This is just appalling

[Greedalox]

And if something is selling well, why should they stop adding more items with the same price? You can't ask people to stop buying them because they can afford it, they don't have an excuse not to.

This is pretty much how I see the situation. SE doesn't really care if they upset people who have issue with purchasing items off the Mog Station because you're not who they're targeting with the products. A lot of people set aside money each month for their hobbies, and some people think that it's absurd that someone spent real money on something that they wouldn't themselves.

[Kaurie]

It's not the only item being sold for EUR 13.50 on Mog Station. Clearly a good amount of people are buying them. And if something is selling well, why should they stop adding more items with the same price? You can't ask people to stop buying them because they can afford it, they don't have an excuse not to.

The answer is loyalty. While they are currently reaping the benefits of higher revenue, they are alienated some of their playerbase. They're creating an environment where some of their loyal subscribers are annoyed/frustrated at them. When a competitor comes along that offers something similar, but doesn't have a cash shop, it will be much easier for those ex-loyal fans to jump ship. Right now, FFXIV is pretty safe, as the MMORPG scene is arguably pretty weak. However, there are a lot of upcoming games (i.e. Pantheon, Bless, Project Gorgon, Crowfall, Ashes of Creation, Chronicles of Elyria, Camelot Unchained, etc.) that are showing promise.

This act of alienating their customers may come back and bite them in the butt.

Below is an example of another person who has been pushed past their limit of acceptance of the cash shop. My personal limit was passed along time ago, and others will pass theirs in future additions. The point, though, is that they are slowly losing the loyalty of their subscriber base.

Actually, I'm beginning to agree. Usually I'd just tell you they can do what they want and get over it, but I'm beginning to get a bit annoyed that they can add a new emote to the shop every month or so, but not to the game to earn from playing it. Earlier on in my experience with FFXIV, finding and unlocking new emotes was pretty cool and I always wondered where I'd find the next one. Now it seems to be that the answer is always just to look in the shop. I'm totally OK with it if they put every limited time emote in the shop after the event associated with it ends or if they made some particularly intricate emote that really sort of demanded, but it really shouldn't be a thing that an emote a month is heading directly to the shop. I understand that the sub only model for MMOs died a long time ago, but it'd be nice if they at least balanced micro transactions and in-game content out like Blizzard learned to do.

[Fjaere]

I totally agree OP but I still bought it (((

[Vanitas]

Ima buy it!

[Bourne_Endeavor]

This is pretty much how I see the situation. SE doesn't really care if they upset people who have issue with purchasing items off the Mog Station because you're not who they're targeting with the products. A lot of people set aside money each month for their hobbies, and some people think that it's absurd that someone spent real money on something that they wouldn't themselves.

Reminds me of my cousins. They constantly got on my case for my occasional splurges on video game stuff yet saw nothing wrong spending hundreds of dollars drinking. Both are optional things we do for fun. Money is relative and subjective. What one thinks is silly and overpriced, another won't care and is simply happy to have it.

[HPDelron]

Thing is the portion of their player base they're aliening is probably pretty small.

Lots of folks don't care about cosmetics or emotes.
Lots of folks who do care don't even follow the cash shop.
Lots of folks who do care are perfectly willing to play.
Lots of folks who care about emotes, follow the cash shop and aren't willing to pay don't care enough for it to be anything but a minor annoyance.

Really they're only throwing out the slice of the pie that:
Follows the cash shop
AND
Cares about cosmetics
AND
Doesn't want to pay
AND
Puts enough importance for it to be a deal breaker.

What portion of the playerbase is that? 1-in-1000? I wouldn't wager it's huge...

[Yeol]

..

While I completely understand this. It won't change their mind until they see that they are losing money. Telling them that you are leaving/quitting, moving on to another game won't change the current situation. As long as there are more people buying and joining the game. It won't matter to them if few people quit (This is sad but it is how business work). As long as there is gain, it won't matter.

[Kaurie]

Reminds me of my cousins. They constantly got on my case for my occasional splurges on video game stuff yet saw nothing wrong spending hundreds of dollars drinking. Both are optional things we do for fun. Money is relative and subjective. What one thinks is silly and overpriced, another won't care and is simply happy to have it.

Conversely, there are plenty of people who find small purchases to be no big deal, but then when it's all added up, the totals are astronomical. There are plenty of stories of people who paid for cheap in-app purchases on mobile apps, but ended up spending thousands of dollars in the year. More often than not, you won't notice this until it's too late.

Thing is the portion of their player base they're aliening is probably pretty small.

Lots of folks don't care about cosmetics or emotes.
Lots of folks who do care don't even follow the cash shop.
Lots of folks who do care are perfectly willing to play.
Lots of folks who care about emotes, follow the cash shop and aren't willing to pay don't care enough for it to be anything but a minor annoyance.

Really they're only throwing out the slice of the pie that:
Follows the cash shop
AND
Cares about cosmetics
AND
Doesn't want to pay
AND
Puts enough importance for it to be a deal breaker.

What portion of the playerbase is that? 1-in-1000? I wouldn't wager it's huge...

This seems like its based off a lot of data that we don't have. I am not sure how many players are being alienated or frustrated by the cash shop, but I know that these players exist. Square can do what they want, but the answer to why Square should stop is the risk of losing loyal subscribers.

As for your points, I disagree that you need to hit all of them. I don't care about most of the cosmetics or items in the cash shop. I don't follow the monthly updates to the cash shop (or however frequent it is?) I am simply frustrated that they have them in the first place. I am sure that I am in a minority, but again, I do exist.

While I completely understand this. It won't change their mind until they see that they are losing money. Telling them that you are leaving/quitting, moving on to another game won't change the current situation. As long as there are more people buying and joining the game. It won't matter to them if few people quit (This is sad but it is how business work). As long as there is gain, it won't matter.

I am not saying people will threaten to quit over it. I am saying that they are frustrated with the development team. That frustration makes it easier for them to pick up bags and leave to a competitor, as soon as an attractive competitor arises. Square won't see the loss of money until it's too late. The answer to why they shouldn't do this was predictive business practices, not adaptive business practices.

[Greedalox]

Conversely, there are plenty of people who find small purchases to be no big deal, but then when it's all added up, the totals are astronomical. There are plenty of stories of people who paid for cheap in-app purchases on mobile apps, but ended up spending thousands of dollars in the year. More often than not, you won't notice this until it's too late.

SE isn't liable for poor spending habits. If you play within your means, spend what you set aside for you to spend- there's no reason to make this a notch against cash shop purchases. Everyone should know where they stand financially, and if you only just realized you spent thousands of dollars on a game unknowningly, you need to check your statements more.

[HPDelron]

Square can lose "Loyal" customers for doing literally anything. Someone might quit because they dislike the design of dungeons, or the commitment to the tomestone gearing system. They might quit because they dislike the story, or they revamped their favorite class.

If the only moves they should make are ones that alienate no-one, that's an impossible task because anything they could do (including doing nothing) might piss somebody off.

There's plenty of evidence from other games that cash shops like this are innocuous. WoW didn't see a massive drop off in subs because of the $25 mounts, it happened because they released an expansion with no good content.

Unless we're about to see a massive break with industry trend, no amount of fancy dresses or dances being sold at high prices will put a meaningful dent in the game's playerbase.

It takes a lapse in core content to scare off players, and the stuff in the cash shop just isn't core content. It's fluff.