My favorite was when WoW came out and they said it'd kill Everquest. WoW came out in 2004, 2005 had EQ's highest subscription. Its on its like 24th expansion now.
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moving EU servers to europe
upgrading servers for bigger inventory
moving NA servers to somewhere else
maybe more server stuff in future
Don't just look at the stage (what you see ingame), but also to the backstage (mostly hardware stuff)
As I do wish that more interactive/glamour questlines were added, this comment doesn't apply to MS stuff as none of it is marketable nor tradeable (unless u want to go into losing your furniture item due to placing in public(fc) access/use housing. So it still isn't anything to be considered pay to win.
I've been gaming since before the NES, and I have no problem with these supposedly "anti-consumer" practices. The fact is, game development budgets have gotten completely out of control, and they need to make that money somewhere. Instead of continually raising game prices, everyone went with a DLC model. At first I hated it, because it felt like I was being forced to pay for the full game, but eventually I got over that (and now I spend more on DLC than I did back then).
The idea that optional content is "anti-consumer" is just nonsense, though. It's basically a progressive tax. Instead of charging everyone more money, they get more money by allowing some people to spend far more than others. As long as they don't add anything that you're forced, gameplay-wise, to buy, I am totally fine with it. I don't care how much you love glamours, or whether that's the reason you play, it's still optional content. If they start charging for something that you essentially need to play (like F2P game stamina type stuff), I'm out. I hate free to play with a passion, not because they're charging me for a bunch of stuff, but because they're continually charging me to actually play the game*. That's not happening here, so I'm fine with it.
(*EDIT: As someone pointed out, this statement is totally ridiculous when applied to the fact that this game has a subscription. So I should clarify that the difference to me is that the subscription is a small, set amount, and doesn't change based on how or how much I play the game. But... yeah that was pretty dumb to say.)
If you're opposed to the cash shop, you have to ask yourself, would you rather they raised subscription prices? Now I think it's pretty clear they wouldn't do that, because it would be suicide in the current gaming sphere. But that's why they have a cash shop. Relying solely on cheap subscriptions you can't raise is leaving money on the table. If you begrudge them trying to make more money... well sorry, but welcome to real life. I've long since given up on railing against businesses for daring to charge me for things, and I highly recommend you do the same. You'll feel better!
People point to the unofficial censuses we've had for those excuses but conveniently forget despite the sharp decline we did see back when Gordias was content, subs have seen gone up. Creator showed the largest climb since Heavenward launched. So it'll be interesting how Omega fairs as they have said the difficulty will remain the same for Savage.
Because not everyone feels the same way. I, for one, have no qualms with DLC, provided it's worthwhile content. When developers have attempted to nickel and dime, people have called them out. BioWare has taken a beating for their day one DLC practices and Square Enix themselves caved to the overwhelmingly negative response to "augment my pre-order."
Another aspect is the realization and acceptance innovation isn't free. You seem to presume companies will simply eat financial losses. They won't. Stuff on the cash shop simply wouldn't exist if said shop were rejected by the community. In that same vein, if people refused to purchase DLC, game prices would skyrocket. The cost of development have increased exponentially over the years and companies will always look for new venues they can explore to recoup those costs. In 2010, Final Fantasy X's entire budget was estimated around 35 million. Nowadays, triple A titles break into the hundred million range; marketing only extends it further. We can't have it all. People want better graphics and technical advances. Well, those cost money. We're either going to pay for it through add ons or at the base cost. I prefer the former because it allows me to opt out. That moogle mount is too expensive for me? Good thing I don't have to purchase it.