12,95 a month for what?

[Hyrist]

$12,95 a month?

I don't even make that amount in a month.

$12.95 maybe.

Satire aside, I'm having a great deal of trouble taking the OP seriously as a consumer. It seems as if the entirty of 'the important announcement of FFXIV's Future.' was glazed over completely in the wake of 'oh my gawd, I have to pay moneyz!'

There has been a relative bombardment of information coming out. And I'm not sure if it's an issue that the info is hard to digest, or just only looking at the game's community intermittently and just reading on some random game site the buzz about having to pay for a game still in redevelopment. But it seems like the thread creator has made his decision more out of reactive emotion than an informed and calculated one.

I'm going to list out the answer to the most basic question here: "[I'm paying]$12.95 a month for what?"

What you get, for sticking on, and paying the subscription fee (which looks like won't be $12.95):

- A direct witness to the update process that will transition the engine and game mechanics from where it is now, to 2.0
- A storyline quest events (both battle and otherwise) unique only to this transitional period.
- Unique Gear and Achievement rewards.
- Possible Unique mount.
- A ready-made character at appropriate level, skills, (and quested Job Abilities) transferred directly from where you left of. (You'll be more prepared if you stay than if you go.)
- Establishing yourself already with a community group going into 2.0

So essentially, you're paying for a leg up for the new start, a unique story, and moments of that said story. This is on top of being on board for first feedback as the new changes roll in.

And a small side note:

An MMO is always in transition. There's always some features that we believe should never be in the game, or should be up to 'The Standard.' Yoshi-P has been careful in his timing that pretty much the most basic functions one would expect in the genre are there before asking for a payment, and SE's president has gone as far as to discuss a lower cost for subscription until the release.

If your issues with the game is more fundamental in the direction it is taking, then there's no answer for you. Perhaps you are just not cut out for the MMO field or how Square Enix as a company interpenetrates that, which is fine. Please, however, do not pretend that this company is not listening to its base: That was FFXI's greatest error more than anything else in my view, and the turnabout to this policy came too late.

The new development team is taking FFXIV in a good direction, in my opinion, and I'm willing to pay to be a part of the process, and to experience the unique story. If you don't that's fine, you're not alone. Whether or not Square Enix should place value in your self proclaimed '20 years of loyaly' is not my call to make.

However I view as if there has been plenty of outreach on their behalf.