Cash shop pricing is getting a bit much...

[Alleo]

Maybe we should stop asking them in the first place?
Do we really need every crap the KR, CN clients add to theeir game for 0 reasons at all but beign sold for bucks to their playerbase? Some have really questionable taste

One man`s trash is another man`s treasure. At least if they put them in the mog station (I understand that they do that for something that comes from some other version or did cost money in the other version too) we do have the chance to get them. If its your taste or not does not really count for this imo. (Especially since we already have trash [imo] that is the yokai mount)

I think it's because, when they first added the shop, it mostly/only contained returning event items, and they've kept those at a lower price point. Then, after people requested they also bring over the Chinese exclusive items, they started introducing new cash shop exclusive items at the higher pricing tier (while continuing to add seasonal rewards at lower price points). So because all the "new items" are more expensive, it creates a perception that prices have gone up.

It's also often the case that the new items are added to the cash shop during patch lulls (rather than coinciding with patches and seasonal events as the others often do), which draws even more attention to these new items and their prices. Obviously introducing these items at that time is a marketing strategy (since it doesn't get buried by other news), but I think it's also partly what's fueling this perception of an increased focus on the cash shop (since it's right during those lulls when people think "they could have added this to the game!").

IMO the event items are far away from being cheap. Anything that is over one dollar for a simple wallpaper is too much, especially since Yoshida said that they dont want to earn money with that move (suddenly putting the event stuff in the mog station and not leaving them ingame) but give others a chance to own them..yet when you look at those prices..I mean those are items that are already ingame. Thus not something that was just created for cash shop.

so.. don't.

That "argument" can be used to anything. You dont like Eureka? Just dont do it. You dont like content x just dont do it. Just because we have the option not do it/or buy it doesnt mean that we should be fine with that.

It’s wrong and entitled to demand an item for reduced price or for free when someone else had to pay for the same thing. These regional items weren’t passed out for free in their respective regions, the Chinese and Korean players had to pay for them in some manner so asking SE to give us those same items for free goes beyond the pale.

How would you feel if SE designed some NA or EU themed armor and made us pay for it (either directly or via a promotion), but then they turned around and mailed it to all of the other regions for free?

I can understand that it would be too much to give us that for free if the other version had to pay for it. But why exactly is it entitlement if someone wants to pay less? Its a digital item. And in the end are you entitled too if you buy something for less in real life? Do you go and say that you want to pay more because customer/country x had to pay more? I am quite sure that most wont. And thats about real existing items that may cost the shop money even after creating it.

[HyoMinPark]

That "argument" can be used to anything. You dont like Eureka? Just dont do it. You dont like content x just dont do it. Just because we have the option not do it/or buy it doesnt mean that we should be fine with that.

To be fair, regarding content, this is a theme park MMO. Can't expect every piece of content to appeal to your particular tastes. I like Savage; others don't. Yet, it's still wrong for them to say Savage shouldn't be a thing because they personally don't like it. I don't understand the people who aren't "fine" with harder content being a thing just because "I don't like Savage/Ultimate". Sorry, that's not a valid reason, in my opinion.

Sure you can use the "Then don't" argument for issues with purchasing off the cash shop and participating in specific types of content you don't like. But the base arguments are different, imo. Response applies the same way, but the arguments are of a slightly different breed, if that makes sense. Personally, I find it an acceptable response to both: don't like the cash shop? Well, no one is forcing you to buy from it, so don't. Don't like Savage? Well, no one is forcing you to do it, so don't. I don't believe the premium app should be a thing, but it's coming anyways. So what am I going to do? Not download it.

[Alleo]

To be fair, regarding content, this is a theme park MMO.

Thats true. But you can still do it and see the flaws (nothing is ever perfect) and discuss them. These feedback posts might then even be helping those that truly enjoy this content because it might give SE ideas to make something better. But if you then have someone coming in and saying: dont do it, then any kind of good feedback will be made useless because if you have a problem with it or dislike it you can just ignore it right? I find this to be a bad argument. You dont need to constantly do a content to see how it functions and how it might be better.

I dont do savage yet I would not write that it should be gone because I understand that this is simply not for me. I would become more vocal if for example 99% of a patch would only be savage because its only a niche content. And I do support those players that do savage and still find faults in it.

There is also a difference when people for example say that they want those items ingame instead of cash shop (thus nobody has to really pay money and it still exist) or to say that it costs too much. A price decrease would hurt nobody..and I am a bit suprised that this count as entitled for some..

[Krotoan]

That "argument" can be used to anything. You dont like Eureka? Just dont do it. You dont like content x just dont do it. Just because we have the option not do it/or buy it doesnt mean that we should be fine with that.

It can. However comparing someone complaining about the price of something because they just don't want to pay money for it to someone who doesn't want to do something they've technically paid for access for and have suggestions on how to make better is quite a stretch.

In one case we have a very black and white solution: Bite the bullet and buy it or wait for a sale or don't buy it and complain hard enough that they might cave and reduce the price. We know that people are buying the item even in the small sample that's provided via the forums. This means that SE has very little reason to cave and reduce the price since it is selling. You can make an argument they'd sell more if they reduced the price, but then they'd HAVE to sell more to make the same amount of money. Money in the bank to a company is usually much more attractive than potential money without any sort of contract attached to it. The prudent choice here then is buy it or don't. "I don't have enough so you should make it cheaper" is whining. "It's not worth what you've priced it" is provably wrong by instance of people buying it. DON'T BUY IT IF IT'S NOT WORTH IT TO YOU.


In the other case we have content you've arguably paid for already , or at least paid for access to. It's many faceted because there's the actual content itself, the rewards if any and the possibility of future content locked behind the initial foray. Some people will want the rewards but not want to do the content, some people will like the content but think the rewards are dumb and some may only be concerned because they cannot complete the content or complete it in a reasonable amount of time. People can offer suggestions like what they found unpleasant about it or what they'd like to see in the future because they're already invested in it literally.

It's the difference between buying a team jersey or pennant and paying to watch a game where after you enter everyone's shoes have been glued to the ground. In one case you see the price and decide yes or no. The other you go in expecting a certain amount of value for what you paid but get something other than what you expected.


You can reply "So Don't" to any suggestion but it matters what the problem is.

[Alleo]

It can. However comparing someone complaining about the price of something because they just don't want to pay money for it to someone who doesn't want to do something they've technically paid for access for and have suggestions on how to make better is quite a stretch.

For some glamour or mounts are important. (I mean would people really farm content that much if it did not have glamour or mounts in it?) I for example would have loved to have the carbuncle as a mount but the only way to get one of them is to pay. I would be way less annoyed if cash shop only had either re-colored versions of existing mounts or old event items. But exclusive items in a game that we already pay monthly for is just bad imo.

I am fine if they put the stuff from the other versions in the cash shop too, if they costs real money over there but its getting really annoying to see unique mounts only in there. And then the stuff does cost quite a bit. These are only digital goods. After they are created you kinda dont need more money to sell it. Just a one time creation and you are done. Sell one mount for 10 Dollars to 500 people and you earned 5000 $. Have 1000 people and you are already earning 10.000 $. Isnt that enough? I mean they are probably earning quite a lot of money from all the service changes and Fantasia..shouldnt that be more than enough to finance the cash shop?

In the end I am quite sure that if some real life goods suddenly cost a lot more people would also be annoyed and complain about it. Its kinda the same here. Would be interesting to know if they would earn more if they decrease the price or if that would hurt them.

You're complaining that a company is selling a product to a market that's willing to pay for it and in enough numbers that it is profitable. There are extremes of this that are actually morally questionable such as slavery and price gouging on essential services and supplies but satisfying a market need for a costume that doesn't actually exist isn't one of them. Moral outrage at the high price of a luxury item IN a luxury service is ridiculous to me.

Would you be fine if they would sell unique (and maybe highly requested) mounts for 200$? Because I am quite sure that there are still people that would buy that and you also only need a couple of buyers to get some money. I mean the market is buying it right? The problem with it being profitable is that a digital good cant just run out and does not have much cost after the creation. So even if they sold something overpriced they will probably still make profit.

If there wasn’t a cash shop, these items just wouldn’t exist at all. They wouldn’t suddenly become available in an undyeable version, or as part of an event, or an achievement reward. The Chinese and Korean items were specifically commissioned by the third-party corporations that sponsor the Chinese and Korean versions of FFXIV in their respective countries, and they were paid for by the individuals in those countries. Asking for them for free is entitlement.

Yes SE once stated that they only exist because of the cash shop (I think) but is that really true? I mean no company would just go out of their way and tell us that these might have been rewards for content but instead they put it behind a paywall because they would get money from that..so it might be that we would not get everything from the cash shop but I doubt that each item would not exist. There is no fact for that. We simply dont know. (And honestly if they dont exist we would not be much angered because we would not know that it could have existed.)

[Vstarstruck]

For some glamour or mounts are important. (I mean would people really farm content that much if it did not have glamour or mounts in it?) I for example would have loved to have the carbuncle as a mount but the only way to get one of them is to pay. I would be way less annoyed if cash shop only had either re-colored versions of existing mounts or old event items. But exclusive items in a game that we already pay monthly for is just bad imo.
I am fine if they put the stuff from the other versions in the cash shop too, if they costs real money over there but its getting really annoying to see unique mounts only in there. And then the stuff does cost quite a bit. These are only digital goods. After they are created you kinda dont need more money to sell it. Just a one time creation and you are done. Sell one mount for 10 Dollars to 500 people and you earned 5000 $. Have 1000 people and you are already earning 10.000 $. Isnt that enough? I mean they are probably earning quite a lot of money from all the service changes and Fantasia..shouldnt that be more than enough to finance the cash shop?

In the end I am quite sure that if some real life goods suddenly cost a lot more people would also be annoyed and complain about it. Its kinda the same here. Would be interesting to know if they would earn more if they decrease the price or if that would hurt them.



Would you be fine if they would sell unique (and maybe highly requested) mounts for 200$? Because I am quite sure that there are still people that would buy that and you also only need a couple of buyers to get some money. I mean the market is buying it right? The problem with it being profitable is that a digital good cant just run out and does not have much cost after the creation. So even if they sold something overpriced they will probably still make profit.

There is no reproduction cost, so these prices are just cash grabby. SE is not hurting for money, so why not experiment a bit with lower prices???driven by greed, all it is.

[HyoMinPark]

Isnt that enough? I mean they are probably earning quite a lot of money from all the service changes and Fantasia..shouldnt that be more than enough to finance the cash shop?

FFXIV is funding the FFVII Remake in the same way it funded FFXV. Most of the money it brings in—from subs and the cash shop—probably go into FFVII Remake production, FFXV DLC chronologing Noctis’ every day breakfast choices, and other SE projects. Then a bit goes back into FFXIV. But SE uses FFXIV to fund other projects first.

Yes SE once stated that they only exist because of the cash shop (I think) but is that really true? I mean no company would just go out of their way and tell us that these might have been rewards for content but instead they put it behind a paywall because they would get money from that..so it might be that we would not get everything from the cash shop but I doubt that each item would not exist. There is no fact for that. We simply dont know. (And honestly if they dont exist we would not be much angered because we would not know that it could have existed.)

There are two different art teams that design gear—one for in-game, and one for the cash shop. If there was no cash shop, there would be no need for the cash shop team to design these items; at least not for NA/EU/JP. And you can count on the Chinese and Korean items never coming over here, because they are specifically commissioned by the companies that sponsor the Chinese and Korean versions of FFXIV. They sell for real money over in China and Korea; do you think that SE would bring them over to NA/EU/JP and hand them out for free? No, they would not.

There is no reproduction cost, so these prices are just cash grabby. SE is not hurting for money, so why not experiment a bit with lower prices???driven by greed, all it is.

There is no such thing as a business who thinks “I’ve made enough money; no need to make any more”. Ever. While the $18 USD outfits could stand to be account-wide at the least, there is no business alive who isn’t out to make as much money as possible. The larger the scale of the business, the higher they aim for in terms of profits.

[Vstarstruck]

FFXIV is funding the FFVII Remake in the same way it funded FFXV. Most of the money it brings in—from subs and the cash shop—probably go into FFVII Remake production, FFXV DLCchronologing Noctis’ every day breakfast choices, and other SE projects. Then a bit goes back into FFXIV. But SE uses FFXIV to fund other projects first.



There is no such thing as a business who thinks “I’ve made enough money; no need to make any more”. Ever. While the $18 USD outfits could stand to be account-wide at the least, there is no business alive who isn’t out to make as much money as possible. The larger the scale of the business, the higher they aim for in terms of profits.

Well they lose out on any profits like me that see them pushing too far for exploitation so there is that I guess... If they want to have business with few with more money over a wider audience with less money, that is their decision.

But what happens when gaming businesses get too greedy?:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FNiVSj9uzTw

[HyoMinPark]

Well they lose out on any profits like me that see them pushing too far for exploitation so there is that I guess... If they want to have business with few with more money over a wider audience with less money, that is their decision.

But what happens when gaming businesses get too greedy?:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FNiVSj9uzTw

Well, considering SE is making far more money off of monthly subscriptions as opposed to cash shop purchases, you unsubbing hurts them far more than you not buying a fire footwheels mount for your character. But you seem to still be subbed, so SE is still making profit off of you.

[Vstarstruck]

Well, considering SE is making far more money off of monthly subscriptions as opposed to cash shop purchases, you unsubbing hurts them far more than you not buying a fire footwheels mount for your character. But you seem to still be subbed, so SE is still making profit off of you.

Nope, you get 14 days, I am not subbed, once that time runs out in a few hours, day at most, you never see me again till they change their ways.