Cash shop confirmed

[Fyrebrand]

so subs dropped that low?

The last stats I heard about FFXIV were that it has over 2 million subscribers. Just imagine how much money they are raking in, from that. I know there are some people from 1.0 who are paying a lower subscription fee, but on average most players pay between $13 to $15 per month (and much of that paid months in advance for veteran rewards). Let's be conservative and just assume there no more than a flat 2 million people paying $13/month each:

2,000,000 x $13 = Twenty-Six Million Dollars PER MONTH in revenue (not including any initial game purchases, fantasias, or other services)

And people tell me "the subscription model isn't viable anymore," or "the cash shop is a great way for fans to help support the game." Please. Your subscription money is plenty enough to support FFXIV for a long time coming, as it was for FFXI. The cash shop is not some last-ditch effort to save FFXIV from oblivion; it is a superfluous, greed-driven ploy to tarnish the value you get for your sub money and gouge you for extra cash on top of it.

EDIT: My mistake, it was 2 million "registered accounts," not necessarily active subscribers. There seem to be no solid stats on current active subscriptions, but I believe Yoshi-P has commented that they get an average of 500,000 account log-ins per day. However, it's not as if every player is logs in 7 days a week, without exception. You pay your monthly sub, whether you log in every day or not. Some people only log in a few times per week, or even 1-2 times. So, somewhere around 2 million subscribers does not seem that far-fetched. Plus, keep in mind I was low-balling the subscription amount to a standard $13/month. Some pay more than that, based on their sub setup or if they pay extra for more than one character per server (I do). Then there are optional paid services like fantasias, server transfer, or the recent HD stream of the Fan Fest. The point is, they are making crazy money off this game.