Trialist symbol

Please put a symbol above people's heads and also in the search list that shows if people are on trial... right now pretty much 90% of the FC-less people I see appear to be on trial so you can't even invite them into your FC and they can't even reply unless you stand within ear range...

Sometimes I wonder what the purpose of a trial is when you make it unlimited... it make sense if the trial had 30 to 60 free days and you would be able to convert that same account/character to a paid subscription without starting from scratch.

Making it unlimited while limiting what they can do... is a bit like using these players to amp up statistics on total active accounts when in reality they shouldn't even be counted...
I've been trying to recruit for a long time now but it seems the game isn't drawing any new subscribers for a while now... is the game close to death at this point?

In 10 years as a recruiter I've never struggled to find people so badly..
Where I could find 20 people in 30 minutes 5 years ago, I now need 90 minutes to find just 1...

So please lets stop try making this a fake thing and give us a way to set trialists apart from subscribers so we stop wasting our time trying to convince people to join who can't even do that...

I do actually agree that the trial is too generous. Expanding it to Stormblood sets a precedent that they will expand it to more and leave only 2 expansions out of the trial, making some players just wait out until they expand it to Shadowbringers.

A lot of sprouts I talk to in the Novice Network try to stretch out their free trial as far as it can go - right up through Stormblood. However, I do tell them that if they are convinced they want to play the game through and have the money, it's not worth enduring the annoying restrictions.

I do Mentor Roulette every day and meet new players constantly on Dynamis so they are there for sure. Like I mean really genuinely new players. You can see it by how they talk about the MSQ, how they play, how they tank and how they struggle with basic mechanics, or how they are friends or in the same FC. Even in Dawntrail dungeons I've run into first timers who say they just beat the MSQ, or clearly just beat it.

But obviously it means recruitment methods may have to change a bit to be effective:
- You could set the search to level 71 or higher + sprout.
- You could /shout in Shadowbringers and higher areas + sprout.
- You could search for jobs that require the Shadowbringers expansion or higher, such as GNB, DNC, RPR, SGE, VPR, PCT + sprout.

Maybe just stop inviting random people or pm random people for the guild? you are the worst kind of player the game has, just put a recruitment on the lodestone and stop annoying ingame people, ty.

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Originally Posted by Jeeqbit

However, I do tell them that if they are convinced they want to play the game through and have the money, it's not worth enduring the annoying restrictions.

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Not being able to receive unsolicited guild invites or PMs is not an annoying restriction, it's a blessing.

For a game like FFXIV, the trial must be as it is.

I would personally prefer it if it were less stingy as I can not take one of my friends along into the level 70 ultimates, but what can you do?

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Originally Posted by Jeeqbit

I do actually agree that the trial is too generous. Expanding it to Stormblood sets a precedent that they will expand it to more and leave only 2 expansions out of the trial, making some players just wait out until they expand it to Shadowbringers.

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Completely agree with this. I think ARR + Hw was already incredibly generous and expanding it to include Sb sets a dangerous precedent that it will continue to be expanded. I've already met a few players who plan to stay on free trial forever and just play content whenever it's added to the trial. I really don't want this to become more common, in effect making this a F2P game that will need to be monetised as such.

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Originally Posted by Rin_Sato

For a game like FFXIV, the trial must be as it is.

I would personally prefer it if it were less stingy as I can not take one of my friends along into the level 70 ultimates, but what can you do?

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Calling the FFXIV free trial stingy is crazy. Your friend is likely hundreds of hours deep at this point if they're at Stormblood endgame and feel that they're ready for ultimate. They could just start paying for the game?

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Originally Posted by AvoSturmfaust

Maybe just stop inviting random people or pm random people for the guild? you are the worst kind of player the game has, just put a recruitment on the lodestone and stop annoying ingame people, ty.

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God, this, please
STOP spamming invites through Player Search
We know what you're doing. It's annoying as HECK.

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Originally Posted by BigCheez

Calling the FFXIV free trial stingy is crazy. Your friend is likely hundreds of hours deep at this point if they're at Stormblood endgame and feel that they're ready for ultimate. They could just start paying for the game?

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Less stingy has a slightly different connotation than just stingy, I think, but english is not my first language.

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Originally Posted by BigCheez

Completely agree with this. I think ARR + Hw was already incredibly generous and expanding it to include Sb sets a dangerous precedent that it will continue to be expanded. I've already met a few players who plan to stay on free trial forever and just play content whenever it's added to the trial. I really don't want this to become more common, in effect making this a F2P game that will need to be monetised as such.

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Why is something like this a bad thing? Please articulate your reasoning, I can not imagine why people being able to play the first two expansions before they decide if they want to spend AAA money plus a subscription is a bad thing...

Stop inviting random people to FC. Leave them alone.

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Originally Posted by BigCheez

Completely agree with this. I think ARR + Hw was already incredibly generous and expanding it to include Sb sets a dangerous precedent that it will continue to be expanded. I've already met a few players who plan to stay on free trial forever and just play content whenever it's added to the trial. I really don't want this to become more common, in effect making this a F2P game that will need to be monetised as such.

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I am sorry, this argument is crazy. Giving players a free trial and expanding it is "dangerous"? Why is it so bad to let people have FREE things? This SE's biggest money maker, they aren't going to go full F2P with micro-transactions, because they already charge a sub with micro-transactions.
Have you ever experienced the free trial? The things you can do are so limited, most people don't want to do that forever. And the ones that do, good for them! Keep playing the free things. Live those limited dreams. "Dangerous" LMAO

If you randomly invite me to your FC, I automatically assume your FC is garbage so you are trying to artificially pump up your numbers and your leadership is lacking.

If you want people to join you need to make it worth ppl's time. Instead of wasting time just spamming invites, set up events, esp if you are targeting new players. Or is nothing else at least have the decency to send ppl a short and sweet /tell to let them know you are accepting members and if they want an invite or have questions they should feel free to respond.

But if you are just spamming invites to random, esp new ppl you need to do better on all fronts as a guild leader.

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Originally Posted by MeanDragon

I am sorry, this argument is crazy. Giving players a free trial and expanding it is "dangerous"? Why is it so bad to let people have FREE things? This SE's biggest money maker, they aren't going to go full F2P with micro-transactions, because they already charge a sub with micro-transactions.
Have you ever experienced the free trial? The things you can do are so limited, most people don't want to do that forever. And the ones that do, good for them! Keep playing the free things. Live those limited dreams. "Dangerous" LMAO

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I already explained why it's dangerous. If they continue to expand the trial, we will see an increase in "F2P" players who don't pay and just wait for content to be added to the trial. If more people start playing for free, other people will need to foot their share of the bill instead. That's how F2P works. "Free 2 Play" doesn't exist, it's just a question of how the cost is distributed.

More people playing for free = more aggressive monetisation for everyone else.

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Originally Posted by BigCheez

I already explained why it's dangerous. If they continue to expand the trial, we will see an increase in "F2P" players who don't pay and just wait for content to be added to the trial. If more people start playing for free, other people will need to foot their share of the bill instead. That's how F2P works. "Free 2 Play" doesn't exist, it's just a question of how the cost is distributed.

More people playing for free = more aggressive monetisation for everyone else.

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Excellent bait.

As for the original topic, I agree; an actual symbol would help for many communicative issues. As for the derailing topic...

Just a quick reminder that WoW allows F2P to play every expansion save for the current one, and that's with a less aggressive cash shop to boot. Point is, it doesn't hurt the game; especially since SE allows F2P accounts to buy from said cash shop for multiple things. I'd wager come next expac they'd unlock Shadowbringers too.

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Originally Posted by Rin_Sato

Excellent bait.

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Not so stellar response.