Mog Station is overpriced.

[Welsper59]

It's not a necessary evil though, the shop isn't needed at all.

It unfortunately is these days, at least in the case of big companies that don't focus their entire future on a single product. Outside of failure, the worst thing you can do is be viewed as stale (money wise) to the higher ups, especially when their focus can easily be shifted to other products they have lined up.

If you can't accept that the cash shop actually benefits the players in more ways than just the goods a consumer buys, then you don't understand business enough to really make that call. It certainly has downsides, but it's obviously not just that.

This topic itself should be a wake up call that Square Enix, which includes the devs for FFXIV, operate under a business. A successful product is not determined by the players nor the devs, it's determined by the higher ups that will compare FFXIV's net income to other products of its line (i.e. "Digital Entertainment").

[Paladinleeds]

This topic itself should be a wake up call that Square Enix, which includes the devs for FFXIV, operate under a business. A successful product is not determined by the players nor the devs, it's determined by the higher ups that will compare FFXIV's net income to other products of its line (i.e. "Digital Entertainment").

Yep. Essentially this. All the higher ups care about is money. And the money coming in has to increase every single day. So expect more price increases. Indeed, I wager from 2017 a single mount will start costing a few thousand pounds.

[Ametrine]

It just makes you sound like jerks towards those of us who don't mind vanity items in the cash shop, or can budget money into it.

We all support the game with a subscription. Some of us take it further with the cash shop or merchandise. Some even go to fanfest or bought the streams. It's all the same thing! We're buying the content we want, and not buying what we don't!

Why do people feel like the existence of a cash shop is somehow taking advantage of them? How is having the option of putting more money into SE hurting us all as players?

[Mugiawara]

I just wish stuff like this was in event's.
People like instant gratification and are willing to spend their money asap
than grind in a video game. :/
Or give us options to do either or.

[Teryaani]

Technically, you are inferring it as a clueless idiot. All (s)he said is that people are believing everything Square tells them.

If you believe that one believing everything a company tells them makes one a clueless idiot, then why do you blindly believe what Yoshi says in regards to the cash shop paying for EU servers? If you don't believe this, then you why do use the word "us"? Conversely, if you don't believe that one believing everything a company tells them makes one a clueless idiot, then why did you make the inference?

Oh obfuscation. Neither "joke" was in response to anyone. Both characterized people using the cash shop ("us") as being gullible. "Clueless idiot" worked fine as convenient shorthand. Want to know my problem? People keep trying to make this discussion un-nuanced and tribal.

People who use the cash shop aren't sheep. People who oppose the cash shop aren't entitled. There are degrees, I recognize that.

[SigmaOZ]

Nothing on the Mog Station should cost more than a whole month worth of subscription time, that is ~US$15.00 but prices keep skyrocketing to ridiculous heights!...

I always thought a cash shop would kill this game eventually, first going F2P then becoming cheaper and cheaper (in quality) to the point it won't be a business anymore and SE will end up just ceasing support!...

Maybe they're already working on the next FF Online and are just fooling around with FFXIV in the meanwhile, whatever the case I wonder how long will optional items be worth!...

[Kaurie]

It just makes you sound like jerks towards those of us who don't mind vanity items in the cash shop, or can budget money into it.

We all support the game with a subscription. Some of us take it further with the cash shop or merchandise. Some even go to fanfest or bought the streams. It's all the same thing! We're buying the content we want, and not buying what we don't!

Why do people feel like the existence of a cash shop is somehow taking advantage of them? How is having the option of putting more money into SE hurting us all as players?

I don't feel it is taking advantage of me, because I don't take part in it. I feel that they are moving more and more into a hybrid business model, where they have micro-transactions as well as subs. Micro-transactions, typically, were reserved for free games. This method seems like double-dipping, so-to-speak. I personally see very little reason to pay twice for stuff, and am encouraged more and more to go play Guild Wars 2 or Wildstar. Even in Wildstar, you can change your race without real money. In Guild Wars 2, you can purchase anything on the cash shop with real money or gold. Both games have better systems towards their consumers, and before you ask, the main reason why i am not over there is because my friends play here.

In terms of your question, if you agree with that, then why don't you donate more money? At what point does giving Square more money go from being beneficial to too much?

Oh obfuscation. Neither "joke" was in response to anyone. Both characterized people using the cash shop ("us") as being gullible. "Clueless idiot" worked fine as convenient shorthand. Want to know my problem? People keep trying to make this discussion un-nuanced and tribal.

Fair enough. I wouldn't say gullible, so much as naive, to be honest. I think that it is naive to accept the explanation that the cash shop paid for Europe servers. Undoubtedly, the money was already available. I do admit there is a possibility that the higher ups agreed to putting money into EU servers, only if the dev team could provide increased revenue through a cash shop. I wouldn't say the money from the cash shop is going to the servers though, especially as those servers are up and running, and new items and higher prices are continuously added.

I'll admit, the tone of the post you responded to did seem condescending, though.

[DevilsDontFly]

As much as I agree that yes, the prices are way too high and should never be higher than U$15, there's always someone at the forums saying things like "I don't even care I would pay 30 bucks for this hairstyle please SE put it on mogstation!11!!1".
Then SE be like: "Oh, so people are agreeing that it should cost 30 bucks at most? Nice. Let's make it a 25 bucks hairstyle everyone's going to be happy."
Thing is: As long as there's people thinking about "Put it on mogstation no matter what" instead of "put it ingame as a reward", the prices will stay high.

Everyone complained about the chinese outfit's prices at MogStation and yet five minutes after it was added and I logged into the game half of the server had it on.
Some people preffer instant gratification via micro-transactions, some people rather to achieve it through playing the game. I'm okay with both, but saying things like "I would gladly pay 50 bucks for that mount" just to get attention from the developers isn't the right way to do so.

If the prices are so stupid we are the ones to blame for it.

[Jandor]

It unfortunately is these days, at least in the case of big companies that don't focus their entire future on a single product. Outside of failure, the worst thing you can do is be viewed as stale (money wise) to the higher ups, especially when their focus can easily be shifted to other products they have lined up.

If you can't accept that the cash shop actually benefits the players in more ways than just the goods a consumer buys, then you don't understand business enough to really make that call. It certainly has downsides, but it's obviously not just that.

This topic itself should be a wake up call that Square Enix, which includes the devs for FFXIV, operate under a business. A successful product is not determined by the players nor the devs, it's determined by the higher ups that will compare FFXIV's net income to other products of its line (i.e. "Digital Entertainment").

So you're saying, if the community by some miracle agreed to boycott the cash shop, SE would shutdown FFXIV? Despite the fact that it's a well liked financially stable product raking in tons of cash from subs alone? Despite selling mountains of copies of the game? Despite at one point crediting it with almost single-highhandedly saving the company?
The higher ups would look at it and think "nah, it didn't make as much as FFXV this month, pull the plug!"?

[Paladinleeds]

So you're saying, if the community by some miracle agreed to boycott the cash shop, SE would shutdown FFXIV? Despite the fact that it's a well liked financially stable product raking in tons of cash from subs alone? Despite selling mountains of copies of the game? Despite at one point crediting it with almost single-highhandedly saving the company?
The higher ups would look at it and think "nah, it didn't make as much as FFXV this month, pull the plug!"?

Not necessarily pull the plug, but you bet they'd demand to cover that lost money elsewhere. So you'd be looking at heavily increased subscription costs, or heavily increased expansion pack costs (imagine Stormblood costing $150 to buy the standard edition).