Problem with "Optional" Items in the Cash Shop

[Yallaid]

what if they charged you to play the game?!

we already bought the game why would they make us pay to be able to even play it?!

The greater and much more interesting question is: "why would they let us pay to not have to even play it?!" because that's what cash shops are all about

[Aramina]

The greater and much more interesting question is: "why would they let us pay to not have to even play it?!" because that's what cash shops are all about

How do cosmetic items in the shop make people play less? That doesn't even make sense.

adding to post because I hit cap...

What? it's simple -- imagine if the birds and ponies were only available in Mogstation. Bam! no one does old extreme primals outside of Wondrous Tails, which didn't even exist until several months ago.

That's how taking stuff that might serve a purpose in-game and locking it behind a paywall can affect who plays the game and how much time they spend doing it.

But they aren't in the cash shop. If we are still playing the "what if' game then sure.... but I was replying to the "...because that's what cash shops are all about" when it is clear that is *not* all they are about since that doesn't happen now.

[Yallaid]

How do cosmetic items in the shop make people play less? That doesn't even make sense.

What? it's simple -- imagine if the birds and ponies were only available in Mogstation. Bam! no one does old extreme primals outside of Wondrous Tails, which didn't even exist until several months ago.

That's how taking stuff that might serve a purpose in-game and locking it behind a paywall can affect who plays the game and how much time they spend doing it.

[RaijinSupreme]

What? it's simple -- imagine if the birds and ponies were only available in Mogstation. Bam! no one does old extreme primals outside of Wondrous Tails, which didn't even exist until several months ago.

That's how taking stuff that might serve a purpose in-game and locking it behind a paywall can affect who plays the game and how much time they spend doing it.

well technically, that's not likely to happen either. The birds and the ponies is the only reason why the replayability for the trials are so high. If they were available in the mogstation,

1) they probably wouldnt be as sought after, and wouldn't hold the same prestige they do now, and
2) its another reason why people would stop paying the subs, which would lead to less money being made by SE.

So essentially, its less profitable for SE to put those things, and other collectables like it, in the mogstation at any point.

[Yallaid]

adding to post because I hit cap...


But they aren't in the cash shop. If we are still playing the "what if' game then sure.... but I was replying to the "...because that's what cash shops are all about" when it is clear that is *not* all they are about since that doesn't happen now.

Gotcha -- lemme try from another angle then cause from my PoV this is already happening now:

Take the Big Moogle balloon mount, that thing is totally awesome and I swear it has as many fancy touches and attentions to the details that the Extreme Primal mounts and really rare ones like the Zu does.

But there's nothing in-game that rewards that mount. I get that it's cool and they want people who desire it to be able to have it, but why is it only available in the cash shop? If it were a reward for something I don't do in-game, say Verminion, it would be a big incentive for me to play more of that. It would liven up a part of the game that I'm sure at least some people wish was more lively.


Instead, SE has made the conscious decision to not use every single cosmetic reward as a draw for players to old or under-utilized content. I'm not saying that's wrong of them, just that it has to be seen as a trade-off. If SE wanted to get the most people playing their game and get them to spend their time on the biggest variety of content available, they would not have created a cash shop. By setting up Mogstation it's apparent that they are OK letting some content wither, either temporarily or forever, in order to meet the immediate demand for these rewards.

With the amount of stuff they've put the in Mogstation and the frankly shocking demand that people have for it I don't think my ideas are even feasible anymore, and I am not asking SE to change anything at this point. But I won't budge on this, having a cash shop absolutely impacts the game that the cash shop is tied to, it's inescapable.