Quote Originally Posted by Platinumstorm View Post
You should hold out until about mid-length next year, or even until 2.0, because it will be better for you to be "over the top" than to limp by with what exists right now.

Edit: I've moved Post 3 into this post for ease of reading

Here are several things wrong with it:

You're allowing your remaining player base to go away with feelings of that it was getting there, but "I don't know". Then you have older players who want to check the game out in the future who wont, because they lost the trust in the company. These same people are the ones who talk about how they played FFXIV, how it was awful, and they will keep doing so all the way up to the new launch. Having it free is having a 25,000 person viral marketing base to market the game for Square. How much does it cost you? Just the cost of having the servers up - the same cost it's going to cost you whether or not they're playing.

Once you charge a subscription fee and the majority of the players of this leave the game, a good chunk of them are going to become established to another MMO, whether upcoming or already released. MMO's take a huge chunk of time, and now you've just lost a fraction of these players forever, because FFXIV does not have enough within the game to justify a subscription currently.

You've also set apart a "benchmark" players were looking for in the schedule of this game; the job system. Players were counting on that to show them how the game can change, and now that isn't something players can do without paying a subscription until the relaunch of the game. This is a mistake.


The game will be worth paying for one day, but it's not worth paying for today, and it won't be worth paying for in December. Until then, it is Square's responsibility to earn back the trust of the players, and this action stalls that regain of trust, but it doesn't stop the dissemination of the bad taste left in most FFXIV's ex-players mouths.

Thank you Yoshi-P and the development team for your incredible and stunning revisioning of FFXIV. I hope you succeed in the long run, but I am afraid your company is currently making the wrong choice by requiring a subscription fee before the game has earned it.
I whole heartedly disagree. I was invited to SWTOR Beta... I played for two hours and left to come back to FFXIV. They are apples and oranges. There is nothing like FFXIV on the market other than FFXI in terms of pace and feel.

Let's assume that FFXIV has 50,000 player base. Based on the poll on these forums, 69% of people will pay, 31% won't pay.

That's 34500 players who will remain and pay. That brings SE ~$500000 a month in revenue assuming the $15 a month plan. After one year, when 2.0 comes out, SE will have raised $6 million in revenue. The later they instill a subcription model, the less resources they have to make their vision come to fruition.

It's really simple. Am I having fun the in the game. Is that fun worth $15 dollars? Hell yes!!!! $15 dollars a month for entertainment is nothing. However, if you feel this game isn't worth $15 a month, come back in 2.0. I, for one, will welcome you with open arms and my multiple rank 50s (^^).