What are the Chances FFXIV will go F2P?

[HappyHimitsu]

Why do so many people I see still hate on this game? I for one have seen no sign that SE will just give up and quit, and I am sure they won't do anything so stupid as go the f2p route. (and I would hope anyone interested in playing wouldn't want that either) However I still can't understand why some ppl seem to act like this is the worst mmo on the planet. I only started playing a week ago, but I have followed the game since launch and from what I can tell it has improved more than substantially since then.

I have played nearly every other mmo to date both f2p and p2p and I just don't see the "empty game of broken shit" that some people keep talking about.
Yes, I can certainly see where some areas need development, as well I can see where some silly choices have been made in production but I think the game is great, and I began my gaming 'career' in the very early 80's so I would like to think I am educated in that department lol!

If SE introduced micro-transaction however I have to agree with the majority of you in that would be it for me. I simply can't afford to pay cash everytime I want the new hip armor, or break out a credit card so I can run around on the new red and green 'Christmas Chocobo' they have for sale.

(Apologies for the off topic 'rant' in the body of my post. I just can't help myself to wonder though why ppl who act like they despise the game spend so much time on it's forums?? What's the point?)

[Mireille]

You say that as if it's easy.

I agree with it but considering how much money this game has lost and is still continuing to lose, and given the fact Square-Enix said they plan on cancelling a crapload of projects because of their extreme losses in general, I don't think they're going to spend too much more on a project that has record low players.

SE has said that having 2 - 3 concurrently operating MMO is central to their business strategy. Hence the decision to fix this game rather than scrap it. I'm betting they will spend a lot of money to make this work if only to establish/maintain their rep as a maker of MMO. SE wouldn't be the only major software vendor to take a lackluster product and turn it into something well respected by applying sufficient amounts of cash. In point of fact that's exactly how Microsoft turned its SQL server into something competitive with Oracle.

If SE has the cash they can make it work it will just take time. They may loose some players, but new gamers are being born every day. Honestly I was only ever really worried XIV might be eliminated right after the earthquake. A lot of Japanese businesses had to make major adjustments to their business strategies in the aftermath of that. SE turned off some of the lights, reduced their air conditioning, and XIV managed to keep off the non-essential list.

I've been to Japan in August, and the devs have my sympathy on the lack of AC. XD

[Serio]

I think they will try to stay away from f2p simply because it's a Final Fantasy game. But that of course all depends if they can pull the game out of the mud. They still have a long way to go, a lot of stuff to add, and a lot of stuff to fix.

[rubina]

Going free to play?

The game IS free to play right now...

No it's not. You still have to purchase the box set. It's free while the devs are going through their damage control.

[Greencactaur]

Its very unlikely. Yoshi mentioned if the PS3 version fails they're giving up on xiv. They're only thing they can do now before they make it pay to play again is
Fix copy pasted terrain
Change combat system into an action oriented system that way its not slow paced.
Add end game PVE instances more notorious monsters etc
Add Mounts (chocobo's)
Add more maps
Add a more diverse set of armor and equipment
Remove leve's as the main content of the game (in progress apparently)

Once thats all done the games ready to be a pay to play game. Afterwards they just have to keep up with adding side quest type things for players to do and end game content. Pretty much

[Mortikhan]

I am hoping their goal is to experiment with and eventually implement the fixes necessary to make this game what it can be. Right now I feel like they are just testing things out so they can have a more concrete release with their 3rd title. They still have quite a bit to go but with a good release for PS3 and some good press and marketing this game could recover enough to be profitable.

As far as this game going F2P? Not if they can make some huge strides by Christmas. I see them laying the groundwork right now for a game that is going to be quite a bit different from the original release. If that is good or bad remains to be seen. They are walking a fine line between alienating the people currently loyal to the game and bringing back those who were disappointed or attracting a new base of players with these changes they have planned. If something comes out at the holidays that catches peoples attentions and this game is not back on its feet and headed in the right direction then they are pretty much sunk. If they can put the "RPG" back in "MMORPG" while making the mechanics of the game work effectively they will only be taking the first step toward getting off the ropes and back in the ring. After these 3 patches they need to throw about 3-4 epic updates that blow our hair back with gratuitous amounts of storyline/lore quests and side quests that put our characters in the story and link us to the plot line. I am not talking about the "warp here, do this, warp back and done" quests. I am talking about the 5-10 part quests that have something to do with something that is actually transpiring. It is about time they start to tie us to our fate. It is time for "Masta-blasta" with his fancy forearm cannon and his angry little spaceship to be sitting on my mantle. I don't need the echo to find out what's on his mind either, just gimme one of those yummy gunblades...that will do just fine. Let's get hopping with the juicy stuff and quit fiddling with the filler.

[WillRiker]

I wouldn't mind an EVE Online style 'F2P'. I think that was the only MMO to get 'F2P' right.

In EVE Online, it technically wasn't F2P. Players, if they chose to, could purchase additional play time to sell on the market from the owners of the game. Those players, in turn, would sell this game time on the market for in game currency. The end result is normal players were able to play the game for free by spending in game money to buy game time from other players on the 'market wards'.

Also, it nearly irradicated RMT. At least it became much less of an issue.

[Cendres]

I wouldn't mind an EVE Online style 'F2P'. I think that was the only MMO to get 'F2P' right.

Say what? Did you miss the recent 60$ monocle debacle? O.o

[Tezz_Xivectro]

I have played nearly every other mmo to date both f2p and p2p and I just don't see the "empty game of broken shit" that some people keep talking about.

I know alot about where you're coming from. An MMO can still be an MMO with only 1-2 servers. There are far worse games out there in terms of population. As long as there's a good 500-2,000 that play we should be fine (but it would be nice to see the game prosper).

[Laughlyn]

@ OP: zero chance.

But i would recommend SE seriously discuss the monthly fee, cuz having it too expensive wont make the game better.
Or even better, have a poll on how much would we consider an fair monthly fee.
(an official one, not some random crap post made by a player wich will involve alot of flaming etc)