To all the people saying that the start of monthly fees will be the end of FFXIV...

[Rhianu]

Your entire stance makes absolutely no sense.

Let's think about this logically for a moment. In order for FFXIV to be commercially successful, it has to bring in more revenue than it costs to keep it up and running.

Now which of the following options do you think would cost SE more money?

Option A) Keeping FFXIV free for another year, while they continue to spend more and more money on development, updates, and new content.
OR
Option B) Start charging a monthly fee so that they can start to recoup their losses from all the money they've bleed out since FFXIV's launch in 2010.

Popularity and subscription number don't mean squat. A player who isn't paying is making zero money for the company, and therefore the company loses absolutely nothing of monetary value if that person stops playing. Sure, they might lose a subscriber, but subscribers that don't generate any income are -- quite literally -- worthless.

Subscription numbers only matter when there is a subscription fee in place. Having a game with a few paying subscribers will always be more profitable than having a game with tons of non-paying subscribers.

I don't understand why so many people seem to think FFXIV would go under if SE started turning a profit on it. Games go under when they lose money, NOT when they lose subscribers.

In order to stay afloat, income must always be greater than expenses. Honestly, this is basic finances here.

[Rhianu]

Yes, it was most certainly a flop. That I will not deny. The same attitude that made FFXIV a failure was also the attitude that kept FFXI from ever achieving the type of mass popularity that WoW has obtained -- heck, that other FF games have obtained. I think this was a hard lesson, but SE needed to learn it.

However, this game does have a lot of as of yet unfulfilled potential, which I and many other people would like to see become fulfilled eventually. I think that's a far better option than just shutting down the servers and letting FFXIV die like Auto Assault did.

SE needed to learn a lesson, but they don't deserve to lose all the money they spent developing FFXIV. I want SE to learn a lesson so they can fix their mistakes and start turning out quality games. I don't want to see them go bankrupt.

[December]

Yes, it was most certainly a flop. That I will not deny. The same attitude that made FFXIV a failure was also the attitude that kept FFXI from ever achieving the type of mass popularity that WoW has obtained -- heck, that other FF games have obtained. I think this was a hard lesson, but SE needed to learn it.

However, this game does have a lot of as of yet unfulfilled potential, which I and many other people would like to see become fulfilled eventually. I think that's a far better option than just shutting down the servers and letting FFXIV die like Auto Assault did.

SE needed to learn a lesson, but they don't deserve to lose all the money they spent developing FFXIV.

You say you understand simple economics, or finances. If you make a bad game, and spend a hundered million dollars doing so, you just made a 100,000,000 dollar mistake. I agree, FFXIV has unfulfilled potential. When it reaches that potential (or, for example, a potential that is worth paying for), then charge us. Supporting FFXIV for another year isnt going to shut SE down, but it may shut down FFXIV. And you know what? They can start working on their next game and maybe not fuck up so bad?

Just because they are SE doesnt mean we need to bow down and pay them money when they screwed up. Give me a game worth 13~ dollars a month and ill pay for it. For now though, most free to play korean garbage mmos have more of the basics right than FFXIV does.

[Rhianu]

Supporting FFXIV for another year isnt going to shut SE down, but it may shut down FFXIV.

Unless they start charging monthly fees, in which case FFXIV can continue and eventually become a great game. I don't want FFXIV to go the way of Auto Assault...

Besides, it looks like from here it will only take one year for FFXIV to become great. If SE were to just scrap FFXIV and make a totally new game, that new game wouldn't see the light of day for another five years at least. Even if it turned out to be great, we wouldn't be playing it until the year 2016. I don't know about you, but I'd rather have a great MMO from SE within one year rather than five.

[December]

That's fine and you can pay for it. But I still believe this will split the FFXIV community in half. if not worse. more and more people are going to cut their support for SE and they will have this tiny community left for FFXIV. Hopefully is isn't going to kill 2.0.

[Kajika]

Stop right there. FFXIV does not deserve to be successful. FFXIV deserves to flop.

What??? Deserves??? Is this the judgment day or is it a business? Deserve means nothing. There is one option: In order for FFXIV to be successful, it needs revenue. What does "deserve" have to do with anything?

[Bearforce]

Unless they start charging monthly fees, in which case FFXIV can continue and eventually become a great game...

if you think paying subs will help making the game, then you are absolutely wrong.even small numbers of subs will not cut it out because investor's will not make money out of this game thus its out of the option to PAY now and expect to play when V2.0 comes out which is around Q4 of 2012 or early 2013

[Rhianu]

But I still believe this will split the FFXIV community in half. if not worse. more and more people are going to cut their support for SE and they will have this tiny community left for FFXIV.

It doesn't matter what size the community is. What matters is whether or not they're turning a profit off the players.

if you think paying subs will help making the game, then you are absolutely wrong.even small numbers of subs will not cut it out because investor's will not make money out of this game thus its out of the option to PAY now and expect to play when V2.0 comes out which is around Q4 of 2012 or early 2013

Fun fact: FFXIV doesn't have any investors. SE is paying for it entirely out of their own pocket.

[AmyRae]

While I appreciated the free service while it lasted, I'm not sure I want to pay a full price subscription for a half-finished game.

That said, there are plenty of people who would, and I'm sure many if not most people who come to this site would fork out a sub. Their decision to ask for money doesn't bother me, even though the press may not be so forgiving.

I may take a hiatus awhile and follow the news on fansites to see how the development is going. If it's looking good, I may join back in at a later date, but certainly the thing I'm waiting for the most is how the PS3 release will turn out. If it succeeds, I'll feel assured the game will be around for many years to come.

If it doesn't turn out so well... eh, we can only hope it doesn't come to that.

[Bearforce]

Fun fact: FFXIV doesn't have any investors. SE is paying for it entirely out of their own pocket.

fun fact: subs will not cover the salary's of 250 staff making the game, heck even when making gross profit is not enough from a 12$ subs