Quote Originally Posted by Exiled_Tonberry View Post
This is not optional in the same way a mount or emote in the cash shop is optional. This is inventory space, something that players make constant use of and is pretty integral to an MMO with so many items to manage.

For you to even use the "it's optional" argument in this case just shows how defensive some of you are towards SE. You didn't even stop to think how optional this truly is.
Let's consider how optional this is. The app currently gives you 70 extra slots in your Chocobo Saddlebags, and the potential for another retainer. That costs $5/month. Currently you have the option to spend $2/month to get 175 extra slots (on a Retainer), which you can do as many as six times. Given how many players do not have additional retainers, it is safe to conclude that the extra retainers are indeed "optional." (And if extra retainers are not optional, why is this non-optionality problem only coming up now?)

Obviously in terms of total storage, if extra retainers are optional, the app is optional. It's more expensive while also giving less slots, after all. BUT, the Chocobo Saddlebags are much more accessible than Retainer Inventory. So is having 70 extra slots that are available everywhere optional? As you say, inventory space is "something that players make constant use of and is pretty integral to an MMO with so many items to manage." Fair enough.

So here's my question. Would you rather have 350 extra retainer slots, or 70 extra saddlebag slots? Personally, I'd much prefer the 350 retainer slots. Currently you can hold 210 items on your person (including current saddlebags), and no matter how much I gather or buy, I'm never filling up nearly all of that in one go. I'm going to have at least one chance to dump extra items onto my retainer before my on-person inventory fills up, which means that total slots are more useful than total on-person slots. Since 350 retainer slots are optional and cost $4/month, I must therefore conclude that paying $5/month for a less-useful 70 saddlebag slots is also optional. (Frankly I also have to conclude that the app isn't worth it, which is why I'll be ignoring the premium plan.)