F2P, P2W, and the "slippery slope" fallacy

[Kinseykinz]

OP:

What if you made it your personal goal to have all the mounts. You enjoyed working towards collecting them. As you and I both know, some of those mounts are 'locked' behind difficult content, and have low drop rates...furthermore, in order to get it even if it drops, you have outroll the rest of your party. My point...is having those mounts took work, it was effort and it required something of the player...it also was for some, a logical focus.


But now, some of these mounts are 'hidden' behind pay walls.

Same thing with minions.

So for this group of people, now what you're saying is 'it's OKAY that YOU have to pay extra to enjoy the game in the way you desire, because it doesn't effect me' ...or in effect suggesting they make choices...is having a full book of mounts important to this person, even though it's going to cost them more to play/they might not even actually want the mount outside of the 'I have every mount' plan...or do they focus on 'in-game items only'...and just accept they won't purchase anything?

I am not one such collector, but there are plenty of folk playing this game who are.


Furthermore, this really isn't an Apples to Oranges thing...sure, it is to you...but not everyone cares that 'oh it's only vanity' stuff. Some would be okay with the cash shop if it was filled with stuff like 'only a booster pack' or 'only end-game quality gear' But would prefer vanity stuff remained earnable in game. Now you can say 'yeah but SE said...' or 'now that's crazy' And you're entitled to those thoughts and opinions, but it doesn't make your side right.

Personally, I think that 'vanity' stuff should be in game...not because it gives people an advantage, but because it drives some people to play and do in-game stuff more than some of these folk are driven by content such as end-game raiding (endgame and raiding isn't for everyone). Why do you think so many people, 1 year later still covet the Bluebird minion? You can easily buy it off the MB's if you have the gil....and even more so if you consider that by now, you've had a year to save the gil for it...but most people who really want it, want it to drop, from their map...for them. So they keep grinding maps...and keep playing...for a minion. Furthermore, when they finally get it, it will feel like an accomplishment, even though technically, they could just buy it off the MB's (although having earned the gil is still an accomplishment) and/or gotten lucky with the RNG gods and got it on the first attempt. Throwing 5 dollars at SE though so you can have a minion, feels more empty.

Same thing with mounts. Having the Titan EX mount doesn't just show that you obviously beat Titan EX...but it shows that you likely beat him over and over and over again. Not only that, it's RARE...you didn't just spend some real life money, open your moogle mail and boom!, Mount, you did something in-game for it.

So there are people, who might really like a minion or mount on the cash shop....might even like it enough that it'd be 'worth it' to buy, but they still don't buy it because 'what's the point...all it shows is I had some extra cash to throw around' Or, they are just saddened because they feel like said mount/minion should really have been part of a quest/storyline within the game and not just a 'here you go' item with no real attachment to the story/lore. Some folk, really really love playing each and every little sidequest/story etc...and feel cheated when something like Odin's Mount didn't come from a side-story/quest. It's not that they don't want to pay...they just are sad to not see it realized to it's full lore and story potential.

Basically, for SOME people, that new shiny piece of coil gear is their 'look at what I accomplished!' piece...for others, it's a mount or a minion. We all play for different reasons...no one more valid than the other. But this is why you get people saying 'how would you feel if people could buy coil-level gear?' or 'how would you feel if you needed to pay for an endgame dungeon?' They aren't saying it because they hope you get screwed...they are saying it because for whatever reason, the content in the cash shop is as important to them, and they feel should be in game as part of their monthly subs as you feel about progression and it's related baubles.

Personally, I think we pay a monthly sub...and that everything mount/minion/etc should be 'included'. I have no issues with people paying for server/name/character changes...retainers are a grey area to me (they eat up extra memory/not everyone needs more than 2), but the 'story' stuff...and or things that could rightfully be tied to a story should be in-game w/o additional costs.

[Xhominid]

OP:

What if you made it your personal goal to have all the mounts. You enjoyed working towards collecting them. As you and I both know, some of those mounts are 'locked' behind difficult content, and have low drop rates...furthermore, in order to get it even if it drops, you have outroll the rest of your party. My point...is having those mounts took work, it was effort and it required something of the player...it also was for some, a logical focus.

Then you should know what you are getting yourself into by leagues the very SECOND they give you minions and mounts for buying the collector's edition and other such Squenix Merch.
Them adding a cash shop is just making it more round-about but don't complain about how much you want this mount/minion when you didn't complain about the collector's edition and buying merch beforehand.