Eternal Bond - Standard Plan and Gold Plan

After reading a good majority of the responses to this product (not a conflict, but a product), I have started to wonder whether the people so hell bent on fighting this are really doing it to protect the game from pay to win (stupid slogan I might add) or to keep a game completely leveled. If it is truly the first mark, you have worse things to fear then a couple of pets most outside a select few would even want considering we have Fat Cat and Nutkin now. This makes me believe this is a crusade against allowing people to flaunt purchased vanity items period.

Before you say this is missing the point of a "potential evil growing," look at most business and more so recent political motivations in recent months. Corporations exist to make money in order to continue providing a product. Politicians are voted in to represent and protect their nation's citizens and laws. Some do it good (warranties, protection plans, refunds and recalls with compensation) and others do it pretty bad (broken products without compensation, lousy customer service support, price fixing, political stalemating, proprietary practices). I state this because the development team behind this game are simply that: politicians overseeing their own nation and businessmen doing what they can to ensure it can remain stable and afloat. Remember this during my next points.

When looking at the cash shop now, we see three types of services: content, adjustments and improvements. The content is a series of minions, mounts and costumes. The adjustments are renaming, character changes and server transfers. The only real improvement is the introduction of the additional retainers, which you have two of in game. What does this service provide? Two additional venture opportunities, two more random names in the market place and 175 more inventory slots per character. Analyze each one of these:

Ventures are limited by a timer, so two more ventures gives you more opportunities not just for a specific class type but allows you to also have one of each. You can do the exact same thing by making an alternative character and leveling it high enough to unlock two retainers. This point pretty much fits all these issues now that I think about it.

Paying for more retainers for any of these reasons can be off set by making an alternative character, which based on your subscription type allows up to eight characters on a single server. Would you then say that paying the additional cost for the extra character spaces is just as bad as paying for more retainers? If you looked at it this way, then yes. What really then is the difference? There is none. A person has the option either way to spend his time leveling another character to offset the instant availability on one. How much worth do you see in it. This is basically my bottom line: how much you value something. I have a separate account with six characters on it, each with a crafter and gatherer to allow a maxed desynthesis and another map. By the logic of pay to win, I am in the wrong due to having another account. Am I though if I leveled it the exact same way, pay the same monthly fee as everyone else? No. I just worked to offset the limitations.

Which limitations? This game has a limit to coil accessibility per week, maps can only be gathered every 18 hours, retainers are only able to be one class for a venture and I am sure there are a few I am missing. Each one of these issues can be offset by one means only: making an alternative character. That is it. The previous point about more retainers: making an alternative character is the exact same thing as buying two extra based on the logic of pay to win, but it comes as an option with the subscription, so why not complain about that? (Also know that it is two per character per account so literally it is four for one, eight for two, but that is besides the point).

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Originally Posted by FateAudax

Get your facts straight. Marriage / Eternal Bond isn't behind a paywall. The cosmetics is. Damn these haters are going blind from all the hate to a point of fact twisting.

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As far as you know of. We don't know if there will be any restrictions between Standard and Gold/Plat. Again this is a P2P game, we shouldn't be spending extra money on something we are already paying. Sorry accessing servers isn't really a valid, Accessing the servers to use what is in the game. Taking stuff out of the game and putting it behind a paywall cosmetic or no is just greed in my eyes.

F2P needs a cash shop to survive.
P2P game when we have a healthy fanbase playing it doesn't need a cash shop. Adding a cash shop when you are making a huge profit as it is, is greed.

People need to understand the difference between a pay wall and vanity selection. A pay wall is when content is restricted based on circumstances, not when content is available but certain items with no impact to said content is restricted. You are going to get your ceremony regardless, you just don't get to keep the cake. Understand that. Realize that. You are paying, if that is even the issue, for mounts with no increased speed from any in-game mount, pets that cannot even be summoned in dungeons and a piece of furniture most people wouldn't place in a house anyway. Each one of these items offer no advantage in points, do not restrict you from experiencing any content (mounts and pets do not unlock coil) or make you have to wait less to do something.

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Originally Posted by Drew_Moneroth

When looking at the cash shop now, we see three types of services: content, adjustments and improvements. The content is a series of minions, mounts and costumes. The adjustments are renaming, character changes and server transfers. The only real improvement is the introduction of the additional retainers, which you have two of in game. What does this service provide? Two additional venture opportunities, two more random names in the market place and 175 more inventory slots per character. Analyze each one of these:

Ventures are limited by a timer, so two more ventures gives you more opportunities not just for a specific class type but allows you to also have one of each.You can do the exact same thing by making an alternative character and leveling it high enough to unlock two retainers. This point pretty much fits all these issues now that I think about it.

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120 more shards and 40 more crystals every 40 min and varying amounts of extra mats for crafters, 40 more Market Board slots to sell items, adding up to a listing of up to 80 items at once, not to mention the gambling chances of Quick Ventures. Sure, extra shards, crystal and mat quantities are arguably not that game breaking, but the convenience is still there especially for the rarer mats like say Pudding Flesh or Ochu Vines.

If you're a crafter, 80 total sale slots are pretty substantial allowing you to earn more profits, since you can buy decent gear with those profits, perhaps not the best of the best for PvE but it's still gear there's that borderline P2W aspect. Notice the borderline part, because Yoshida only considers selling Coil and tome tier gear P2W, anything below is fair game according to him, so let's give him that. For DoHs and DoLs though it's certainly is the best gear and there's no other way to get most of it unless you craft it and meld it yourself and that also requires buying the mats in the first place unless you also play around with RNG, and those extra profits from those extra retainer slots can certainly help.

You also can't mail items or money between alts, you can get around this with an FC chest and if a friend helps you for sure, but you don't have to if you rent the extra retainers. Thus more of that P2Convenience aspect that's part of most P2W cash shops.

If you want to know what a pay wall truly is then look at F2P games in general. Some give you the game right out the bat while others (looking at you light saber game) actually make you pay to even enter locations or play a PvP match more then once a day. Honestly, if we are paying a subscription, why not complain about the price of expansion packs? The argument fits, so why not go after Heavensfall for being a pay wall in regards to the new class? It really baffles me anyone can blow up over something like this (ironic considering I am trying to do the same on the opposite side, spoilers) when you are not losing anything.

Square Enix announced the Eternal Bond and the community exploded based on the speculation of the type of marriage it would offer. It was constantly demonized for one reason or another (not naming it because it is apparently bannable), but like right now, no facts were released to prove what it would offer or be. We waited and received our answers, and still their was backlash from some over others. Everyone will not be pleased about it, but guess what the difference is between the backlash of the initial announcement to what we have now? Anyone and everyone can participate in the show of friendship. Period. If it turns out we have to pay to even do so, that is a pay wall. If we have to pay to get a cake, that is a vanity item. I honestly see this entire argument more so as an excuse to bring up select persons who hate the following: