What Portion of Cash-Shop Proceeds go toward Development

[Pandastirfry]

Are you insane!? Of course our subscriptions should be used primarily to further develop this game! Obviously SE is a large corporation and some funds may be diverted, but it is not at all unreasonable to assume that the majority of subscription funds go toward development of this project only! I would be shocked if more than 30% of funds were diverted elsewhere.

Dude, just like taxes, our subscriptions go into a big bin labeled "Revenue" along with all other profits SE makes from all their other revenue streams. This revenue is then divided up amongst their various expenses ranging from buying ketchup packets for the cafeteria to paying for some one to write new quest dialog for XIV through a budgeting process. I can assure you that they do NOT allocate a set amount of money from subscriptions to go directly back into development, as that is a silly way to run a budget for a company of any size.

Basically, the op is asking the same dumb question as "What do my tax dollars pay for?!?" The answer is... Everything, think up a thing that the government or in this case SE must spend cash on and there you go. That's what that money was used for.

[Chiramu]

Any money from the cash shop that goes toward FF14 development will just go into developing more things that can go into the cash shop rather than the actual game. .

This is for the complete F2P model, not for subscription based games. Don't compare the SWTOR model to FFXIV btw, the SWTOR team does not have nearly enough funding going into producing content for the game compared to FFXIV.

If you must compare it, compare it to WoW. WoW has had their cash shop and real money mounts for ages, I think about the time at the end of WoTLK, I remember the sparkle pony was running around for that expansion as well as Cataclysm.

[Eagleheart]

Literally everything about this post is flat out wrong. Take a business class or something before you speak in absolutes about these kinds of things.

I'll do ya one better.

I own a business with payroll over one and a half million dollars a year. Been in the business ten years o.O took ownership three years before now. Just got our employees a $5/hour raise.

But continue to inform me, kind sir, on how wrong I am about why the business exists, and what business you have enquiring about anyone else's profit margin.

[Parz3val]

lol worthy

...continue to inform me, kind sir, on how wrong I am about why the business exists, and what business you have enquiring about anyone else's profit margin.

I'll just leave this here..........

SEC mandated Annual Reports to Shareholders: http://www.inc.com/encyclopedia/annual-reports.html

[DefendPopPunk]

I'll do ya one better.

I own a business with payroll over one and a half million dollars a year. Been in the business ten years o.O took ownership three years before now. Just got our employees a $5/hour raise.

But continue to inform me, kind sir, on how wrong I am about why the business exists, and what business you have enquiring about anyone else's profit margin.

A business exists to make a profit, not to provide a service. They make a profit by providing that service. o.0

You may own a business but you're still wrong. Businesses exists to create value, both for a customer and for the person running the business. You have no revenue without a customer, you have no customer without a service/product/etc. You don't make profit from nothing. It's a two-way street.

You have not the right to ask a company what they make in profit. o.o If you do not like their service, you may walk away. You may not ask for a copy of their Quickbooks file.

Also, anyone can go to square enix's site and see all of their financial reports. It's not a secret. So you can, in fact, find out how much profit a company makes. So you're wrong again.

And it's the business of an investor, the SEC (and whatever other government agency they need to answer to), and anyone interested really, how much profit a company makes.

Sure, this doesn't apply to a small business like yours, but Square Enix is far from a small business.

They need not answer to anyone on how they spend their money, any more than you need answer to anyone about how you spend your paycheck.

Also, you seriously don't see the difference between a publicly traded company's income and a private individual's income, which also makes you wrong.

You have been informed, kind sir.

[Parz3val]

You have been informed, kind sir.

[Eagleheart]

You have been informed, kind sir.

Incorrectly, should I say laughably so.

Public trading... I don't think it means what you think it means.

An individual does not have free reins to the details of cost/expenditures on any given item in the company's inventory. (o.O ) Investment reports are a far cry from the stuff requested in this thread.

I really cannot believe you just posted about a financial report as indication on the public's right to know about profit on a given item.

I honestly cannot believe it.

o_o tinyurl.com/nejpjh5

Find me their profit for the year, then find out how much was spent on development for FFXIV, how much was advertising, profit, etc.

Let's see it.

And it's the business of an investor, the SEC (and whatever other government agency they need to answer to), and anyone interested really, how much profit a company makes.

You are not an investor, neither is the OP.

Willing to bet neither of you are in the SEC.

As for anyone else interested... to you I say, good luck, kid, you're gonna need it.

Let's just see if SE dutifully responds to your information demands. I mean, you deserve it, after all... surely they won't deny you the information that is rightfully yours.

I wish i could convey a smirk over the internet. Let's kick back and see what you get, kids. Let's just see.

[Eagleheart]

I'll just leave this here..........

SEC mandated Annual Reports to Shareholders: http://www.inc.com/encyclopedia/annual-reports.html

And this leads you to conclude that you deserve a report from SQEX on how much money they're making on a particular item in their inventory? Are you, in fact, a shareholder?

If you are, in fact, a shareholder, the next question is


what the blue heck are you doing demanding a report ON A GAME FORUM?!

Delusions of self-aggrandizement. Magnificent.

EDIT:

I have a theory. (o.O )

I believe the two of you are actually socialists, believing profit is an inherent evil, and therefore feel an element of moral justification in your benighted demands for information that you have no legal standing asking for.

O.o I think you feel justified inquiring about this because you believe that anyone who makes a dime on anything, be it an airplane or a glass of lemonade, must answer, no, must stand trial for that dime.

And that is delightful to me.

[Parz3val]

And this leads you to conclude that you deserve a report from SQEX on how much money they're making on a particular item in their inventory? Are you, in fact, a shareholder?

No, we're responding to what you said in your original post.

"You have not the right to ask a company what they make in profit."

"They need not answer to anyone on how they spend their money."

1) you're assuming I'm not a Shareholder.
2) I can ask, can't I?
3) they do need to answer to their Shareholders how they spend their money (surely not penny-by-penny but to an extent).
4) I never said the general populace is required a line-item report from SQEX, you're essentially putting words in our mouths.

You need to be much more careful with your words if you want to spar.

It's especially helpful if you don't act so presumptuously.

You've been back-pedaling hard son.

All of a sudden now you're acting as if you didn't speak in absolutes earlier or presume we weren't shareholders lol.

[DefendPopPunk]

Incorrectly, should I say laughably so.

Public trading... I don't think it means what you think it means.

An individual does not have free reins to the details of cost/expenditures on any given item in the company's inventory. (o.O ) Investment reports are a far cry from the stuff requested in this thread.

I really cannot believe you just posted about a financial report as indication on the public's right to know about profit on a given item.

I honestly cannot believe it.

o_o tinyurl.com/nejpjh5

Find me their profit for the year, then find out how much was spent on development for FFXIV, how much was advertising, profit, etc.

Let's see it.

Did I say anything about that? I quoted you in my post to see exactly what I was responding to (and how you're wrong). And I do know what a publicly traded company is, and square enix is such a business.

Let's not confuse the topic versus what I was discussing, and that is how blatantly wrong some of the things you're posting are.

Also, we may not be investors, or we may. The fact is, we're stakeholders, and everyone that has a stake in SE (or any business, really) should feel free to look at those details (if they're inclined).