It's been said SE is a private held company with no shareholders.
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Paying for extra retainers is part of the subscription model for FFXIV. It was an option in 1.0 at release. People are just now showing outrage for something that has been known about since 2010. The difference between now and then is you get two free retainers as oppose to one.
What advantage? More storage space? ( If you even call that an advantage lol) Retainer Venture? ( I am sure there are restrictions on how often you can do Ventures or if you can even use the two bought retainers for venturing).
This "advantage" has to be worth it in the long run in order for people to use the feature for something other than storage ( which people should have plenty of space with 450 of them).
( No this is not a P2W feature no matter what excuse you can come up with storage or something that doesn't directly affect your character is not P2W).
http://www.hd.square-enix.com/eng/ir/
You can view their financial reports as well for the losses.
Wow, you are clearly apologist, and I understand, you've been around here for a loong time, so you'll justify any kind of cheap cash grab they'll throw at you, just like the MGS fans justifying Ground Zeroes for 30$.
You're dismissing the fact that you are paying real life money for a higher selling cap, which is clearly an advantage over other traders, AND you get a source of free items. Maybe you don't care because you're not a hardcore trader, but you can't sweep it under the rug, just because it doesn't affect you...
It's clearly a P2win feature, even if it's a minor advantage.
Now I know you're just going to dismiss whatever I say, because you're most likely a blind fanboy (surprise me if you are not), but for new potential players, this is an extremely bad sign. It's a psychological barrier, and if this works out, they are just going to throw in more cash shop garbage, while still making you pay a sub, and that is going to poison the game's life + keep new people away.
If only I was "using" this service (which I am not), to be honest I don't like it either, but is it REALLY going to hurt this game in ANY remote and HONEST way? No. If it doesn't hurt the game they can do what they want. If they start putting in ACTUAL P2W stuff like EXP boosters/Best gear in the game only found at Cash Shops/etc Now that I don't like and would be all for the protest some of you are doing now. As of what they are doing now, it is harmless. HOWEVER, if they add things like what I mentioned, I will quit the game like other people are. ( I haven't played True F2P in a long time due to P2W mechanics, if SE adopts those similar traits, personally I won't tolerate it and SE won't have me money).
PS: Selling more items doesn't make the game P2W, also just because you putting more items in the MB doesn't me they will sell better, you still have to put in the effort and make a decent price for people to buy your product.
I'm on the edge about this personally.
If it was just extra storage I would shrug and move on but with the "Venture" system it's selling power to players in a way...I'm not a fan.