Funny because
Is basically how eves plex system works.
The value of he plex varies according to supply and demand. Which is basically what you've said happens in WOW.
Wows token system really is no different to PLEX.
I admit, it's been a long time since I've looked at PLEX and I'm not that familiar with it, so I suppose they are more similar than my post implies.
But do the players decide the price of it in the PLEX system? In WoW it's automated, the seller does not get to decide. The only decision they get to make is whether they will sell or not.
Ehh.
WoW token price is set by Blizzards algorithm, EvE plex price is set by the players selling & buying the plex on the in-game market.
In EvE you can sell to another players open buy order for an instant sale, or you can create a sell order and wait for a buyer to agree to your price, or you can create a contract for an auction and allow bidders to compete or outright buy.
In WoW you're quoted a price when you chose to sell your token and get that amount. The token is then added to the pool available and may not sell for the quoted price to the other player. It may sell for more or less as they adjust the price based on demand or lack of it.
Goes the same way with the gold in WoW. It would make FF not f2p or do you see that WoW is f2p? Nope. F2P means that you can play the game for free, thats not possible with this system because someone HAS to pay for the token and the person who wants to buy it has to be able to pay with gil for it. Can't do that when you don't have a sub since you can't even download the game without subbing first.
I don't really care if it comes or not. It is not p2w (since gil are not really needed for something important), not f2p its just an option for people who don't want to spend their money for anything in the mogstation to be able to do so or even pay 30 days of game time with it. Works fine in Wow, didn't destroy anything and doesn't generate any extra gil on the servers.
Edit: Yes you could download the game with a trial account which would be still useless since you couldn't buy the token.
WOW, GW2, Eve Online. There is enough data to figure out how to make it work in FFXIV, and I think that's something that would benefit the player base. You're not turning Gil into $$$ your turning it into crysta which could be used to pay for your subscription or that dye... :)
I hope this is something that FFXIV can do soon, I don't have millions of gil, and I also think other parts of the markets need to be adjusted, more stuff for sale on the market boards, etc... but that doesn't mean it's a bad system if work is needed.
I'm baffled why players are so opposed to this. Following the WoW token system:
-RMT spamming would definitely see a reduction. Even if the bots compete by lowering prices, the token is a dynamic player supply/demand system. Less players buy the token, the price drops. Not to mention a legal version is far more appealing than an illegal one that risks bans. I rarely saw trade chat RMT spammers on WoW once the token hit.
-The cash shop, companion app and all service features can be obtained by playing the game and earning them through gil and not microtransaction only. Gil serves a purpose.
-Enix profit substantially. A Token costs $20 and redeems for 13, thus $7 profit for each sold. Less need to milk us with things like the companion app to run the game and more funds to develop content.
-Gil is available to those with less play time due to work/family commitments.
-The token is one way. You can't convert it to real money, only FF14 products or services.
It benefits the players by giving us more options to buy items we want and it benefits Enix from a business perspective. I can't see the downside.
Kisai, you have been explained like 3 times now it's an exchange. Player A has to buy a token for $15 before he can sell it to player B for, say 10 million gil, Square Enix is getting the $15 in this transaction, there's no business loss or expense, there's no loss for any of the 3 parties involved in the transaction, and the one gaining the most here is SE.
The WoW token has been so incredibly successful that Blizzard extended it from just a simple sub token to battle.net currency that can be used in all other Blizzard games. I also believe the existence of the token is why their cash shop is not as extensive as ours, this game has the fastest growing cash shop of any subscription based MMO.
You seem to think I'm wrong. In the interest of not writing a post that is two pages long and everyone will ignore anyway, I chose to cut to the point.
It is a bad idea, it only benefits those wanting to cash out. It does not benefit the players, especially when there is no goldsink in the game. If the only goldsink is selling the gil back to SE via game credit, then SE has manufactured a loss that cost them nothing, but they can deduct from their taxes.