CREDD/PLEX/WoW Token system

[ElazulHP]

Part of me says sure cause I wouldn't mind the PLEX system so I can play for free. However, there are some negative side effects with this. Two off the top of my head are: (1) Would make buying extra retainers pay to win since the more you can craft the more you can sell the easier it is to get free sub & (2) There really isn't enough gil sinks in this game so you'll inflate the hell out of the economy.

[Risvertasashi]

A system like this only creates more RMT. Players who wouldn't normally buy will now buy official RMT.

This system doesn't create/inject gil into the economy. So in a technical sense you are correct, but the effects on the economy are much different.

[Crystal_Raven]

First of all, what you are suggesting is basically legal RMT.

Second, no.

Gil sellers will lower their prices and still turn a profit. All you've done is trash the economy. I've been through multiple MMOs with this system, all of them received an insane amount of inflation to a point that new players could do nothing. They couldn't buy anything because everything was so insanely expensive.

[TheMightyMollusk]

The game doesn't have enough gil sinks to justify selling it for real money. There's just no need for a token system like this.

[Seraphor]

It seems nobody realises that this system doesn't generate gil...

It moves it around, just like the marketboard already does.

Gil is already so easy to accrue if you really want it, you can make millions per week running the right content. Crafting, gathering, Eureka, etc.

Inflation is already as bad as it can get.

[Ilyrian]

Gil is worthless anyway - what on earth would people need to buy it for?

[Melichoir]

Since when does Gil affects raids or PvP? I dont see Pay to win here.

It affects raids through potions and crafted/overmelded gear, materia, and other materials that make clearing said tiers easier.

While I think the system is fine on paper, i get the feeling its going to be abused. The problem with the game and gil isnt that there isnt enough of it, its that the game doesnt control the gil in the game efficiently enough and overtime it inflates to astronomical numbers. This is due to a variety of factors, but mainly because the system as a whole dumps a lot more gil into the economy than it pulls out. Im not talking transfers of gil (such as when you buy or trade an item from another player to yourself for gil) but literally when quests, maps, and the like dump gil into the economy with very little things to spend that gil on that takes directly taken out of the economy (which would be any purchase from an NPC).

Also the abuse would work as follows:

Person buys gil from RMT botter, then uses said Gil to purchase token for 30 day. If the tokens are bought for $20, and fetch a price of 20 million on the MB, all RMTers have to sell you gil at a better conversion rate which they can do because its bot farm based. So if an RMT bot sells 10 million gil for $8, you pay $16 for 20 million gil, where youd have to pay SE $20 for that much. This makes RMT bots more likely to propagate because for them, its a lot less effort to just manage bots that bot farm mats that then they turn into gil to sell people at a rate that undercuts the conversion rate for the tokens.


If you want to fix the economy, this isnt a solution. Just a bandaid at the best of considerations. The game actually needs to start charging harder on a lot of things, like property tax on structures as an example, steeper repair costs, and more items required from NPCs to function within the game (supplies like potions and the other things to deal with status effects.)

[whiskeybravo]

I wonder if FF14 could eventually add a system similar to the CREDD from WildStar, the PLEX from EVE Online, and the WoW Token from World of Warcraft. Such a system could work like this:

A player who wants more gil could buy a token for $20 on the Mog Station, and it would be delivered to a single character. That token could them be posted on the Market Board to be sold for gil. The exact amount of gil would depend on the market value at the time.

Afterward, another player would buy the token, and when using it, would be presented with an option to either add 30 days of subscription time, or to add 1500 Crysta which can be spent on Mog Station items or services, new FF14 expansions, or other Square Enix games.

This would allow players who want to buy gil to do so through a safe, secure, and legitimate official channel, allow players with excess gil to stay subscribed and buy more Square Enix games without spending their own real money, and completely cut shady gold seller sites out of the equation.

That's not going to work because Gil isn't a premium currency.

The more people that buy said token, the lower market prices would become. Simple supply and demand.

At some point SE would basically be trading real income from subs for their free in-game currency - which will continue to be devalued in relation to it's real money cost by a system such as this. Doesn't seem like a sustainable business model.

And I'd agree with others that it won't cut RMT because they are basically playing a zero-sum game. One penny of profit is more than no pennies at all.

[Roda]

These systems usually take currency out of the economy with high tax rates. And yeah bot populations usually take a huge hit after they're implemented.

[Seraphor]

These systems usually take currency out of the economy with high tax rates. And yeah bot populations usually take a huge hit after they're implemented.

This. You're forgetting that these transactions to buy the tokens for gil take place on the marketboard and subject to tax, a gil sink.

And the tokens would be subject to market factors like anything else.
If enough people are taking part in these transactions, the gil value of a token falls.
If there's a huge demand for them, it rises.
It'll never be as simple as $20 = 20 million gil.

Being a legotimate way to purchase gil will take some business away from RMT, as the risk of getting caught will always be a factor. One many judge to be worth it currently, but with a legitimate alternative that risk loses its value.