Naoki Yoshida's Comment in Regard to Jump Potions/Boost Potions

[Imoen]

I don't see how people, can't see the advantage a player gets using a potion vs someone that did not.

They have an immediate, competitive market advantage over the other player. The ability to access other areas, more valued items and the ability to obtain them. Materia due to higher level gear binding ... etc... etc... etc...

I'm not even going to explain this further so please, don't ask. I'm just going to say I'm crazy and let everyone think there isn't an advantage. So, "yay, you win. congratulations!" ... I think?

My stance has always been about the business model, not it's effects on the game. I don't agree with having a p2p game, with p2w, Pay to skip, or money grab, or charged free to play, or w/e the hell you want to call it, elements... thus possibly opening the door to even more controversial additions. (That are not purely cosmetic.) I really don't care what you want to "define" it as. It doesn't change what it is.

I certainly do not condone, that if they keep with the structure of the story, that these potions become pretty much mandatory at a certain point either.

[Aramina]

I wonder how many calling it not Pay to Win, today, would have called it Pay to Win, if the Jump potion (completes 2.55, and gets you i120 or i13 gear) had come out before Heavensward?

Moving the goalposts (IE - changing where "endgame" is) does not change it from "Pay to Win", to "not Pay to Win anymore". THAT is where your error in assuming PTW is only in endgame or pvp lies.

Can you really not see the difference between max level + current BiS gear vs max level -10 + adequate levelling gear. Really?

[Aviars]

Can you really not see the difference between max level + current BiS gear vs max level -10 + adequate levelling gear. Really?

He's strawmanning. Should honestly just ignore what he's saying now.

[SDaemon]

He's strawmanning. Should honestly just ignore what he's saying now.

I'm a bit annoyed that he deflected my question by asking if I was wanting to know what the jump potion was for then asserting that I was while ignoring the rest of what I wrote. He's not looking to discuss points or even defend his own.

[kuma_aus]

My main problem with jump potions is that it makes years worth of development completely useless to who ever uses the potions. At the end of the day, it makes the game much smaller. FFXIV has features like level sync and Roulettes so people who join the game today get a very close to launch experience with content. With a skip potion you make people miss out on 1-2 months worth of content that is still good and relevant thanks to the before mentioned features.

That being said, I can understand why some people wouldn't like ARR portions of the game. Things like unlocking Garuda and Titan are a real chore and are annoying to a lot of people. And not to mention the amount of useless filler in 2.1 - 2.55 MSQ. Luckily Heavensward improved on this considerably and is the best MSQ I've played in an MMO to date.

If you make people skip on Heavensward just because they want to play the shiny new Stormblood, you'll have the lose out on experiencing one of the greatest story experiences in an MMO and make the months of work put into it useless. And even if people skip the story, thanks to the way Heavensward is set out, people will still get a sense of adventure as they explore the great 3.0 maps.

If a jump potion is introduced, let them skip the somewhat poorly designed A Realm Reborn section of the game, but don't let them skip Heavensward. I personally think a level 50 jump is perfect for the global version of XIV if one is ever introduced even for 4.0 and beyond.

[Nestama]

snip

You know, they could always go back and make an alt to experience the story (ARR's story was pretty meh, though). Whether they use a Boost potion to skip the grind is up to them, but they still have that option.

[Neophyte]

The purchase of something, using RL currency, to obtain some form of advantage over someone who is not making such a purchase. That something could be an in game currency of some sort, or something else for use in game.

Retainers are "Rent to Win" because they confer an advantage over someone who does not have them. This jump potion is Pay to Win because it confers an advantage over someone else starting and not buying it.

I'm sure you have specific examples of more egregious Pay to Win in mind, but those examples do not diminish the Pay to Win nature of the jump potion revealed in the first post here.

That's basically saying that all sport are pay-to-win, 'cause when you're rich you can buy better equipment or have better training grounds.
Well, some of them would be, if there were no rules against doping or regulations on specifications of sport gear... but see, it depends on what you can use your money for.
If I would generalize in this example as you do, this would mean that even the possibility to have a better hotel than your opponents (so you are more relaxed) before a sport contest would make that contest pay to win.

http://www.urbandictionary.com/defin...erm=pay-to-win

"Games that let you buy better gear or allow you to make better items then everyone else at a faster rate and then makes the game largely unbalanced even for people who have skill in the game without paying."

[kuma_aus]

You know, they could always go back and make an alt to experience the story (ARR's story was pretty meh, though). Whether they use a Boost potion to skip the grind is up to them, but they still have that option.

But will they? The reason they use jump potions is because they aren't as interested in it. It might be a small side thing that a very few of the people do like in WoW. For the majority of new people who use jump potions, they would feel that outdated content isn't worth doing. They don't know the game, they don't know what's good and not. And since the developers let them skip it, they would feel that even the devs agree that outdated content isn't that great that they would enjoy doing it. ARR had quite a few low points and bad points in it, but Heavensward is still a great story to go through even when 4.0 is released and everyone is in the new maps.

[Nestama]

They may and they may not. It really depends on the person and whether they want to go back... and that's if they care about stories in MMO's at all.
I've already levelled an alt to level 60 on the Siren server, as I don't really need to work on my current main (I don't do Savage raids any more, my Relic is up to date and I've beaten Sophia).

[Zojha]

If I would generalize in this example as you do, this would mean that even the possibility to have a better hotel than your opponents (so you are more relaxed) before a sport contest would make that contest pay to win.

And, depending on your definition of "Pay to Win", that would be correct. For example, some people define "Death" at the stopping of the heart, others define it at the stopping of the brain. And thus, if your endgame is glamour, the cash shop already IS pay to win. If your endgame is to accumulate stats or become worlds best chocobo jockey, it's not. It's why you always have to give your definition on such terms.

You can argue that as long as the cash shop does not offer BETTER gear than the game itself, there is no pay to win going on because you can get equivalent stuff without paying, even if it's excessively difficult. You can also argue that outside of PvP or similar competitions, you cannot "win" against other players and consequently "Pay to Win" is impossible. Or you can argue the way urban dictionary does and say:"When things are becoming unbalanced". All possibilities!