Cash shop confirmed

[Vhailor]

Wait a minute. We got used to buying those, they don't count?

That logic is totally backwards.

For the purposes of determining the potential outrage of the community, no, they clearly don't count.

However, in fact they're a perfect example of what happens when people meekly accept microcharges for content that should have been available via alternative means.

There's no reason why adding two additional Retainers shouldn't have been a quest line coupled with a chunk of gil. There's no reason why Fantasia shouldn't have been available via one or two one-time quests, as well as via a chunk of gil. These would be undeniably better options from the player's perspective. Instead, SE arguably withheld, intentionally, features that could have been contained within the game world as a part of our monthly sub, purely to charge money for them.

This just highlights the fact that if things start off small, and reasonable-sounding, and are around long enough, people adapt and stop complaining. This is precisely one of the fears that people have about the cash shop - and rightly so. We already can see evidence of it, within FFXIV itself.

[Asierid]

Stuff

Don't know when people will learn that the gaming industry is a business. There is clearly a reason as to why, to make money. To be quite frank, your sub pays for nothing except for access to their servers, they could just allow access to XIV and charge for everything else if they wanted. Would it be smart? No.

But there have been previous threads many months ago by people asking for vanity items and vials through cash. They answered.

The amount of people that will spend money will balance out those that quit over what is a rather silly reason. The gameplay, it's story, and all of the other things that make XIV, XIV are already in your sub. Want more? Pay extra.

There is a little sentence at the bottom of the box/ToS which says that everything is subject to change. Guess people didn't read it.

[Vhailor]

Don't know when people will learn that the gaming industry is a business. There is clearly a reason as to why, to make money. To be quite frank, your sub pays for nothing except for access to their servers, they could just allow access to XIV and charge for everything else if they wanted. Would it be smart? No.

But there have been previous threads many months ago by people asking for vanity items and vials through cash. They answered.

The amount of people that will spend money will balance out those that quit over what is a rather silly reason. The gameplay, it's story, and all of the other things that make XIV, XIV are already in your sub. Want more? Pay extra.

There is a little sentence at the bottom of the box/ToS which says that everything is subject to change. Guess people didn't read it.

Nobody's unaware of this fact, nor are people complaining about it. Nobody's acting like this isn't SE's right. However, just because it's SE's right, doesn't mean that people are obligated to like it - and many people's opinions differ from your own, here.

Also, to add my own personal note about the cash shop (which I stated about 50 pages ago), it is sufficient incentive for me to not purchase the expansion, and not resub, contrary to my original plan. It's one small consequence of SE making this particular decision. You can view this as silly if you want, though being pointlessly derogatory doesn't really add anything to the discussion. My own personal objection has nothing to do with the presence of a cash shop in and of itself - it's more the fact that I don't want to spend my time within a community that accepts / embraces its presence in a MMO. The fact that SE seems intent on catering to this particular crowd is reason enough to move on, for me.

Anyway. I guess my point is this - if you're going to try and defend the cash shop, you should avoid implicitly criticizing those who are opposed. There are a huge number of reasons for people to have this position, and many of them are rooted in personal opinions and philosophies, which are salient points when determining how one is going to spend money on entertainment. I'm not trying to say there aren't reasons for SE to move in this direction - there are a couple of valid ones off the top of my head, and possibly others. Just don't imply that everyone opposed is being dense.

[Lyron]

Don't know when people will learn that the gaming industry is a business.

Since when did customers stop having the right to complain about a business? If a company wants to make more money so their execs can have bigger, that's their right and its to be expected. But the customer has the right to complain about their practices. The consumer has a lot more power than some of you tend to believe and that power can often force a company to adjust their strategy.

Just keep in mind that there is a reason public relations and customer service exist.

[Jaybot]

Since when did customers stop having the right to complain about a business? If a company wants to make more money so their execs can have bigger, that's their right and its to be expected. But the customer has the right to complain about their practices. The consumer has a lot more power than some of you tend to believe and that power can often force a company to adjust their strategy.

Just keep in mind that there is a reason public relations and customer service exist.

Exactly. This is the final nail on the coffin for being a fanboy for Square. I was really upset with the additional DLC for XII-2, etc, and this just seals it for me. They're quickly starting to look like EA, and I haven't purchased anything from them in the last few years because they're so greedy.