PSA Regarding Stormbloods Budget and content development

[Ghishlain]

I finally found the quote about Cash shops.

http://gamerescape.com/2014/10/25/fi...ondon-keynote/

Clarification on New Optional Services
Player feedback to the new “Optional Services,” also known as the “cash shop” by fans, was swift and specific, and Yoshida wanted fans to know that he stands by the commitment he made in Las Vegas. There will be no pay to win – at all – period. He framed the services as a way to give back to the fans, not nickel and dime them. The profits generated, he says, will enable them to create even more minions and vanity items in-game, as well as tackle ambitious projects such as the European data centres and the expansion of housing wards.
There was also a less-than-clear comment about how items such as new minions will not be exclusive to Optional Services. Some took this to mean that the items may be available in the game, as well, but it may simply be a promise that while some items will be cash shop exclusive, that doesn’t mean they will be any less committed to developing other such items to be released in-game. Clarification on this comment will come as soon as possible.

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So ya, any doubts on that I hope are eliminated because it's been killing me trying to find that proof. But yes it has been stated that cash shop was one of the vital sources of income that allowed the EU datacenters to exist.

Adding to this, here's a video of the European Fanfest 2014 Keynote Address with Yoshi-P who states what the Cash Shop revenue was used for and one of the items he does mention is using it for the EU Datacentre about a minute after the timestamp where the link starts at.

[Moomba33]

Thank you for this thread. While I think, that it won`t become as famous as the hate threads, its still nice to see someone who actually wants to discuss in a less toxic manner.

On another note: Introducing new things involves taking a lot of risk. Bringing something new and something old is a good way to keep the game stable. Going ALL IN with new stuff and just see how things work out, can destroy such a big project at a tremendous speed.

Pretty much. I'm all for SE introducing new content but not at the expense of old favourites.
They said they cut Expert Roulettee down from 3 dungeons to 2 so they could have more time to work on new things like Diadem and Palace. Increasing the output of new content means more cuts to old stuff which could be disastrous if the new things don't go over well. Imagine if 3.1 had been nothing but Diadem, Verminion, and something else just as poorly received.

[ErikMynhier]

Old man voice...

In my day we just played the game. If we liked it we bought it. If we didn't then we didn't. And we didn't give 2 asses about how it was made. Videogames were a passtime... not a job or social crusade. You kids may wanna try that.

[Nihonnick]

"triple the budget"

While I won't say anything about Triple. It has been clearly stated several times. On live letters and at Fanfests that they have had a budget increase.
It was clearly mentioned at Frankfurt fanfest that they plan to use the new budget to do more.

I went to the fest, so don't have a stream to pull it from.

[LineageRazor]

This is what I expect from an expansion. To introduce new things.

How did Heavenward not deliver on new types of content? Just to name a few, we got:

Aquapolis
Diadem
Palace of the Dead

Whether you LIKE these new types of content is beside the point. The point is they ARE new and different content - at least, they're as different from what came before as Assault, Salvage, etc that you named were from what came before them.

Folks who insist HW brought nothing new to the table are fooling themselves. SE IS tweaking the formula and coming up with new things for people to do. Stormblood will be no different - in fact, they've already begun promoting one such piece of new content, the Lands of Eureka.

This isn't to say that there isn't room for improvement, of course. While Palace of the Dead is pretty fun and interesting (well, for a while, at least), it didn't take long for Diadem as it was originally released to die from lack of interest, and the novelty of Aquapolis wore off pretty darned quick. It is clear that they're trying to provide novel new activities.

[Daranion]

Actually the budgetary claim made during fanfest was along the line sof "for the first time we will reinvest profits made back into the game (LOL) and upgrade our server architecture" -Referring to inventory space increase specifically. Nothing along the lines of a bigger budget overall.

The release for Budget was legit though and was posted at one point. Perhaps they have taken it down?
I think it will be less then we are expecting in terms of content on release but should still be pretty good.
Content takes lots of work and time so it could be easy to blow a budget in no time

No, I'm pretty sure that's false. There's no source to back this claim up and no event people can reference regarding the time this was supposedly released

[Kosmos992k]

Actually, the budget was released on the SE investor relations page.

I'd be rather disappointed if it wasn't like 2.0 and 3.0 tbh.

Indeed. I often wonder when people say things like "If it's like 2.0 or 3.0 I'm outta here" or "If it's like what we have it will suck"; I wonder why they are in fact subscribing to and playing this game if in fact they really want a different game. I signed up for and have continued to subscribe to FFXIV because it is what it is. Significant changes to the game would completely break that for me. Honestly, for people who want significant change, perhaps the truth is they really don't want to play FFXIV and would be better seeking what they want elsewhere - where it might already be on offer.

[Kosmos992k]

Old man voice...

In my day we just played the game. If we liked it we bought it. If we didn't then we didn't. And we didn't give 2 asses about how it was made. Videogames were a passtime... not a job or social crusade. You kids may wanna try that.

Um...I think, if I may, I will use this quote in a sig. Oh and please take all my upvotes and likes from today, I could not agree more with your sentiment.

[MomomiMomi]

How did Heavenward not deliver on new types of content? Just to name a few, we got:

Aquapolis
Diadem
Palace of the Dead

I mentioned two of those already in the very post you quoted. Diadem was dead for a very long time due to lack of updates. Something new should be consistently updated, not be a one-off.

As a vertical progression game, if content is left without update, it dies.

[Valkyrie_Lenneth]

I mentioned two of those already in the very post you quoted. Diadem was dead for a very long time due to lack of updates. Something new should be consistently updated, not be a one-off.

Diadem wasn't dead because of a lack of updates. Diadem was dead because the community decided it was garbage and they didn't like RNG for drops and thought farming the same mobs over and over was boring, even though they asked for RNG drops that were capable of horizontal progression and for mobs that they could farm over and over for said drops.