Mog Wardrobe 3&4 feedback.

I did see an excellent argument over at FFXIAH that this is testing the waters for how well the XI players would react to microtransactions in anticipation of the full release of the Mobile spin-off. The timing on this would make a great deal of sense if that's the reason behind it.

Basically, stuff like this is what you use on a free to play model not on users that some have spent $1000+ on your game.

That said, I'm not surprised Square Enix will milk every cent from it's users and ips when they know there will be no PR backlash.

Just going mention that the vast majority of players don't care about this and indeed more will buy it than complain about it.

Only a tiny minority complain or care, this has been proven time and time again on multiple forums for multiple games. On xiv far more people buy all the stuff form the cash shop than complain about it and it makes the game profitable even though it doesn't have that many players compared to big games like wow. I know that at least some of the people complaining in here bought stuff form the xiv cash shop.

Only a tiny minority of the playerbase will comment either way, I'm not sure what your point is there, even people who are annoyed by it might pay for it for a while, but add it to their list of annoyances that might drive them off the game, whether it will be a net gain or loss in total amount spent on FFXI, that depends on a number of factors.

I just hope that at the end of the day, the player feedback and PR issues may make them change their minds, it's rare, but it's happened in the past.

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Originally Posted by Castanica

Just going mention that the vast majority of players don't care about this and indeed more will buy it than complain about it.

Only a tiny minority complain or care, this has been proven time and time again on multiple forums for multiple games. On xiv far more people buy all the stuff form the cash shop than complain about it and it makes the game profitable even though it doesn't have that many players compared to big games like wow. I know that at least some of the people complaining in here bought stuff form the xiv cash shop.

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Yes, but with the current population in XI, I would venture to say that even a fairly small amount caring could have some rather dramatic effect on some servers if well known players leave.

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Originally Posted by Castanica

Just going mention that the vast majority of players don't care about this and indeed more will buy it than complain about it.

Only a tiny minority complain or care, this has been proven time and time again on multiple forums for multiple games. On xiv far more people buy all the stuff form the cash shop than complain about it and it makes the game profitable even though it doesn't have that many players compared to big games like wow. I know that at least some of the people complaining in here bought stuff form the xiv cash shop.

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The main difference here is that the player base is in average much older. A lot of us have been playing since either release (JP or NA with Zilart), so we are on average much older than the players in XIV who are more used to this kind of stuff. Which is also why drama isn't really a thing in this forum. We are far too old for that crap.

That is why you are repeatedly seeing in this thread that the issues people have with this are more focused on the scummy aspects of it rather than the money itself. In many players' cases we started playing back in school and grew up playing the game while we grew up and got an income, so 4 bucks or 25 a month isn't really a concern for the most part. It's the act, and the way it's being implemented when considering it in the context of how the game has been handled up until now.

It is the fact that the money is far more likely to go towards XIV, XV or whatever mobile garbage they are developing than being used to better XI. It is the fact that many of us have extra mules we don't even need just so we can contribute a bit more to the game, but SE still feels the need to try and gate inventory space behind a paywall (as trivial an amount of money as it may be) like we are playing some disposable F2P game. Etc. etc.

That is the kind of thing that rubs me the the wrong way, and I'm not the only one. So like Selindrile said, whether this is ends up being a reason to quit or not at the very least it is another item in the list of annoyances that can kill this game for people.

* The fee is $2.00/30 days for either Mog Wardrobe 3 or Mog Wardrobe 4.

* The fee is $4.00/30 days for both Mog Wardrobe 3 and Mog Wardrobe 4.

Doesn't this seem a bit odd, normally when you buy 2 of something there is a savings associated. I could see buying 3 and 4 for $3, a $1 savings. But the way they worded it why even say the 2nd part, as its still the same cost per wardrobe.

I think SE forgot we are ALREADY paying them money each month to play, despite they put out minimal content to begin with. Now days, a lot of MMO are either free to pay or use micro-transactions, running a subscription based MMO is already an exception instead of the norm. Now they want to charge MORE than the average MMO subscription fee for an aged MMO. Seriously.

It was their fault to introduce an augment gear system that can't be delivery box or storage slip to begin with. Now they want us to pay for the side effect of their un-thought-through design. They are either out right dumb, or carefully planned this right from the start.

A storage slip that keep unity item or capped augment abj armor can easily solve the inventory problem other than a wardrobe.

I'd be lying if I said I was disappointed about this at first glance. My first thought was 'hell yes' but logic quickly took over.

I guess my 38ish dollars a month for this game didn't warrant them giving me these bags for free...

My point is, why would they ever think this would fly when 1)no more major updates 2)no more expansions-not that we got alot of them over FOURTEEN years 3)still paying full price(inflation whatever)after 14 years as if that sub fee is going to anything other than an ultra thinned skeleton XI crew to do nothing but minor updates with what little hardware they have left that works.

But let's pretend that sub fee + mule costs don't exist and charge 2 dolla per wardrobe inventory space.

The sad part is there's some black suits slapping each others backs thinking this was a great idea and it's extremely unlikely it's going to change just because we all in large part object to it because it's an insult. It's apparently the final insult for some players who have already quit.

So we don't get much anymore for our money but we could continue to get that sweet inventory space. Oh wait-

You know, I suspect that the excuse will be that everyone getting WD3&4 would cause too much strain(lol) on the servers so by charging for them, fewer will have access and thus, less strain. If that's the excuse it'd been better to make a highly difficult quest and deal with the whining for that, like along the lines of that afterglow shit. At least then there's no one quitting over it.

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Originally Posted by Morovich

People don't mind it that are playing Final Fantasy XIV. Granted may be upset at times for different items that may be added to the optional service but these items are novelty or cosmetic items they don't add or detract 2 gameplay. Will this make you a better player now will make you a bad player now this just gives you more item slots for storage no more no less. In other words, a lot of you are overreacting to this.

Again this is OPTIONAL if you don't have a problem managing your storage then kudos to you, then this won't affect you as you will have no need to do it unless you want to.

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Oh, I wouldn't say that. They're more than just "upset" in many cases.

There's many people over in FFXIV who are not happy at all that a cash shop even exists. Every time they add something new to the shop, there's a thread discussing/debating it, with plenty of people saying "Square, knock it off". The latest topic, and arguably most controversial so far, is the so-called "jumping potions" they're "discussing internally". There's been a very vocal backlash ever since they were announced. Still, I fully expect them to be introduced anyway. Yoshida's comments seemed to fall very much in favor of them. They'll just say "there was a lot of support for the idea", while ignoring the amount of dissent it's actually receiving (and it wouldn't be the first time).

After supporting XIV through a lot of problems, since Alpha of 1.0, I finally walked away from it. The jumping potion "discussion" was the last straw for me. Not the potion itself. More that it was the final straw for me that it's even being discussed. It's the most egregious symptom of a bigger problem I've sensed on multiple fronts with that game for some time now. Not to mention that I think it's ridiculous to consider adding something like that to a game that's not even through its first expansion cycle yet. It's becoming ever clearer where they're taking FFXIV, and I have no intention of following them there.

The thing is, like FFXI, FFXIV is a product of and for its time. The market XIV was developed in and for is very, very different than XI's.

To me, a cash shop in FFXIV is not even a "slippery slope". It's an obvious, "no duh", move for that game. I don't *like* it - I hate cash shops in all their incarnations. But it doesn't surprise me. It's a modern MMO, competing in a modern market; and "all the other kids on the playground are doing it", so...

There's a point where you can tell SE became satisfied they'd successfully regained players' trust after the whole 1.0 mess. Since then, they've made their intentions clearer with every update and announcement, dropping little comments here and there, pushing more and more stuff on to the cash shop, etc. It should be apparent to anyone paying attention to the big picture; seeing the forest for the trees, as it were.

It's only a hunch, so take it with a grain of salt, but I think FFXIV will go either B2P or F2P during its next expansion cycle. That's the direction I think they're taking it. Yoshida's already on record saying they would move to F2P, or a comparable revenue model, if/when it made sense to do so, and that the possibility isn't off the table. In other words, it's already been in discussion, and they've already established parameters for such a change to happen.

Now, with FFXI, on the other hand...

Even with all the concessions and conveniences SE has added to FFXI, it's still *very* much a MMORPG rooted in classic, old-school sensibilities and ideals that appeal to a different market than XIV's. FFXI is its own discrete "weather system", so to speak. It's not competing with anyone. It has nothing more to prove. While modern MMOs compete for space on that playground, FFXI just sits on the sidelines looking on, unaffected. It's succeeded, even while others have come and gone around it. The people who want to play FFXI at this point, are playing FFXI. Those who don't, aren't. That's not to say they shouldn't try to get new players. They should, but moving toward a cash shop is not the way to go about it.

A sentiment I've seen expressed many times over the years, and even still recently, people continue to play FFXI because it isn't like the MMOs FFXIV competes against. IMO, it would behoove SE to do their best to keep their remaining players happy through entirely in-game updates and support, and avoid wading into the murky waters of microtransactions.

I'm sure (or at least hope) SE recognizes this, too. A full-on "modern MMO-style" cash shop in FFXI would be completely anachronistic. It would also likely drive away a large amount of players, however many XI has left.

Plus, since they have the two spin-off games, they can kinda have their cake and eat it, too. They can have their FFXI with a cash shop built in from the start, without having to screw with retro-fitting all of that into the 13+ year old behemoth that is this game.

I could be completely wrong, but all things considered, I just can't see any benefit to screwing with this game. It'd be too much effort and risk for too little gain, overall.

All that said, I don't see adding optional "rental storage" as being a slippery slope. Seems to me it's them basically replacing an ad hoc storage system (alts/mules) with a purpose-created one: actual additional storage, with far more convenient access. Unless I'm missing something, it seems you could move your stuff from the mules over to your storage, and then cancel the mule content IDs, and come out none the worse off, or negligibly so.

So, while it bears keeping an eye on what they may, or may not do in the future, I don't consider this particular option troublesome, nor do I think it's indicative of a slippery slope.

But, as Denis Miller says, "That's just my opinion. I could be wrong".