Eternal Bond - Standard Plan and Gold Plan

[Kaoru_Nagisa]

Just how much do you expect to get for that $15? How are you determining how much content/work that's worth?

Well it seemed to work quite well for them for nearly a year. FFXIV even brought SE out of the red zone with just it's sub model, did it not? Don't forget that 15$ a month adds up over the year. They're getting at or over 100$ a year from millions of subscribers. Anyone who thinks that isn't enough to cover costs of new developments at the rate they're going is horribly deluding themselves.

When I play a sub game, I expect to get the entire game, for "free", no additional charge. If I expected differently, I'd just be better off playing a f2p game - since either way I'm paying out the rear for things that realistically should have been in a game free of charge. That is not an unrealistic expectation, especially with the original cost of the game, plus any expansion costs, as well as my building 15$ a month sub.

But it's only disgusting in your opinion. Would you like it if others insulted you for spending money on online games? Because to others, it's stupid to spend money on virtual things.

I don't like golf but I don't call those that enjoy golf stupid. I don't like WoW but I don't call those that enjoy WoW stupid. It's all about manners, something people are really lacking these days, especially online.

If you hate something, insult it. Not the people that enjoy it. Because different people have different likes and dislikes.

You apparently didn't read. People who spend money for things that realistically should have been in the game free of charge (for the sub rate) are enablers. They enable shady business practices like double-dipping. Sorry, but while they're entitled to do with their money as they please, I'm still gonna call them out for being enablers to disgusting business practices - because that's what they are.

Also, I could give less of a damn if people insulted me for spending money on an online game. People who actually have any sort of skin on them won't give a damn what someone thinks of their spending habits.

[Hyouretsuzan]

snip

It's unrealistic for you to assume just because you don't condone it, others will follow. We don't all share the same state of mind. Some are yay for cash shops, others are nay for it. We live in a world where everyone has their own perspective, and trying to make people change their views just because YOU don't like it seems sorta messed up. Don't tell me you honestly think everyone 100% of this game population will all agree to one thing? Face the facts that people will not change their views. I'm sure you seen it in-game. You see people riding Sleipnir, people walking with the cash shop minions, etc. People will buy cash shop if they want it. My advice is just accept the fact that cash shop is a thing now. WoW has it and they are going strong and I do believe their 10 year anniv proves it. But it's whatevs. My opinion. You are free to disapprove the choices SE has made, just like others are free to think otherwise.

[Titor]

I am scared for where this game is going >//<

[KodiHivaer]

People asked for a cash shop when a good majority said no to the practice
People asked for vanity and glamorous items to be added to it and they got it.
Now when a service is given to them for free in-game and THE CHOICE to get OPTIONAL stuff to enhance that in-game detail, it's a problem.

Back in FFXI although there wasn't a cash shop, you had to buy OSTs to get the little "extra" things if you wanted them.
I bet if legacy status was an option with extra fluff in the cash shop, you'd all be clamoring for it.

HOW DARE PEOPLE SPEND MONEY ON THINGS THEY WANT!?

[Kaoru_Nagisa]

It's unrealistic for you to assume just because you don't condone it, others will follow. We don't all share the same state of mind. Some are yay for cash shops, others are nay for it. We live in a world where everyone has their own perspective, and trying to make people change their views just because YOU don't like it seems sorta messed up.Don't tell me you honestly think everyone 100% of this game population will all agree to one thing? Face the facts that people will not change their views. I'm sure you seen it in-game. You see people riding Sleipnir, people walking with the cash shop minions, etc. People will buy cash shop if they want it. My advice is just accept the fact that cash shop is a thing now. WoW has it and they are going strong and I do believe their 10 year anniv proves it. But it's whatevs. My opinion. You are free to disapprove the choices SE has made, just like others are free to think otherwise.

Using WoW as an example for anything when they allow people to buy their way past a huge chunk of content holds little to no weight for me. And just because whales with too much money will willingly throw it in all directions because they have no standards for their games doesn't make it any more of a good or acceptable thing for a cash shop to exist within a sub-based game model.

I really pity you then. And anyone else that has to put up with you.

Why, because I have thick enough skin to not care what people think of my expenditures? If that's something to pity, then I really wonder how you get through life.

[Meltzeiferion]

The cash shop does not bother me any more than it did when it was released. Our sub fee does not pay for everything, as added things require added work. I have no delusions about them giving us literally every penny we pay for back in content; they're a business, afterall. But the "we already pay a subscription!" statement only goes so far. That subscription only pays for so much. If the cash shop is allowing them to provide extra content through transactions, that's fine with me. Perhaps people would be happier if they raised the subscription fee to compensate instead?

The problem with assuming that cash shop = funds more content of the game is that...

We don't really know how SE allocates any of the money it gets from FFXIV. It could be that 100% of the cash shop money goes back to the game, or it could be that none of it does. They could put 100% of the cash shop money back into the game but compensate by taking more of the sub fee money for other projects. The argument that cash shop is good because more money for the game isn't necessarily a good argument because we are just customers without the right info.

IF they truly need more funds to be able to create new content in the game, I would personally be more ok with sub fee increase over a cash shop. Alternatively as there seems to be many people that just want to straight up support SE, maybe they could add an option to add more money on top of your sub fee just to support them/the game. I don't have a lot of income at the moment, but if I was given the option of cash shops vs. optionally upping my own sub fee to support more content going directly to the game for ALL players, I would up my sub fee to keep out that cash shop. Maybe I'm crazy though. :P

[Hyouretsuzan]

snip

To each their own then, right?

[Norna]

Maybe I'm crazy though. :P

Nah, I feel the same. Before this cash shop business, one of the fun things was that, barring very few things (from Limited Editions/Legacy), everyone had access to everything (even if it's a grind at times), including old event items when events rolled back around. This no matter their economical (except sub) situation, or if SE's systems dis/likes their credit card numbers or not.

I also would feel better about this if we would know that the money goes back into improving the game, instead of being skimmed into the new Tomb Raider/Thief/WhateverOtherFranchise (I give a little leeway to planning the next online Final Fantasy, but only a little). I hope that they at the very least will increase staff and improve the server capacity.

[Folsom]

The problem with assuming that cash shop = funds more content of the game is that...

We don't really know how SE allocates any of the money it gets from FFXIV. It could be that 100% of the cash shop money goes back to the game, or it could be that none of it does. They could put 100% of the cash shop money back into the game but compensate by taking more of the sub fee money for other projects. The argument that cash shop is good because more money for the game isn't necessarily a good argument because we are just customers without the right info.

And no game company really offers this info; the only question customers can answer is whether they're willing to pay what the company is charging. To imply that what SE is doing is "disgusting" or "double-dipping" or whatever is an opinion that also can't be made with the info; people are just more liberal in their insults than they are in considering what else might be going on. (Apparently, people think "I don't want to pay that much" sounds much worse when they say "BECAUSE IT'S DISGUUUUUUUSTIIIIIIING", or hide behind it, anyway.)

Absolutely, if they are charging too much, or people don't think the content is worth it, they shouldn't pay. To speculate about how horrible of a company they are because of reasons they can't possibly be privy to, as some others are, is pointless.

IF they truly need more funds to be able to create new content in the game, I would personally be more ok with sub fee increase over a cash shop. Alternatively as there seems to be many people that just want to straight up support SE, maybe they could add an option to add more money on top of your sub fee just to support them/the game. I don't have a lot of income at the moment, but if I was given the option of cash shops vs. optionally upping my own sub fee to support more content going directly to the game for ALL players, I would up my sub fee to keep out that cash shop. Maybe I'm crazy though. :P

The problem here, of course, is that a sub fee increase would price some people out of the market. Optional content does not. An increase in sub fees from, say, $15 to $17 a month, is probably a lot more likely to turn people away than not being able to have a pet, a mount, or whatever, because they have to pay for a general increase if the sub fee goes up, whereas they don't if it doesn't.

We absolutely don't know if they are adding staff to design things for the game for content from the cash shop; if we did, we could make a more informed decision. However, it's very doubtful that SE (or any other company) will offer specifics about their company to appease customers like that. It's just not the way current corporations work.

[FriendlyUncle]

They always wait until the last few days before revealing details like this, and then they go fully silent about it while people complain on the forums, we didn't know about the cash shop until like, was it a week before 2.4?

They are completely silent until people start bitching on the JPN thread. Then shit gets patched/addressed pretty damn quick. Let's hope they start to kick and scream over there.