Free to play plans?

[xbobx]

In other words, what you're trying to say is:
"DUR DUR DUR I hate dis product an its to expnsive but ima buy it neway n complain DUR DUR DUR."

[sarcasm]You are obviously very intelligent when it comes to money, and SE should listen to you for financial advice.[/sarcasm]

If you took the first 4 years of content and compared it to the current couple years of content. Give it to people that are not into games (because most feel blessed to take anything a company gives them) and ask them if the price should be the same for both levels of content. I bet you won't find one person that says they should be equal.
You think there isn't an issue, and many here, because you are ability to think properly is clouded by your level for SE. But, just because you think it is fine, doesn't make it so.

So stop crying because someone may say something negative about this game. I have been here since the beginning, I know the value of money. I know how budgets work, how costs are allocated. The reason game companies, like SE do things like this, and do not update prices because the majority of gamers are idiots, well, the majority of the younger generation are I guess. They have this warped idea that we own the corporations and we should be proud to buy their products. But, that is not how the real world works, they have to work for our money, and the greed kicks in when they know they can get away with it. They know when they can get away with it, when they realize their customer base is complacent.

[nyheen]

If you took the first 4 years of content and compared it to the current couple years of content. Give it to people that are not into games (because most feel blessed to take anything a company gives them) and ask them if the price should be the same for both levels of content. I bet you won't find one person that says they should be equal.
You think there isn't an issue, and many here, because you are ability to think properly is clouded by your level for SE. But, just because you think it is fine, doesn't make it so.

So stop crying because someone may say something negative about this game. I have been here since the beginning, I know the value of money. I know how budgets work, how costs are allocated. The reason game companies, like SE do things like this, and do not update prices because the majority of gamers are idiots, well, the majority of the younger generation are I guess. They have this warped idea that we own the corporations and we should be proud to buy their products. But, that is not how the real world works, they have to work for our money, and the greed kicks in when they know they can get away with it. They know when they can get away with it, when they realize their customer base is complacent.

if you dont like the price of something then dont buy it. the price been the same since day 1. SE want the price to be $12 95 a month then that them. you dont move into a $900 a month house with papers signed etc then 5 month later complaining about the rent to high but nothing changed. move out if it over priced lol

[Caketime]

The amount of tears this thread has generated at the very idea of F2P gaming is hilarious. My favorites so far are the posts outlining what will happen in painstaking detail if this hypothetical situation occurs. Next time I need the future divined for me I'm asking you dudes.

[Mirage]

Not free to play indefinitely, but having like the first 40 levels free, regardless of how much time you spend getting there, would prbably be good.

[Zarchery]

I'm confused here. FFXI sucks, so it should be free?

Square-Enix is still a business, not a public service.

[xbobx]

I'm confused here. FFXI sucks, so it should be free?

Square-Enix is still a business, not a public service.

You do know that many mmos have actually made more money switching to FTP than they did with subs right?

[Arcon]

most mmo's cost around 15 dollars ffxi still hasn't changed ther subscription fee i think and it's been 12 for a long time...

It's 13, and that's "around 15" as well. Also, I don't know about the US situation, but that's not true in Germany and Europe, and from what I could find on Google after a 1min search it's not very true in the US either. WoW is the only one I could find that costs 15/month, and all of them, including WoW, have plans that can get you a cheaper total than FFXI (such as buying several months in advance). And that's still not counting additional characters, which many other games offer for free.

I'm confused here. FFXI sucks, so it should be free?

Square-Enix is still a business, not a public service.

It sucks, so it should be cheaper. Charging 50 bucks for a bag of poo is not good business. Profit = monthly fee * subscribers. If the monthly fee is lowered, the number of subscribers will be higher. Too low, and the number of subscribers won't change much, so you're cutting profits again. It's all about finding the sweet spot.

Free to play is a horrible idea though, for this game more so than for most others.

You do know that many mmos have actually made more money switching to FTP than they did with subs right?

Which? Do you have actual numbers or just heard someone say something at some point?

[xbobx]

"Which? Do you have actual numbers or just heard someone say something at some point?"

Dungeons and Dragons had their revenue go up by 5 times and Lord of the rings online went up by triple.

See, people don't look at the big picture. When people think a mmo goes ftp that their sub base stays teh same. The idea is that you increase your players dramatically so that the real money purchases end up more then the current subscriptions.

FFXI is perfectly setup for FTP because of its incredible time sinks. Want a new Weaponskill, well you can do the nyzul path, get to 100 then do quest, or pay $10. Want an emp weapon, well here is 50 chloris buds for $20.

People would buy that stuff. The people that didn't could do it the old way.

I think, this game would make more money on ftp model, or do some combo, if you pay for ff14 you get FF11 for free, and still put in the real money trade items.

[Dragoy]

Want a new Weaponskill, well you can do the nyzul path, get to 100 then do quest, or pay $10. Want an emp weapon, well here is 50 chloris buds for $20.

People would buy that stuff. The people that didn't could do it the old way.

Sure, people would buy them. Heck, they buy them now, even if not so directly (pay people to do Nyzul II for example). If it was made even easier, that makes me immediately think of that those people would run out of things to do quite soon since the game is based on them time-sinks and random. There really isn't much other things to do, is there?

I tend to do old, weird things with friends, which is the only thing keeping me in the game; I never really played it for the game itself, I guess. It's only fun for me with the great friends I have had, and lost.

I have always been against the huge time-sinks and random that is what FFXI is, but if you could just buy your way out so easily, what is the point in the game at that point?

Goes for any game, really.

[Zarchery]

You do know that many mmos have actually made more money switching to FTP than they did with subs right?

You're telling me that businesses made more money giving their product away than they do charging money for them? Post some proof or go home.