Free to play plans?

[sweetidealism]

Free to play doesn't necessarily mean pay to win. In The Secret World, everything in the shop is either purely cosmetic, a temporary bonus to exp or movement speed, or new content unlocks.

I know a LOT of people that invested tons of gil in their mog house; who wore gear not for effect but for its look; and perhaps more than anything else, who groaned about running all over the world to do Rise of the Zilart missions.

I think that, if Square Enix were to offer a free to play option in which all the shop's items were either cosmetic, convenient, or content, but would NOT alter chances for success in battle (and maybe crafting) content, then I think it would be very successful.

[Ziyyigo-Tipyigo]

You can already get cosmetic swag and furnishings as bonuses for buying things like soundtrack CD pre-orders.

I would think that they'd find more excuses to sell such things already if it were a viable income option for FFXI.

[sweetidealism]

You can already get cosmetic swag and furnishings as bonuses for buying things like soundtrack CD pre-orders.

I would think that they'd find more excuses to sell such things already if it were a viable income option for FFXI.

This is true, but I think the reason it hasn't been viable is because they were poorly advertised. If these things were offered directly through the game, then more people would be aware of them and, therefore, more likely to buy them.

[Edyth]

FFXI is still profitable enough to pay for both itself and for fixing XIV. Don't expect them to kill the goose that lays the golden eggs any time soon.

Realy FFXI is the major factor keeping SE afloat. Yes, they are expanding their market off of gaming only, but FFXIV would have been another "Spirits Within."

Those are the facts, and anyone who objects to that statement and continues to argue that this game should be free-to-play has less business sense than a 4-year-old at a lemonade stand. Don't give out free lemonade (FFXI) and make people pay for ice (bonus content). They'll take all the lemonade they want, with little to no ice at all. SE wouldn't just be shooting themselves in the foot; they'd be stabbing themselves in the financial heart. FFXI makes a few million dollars for them every month; think about how many packaged games would have to sell to meet that number. Think of how much DLC/extra content they would have to sell PER MONTH to meet that number. Then please, shut up. <<<Directed at the people who say this game should be free to play.

[Winrie]

FFXI ftp is the worst idea anyone can come up with for this games advancement. I wouldnt pay a dime more than my subscription fee and cost of expansion to play a game this old and im quite sure many others would follow the train of leaving if we had to pay for every damn thing at a cost of no subscription. Screw that. If you dont like paying a measly 12 bucks a month then leave, instead of making boneheaded suggestions that are retarded in relation to today's XI.

[WolfMoonstrike]

FFXI ftp is the worst idea anyone can come up with for this games advancement. I wouldnt pay a dime more than my subscription fee and cost of expansion to play a game this old and im quite sure many others would follow the train of leaving if we had to pay for every damn thing at a cost of no subscription. Screw that. If you dont like paying a measly 12 bucks a month then leave, instead of making boneheaded suggestions that are retarded in relation to today's XI.

I agree with this in its entirety. I would absolutely leave if they decided to go FTP with a cash shop. Subscription games usually have more quality than FTP and I'm not into spending 100 or more a month to keep up with the "Hardcore" crowd.

[ManaKing]

The game makes money. If you're too cheap to pay a subscription, like the rest of us that still think it's worth playing, then I'm glad that SE filters you out of the game I play. Sorry supporting a company that makes things I like costs money. I can either pay for it, or watch what I like go away and get left with garbage like EA.

Funny thing about FFXIV, it might actually be worth play some day. I've never played a ftp game for more than a month. Why? You run out of things to do.

Pay for nice things, or don't have them.

[Alhanelem]

FFXI is old now and honestly the level and quality of the updates we get no longer mean it's worth the subscription fee, the game has also lost a lot of players.

Does Square have any plans to let FFXI go free to play with a cash shop anytime soon?

No and I would never play it again if they did.

Why? You run out of things to do.

Either that, or you end up paying more than a subscription would have cost to do the same amount of stuff. Free to play is a bad deal for anyone who might play a game more than a week or a month- which is about how long most free players last before they either stop because of what they would have to pay for or they just lose interest.

[Zumi]

I have seen some F2P games that have higher quality updates then what we been getting on FFXI. I think its just they have what few people they have working on the game doing the expansion, and the rest of them are working on the FFXIV reboot.

I would just unsub if you have little interest in playing, we all got to quit sometime.

[xbobx]

Is this game worth the 12.95, of course not. Look at what we got before compared to now. what we use to get in one update before is equivalent to a year or two of updates we get now. Anyone that thinks that 12.95 is still good value is just plain wrong. No one in their right mind would think so. But people will continue to play and considering Square Enix is one of if not the greediest game companies out there, I don't see it. SE is the one that charges $15-$20 for iOS and Android games when everything else is $5.

For those that say that the manpower is not there, well not our problem, if that is the case, drop the price accordingly. The expansion is being paid for by our monthly sub fees, it shouldn't be, that money is supposed to be for connection and regularly updates. The expansion should be paid for by the price of the actually expansion. Which of course they have overpriced.