Cash shop confirmed

[polyphonica]

So I'm not quite sure -- other than the gradual devaluation of plots and the extra "you guys think all the houses are too expensive, so we'll lower all house prices a little bit further for you", have the prices for FC housing changed? Or do they even now start at the same price as they did back then? Because if they do, it doesn't really change the statement that much in my opinion. One, the personal housing prices are not separate from FC housing. And two, they're priced the same as the FC houses they'd just released and are therefore not "far more affordable".

Sure, the average amount of money per character is higher today than back then, so due to the average wealth they could be seen as more affordable. But I'm not sure that takes into consideration that many players, who knew personal housing was on the way, had been hoarding their money with the intent of buying one. So of course the average wealth goes up when people try to save money. But all of that is an entirely different discussion which doesn't really belong in this thread.

Well, yeah. The problem is that this issue is so much more complicated than what any simple statement can convey. The first issue with the whole thing is about the vision for housing; the developers envision it as a long-term goal that people should work towards, rather than as a given. (This may be partially impacted by the fact that it's so costly to them to add housing capacity.) But, besides that, If you consider all the factors in composite (supply, affordability, inflation, reverse auction), the main underlying issue is: "there are more people richer than me than there are available plots". This is compounded by the fact that all servers get the same amount of lots even though the amount of players is different, and the only variable is price. So anyway, yeah, it's complicated, and beyond what we can discuss in this thread.

The way you interpreted it is how I interpreted it as well. And until I see an official statement posted regarding it, I won't be able to feel certain about what was meant with it (and to be fair, depending on how fuzzily it's worded or translated, I might not even be certain then).

In the other thread I posted a clarification of the sentence, but yeah. Koji's translation made perfect sense in context of the whole rest of the discussion, but if you take it as a sound bite in isolation, it can be made to imply something other than what was intended. I agree with the subsequent conversation here that this isn't a question of "get a better translator," particularly given that this was a live event. But there will always be a bit of this adversarial nature on the forums and elsewhere, so they have to be careful about vague statements that can be misinterpreted. At the same time, it is exceedingly hard to think of the ways something can be misinterpreted when you're as close to the subject as the developers are. I can even see how, from YoshiP's point of view, his housing statement made sense in the context of what he was thinking of -- affordability, not flat price (which depends completely on the inflation index at the time of release, which he didn't even know yet at the time). But players can't read his mind or understand all the factors in his head, so the misunderstanding there was perhaps inevitable.

[KillyBamp]

Well patch notes confirm 'optional' items available for purchase. Optional my ARSE. Content cut to milk for extra cash. My sub had just renewed but I'm cancelling the automatic renewal. I'll be watching closely and see how it develops until time is due to renew, but I can guess how it's going to pan out already so expect to be moving onto another game and quit FFXIV. Which sucks because I really like this game, but I will not be mugged off into paying for 'optional' content

[Synestr]

Well patch notes confirm 'optional' items available for purchase.... I will not be mugged off into paying for 'optional' content

I don't understand what you are saying here. Did you confuse yourself? AFAIK there is NO optional content being offered in Ca$h $hop, only OPTIONAL ITEMS...

If you don't want them, then don't buy them. OMG...don't even go tot he store. Are they pushing the shop down your throat? No, they announced it and that is all. Your cancelling your sub is doing nothing. They will be in no way affected by your decision.

People need to stop throwing a tantrum over this and play or leave, that simple...well once the servers are fixed ^.^

[tocsin]

wow, and just when we thought that the senseless deluge of posting had finally stopped.

Please, read ALL of the comments before you start adding to this. We have most likely already discussed your issue ad nauseum, and in countless other ways.

Literally, we have gone over it the better part of two hundred times.

[Jandor]

I think I can live with the cash shop just fine so long as it remains Mog station based, no real in-game integration as such, and that items in it are limited to fantasia, name changes, server changes, past seasonal items and items that can be obtained in-game (either through the market board or current/near future content.)

Basically, the Sleipnir mount for 2.4 cash shop is fine by me so long as it's available in-game, hopefully in an Odin trial, by patch 2.5.

[Quesse]

I don't understand what you are saying here. Did you confuse yourself? AFAIK there is NO optional content being offered in Ca$h $hop, only OPTIONAL ITEMS...

If you don't want them, then don't buy them. OMG...don't even go tot he store. Are they pushing the shop down your throat? No, they announced it and that is all. Your cancelling your sub is doing nothing. They will be in no way affected by your decision.

People need to stop throwing a tantrum over this and play or leave, that simple...well once the servers are fixed ^.^

Actually people need to keep complaining and cancelling subs until SE fixes this mess. There is no reason people should be paying subs and for additional content that SE 'chose' to put in the shop instead of the main game.

[Souljacker]

Make no mistake, the cash shop will not remain optional for long. Many of you don't want to believe it, but the writing is on the wall. Even the behemoth that is currently occupying the throne couldn't withstand the allure of more and more pay to win content added to their shop. They have even gone so far as to nerf XP gains on leveling characters to force players into purchasing character "boosts".

Don't think for a second that XIV is above it, especially with the last few major stumbles they have had. The game isn't as strong as many of you would like to think it is, and those of us who have been gaming for the better part of the last 30 years have seen it over, and over, and over again. This cash shop is the first step towards getting back to profitability, because the sub model won't work with the way they are botching content.

[Mjollnir]

Cash shop is up.

Sleipnir Mount: £13.80 (that's $22?)

Unjustifiable.

[Souljacker]

Cash shop is up.

Sleipnir Mount: £13.80 (that's $22?)

Unjustifiable.

And yet, players can't open their wallets fast enough to purchase a pretty picture of a horse.

[tocsin]

Cash shop is up.

Sleipnir Mount: £13.80 (that's $22?)

Unjustifiable.

Just checked, its US $24.

Definitely unjustifiably priced.

the price of TWO MONTHS subscription, for a single mount? that's extortion level prices.