More and more microtransactions

[Aylis]

Am I the only one who abandoned f2p games to pay for a sub because sub games didn't have microtransactions?

It's all optional, but again why is none of that optional money that is probably generating as much income as our sub improving the game? Is the future of the game even more microtransactions while content remains the same?

Quite the opposite really for me. I've largely abandoned sub based games for FTP games with optional subs. Much for the reasons you just mentioned. At least I know the FTP games I play are open and honest in their intents when it comes to micro transactions and nothing seems shady or arises questions about the games and company behind them.

Such as this right now. So to get the "full" FFXIV experience It's $10 a month sub, plus It's 8 retainers now for $2 each? and now the app is another $5 a month? So roughly $31 a month not including costs for expansions and cash shop items. That's what I call shady practices. Especially since they wave their arms and dance around using the term "we can't" but then seem to suddenly "can" when it comes to tacking on more to the monthly fee. How soon before the monthly fee is $50 a month? $100 a month? When fans of Tabula Rasa begged the developers to keep the game online and they were told that to do so meant them paying a $35 a month fee to play the game. We saw how fast that idea was canned when support dropped and the game shut down. SE is really pushing those waters here too now.

I had a feeling this was going to happen the day they started renting out retainer space. This game has a very large problem when it comes to item bloat. It's known the less then Triple A FTP games use this very same tactic to get players to buy more inventory space. Create item bloat so players would either have to keep running back to vendors and bankers every 5 minutes. Or just buy more space. Or in this case "rent" space. Something that always bothered me. Every FTP game I bought space in was forever mine. The idea of renting space always left a bad taste in my mouth.

[RiyahArp]

So to get the "full" FFXIV experience It's $10 a month sub, plus It's 8 retainers now for $2 each? and now the app is another $5 a month? So roughly $31 a month not including costs for expansions and cash shop items.

..you don't need 8 retainers. Unless your goal is to be a crafter baron and max out your gil, it's hard to need more than the base two. People are overreacting here mostly, save for the people worried about how the app might be hackable.

[Aylis]

..you don't need 8 retainers. Unless your goal is to be a crafter baron and max out your gil, it's hard to need more than the base two. People are overreacting here mostly, save for the people worried about how the app might be hackable.

Yeah, I only have the base two and not filled and a nearly empty inventory. I don't craft or gather at all and I only play as one class and don't really put too much time into glamoring. I'm very much bare minimal when it comes to XIV. From what I know though from when I did play this game seriously, those that do take the game seriously, want to craft and gather and run as multiple classes. Then inventory starts to be an issue.

[Ryaz]

Yeah, I only have the base two and not filled and a nearly empty inventory. I don't craft or gather at all and I only play as one class and don't really put too much time into glamoring. I'm very much bare minimal when it comes to XIV. From what I know though from when I did play this game seriously, those that do take the game seriously, want to craft and gather and run as multiple classes. Then inventory starts to be an issue.

I have four retainers near max capacity, my chocobo and inventory are nearly full, just from mats that I'm using to level crafting.

I dont mind microtranscations when it comes to cosmetics, but when you start charging a lot of money for QoL stuff that has an impact on gameplay experience, I tend to balk at that.

It especially bothers me when all that extra money people are paying doesn't seem to be going back into the game itself. Servers as are stil potatoes. Content patches provide the same amount of content as they always have. So where is all the extra money going?

[Krokov]

..you don't need 8 retainers. Unless your goal is to be a crafter baron and max out your gil, it's hard to need more than the base two. People are overreacting here mostly, save for the people worried about how the app might be hackable.

I actually have 9 retainers myself and they have space on them they are starting to fill up. I collect stuff keep stuff so I need as much space as I can get.

[XenoCranel]

..you don't need 8 retainers. Unless your goal is to be a crafter baron and max out your gil, it's hard to need more than the base two. People are overreacting here mostly, save for the people worried about how the app might be hackable.

I'm pretty sure botters would love it.

[Aerlana]

..you don't need 8 retainers. Unless your goal is to be a crafter baron and max out your gil, it's hard to need more than the base two. People are overreacting here mostly, save for the people worried about how the app might be hackable.

already, in the end of ARR i did need 4 retainer (so the 2 free, and the 2 sub-retainer we could have) And then, i did have matter to stock i wanted to stock. For gathering craft, i did have nearly nothing except special node (to not have to wait there spawn if i wanted to do a craft or another)

if i was tayed activ as i was. i did count i would need 6-7 retainer now.

Crafting, and also... people that like to collect various skin. Not because you dont need more than 2 that only crafters are needing it...

[DPZ2]

... So to get the "full" FFXIV experience ...

To get the "full" FFXIV experience, one only needs to play the game. There is no "extra" cost for any quest or dungeon instance. Your subscription pays for all of that.

Unless you want to play the "Make Lots of Gil on the Market Board" meta-game, there is no real requirement for more than two retainers at this point in time. Heck, this game has more inventory space than any other subscription-based game on the market at this point ... and I've tried most of them at one time or another. That's 475 inventory slots for which you do not need to pay an extra dime (or gil).

Micro transactions, for cosmetic items and pets and mounts, have been a part of the MMO subscriber experience for at least the last 10 years.

When you have to purchase keys via micro transaction to unlock loot boxes in FFXIV, let me know, and maybe I'll change my mind ...

[Aylis]

To get the "full" FFXIV experience, one only needs to play the game. There is no "extra" cost for any quest or dungeon instance. Your subscription pays for all of that.

Unless you want to play the "Make Lots of Gil on the Market Board" meta-game

I could easily argue that is part of the "full experience" the game does allow for it after all with the armory system and being able to level multiple crafts as one character. I know quite a few people that want to take part of it along those same quests and dungeons. They all had to buy extra retainer space. As someone who omni-crafts in other games I never ran into the space issue like here when it came to crafting. if space was an issue I could just mail things to an alt charac......oh right. That's not allowed here.

[kikix12]

To get the "full" FFXIV experience, one only needs to play the game. There is no "extra" cost for any quest or dungeon instance. Your subscription pays for all of that.

No. Full experience means full experience, as in being able to do all the same things as everyone else, in the same way. If you can do something once a week but another person can pay to do it twice, then you are not getting the full experience.

Retainers are part of the full experience because they have a very practical and important functionality. Even aside from crafting, they allow significant storage space, ventures, the feeling of "owning" them and probably also the spawning of them in housing (dunno whether this applies above the original two or not, but I think it does).

Similarly glamour, and that includes mounts, are part of full experience. Collectibles are a thing, you know. If you cannot complete your collection without paying, you're not going to get the full experience. If you cannot make the look you want, while someone else can, you're not getting the full experience. GLAMOUR IS PART OF THE GAME.

What would not interfere with "full" is things like increased experience items, cost reductions on teleportations and similar things that affect the time something not daily/weekly/monthly limited is done. If done within reason.


Now, one can discuss whether it's fine to offer optional glamour in the item mall. My stance is that...no. It's not. Either the sub or the optional item mall. I can understand only time-savers, like the jump potions or experience boosts. Alternatively options to redo mistakes on players errors, like restoring a deleted character or discarded item. Things that affect the game but are not part of it. Of course, all kinds of merchandise are fair game, so they can sell however many figurines, plushies, shirts and what they have as they want, it's fair game. So long as there is no bundled in-game feature in them...but there often is...for the highest-cost items to boot.


Square Enix always had a shady business model, but very good games from gameplay perspectives. And it's a real shame, because them having good games means they can continue doing the crap they do and they'll still get income instead of going down-under like any shoddy company should. But hey...people literally ask for stuff to throw money at...so what are the chances of that changing?! Keh.