Microtransactions are here to stay. And they are a good thing.

[Gardes]

You know...

1 year sub for one player: 15 x 12 = 180 usd
1 year sub for 500k players: 180 x 500k = 90,000,000 usd
1 year sub for SE's '2 million players': 180 x 2000k = 360,000,000 usd

if average employee pay is 240k/year (lol): 90 mil = 375 employees/year
if average employee pay is 240k/year (lol): 360 mil = 1400 employees/year
current XIV team based on fanfest reveals: seems less than 100 employees or around there
server upkeep per year: way less than employee pay if the gw1 dev reveal is to be believed

Even if my crazy math is way off and we add deductions like exchange rates, people not paying the full sub (legacies, 1character plan, multi month subs etc) and extra costs I still don't see how SE is barely scratching by or how the cash shop is adding so much significant revenue that pissing off a huge portion of your user base is worth all this. Especially considering how the revenue and cost seems to be in tripple digit percentage difference (feels like I'm already overestimating the employee pay).

Unless Yoship and his entourage's first class flights to america, europe, china, korea and local japan flight for all those fanfests and 'fates' are really putting a dent on the profits..

[GalkaBikini]

a huge portion

It's not a huge portion. It's the same people that come to the forums every day, complaining about each and every detail they possibly can about the game. AKA, a tiny microscopic fraction.

[Amaret]

snip

Oh look, a business expert right over here...

[BreathlessTao]

1) Microtransactions are becoming an industry standard for every kind of game, including pay to play MMORPGs. As a matter of fact they're nothing new for P2P MMOs.

There are only three pay to play MMOs that can be considered successful at the moment (WoW, EVE Online and FFXIV) and all three have microtransactions.

"Everyone's doing it so it's alright", yeah? No. Just because something is a standard or a majority, it is not automatically right.

It's reinvested in games, and in the case of MMORPGs, mostly in the game that generates it. Which means that the more profit Square Enix makes, the more content for us all to enjoy will be greenlighted and funded.

Have you been around for the past year? Especially the past few months? 2 dungeons out of "three new" are rehashes. Even besides that, there's so much rehashed content in the game you can hardly spot the new (normal-hard-extreme primals another example). And all the letters: "very small team" and "hardware limitations" and "infrastructure limitations", over and over again. What actually is a glimmer of something big is an entirely original primal in Heavensward, and the promise of the actual EU datacenter. Sure we are getting new content every ~3 months, but on one hand, well, yeah, thanks, we are paying for it; on the other, so many issues are swept aside (cue abovementioned "reasons") that I'd rather have half a year without new (or "new") content and have those issues addressed instead. I dunno if the replacement of the player counter "banner" with the new content highlights, together with the cash shop, should be cause for worry...?

4) The funniest thing is that some people are raging so much over some accessories to the wedding ceremony which are in no way essential to it, that they aren't even noticing that we're getting the most fully featured and extensive wedding ceremony in the history of the genre, with no additional purchase required. No other game has something of this scope for weddings. That's absolutely hilarious.

This is exactly an example of what mentioned at point 3. This kind of feature requires quite a lot of resources to be implemented, and it has quite limited influence in the success of the game and in the revenue it'll bring to Square Enix in itself. The ability to attach some absolutely optional microtransactions to it is probably what got such a work/resources intensive feature greenlighted to begin with.

Well now, I'm sorry on behalf of everyone who's raging in a knee-jerk reaction after months of teasing and showing-off all that "no way essential" accessories and designs. I'm sorry for that being absolutely hilarious. Especially if what you yourself suggest is really the case - that they've known for ages about the cash shop and had been planning the whole thing with that in mind. Y'know, without ever dropping the slightest hint of it all might not ending up being the default. During all these months, in all those (live) letters. Especially after what happened to personal housing. Yeah, completely hilarious and not justified at all and I'm (we are?) very sorry indeed.

[Avarghaladion]

The reinvestment argument is laughable. This isn't a mom & pop operation that needs our humble microtransaction charity to function or to make the game grow. If anything, increased microtransaction revenue eliminates SE's business motivation to invest in actual engaging new content. You think they'll care once they realize they can just print their own money by selling minions and mounts for cold hard cash?

[Razzle]

Cash shops and/or microtransactions make sense for a game that is either Free to Play, or you just pay once and you own the game without any subscription fee. There are many console games where extra missions, characters, or costumes get released after the game has been out for a while, but it isn't feasible to publish them as a full-price new boxed release. Or for F2P MMOs, the cash shop is the only method they even generate revenue, so asking players to buy something of their own choosing if they're enjoying themselves is more than reasonable.

In a game that I paid full retail price for, and pay a monthly subscription on top of that, and will soon be charging another lump sum for an "expansion," there is no excuse for why we are being gouged for extra cash. It is completely disrespectful to the customers. If you think cash shop purchases in a sub-based game are "extras" that go back into creating more content for the rest of us, you are hopelessly naive. And if you brush it off as "just the industry standard," then you are part of the problem.



I don't understand how you can say this at all. You like that instead of minions, mounts, etc., being included in the game as they normally were, they instead are being sectioned off and charged extra for? You like paying more money on top of your subscription? You like that a unique horsey skin in a video game costs nearly twice the amount of two months' subscription? Do you even realize that you are the consumer, in this equation? You are basically saying "I like being ripped off. I like it when a corporation devalues their product in order to sell supplements for additional cost." I think it is pathetic that so many people on these forums have absolutely no concept of the value of their own money, and have no impetus at all to look out for their own interests as consumers.

so much like D:

[Jeckyl_Tesla]

The only thing that looks like is falling is the average IQ of gamers lately. "imma pay cause hurr durr i has money hurr".

Holy christ, what is this? The actual pure envy in this is remarkable.

If people have money, what is it to you if they want to spend it? Let me guess, you're one of those guys who rags on the guy with a better car because "Omg, it's stupid, you don't need that omg."

Here's a life tip for you. Some people have money. Some don't. What people spend their money doesn't affect you and nor does it increase your intelligence over others who spend money. Shit.

I'm shocked that people are complaining about cosmetic items. Actually shocked. You're not forced to buy these items. Not once. Don't like the fact that they're paid for? Then don't buy them. Move on with life.

And the tinfoil hats being donned in this thread is insane too. "They're going free to play, gj guys. Actually SPENDING money to play a game omg!"

WoW has had paid transactions for a while. Still running. Still consistent content. Same with EVE.

Also, Triple Triad will probably have booster packs that you can buy from the store. That is a given. Because it's a game based on cards. Almost every card game that you can use to play vs others, will always have transactions like that. This is simply remarkable.

[stoxastic]

Whether you like it or not, microtransactions are here to stay, are are NECESSARY for a company to remain competitive in the MMO market.

Ideally, revenue from the cash shop will be reinvested into the game itself, thus giving us more content for just paying the sub. I know a lot of people scoff at this notion and feel that it's just a blatant money grab, but let's consider the case where FFXIV leaves out a cash shop and another popular MMO has one.

If the other MMO DOES reinvest its cash shop revenues into the game, it will be able to hire more designers, purchase better servers, etc., and therefore will be able to provide a better game experience compared to a cash shop-less FFXIV. This will cause FFXIV to lose subs and is terrible for everyone.

[Magis]

Whether you like it or not, microtransactions are here to stay, are are NECESSARY for a company to remain competitive in the MMO market.

Hahahahaha, since when are microtransations necessary for a game? No one buys a game for their microtransactions. Microtransactions didn't exist in P2P MMOs until what... WoW did it a few years ago? It's a business model not a game design lol. Or are you going to give that "in this day in age with high development costs" crap when Yoshi himself said that is not the case.

[Stihllodeing]

...snip....Lastly, I don't recall saying the OP was stupid but thanks for putting words in my mouth.

Oh gawd get off it. It's obvious what you're agenda is. It's obvious you have a strong disdain for the topic creator and subject matter. It's also obvious I didn't misquote you or go out of my way to contort what you said. I even said "to me" and "sounds like". And by the way, you don't have a right to tell people what they can post. You are not a moderator. Your opening post makes you seem like a self entitled bully defending their clique.

I have no idea if any of that is true. I can only assume based on your opening post, which is this:

Well this was pointless. You're saying a lot of things that have already been said over and over since the cash shop was first announced, but felt like you needed your own little thread for it for whatever reason.

So ya, seems very passive-aggressive to anyone who doesn't know any of you.

...snip.... I think it is pathetic that so many people on these forums have absolutely no concept of the value of their own money, and have no impetus at all to look out for their own interests as consumers.

I would agree with that to a point even though it's directed at me for saying "I like tasteful cash shops", because I do.

I also know it's just a game and my 14.99 a month is almost nothing to me. As a matter of fact, it's so much of a nothing to me I pay two subs so my wife and I can both play.

Why is it nothing to me? Because I can easily spend ten times that going out to dinner and having a few drinks on the weekends. I don't live on an allowance like some of you appear to.

I think you personally overvalue your money and worth as a customer. But I don't know anything about your financial situation. You're either really strapped for cash or the most frugal person I have ever met anywhere.

If you are an adult with a stable income, then I think you're making a mountain out of a mole hill. There is no "pay to win" yet. You are putting the cart before the horse.

If the cash shop becomes pay to win, I'll support the anti-cash shop camp. I'll sign the petitions, voice my opinions, and then....I know this seems irrational....but cancel my sub. That's right, I'll cancel my sub, move on with my day, and spend as much as I want eating out and drinking. My house is paid off, my cars are paid off, so I can do what I want. YOU'RE NOT THE BOSS OF ME!! (flails arms in the air)