charging as much as a brand new MMO. The fee isn't going to stop me from playing, but I know it would be a lot more appealing to old and new players if it were even brought down to around $7. There wouldn't be profit loss with a new wave of players, and the 2 best ways to bring them in are Price and a graphical overhaul, the later option I'm sure is already out of the question. So, I would love to know if any fee adjustment is in the near future.

Uhh... I dont think I have had this much fun in ff11 ever. The improvements they have been making with the mini expansions and abyssea are well worth the 12 dollar pricetag.

If anything they need to increase the monthly to 15$ and develop a PC/PS3/360 engine based on the ff14 graphics/physics. That would push the game over the top for me.