Whats with people hating F2P?

[Azazua_azura]

It is shame that there are no longer MMOs (also no upcoming MMOs if I haven't missed something) that give you access to EVERYTHING in exchange for monthly subscription. No cash shop, no bonus services etc. I think that every MMO is slowly going into F2P model (simply because it is much more lucrative) and no matter what Yoshi says, when SE decides F2P model will make them more profit, FFXIV will go into F2P too.

They just need to find out the right mixture of stuff that would yield enough money (in cash shop). So far they tried only vanity stuff, but they will definitely try to cross the line a few times in future.

Even solo rpg have cash shops. -looks at dragons dogma- And fighting games -looks at all fighting games-
I miss the days when you bought a game and it was the full game. (for $30-$50) now we pay $60 for 60-80% of the game the rest being DLC or cash shop stuff.

[Zazriel]

Correction Sqaure Enix does fall under a Holding company and is publically traded. But it is owned essentially by itself. (SQUARE ENIX HOLDINGS)

I can assure all of you FFXIV will never go free to play. Unless something has changed Square is not driven by a board of public investors. This is why the game has such great customer support. Also, Square is a very smart company and they know if they ruin the Final Fantasy franchise essentially they are out of business. Read up on how making such great games like ff7, ff10 raised the bar so high lead content developers where literally working themselves sick to meet expectation. My brother worked with a Final Fantasy 10 contributor that had to quit the business to regain his health. YOSHI and his team I assure you work around the clock and literally live FFXIV. Lastly this is also the reason FF games take forever to develop, Square really really tries to make groundbreaking enjoyable games. All of our demands for sure weigh heavy on these guys and girls. But they have to make money while developers completely throw their lives at the work.

[Colorful]

Even solo rpg have cash shops. -looks at dragons dogma- And fighting games -looks at all fighting games-
I miss the days when you bought a game and it was the full game. (for $30-$50) now we pay $60 for 60-80% of the game the rest being DLC or cash shop stuff.

The days where we bought an expansion pack that contained almost as much content as the main game is long gone now unfortunately with microtransactions in everything, there is one developer who I trust more than anyone else though, and that would be CD Projekt Red. The Witcher 3 is my GoTY, packed with content, amazing side quests and storylines, okay gameplay, amazing world building, etc. All that for $60, and they recently released a mini-expansion pack for $10 that brought in 15 hours of content, with an amazing quest line. That's right, $10 for all that. What does $10 get you in FFXIV optional purchases? Not even a recoloured mount.

[Azazua_azura]

The days where we bought an expansion pack that contained almost as much content as the main game is long gone now unfortunately with microtransactions in everything, there is one developer who I trust more than anyone else though, and that would be CD Projekt Red. The Witcher 3 is my GoTY, packed with content, amazing side quests and storylines, okay gameplay, amazing world building, etc. All that for $60, and they recently released a mini-expansion pack for $10 that brought in 15 hours of content, with an amazing quest line. That's right, $10 for all that. What does $10 get you in FFXIV optional purchases? Not even a recoloured mount.

$10
gets you... a fantasia potion or 10 dye pots or 2 minions or 3 outfits.

And don't even get me started. I am a big "the sims" player that game typically cost $20-$30 with expacs costing $10 which added new zones, 1000 new furnashing and 100 new outfits for each age and gender. as well as 10 new interacions.

[Ykronix]

See, Spiral Knights would've been a really great game if they didn't make it so you were limited to playing like maybe 5 or so (really short) dungeons a day, and forced you to buy Mist Tanks in order to play more. And while most claim its not 'forced', as you can earn extra mist in-game, its a long, painfully tedious process which honestly isn't worth the extra hour or two you gain. Also you're limited to two weapon slots, the other two you have to buy upgrades for- the two usually is not very sufficient in dungeons which rely on a rock-paper-scissors type system where there will always be at least one enemy that you'll do crap damage to.

The misconception here is free to play doesn't mean free. Its all foreplay and no rodeo till you give in to demands.

[Catwho]

The days where we bought an expansion pack that contained almost as much content as the main game is long gone now unfortunately with microtransactions in everything, there is one developer who I trust more than anyone else though, and that would be CD Projekt Red. The Witcher 3 is my GoTY, packed with content, amazing side quests and storylines, okay gameplay, amazing world building, etc. All that for $60, and they recently released a mini-expansion pack for $10 that brought in 15 hours of content, with an amazing quest line. That's right, $10 for all that. What does $10 get you in FFXIV optional purchases? Not even a recoloured mount.

I was actually surprised that Heavensward was a full game in itself - I was fully expecting them to go XI style and dribble out the story over the course of a year. I mean, SE is still doing that with HW, but the base story in Heavensward wrapped up pretty neatly with the exception of Estinien and Nidhogg. With Chains of Promathia, the most beloved expansion of XI, we got the Promyvions - three level 30 capped fights - and then had to wait three more months for Ouryu.

Imagine if Azys Lla was only unlocked after forking over another $10. Imagine if the Diadem was a DLC add-on for another $20. That is what F2P or B2P companies would have done.

[Colorful]

Imagine if Azys Lla was only unlocked after forking over another $10. Imagine if the Diadem was a DLC add-on for another $20. That is what F2P or B2P companies would have done.

What makes you think that? SWTOR charges for expansion packs and you get the entire story of that expansion, Guild Wars 2 charges for the expansion and you get all the expansion content, and unlock the living world content for free as long as you do it within the first 2 weeks I believe. Asian MMOs? Sure, but asian MMOs are nothing but garbage cash grabs 90% of the time anyway. They're created quickly to make as much money as possible, keep it on life support, and then shit out their next game, then sell the licenses to western publishers like Nexon/Aeria Games.

[Riardon]

There is nothing "Free" in the world didn't your parent teach you that? Whoever offers you something for "free" always lying and it always comes with "terms and conditions" and extra charges that may seem optional but they aren't really. I play this game because ITS NOT F2P. I could play one of hundreds Korean F2P crap mmorpgs if I wanted F2P. Companies exist only to generate profit and nothing else. I prefer a more honest approach with customers. I want your money and I charge XXX for my product. Unlike F2P that always comes with many catches and in reality it's only free to login and watch the scenery but not really "play" with all those limitations.

[Magis]

Even solo rpg have cash shops. -looks at dragons dogma- And fighting games -looks at all fighting games-
I miss the days when you bought a game and it was the full game. (for $30-$50) now we pay $60 for 60-80% of the game the rest being DLC or cash shop stuff.

And the addons you could buy at the time gave you way more for your money. You payed some extra and got an expansion that added to the game, rather than fill in the missing holes or give you just one thing. Things like SC: Broodwar or Diablo's Lord of Destruction adding a whole new chapter instead of a one piece of gear. FPS expansion packs added whole new episodes with multiple levels instead of a single map for $9.99.

[TouchandFeel]

developers completely throw their lives at the work.

This is more true than I believe most people could fathom.

Game development, particularly of large projects is brutal and results in extreme levels of burnout and employee turn over, not to mention that many times once a game is shipped, you get fired and have to go find another job/project to work on.

For example, when I was working on a certain MMO, there was a period lasting months (I think I stopped keeping track after about 3 months) where I was on average putting in 100+ hour work weeks (salaried so no overtime pay). I would work until like 3-4 am, go home and maybe get 4 hours of sleep and then get back up and go back to work. The creative director I worked with literally began sleeping on the small couch next to his desk so he could save time by not going home.

This is often times how dedicated and hard working developers can be, torturing themselves day in and day out to the point where they are actually harming themselves just because they really really care about their work and creating an amazing game.

It's easy to sit behind a keyboard, screen and the anonymity of the internet and criticise other people's work that they have passionately poured their lives into, but more people should really pause and reflect on what it is like for the other person before passing snap judgements.

In fact I would go so far as to say that people should just do this in general to others, no matter who or what occupation they are in. The world could sure use the extra understanding and compassion.

Lastly, I'm not trying to say that people shouldnt question or voice concerns or preferences about things, they most definitely should. However, when providing criticism, try to make it constructive and avoid being a jerk about it.