Mogstation and New Content

[Jandor]

The cash shop isn't purely cosmetic. Extra retainers aren't vanity, jump potions aren't vanity.

To the people saying stuff wouldn't exist, with maybe a couple of exceptions I think it would, most of it was created for events or is made of reused or recoloured assets.

SE never said the sub wouldn't cover essential server upgrades, they said that the cash shop funds can be used to pay for them. I don't for one second believe that our subs aren't enough to cover everything, I can however easily believe that money won't be allocated to FFXIV until certain MogStation milestones are cleared though.

[Alien_Gamer]

The cash shop isn't purely cosmetic. Extra retainers aren't vanity, jump potions aren't vanity.

Incorrect. The game plays perfectly well without extra retainers; they are in no way necessary to play the game, they are a convenience. Jump potions are the same, you don't need to buy one to play, it just makes getting to SB more convenient.

I don't for one second believe that our subs aren't enough to cover everything

This is only partially true. Subs can be enough to run a game but that doesn't mean they're enough to run a game well or to the standards that their players expect. There is a reason most subscription MMOs also have a cash shop, game development is expensive; while the costs of game development don't require a cash shop but they are very attractive to the business. For a company like SE I can very easily see how the subs wouldn't be enough to pay for everything and implementing the cash shop could be a necessary part of their business model to keep the game going.

[Jandor]

Incorrect. The game plays perfectly well without extra retainers; they are in no way necessary to play the game, they are a convenience. Jump potions are the same, you don't need to buy one to play, it just makes getting to SB more convenient.

No, I'm correct. Retainers and jump potions aren't cosmetics. I never mentioned their effect on gameplay.
When people say the optional extras are just cosmetic they are 100% wrong.

This is only partially true. Subs can be enough to run a game but that doesn't mean they're enough to run a game well or to the standards that their players expect.

For a company like SE I can very easily see how the subs wouldn't be enough to pay for everything and implementing the cash shop could be a necessary part of their business model to keep the game going.

They ran this very game to the same standards they do now before it had a cash shop. In fact, they wouldn't shut up about how amazing it was financially.

Try going to a restaurant at a private club. You need to pay the club membership (subscription) just to get in the door then you need to pay for that really good cheese cake for desert (cash shop)...damn it, now I'm hungry.

Yeah, think I'm going to go and get some lunch.
Also, that sounds pretty expensive, does the club do other things besides food?

[Driavna]

Incorrect. The game plays perfectly well without extra retainers; they are in no way necessary to play the game, they are a convenience. Jump potions are the same, you don't need to buy one to play, it just makes getting to SB more convenient.

No, inventory is a big problem right now and two retainers are not enough.

[Brannigan]

There is a reason most subscription MMOs also have a cash shop, game development is expensive; while the costs of game development don't require a cash shop but they are very attractive to the business.

The reason subscription games have a cash shop is because they can get away with it. WoW added a cash shop when it had like four million subs. Like with many products, MMO prices are determined by what they think customers are willing to pay. I'm confident that they could continue development on FFXIV with income from (fully priced) box sales alone.

And I already explained this in a previous post. This conversation is about optional items. And this topic only came to be when optional items were introduced (the topic in general, not the thread). I don't remember people complaining about paid name changes or paid server transfers <-- also a part of Mog Station. So, what is it? Is the entire Mog Station (as the title of this thread suggests) the issue, or is it just the optional items?

Name changes and server transfers are services which make no sense to be added to the game content's rewards. Mounts, minions, clothes, and emotes all come from in-game content - events, quests, raids, etc. Putting these things in the cash shop makes it feel like they're taking content out of the game, since often times the motivation players feel to do content will be inspired by the promise of rewards. Would anyone have done Diadem 1.0 if it didn't have the rewards it did? How often would you run dungeons if they didn't drop weekly cap tomestones?

I think this is especially important since SE invalidates the reason to do content so often by making its rewards obsolete (Every dungeon drops obsolete gear on release, raid gear gets killed every 7 months). Putting cosmetic rewards into old content can revitalize it and get people out there having fun. Look at the craftable/dyeable coil gear, for example. They could have done something similar a couple of patches into Stormblood with the Heavens' Ward gear, but I suppose they gotta get those fatty stacks of yen for a bunch of reskins that are already in the game.