Just say no

[Okamimaru]

App doesn't effect me... I will come home as usual log in check my retainers and then proceed to undercut everyone by 50% of the lowest MB price.... I don't need a billion gil tomorrow... I can take huge losses and still be happy... I already have a personal and fc house and apt fully decorated... I'm good...

[Zephanoa]

It is absolutely P2W - it just doesn't mesh with your concept of winning. Not everyone plays MMOs for the same reasons you do, however, nor do they view winning the same way. For some players, winning is about Glamours and mount or minion collections. For others, it's about beating the hardest Savage / Ultimate content in the game. And for still others, it's earning Gil and striving to maximize their market footprint. And there are other views, too, of course - countless views.

For these three described groups, however, only the Savage / Ultimate group has retained an unmolested experience. The Mog Station has introduced a forced pay wall for people who see winning as having their Glamours and collections. The Retainer system and, now, the phone app (for mostly different reasons) has introduced a forced pay wall for the market group. This is absolutely P2W - it simply isn't pay to defeat the hardest battle content. Those are two very different things.

That is fair, I don't consider glamour, minions, or mounts pay to win. So you got me on that one. I don't think most people consider social or visual aesthetics pay-to-win because there isn't anything that you can -win- from the items that you can get. Even the retainer system requires additional work in the game in order to make money. Its not as simple as just having a retainer and money. You have to level a job, or multiple jobs. You have to earn gcs and do the work of trading them to even get ventures. Or earn ventures through the normal in game processes.

[Ceallach]

I felt this was relevant.

[Berethos]

I'm going to recommend just not using it and if you're enjoying the game just continue as usual. While I get people are feeling threatened by people who might pay and dominate the MB, I'm thinking that won't be as prevalent as they're imagining.

There's a certain other MMO that has had a mobile based auction house app. It's free to use.

And it's being discontinued, largely due to the very small percentage of the playerbase that actually uses it. I hope others in this thread let that sink in - a totally free app that doesn't restrict how many times you interact with your listings is used so little that it's being discontinued.

Yeah, I absolutely agree that it won't be as prevalent as some think.

[Anemone_Valesti]

All the Power to those that don't...but Im totally using this App lol. It should definitely be interesting.

[Vhailor]

Yeah, I absolutely agree that it won't be as prevalent as some think.

I'm not so sure, for three reasons.

Firstly, FFXIV is a console game as well as a PC game. That makes a difference, I think; as a PC player, I can have FFXIV running in the background whenever I'm home, and interact with it as I choose, with no real interruption for watching Netflix or what have you. That's not nearly so simple when it's connected to the TV with its own reserved input stream, which should increase the value of market interactions.

Secondly, FFXIV is bribing players in a way that WoW never did. Extra saddlebag storage, increased Retainer cap, and likely a couple of other things coming down the road. This'll have an effect, too.

Thirdly, FFXIV has a large Japanese player base. They may very well be more culturally inclined to take advantage of the app than WoW's player base.

Finally, I'd argue that the extent to which the app is used is beside the point. It's not a question of how many people take advantage; it's the principle of the matter, and what it says about the focus of the development team. It says, your paid subscription isn't enough. It says, we're more interested in creating knick-knacks to nickel and dime you with than building strong, polished, creative content into the core FFXIV world. I mean, everyone realizes this app ate up at least some dev resources, right? All because SE is more interested in devoting paid resources toward additional monetization streams, rather than toward shoring up their stale-as-hell content release cycles? Even if the resources weren't part of the FFXIV team directly, the money that went toward them could have gone toward new team members, instead. But because people have shown the Mog Station and Retainer cash grabs to be so profitable, guess where SE aimed?

So, for me, it really doesn't matter how many people take advantage. Even if there isn't an impact on the MB at all, it's still a problem. And it needs to be vigorously shouted down. It likely won't matter in the long run, but every piece of bad press SE gets over this abomination is well-deserved.

[Isala]

There's a certain other MMO that has had a mobile based auction house app. It's free to use.

And it's being discontinued, largely due to the very small percentage of the playerbase that actually uses it. I hope others in this thread let that sink in - a totally free app that doesn't restrict how many times you interact with your listings is used so little that it's being discontinued.

Yeah, I absolutely agree that it won't be as prevalent as some think.

See, here's the issue with that logic. Unlike our clunky Market board here, WoW's Auction house doesn't suck. And you have a LOT more room on it, with all the alts people have by this point, unlike SE's solution of "Throw more cash shop retainers at it!"

[Vibronix]

Really disappointed by this app, I was coming back to FFXIV after finally deciding to try and enjoy SB (I was so unethusiastic about it because no new tanking/healing jobs, and I don't dps), but news that they are adding not just a sub to the app, but microtransactions.

Seriously, a AAA game with $15 sub and additional $5 premium mobile app/mo, plus the costs of all the retainers at $2/each, is adding microtransactions? That shows a greediness that I think goes too far

[Rasler_Heios]

I'll be downloading the app, it's optional to pay you don't *Need* to pay. The features even for the free plan is worth it.

I’m downloading the app too, but only the free version, not the premium one. The features in the free version are already good. I don’t need the extra space, I don’t think I would need to organize inventory while on the go, I’ll access MB when actually playing online, I have lots of kupo nuts already and don’t need to buy anything else from the moogle beast tribe vendor.

The paid version is an simply an option.

[Rinuko]

I’m downloading the app too. The features in the free version is already good. I don’t need the extra space, I don’t think I would need to organize inventory while on the go, I’ll access MB when actually playing online and I have lots of kupo nuts already and don’t need to buy anything else from the moonless beast tribe vendor.

The paid version is an simply an option.

I'll download the app and pay for the premium plan.