Real Money to Get In-Game Currency: Eternal Bond Edition

[Krr]

Others have already picked apart why this is a ridiculous stance to take, so instead I'm just going to offer up an equally absurd response:

I don't mind the occasional microtransaction, and I have money to burn.

Hell, ridiculous accelerationist disaster logic chains aside, this is literally my stance. If S-E isn't going to take official action against people exchanging $ for Gil using their own system, I'm going to make the game (and their jobs) that much more miserable by making my next paycheck's fun money portion go toward 3-5 million gil in my pocket. I'm not marrying anyone any time soon, and I've got a market curve to keep up with so I can afford mats/materia/etc to boost my economic standing ingame. If the first one goes over well, I might even buy a second to keep exploiting the system while it's broken! All S-E is really saying here is "Limited-time offer! $20 for 5,000,000 Gil!*"

(*Ingame market prices may vary!)

It's hunts all over again, except now with cash.

[Intaki]

If S-E isn't going to take official action against people exchanging $ for Gil using their own system, I'm going to make the game (and their jobs) that much more miserable by making my next paycheck's fun money portion go toward 3-5 million gil in my pocket.

So, can we just walk through this for a second?

You want gil. Someone else wants cash shop goodies. You have money. They don't. You buy cash shop goodies and sell it to them for gil. You now have gil, they now have cash shop goodies.

Who, in this equation, is miserable?

As for "upsetting the economy": if you're worried about this happening then you don't actually understand how the in-game economy works.

[Riepah]

Who, in this equation, is miserable?

Me, because I'll have to shake my head at money undeservedly being thrown at SE again for no reason.

[Intaki]

Me, because I'll have to shake my head at money undeservedly being thrown at SE again for no reason.

So you prefer that only people with real money have access to cash shop items and no one else?

Because "no cash shop" is no longer an option and hasn't been for years, speaking from a strictly business perspective.

[Riepah]

So you prefer that only people with real money have access to cash shop items and no one else?

Because "no cash shop" is no longer an option and hasn't been for years, speaking from a strictly business perspective.

"No cash shop" worked fine for FFXIV's first year. It would still work fine if there weren't some people who're all too happy to throw their money at SE for stuff that should be included in the monthly subscription.

[Intaki]

"No cash shop" worked fine for FFXIV's first year. It would still work fine if there weren't some people who're all too happy to throw their money at SE for stuff that should be included in the monthly subscription.

Sure, it worked "fine". But bottom line-examining business execs don't like "fine", and when they can point to other competitors in the market doing better than "fine" with both a sub and a cash shop (hello WoW), they don't wind up very pleased when a developer starts talking about morals and unquantifiable respectability.

Who is right and who is wrong is debatable and varies on a case by case basis. But until the devs come up with an argument better than "We could make even more money with the cash shop, but we'd really rather not", you can expect the shop to stick around. Because until it is demonstrably unprofitable it's not going anywhere. For better or worse.

[Krr]

So, can we just walk through this for a second?

You want gil. Someone else wants cash shop goodies. You have money. They don't. You buy cash shop goodies and sell it to them for gil. You now have gil, they now have cash shop goodies.

Who, in this equation, is miserable?

Square Enix, who apparently claims they do not want me doing this for the sake of their long-run profits and public respectability, the rest of the playerbase posting here, who claims they do not want me doing this.
People using Party Finder to find actual parties, and not illicitly exchanged supposedly un-marketable goods like wedding bracelets for sale.
Also, anyone in the playerbase who cannot afford to directly convert their real-life money (used for rent, food, medicine, or other necessities) into gil (which I should stress is a form of player power, in the form of market power,) on top of a $15/mo subscription fee.

Anyone playing the game who has neither real-life income to spare on virtual bracelets nor five million gil in their pocket ingame but wants to feel like they have a fair chance at either.