Compromise: Just Charge $5 For Now. Once 2.0 is Out, Then Charge $12

[Wynn]

Actually, Wynn brought up launches, which is why I mentioned Rift, so get some context before you make yourself look worse.

Rift specifically targeted WoW players who wouldn't play anything less than a game with a perfect launch. And that's exactly what they got. Apparently, a million of them are happy with it.

How many subscribers does FFXIV have now? Oh yeah, exactly zero.

The 2.0 version has the potential to be a Rift-like launch (if you pretend 1.0 was a bad dream, at least). But what we have now can never be as satisfactory. I think the price should reflect that, especially if it can convince a great deal more people to stick around.

Smooth launch and failed launch are not interchangeable terms. You do understand English right?

[AmyRae]

Smooth launch and failed launch are not interchangeable terms. You do understand English right?

But you just interchanged the word "smooth" with the word "failed." I don't think the word "English" means what you think it means.

[Buddhsie]

Actually, Wynn brought up launches, which is why I mentioned Rift, so get some context before you make yourself look worse.

Rift specifically targeted WoW players who wouldn't play anything less than a game with a perfect launch. And that's exactly what they got. Apparently, a million of them are happy with it.

How many subscribers does FFXIV have now? Oh yeah, exactly zero.

The 2.0 version has the potential to be a Rift-like launch (if you pretend 1.0 was a bad dream, at least). But what we have now can never be as satisfactory. I think the price should reflect that, especially if it can convince a great deal more people to stick around.

Most people playing the game now aren't playing solely because its free, they're also playing because they enjoy it in some manner. I guarantee you that at least 90% of people who quit when the subscription fee is introduced will be back when 2.0 launches. In this way Square Enix isn't 'losing' subscribers or anything of the sort, it's just people that are too cheap/poor to pay for the game until then. So they temporarily oust a few people by introducing the fee, but what they gain is a dedicated player feedback base without the trolling and the confrontation, as well as whatever revenue they can generate over this time (most of which will go into the one-time story and current game development that only people playing through to 2.0 will get to enjoy).

When 2.0 launches they will reclaim their old subscribers from original launch, free to play period players and a whole lot of new players no doubt amazed by the E3 presentation in 2012, as well as the people who play through. Charging 12.99 does not have a single negative feedback effect to it, I think it's a wise business move.

EDIT: Oh and you've probably heard this a million times but 2.0 is going ahead regardless of how many people subsribe when free to play ends. i.e. you aren't as important as you think you are.

[Wynn]

I don't think the word "English" means what you think it means.

Based on your last couple posts, this hardly surprises me.

[Buddhsie]

Based on your last couple posts, this hardly surprises me.

/rerail...

[Zanfire]

Most people playing the game now aren't playing solely because its free, they're also playing because they enjoy it in some manner. I guarantee you that at least 90% of people who quit when the subscription fee is introduced will be back when 2.0 launches. In this way Square Enix isn't 'losing' subscribers or anything of the sort, it's just people that are too cheap/poor to pay for the game until then. So they lose a few people by introducing the fee, but what they gain is a dedicated player feedback base without the trolling and the confrontation, as well as whatever revenue they can generate over this time (most of which will go into the one-time story and current game development that only people playing through to 2.0 will get to enjoy).

When 2.0 launches they will reclaim their old subscribers from original launch, free to play period and a whole lot of new players no doubt amazed by the E3 presentation in 2012, as well as the people who play through. Charging 12.99 does not have a single negative feedback effect to it, I think it's a wise business move.

Thats still part of the risk, that chunk of players who stop paying (more of them because they think currently its not worth full price for the worse 1.0 version of the game) have a chance of ending up playing something else (multiple big releases coming withing the next year) or simply forget/give up on it. Would you risk losing all of those potential subs because you want to charge on the inferior version of your game?

Most people who are into MMOs dont just sit around for a year, they will very likely try other things while waiting and it could possibly get them to stay, it happens all the time. SE needs to decide whether its worth taking the chance of losing them as future subs. And its pretty clear that the people who are not happy with a full price charge are a pretty decent #, there are numerous topics on multiple sites about it and basically every interview i have read had to ask why they want to charge so soon before 2.0 (they all got the same robot response)

And if the #s are great enough of people who either stop playing or wait til 2.0, it will effect the people paying. When the servers are a lot more empty, or peoples friends/family/LS mates decide not to play, it can in turn get them to not play now, or people could possibly not enjoy the empty feeling on their servers (some which are already not very full)

[AmyRae]

Most people playing the game now aren't playing solely because its free, they're also playing because they enjoy it in some manner. I guarantee you that at least 90% of people who quit when the subscription fee is introduced will be back when 2.0 launches. In this way Square Enix isn't 'losing' subscribers or anything of the sort, it's just people that are too cheap/poor to pay for the game until then. So they temporarily oust a few people by introducing the fee, but what they gain is a dedicated player feedback base without the trolling and the confrontation, as well as whatever revenue they can generate over this time (most of which will go into the one-time story and current game development that only people playing through to 2.0 will get to enjoy).

When 2.0 launches they will reclaim their old subscribers from original launch, free to play period players and a whole lot of new players no doubt amazed by the E3 presentation in 2012, as well as the people who play through. Charging 12.99 does not have a single negative feedback effect to it, I think it's a wise business move.

EDIT: Oh and you've probably heard this a million times but 2.0 is going ahead regardless of how many people subsribe when free to play ends. i.e. you aren't as important as you think you are.

What a silly thing to say. Customers are the most important thing to any business.

If it was worth keeping the game open for free for a year to retain as many players as possible, surely there's value in retaining as many paying customers as possible, too. Especially if you can find a price point that brings in more revenue and keeps more customers than simply charging full price.

Otherwise, this was just a waste of a year when they could have been putting in all their efforts into completing 2.0 as quickly as possible.

[Wynn]

Customers pay. We stopped being customers as far as this game is concerned as soon as the cost to keep us playing for free exceeded the price we paid for the game cd.

[Buddhsie]

Thats still part of the risk, that chunk of players who stop paying (more of them because they think currently its not worth full price for the worse 1.0 version of the game) have a chance of ending up playing something else (multiple big releases coming withing the next year) or simply forget/give up on it. Would you risk losing all of those potential subs because you want to charge on the inferior version of your game?

Most people who are into MMOs dont just sit around for a year, they will very likely try other things while waiting and it could possibly get them to stay, it happens all the time. SE needs to decide whether its worth taking the chance of losing them as future subs. And its pretty clear that the people who are not happy with a full price charge are a pretty decent #, there are numerous topics on multiple sites about it and basically every interview i have read had to ask why they want to charge so soon before 2.0 (they all got the same robot response)

And if the #s are great enough of people who either stop playing or wait til 2.0, it will effect the people paying. When the servers are a lot more empty, or peoples friends/family/LS mates decide not to play, it can in turn get them to not play now, or people could possibly not enjoy the empty feeling on their servers (some which are already not very full)

I agree with you somewhat, many of the scenarios you've mentioned are bound to occur, but I don't think it will be true for the majority of the player base. The people currently playing have time already invested, I stand by my statement of >90% of them coming back to try V2.0, otherwise they wouldn't have played to begin with. The risk of losing people now and during the subscription period pre 2.0 is a chance they have to take, and it hinges on the success of the E3 presentation. The announcement has already attracted a huge amount of attention, and no gameplay has even been released.

Their reasons behind charging for the game is mostly to cater to the current players by providing them with a special reward for their loyalty, dedication and feedback. If anyone doesn't want to be a part of it, I'm sure that the development team would rather not have their feedback anyway, and I'm glad as well that those players won't have a part in steering the future of the game any longer (barring of course those whos financial position doesn't allow for a 12.99/month expense).

[Buddhsie]

What a silly thing to say. Customers are the most important thing to any business.

If it was worth keeping the game open for free for a year to retain as many players as possible, surely there's value in retaining as many paying customers as possible, too. Especially if you can find a price point that brings in more revenue and keeps more customers than simply charging full price.

Otherwise, this was just a waste of a year when they could have been putting in all their efforts into completing 2.0 as quickly as possible.

It's silly to assume that their main incentive for introducing a fee is revenue. Refer to my other post, all of Yoshi's recent interviews, and all announcements concerning v2.0.