The Ethics of Optional Item Sales

[Bomb_Toss]

As the MMO gaming industry shifts from the adventure of the 2000's to a formulated money-driven F2P, a discussion about consumer ethics needs to take place. I'm talking about the optional items in FFXIV. The following is why I believe the practice is unethical in a subscriber model.

As a subscriber, I pay a monthly fee that is calculated based on the cost of the assets created for the game, the labor for their creation, and the updates/maintenance required to upkeep the game. That is the mutual agreement with SE when we give them $12-$14 a month. But FFXIV's optional items are assets created with subscriber money and then posted as completely stand alone items for the game because they are thought to be good enough to sell alone. This forces subscribers to pay more if they want the item they are paying SE, already, to create. In the end, such monetary practices devalue subscribers and create an incentive within the industry to lock the best content/design from subscribers.

In response, many that support these practices argue that services are similar. I disagree. Services are unlike the optional items because they only grant convenience. You can still create a new char on a different server with a sub. Also, I don't blame anyone that has bought these items--it is SE's fault as a company they provided this monetary policy. In the future, I would hope SE would revise this current strategy because it appears to be unethical to its subscribers.

[Mahri]

Buy it if you like it.

Don't buy it if you don't.

It's optional and has no impact on gameplay. Nothing unethical, given how they've been 100% transparent about what they're for.

Ain't rocket science.

[Sakuraluna]

Most of the stuff is old seasonal event vanity with no impact on gameplay anyway.

[StrejdaTom]

I was against cash shop first.
The things I have from cash shop I have either bought or won in giveaways and I still think they aren't a big deal. The shop is out for some time now and SE kept it clear and smooth so far and if it stays the same without adding some questionable or gamechanging stuff I can deal with it.
If atleast a portion of the money made from shop goes to development of new content (as it should be) I am completely fine with it.

[GenJoe]

Only thing I'd like changed about the system is to have the optional item catalogue vastly expanded, then have the items freely tradable.
That will cut down a lot of the problems with RMT we have going on..

Also introduce game cards as in-game item and allow people to trade THAT for gil too.. then RMT will have no leg to stand on.

[Lexxuk]

I think, the ethical standpoint OP was making is that SE are taking our sub money, to pay for their artists/programmers etc. to create items which are then put into the cash shop which we then have to pay for, even though we already paid SE to make them, though SE is a business, the millions they make from XIV will go to prop up their unpopular stuff (we pay for GM's which are shared with DQ for instance). But that's the way the industry always works, have 1 or 2 blockbuster titles which you use to fund less popular, more risky titles.

Oh, and then profits get sent out to share holders.

[NorthernLadMSP]

You pay to play the game. This does not entitle you to additional vanity only items that have no relevance on anything in game.

[Teuciont]

Buy it if you like it.

Don't buy it if you don't.

It's optional and has no impact on gameplay. Nothing unethical, given how they've been 100% transparent about what they're for.

Ain't rocket science.

This is unfortunately 100% not true. I can almost guarantee you after experiencing FFXI, SE's other MMO, that items that have been placed in the cash shop are things that could have alternatively been placed in the game as quest rewards. This isn't profitable from a business perspective however considering that you're weighing whether or not you should:

-Spend Development time and money to create a reward AND quest for """"free""""*
or
-Spend Development time and money to create the "reward" and have consumers pay you back for that item.

Just because it's obvious from a business perspective doesn't mean you should bend over backwards and imply that it has literally no consequence for the game itself.

*After having paid a monthly fee to access the quest and reward in the first place.

[LunaHoshino]

It's the exact same concept as buying season tickets for a sports team and then paying extra for things like food or drinks. Your sub gives you guaranteed access to as much of the basic content as you want (the season ticket). If you want some fun little extras (the food/drinks/souvenirs), then you pay for those.

[MatthiasS]

SE has kept their word on the Cash Shop. No Pay to Win, vanity only. I'm ok with it. The only item I ever had an issue with was the Odin mount, because it seemed like something that should have been able to be earned in-game. Then I bought an Odin mount, so shows what my conviction was worth, lol.