Sub Thoughts?

Do you think this game will remain subscription based? I have seen a lot of people saying they probably will not sub after the free trial. In modern times every new game that tries to go Sub Based ends up falling flat on its ass.

I know FF11 stayed sub based, but it was also released in a different era, and amassed a decent following before all the free to play or buy to play models started popping up. Even WoW is losing members by the thousands every week.

I personally think they will go end up going into some kind of free to play model within the first 3 months. I plan to sub until they go FTP if they do. If not I hope they offer a lifetime subscription option.

Anyways, what are your thoughts?

The director producer has specifically said the game will stay subscription based no matter what. I think he even said he'd rather close it down than move to F2P or any other model.

Yoshida has indeed stated that he would shut down the servers instead of making the game F2P/B2P.

He has also stated that they need ONLY 400,000 concurrent subscriptions to consider the game a success. Considering they can get that from their Japanese Continget alone, there is a 0.01% chance that this game will repeat the path of 1.0, and a 0.00% chance of it going the way of SWtOR/D&DO.

When those people stop playing it will allow other, more worthy and willing to subscribe, people to log in.

1.0 players lose free access on Monday, so those who didn't rebuy will either subscribe or leave.

Well saying and doing are two completely different things. Everyone answers to somebody. If they start losing out on money early on, I somehow doubt they will just suddenly close the servers and say oh well better luck next time. Hell this already is "next time"

I am sure there is someone behind the scenes pulling the financial strings that even Yoshida answers to.

I already subscribed and will keep doing it, i love the game, I love the instances, skills, story, crafting. can't see any reason not to stay

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Originally Posted by Orbital-Dragon

I know FF11 stayed sub based, but it was also released in a different era, and amassed a decent following before all the free to play or buy to play models started popping up. Even WoW is losing members by the thousands every week.

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The funny thing is that with WoW, the percentages of losses are similar to other mmos, not plain numbers, but percent of players. With how many play, thousands isn't that much of the player base.

FF11 still is subbed, like you said, and pretty much shows their opinions on F2P. I have no idea what they really need for numbers, i know Matrix Online shut down because it had something like 500 players left. DDO had under 25000, which was what Turbine said was needed for subs to continue being up, and when they went to f2p it skyrockted into the hundreds of thousands. (exact numbers unknown, but one dev said it increased about that much).

Also note that Wildstar and Elder Scrolls are looking to be sub based, who knows if they will stay that way, but it's a sign the f2p model isn't as shiny as it was. (I personally don't mind it, depending on how it's done.

The way Square seems to work, i wouldn't put any money on them going f2p any time soon, if ever.

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Originally Posted by Orbital-Dragon

Well saying and doing are two completely different things. Everyone answers to somebody. If they start losing out on money early on, I somehow doubt they will just suddenly close the servers and say oh well better luck next time. Hell this already is "next time"

I am sure there is someone behind the scenes pulling the financial strings that even Yoshida answers to.

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Translation: "I really don't want to shell out for a subscription, so I'm going to fantasize about playing the game for nothing."

the sub is super cheap, its one of the cheapest hobbies one can have, why the hell do people complain about this, the base game isnt expensive, at least from official retailers when you can actually buy the bloody game, seriously, the people that complain about the sub are mainly kids who answer to their parents and cant use their credit cards, i hate stereotyping, but just think about that for a second, theres game cards, but works the same way, money every month to sub, and OFC RL > any game, food on table is more important then having to worry about any game

To create a amazing game like this one, take time effort and money. It is worth every penny. Free to play games are failures or they would not be free. Nothing worth it is free. And it is "subscription" not "sub". I am very tired of the rash of abbreviations that has blighted gaming. Let's use the language, and not a herd of bizarre acronyms.

Well for the record, I am 28 years old and do not rely on anyone else for money. Anyways I make more then enough to keep up a sub, hell I usually buy a new game every month and that is easily 60 dollars. Anyways I just don't see era of subscription based games continuing. I simply brought this up for a discussion, not a bash on myself.

As far as the above post saying there is nothing worth a damn that was free, I bg to differ. Guild Wars 1 and 2 were both amazing games using the buy to play model, and they rival WoW, sitting at number 2 with proven stats. Lastly Wildstar is NCSoft and I have read more then one article saying it will be a BTP model just like gw.

I hope it stay that way forever.

I am glad they said they would shut the game down first. There are some good models of F2P, but they end up adding things that effect other subscribers. LOTRO is one of the best ones that ended up being like this. Many subscribers feel like it is pay to win now. That is too bad because this one seemed to be doing great with it's vanity stuff it came out with at first.

I think too many people are so proud of the outcome from 1.0 to this now to let it get that low. There is a ton that needs to be worked on but this is a great game and has the potential to be even more. I am subbing for sure, as is my son and his best friend.

I think the subscription cost is a bit expensive. I know what a server costs to keep open and maintain, and if I compare it my other subscribed interests - this one is asking alot.
I feel brand recognition is what we're paying for.

The overheads must be massive after two development cycles, so I reckon they'll try to recoup their losses even if it takes a million years.

I'm more than happy to subscribe if it helps the game stay alive.

On that note, when does regular non-free service start? Given the extra week + a free month + early access, isn't it around the 8th of October?

The mog station should tell you your exact day...its different for everyone based on registration date. My sub starts later this week.

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Originally Posted by Merryl

I think the subscription cost is a bit expensive. I know what a server costs to keep open and maintain, and if I compare it my other subscribed interests - this one is asking alot.
I feel brand recognition is what we're paying for.

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Most MMO's have a $15.00 subscription pay model. The fact they give you the option of only having one character but a cheaper subscription cost is a great plus in my book. While I intend on making a single "Super" character that has most, if not all the classes. I still like to have alts for both aesthetic purposes and main quest variation.

Please no Free 2 Play.:mad:

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Originally Posted by Merryl

The mog station should tell you your exact day...its different for everyone based on registration date. My sub starts later this week.

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Thanks!

I've still got 31 days left. :D

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Originally Posted by Tatou

Please no Free 2 Play.:mad:

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i'm sick of f2p, too. I just want the old day of paying my 15$ a month and be done with it. No stupid item shops, xp boosts or whatever they want to sell me. The moment an item shop is introduced you automatically ask yourself "how did this influence the decisions made concerning the gameplay? Did they purposefully made leveling a chore so i would buy XP boosts? Is there a reason all normal gear looks shitty and only the purchasable stuff looks any good?".

I'll happily pay a subscription fee, if i like the game. I consider this a fair trade, they now what they get off of me and i know what i can expect of them. F2P almost always screws this equation over.

FFXI is still P2P with 200,000 users so nope! This game is great and I shall continue to pay each month, heck I paid for WoW and that's a heap of crap compared to this!

The last F2P game Square-Enix developed was All the Bravest, so I don't really trust their ability to implement such a system without completely screwing everybody that plays.

I dunno man. Maybe because people are getting hacked on here they won't be staying lol.
I doubt it'll go f2p but it'll def lose a lot of folk if they don't get their act together.

Personally, I want FFXIV to stay in the Subscription-based Model. This is the reason I picked up this game. I have played quite a handful of F2Ps that started nice and all yet ended with the Pay-to-Win Model. Add to that, 95% of those who selected the Pay-to-Win Route never really had the SKILL to tackle the current end-game contents... All they had was the MONEY to bypass the skill needed for the content coupled with the arrogant attitude, of course.

Don't get me wrong here. I'm not saying all F2P Games are bad. When it all comes down to it, it's practically the community that makes current F2Ps not so worth it to play for long periods of time. As F2P is generally available for everyone to play, you get all kinds of people in the community. Whereas on a Subscription Model (what's the acronym for this? S2P / P2P, what?), chances that the community is as dirty as F2P is very slim as the subscription system is what keeps the trash-in-personality players out. I'd like to believe that everyone who will proceed in subscribing are not like the players I stated in my previous sentence.

That's all from me. It might be confusing but I hope you get the gist.

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Originally Posted by Orbital-Dragon

As far as the above post saying there is nothing worth a damn that was free, I bg to differ. Guild Wars 1 and 2 were both amazing games using the buy to play model, and they rival WoW, sitting at number 2 with proven stats. Lastly Wildstar is NCSoft and I have read more then one article saying it will be a BTP model just like gw.

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Comparing the success of World of Warcraft to that of Guild Wars 2 is like trying to compare the NFL to Pop Warner football. It is no secret that the popularity of Guild Wars 2 is quickly diminishing and I'm not sure what "proven stats" you are referring to as their player base is sub par compared to WoW.

Also, Wildstar is confirmed to be a subscription MMORPG http://www.gamespot.com/news/wildsta...ed-mmo-6413154

Another up and coming P2P MMORPG is The Elder Scrolls: Online. It would seem that the subscription based MMORPG model is very much alive & kicking.

Now as for your question about FFXIV going F2P, I read an interview from Yoshi P though I don't care to search for it right now. But to break it down, he did originally state that he'd shut the servers down before going F2P. However, he later went out to say that should he absolutely need to consider such a change in strategy then he would certainly do so. But it would be only under severe circumstances, and even then he would split the game up in the following manner: Separate servers for F2P & P2P players.

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Originally Posted by Merryl

I think the subscription cost is a bit expensive. I know what a server costs to keep open and maintain, and if I compare it my other subscribed interests - this one is asking alot.
I feel brand recognition is what we're paying for.

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$15.00 per month is the norm for a subscription based MMORPG. The cost to efficiently run and maintain a server that is equipped to handle this sort of stress is certainly no minuscule amount. And that subscription fee goes to more than just access to their servers. It also provides you with access to these forums, customer support, bug fixes, server improvements, and probably the largest benefit: regular major content updates.

Hi,

I like the pay-2-play model, but I think it is a little bit expensive. I just be using one character and that's all. I don't need 8 characters neither 8 severs. If it possible that you guys come with a fee like $2.99 for just one character it will be great. I intent to keep playing this game for a long time.

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Originally Posted by MisaCeliousa

I already subscribed and will keep doing it, i love the game, I love the instances, skills, story, crafting. can't see any reason not to stay

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+1/church.