Eternal Bond - Standard Plan and Gold Plan

[Tannlore]

Here, I'll bold what you missed.


These are things they advertised for the past year to get subs, developed in that time by money from subs, and should never have been put behind a paywall to begin with.

I have to ask you, how exactly do you know every single cent was used this way? You can't possibly know that unless you are in their accounting department. For all you know, this may have come form initial Fantasia sales. Or It's being financed from other income into the company. They do produce more than FFXIV... much... much more. The money that moves around is probably staggering if you could look at their quarterly income reports.

As for the "best of it" that depends on what you consider best. Highly subjective. Frankly, I think the paid men's tux is terrible.. So few differences it doesn't warrant the money. As for the 2 person mount. This is the only place I have an exception because there isn't another one in the game that doesn't require real money in some way.

[Kinseykinz]

I don't think you're quite getting the concept of eternal bonding.
It's not supposed to be a quick "Hey hun let's go get hitched and be back in time for lunch" kinda deal. It's supposed to be a big beautiful event, overblown and overpriced, just like in real life. Well some real life marriages, anyway.
That's the whole thing. A lot of people complaining I don't think have the same opinion on the system as a whole, and in my eyes, these people only want it for the mount, vanity, and perhaps the utility. What you should want it for is the union of you and your beloved betrothed.

First off, I am actually married to this person in real life. I already had my 'fancy' ceremony. All I actually want is for that to be somehow represented in game. Seriously, I don't want all the pretend in game crap. I want to be able to in-game show that we are 'bonded'. I could give to craps about the pretend ceremony. (Which is WHY the 'Standard' would be fine). I just want my real life relationship represented in game...I don't want to 'Roleplay'...I don't even actually like the roleplay aspect..I'm glad it's there for others...but it isn't my main interest/reason for wanted to be 'bonded'

But really, the WHY I want to do it shouldn't matter. Who cares if 2 people get hitched because they want the items? ...or because they are best friends in RL....or married...or anything really. My reasons for wanting it are my reasons. And if I want the 'justice of the peace' experience, that's not of your concern. ....after all, you can 'roleplay' the perfect princess wedding if you want, who's to say I can't 'roleplay' the opposite :P

For some people, it's ONLY about the actual bond, not the ceremony, not the fluff, not who attends, just the joining of two people.

Also I said 'they should be able to get married whenever they wish' this does not necessarily mean right away. It means that, since they are paying more for the service, they shouldn't necessarily have to be 'assigned' a day/time...or wait eons for it. Maybe someone wants to pay just so they can have their RL Anniversary date...that is 6 months away...maybe someone else just wants to have a quick ceremony because the 'roleplay' doesn't matter but the bond between them being official in game does.

Still my bigger point from the post you quoted was this: Is the ONLY difference between the 2 tiers of bonding plans the 'additional fluff' or is there/will there be more?

Like does buying in = a potentially shorter wait
or
=extra perks later on etc

Or is it ONLY the mount/minion/outfits....and will both types of 'bonds' get the same perks and respect in game if/when additional perks for being bonded ever happen.


Because, it would suck to opt for the Standard because you either don't believe in paying extra for a game you already pay monthly subs for/don't want/need the extra fluff...but then down the road be locked out of ALL the potential perks of bonding. (like in my case, having a fancy pretend dress for my Femme Roe is lame....but being able to share NPC's/garden together in my personal house would be lovely).

Also, if 'Gold' plan people get unspoken perks, (like quicker access to ceremonies), then that would also make it unfair to 'Standard' folk....because it would mean, they basically have to wait for all the Gold Plan ppl to get their ceremonies in and planned to even have a chance for a ceremony slot/time. Basically 'punishing' anyone who opts out of the 'Gold' tier by forcing longer waits...but then again, people who pay shouldn't pay for something...then wait 6 months+ to be able to actually get it...this could mean there's potentially people who pay extra RL cash for a wedding and then never get the wedding because they stop playing the game for some reason. Do they get refunded (likely not)? So while I don't think it'll be fair if 'Gold people' get priority...if that priority affects Standard plan folks access to the ceremony, I also think there needs to be a hard and fast, 'if you pay extra, you are entitled to a ceremony slot within x amount of time and/or to plan it for your desired slot'...because these things likely aren't going to be 'cheap'

So yes, I skipped over the debate over 'is it fair that we have to pay extra for the shinies' and went straight for the practical...'okay, but what does my choice in plan actually mean, today, tomorrow and 2+ years from now'...you know, the actual nitty-gritty of what a marriage is vs. the pretty wedding day...and how will it all play out in-game down the road as none of this has been hard and fast explained and/or answered....and likely won't be until it's too late. (IE people selected their ceremony type/are bonded but due to their ceremony choice may or may not have access to all the additional planned/potentially planned content)

[PrimeEvilPanda]

Just speak with your wallets and don't buy it....nothing says boycott better than not throwing money at SE. But we all know that's not going to happen right? I've yet to see the cash shop taken down after "everyone" stormed to the forums in effigy over it.

Face it guys - those oppposed to this are misdirecting their anger at SE for nothing. Blame the players...after all if SE builds it they will buy it

[Riepah]

Just speak with your wallets and don't buy it....nothing says boycott better than not throwing money at SE. But we all know that's not going to happen right? I've yet to see the cash shop taken down after "everyone" stormed to the forums in effigy over it.

Face it guys - those oppposed to this are misdirecting their anger at SE for nothing. Blame the players...after all if SE builds it they will buy it

Blame is on both parties, just as it is with RMT or drugs. If people weren't ready to buy gold, gold spam and botting wouldn't be a problem - but the fact that there are people who would buy gold doesn't mean it's okay for others to start botting and selling it to them. Using drugs isn't fine, but neither is selling them. One couldn't exist without the other.

[Adrian74]

Hi. I have suffered many P2W (Pay to win) games during my life and had enough of those, that's why I'm in FFXIV... And I have to say... Uhm... Do you really consider this a P2W? I don't. I consider it a risky approach to it if they become greedy, but.... The whole thing itself is not...

Just a marriage system, and the only, the only thing those who pay obtain are... Vanity stuff?... I don't care, If I want the utility such as teleport or other things I don't have to pay for it, isn't it? Then it's not P2W, it has just some vanity stuff locked like it would have in many games.

Problem would be if SE decides to (I doubt it, I want to not think about it) cross the line with what they sell in the cash shop...

[Roris]

Just a marriage system, and the only, the only thing those who pay obtain are... Vanity stuff?

Problem would be if SE decides to (I doubt it, I want to not think about it) cross the line with what they sell in the cash shop...

Extra retainers in the cash shop say hi, borderline P2Advantage/Convenience, P2Gamble if you consider ventures. No, it's not the same as buying additional character slots because you can't mail between them and you don't really get an extra playable character to level, yes people did use them as extra storage anyway and were practically forced to, but no, still not the same.

[RuruKun]

what kind of minion/mount are we getting? I'm bad...I don't read the live letters.
probably the two person chocobo? what would the minion be I wonder, a wind-up officiant? lmao!

[FruityTwotie]

Extra retainers in the cash shop say hi, borderline P2Advantage/Convenience, P2Gamble if you consider ventures. No, it's not the same as buying additional character slots because you can't mail between them and you don't really get an extra playable character to level, yes people did use them as extra storage anyway and were practically forced to, but no, still not the same.

If they didn't have retainers and you could buy additional character slots with the ability to main between would you buy additional characters for storage or extra retainer ventures?

[Adrian74]

Extra retainers in the cash shop say hi, borderline P2Advantage/Convenience, P2Gamble if you consider ventures. No, it's not the same as buying additional character slots because you can't mail between them and you don't really get an extra playable character to level, yes people did use them as extra storage anyway and were practically forced to, but no, still not the same.

I wasn't speaking about retainers, but, there, dear lady, you're right.... I also didn't like the movement they did with the retainers since it was a really P2W movement in my opinion.... But right then a lot of protectors came saying "It was promised in 1.0" / "They have more costs of storage in server with this" etc... However, having extra retainers is a must, I can't just stay with two myself and I see it very difficult with all the quantity of items you usually need to store.

[Roris]

If they didn't have retainers and you could buy additional character slots with the ability to main between would you buy additional characters for storage or extra retainer ventures?

If it was handled the exact same way FFXI handled it in its early days I'm sure a lot of people would do it or at least consider it. Personally I've never really bought any extras in any MMO ever, well aside from one TF2 key to get Gaben glasses, and that's my only regret. Nowadays FFXI has plenty of free storage space everywhere, so even they eased up on that and they did it entirely for free. Aside from the satchel attached to the authenticator which is really just a physical item with an in game bonus, just like extra minions from books and soundtracks and what not.