Stop Making Should-Be Achievement Gear.."Optional Gear"

[Ryel]

Granted, this isn't the way things used to be, but that doesn't make it inherently wrong. Square Enix is offering goods and services, and it's your choice whether to buy them or not. I just think "we didn't used to have to pay for this" is a weak argument.

Actually it's a perfectly valid argument.

If a company is charging a recurring fee for a service and then selectively starts removing features of that service specifically with the intent to add an additional charge to them then yes it's well within a consumer's rights to say "Hold on, something is wrong here."

In regards to seasonal event items this is something that is a rather large issue, whatever arguments you want to make for unique mounts, emotes, glamour items and recolors that are placed in the Mogstation are entirely different as you can make the case that while those items were developed for the game they were never actually implemented in the live version, meaning there never was an alternate way to obtain them.

In the case of seasonal event items however they are items that players with active subscriptions were able to acquire during their initial release and prior to the Mogstation were available annually upon the return of the event for those who may have missed them the first time. Now the case is that the only way to obtain those items if you were unsubbed or not playing at the time of the event is to pay a cash amount that may very well be equal or greater than your monthly subscription in addition to the amount you have to pay to play the game to begin with.

So yeah suddenly being charged for something you didn't used to before on top of a recurring service fee is a pretty big deal.

If enough people say "we won't pay for this and will stop paying for your game at all" that it seems like they're actually coming out behind by offering these items at these prices, that should convince them. But it's not a debate that can be won on principle, because the principles are entirely arbitrary.

The problem is that this is a black and white approach to a multifaceted issue.

Players who never experienced the event but want the items literally have no other alternatives if they want to acquire those seasonal rewards.

It would be one thing if the mog station sold previous seasonal items year round but the game allowed you to acquire the same items via in-game means for free during the following annual event, something that would actually be a fair compromise. You would see plenty of players willing to wait out the next year's event if it meant they had a shot at getting the items without having to buy them, while those who are less patient or simply dont mind spending the cash would have the freedom to buy them off the Mogstation ASAP.

The reality however is that the Mogstation is an all or nothing approach, either you got the item from the year's event or your only alternative is to buy it with cash for the rest of the lifetime of the game.

This also discounts that the majority of people are playing the game for reasons outside of the Mogstation.

I'm personally not going to drop my sub because the Mogstation is selling a Red Magitek mount or an various NPC glamours, I certainly wont buy them sure but my continued sub to the game doesn't mean that I personally approve of every single Mogstation addition. Just like people buying many of these items doesnt mean they agree with them being put up for sale to begin with. All it does show is that they have a desire to acquire those items, many of which have no alternate means of acquisition.