Mogstation taking another step to the darkside

[Tlamila]

I'm gonna have to disagree with you there. Go play archage, black dessert, and Tera before you say that. FFXIV is no where near those actual free to play games. Oh and no where near as bad as fallout 76 or ESO.

No offense, but it seems like you've never played an mmo other than FFXIV. The fact you even brought up Fortnite tells me that. That game is a poor example to use in this context. Just because vanity is a part of FFXIV game doesn't make you entitled to get anything you want. And honestly, compared to other mmos, what FFXIV does is astoundingly tame. Have you played Black Desert or Blade and Soul? I see people here complain that costumes in FFXIV are $18, which is honestly rather steep. Do you know how much they cost in BDO? Between $29 and $32 PER OUTFIT on a SINGLE CHARACTER. Then you have BnS's deceptive point system. $10 = 800 NC Points. So when you see outfits for 1440 NC points, unless you're constantly doing math, you won't know know how much you're actually spending. Items that cost 44 NC Points cost more than they seem. Also, vanity is a part of those games, too. Neither of them expect you to spend $32 on every single costume in a store. That's insane. They only want you to take what you want.
Again, stop seeing FFXIV, BDO, and BnS as traditional $60 console games. Call of Duty's online for each game lasts an over of 1 to 2 years. FFXIV's online is over 10 years old and costs more to sustain for so long.

You two are funny, I played F2P mmos for most of my gaming life. And you know what? Prices of cosmetics might be higher there but: 1- you're not paying a sub and expansion boxes on top of that, you're only paying cash shop and completely optional, so while you're playing a game for free might as well pay for what you get by giving something for the cash shop. 2- in most of those games (ex Tera, Aion) the cash shop items can be sold on the marketplace so they're also avalaible in game.
It's funny because I played Aion for many years without ever paying a cent, and I never lacked anything cause whatever I wanted from the cash shop I could just buy with in game currency. Then I gave back by buying a bunch of outfits on BnS, and no matter how overpriced they are it's still nill compared to having to pay subs and box prices. That's the whole point of cash shops in free to play games, it's their ONLY revenue, they're not charging you anything else.
Hell, in some f2p mmos, like Rift, you can even convert in game currency straight to cash shop currency.

So comparing a p2p mmo with f2p ones not only is apples to oranges, but it actually makes this game look worse, if it has to get down to the level of games that only get a revenue from cash shop.

Also, FFXIV players: gamour is the real endgame
but then: cosmetics can just be ignored.

[Lathander81]

Im not seeing FF14 as a retail game and I know it cost to keep running. We all know this isnt a overhead cost to keep the lights on. I hope you are not that naive. Also if you are paying a sub what are you entitled to if not the content that you are paying for? Is it really entitlement to say "I would like the money that I pay to go towards content as a player?" What if they stop making unique armor and weapons in the game..then are we entitled. Where is the line?

[Theodric]

It isn't unusual in the slightest for a business to offer additional products and services for those with a disposable income. It's very interesting that some posters claim that such behaviour is unacceptable but continue to commit to the game, though. Pretty much every new item added to the Mog Station sells like ice cream on a hot day. Do you honestly expect Square Enix to cut off that source of income?

[Rufalus]

This comes up whenever optional items are added. Yeah money and businesses still exist, some people are more bothered by the monetary system than others. S-E are ok, they just added 3 more mounts that can be unlocked through gameplay a handful of days ago (sheep, giraffe, dinobird). And the game itself has no shop integration, no pop ups suggesting we buy premium stuff, it's all very unintrusive and easy to ignore.

[REPROBEAN_CHILD]

You two are funny, I played F2P mmos for most of my gaming life. And you know what? Prices of cosmetics might be higher there but: 1- you're not paying a sub and expansion boxes on top of that, you're only paying cash shop and completely optional, so while you're playing a game for free might as well pay for what you get by giving something for the cash shop. 2- in most of those games (ex Tera, Aion) the cash shop items can be sold on the marketplace so they're also avalaible in game.
It's funny because I played Aion for many years without ever paying a cent, and I never lacked anything cause whatever I wanted from the cash shop I could just buy with in game currency. Then I gave back by buying a bunch of outfits on BnS, and no matter how overpriced they are it's still nill compared to having to pay subs and box prices. That's the whole point of cash shops in free to play games, it's their ONLY revenue, they're not charging you anything else.
Hell, in some f2p mmos, like Rift, you can even convert in game currency straight to cash shop currency.

So comparing a p2p mmo with f2p ones not only is apples to oranges, but it actually makes this game look worse, if it has to get down to the level of games that only get a revenue from cash shop.

Also, FFXIV players: gamour is the real endgame
but then: cosmetics can just be ignored.

You mentioned Aion. Their developer NC Soft supports multiple mmos, which include premium subscriptions. BnS and Aion have these subs, too, so their cash shops AREN'T their only revenue. The only difference between those games' sub and FFXIV's is that FFXIV's is mandatory. But even if YOU don't pay the sub, NC Soft greatly benefits from having them spread across multiple games. If they had a major, singular mmo like SE does, I'm sure they would've made the subs mandatory. I'd also like to add NC Soft in particular doesn't have a good reputation. They shun their non-Korean fanbase, have poor customer service, and the support for their own games have been lackluster. This is coming from someone who currently enjoys BnS. FFXIV may have it's problems, but the devs made it a passion project.

And can you honestly tell me that those f2p games have the same number of patches FFXIV's has gotten? Do they even match this game's quality; visually and content-wise? I don't just mean 5.1 and 5.2, because even 5.21 had it's own wealth of content. FFXIV sub is why we've had so many consistent patches and content to begin with.

Also "glamour is the real endgame" is just a meme. I never took that phrase seriously. You should know already by now how much this community loves to meme. Why do you think "La-hee" and "Scree" became so popular? Because they were memed to death.

[Kyuuen]

Gonna rely on the same argument that I do whenever this topic shows up.

But just because the Amusement/Roller coaster/Theme park requires an entry fee does not mean there won't; or shouldn't for that matter, be other costs and fees further inside. Pictures, mementos, prizes and food tend to still have costs, just like cosmetics, mounts, minions, and hair styles do on mogstation. I'll be more concerned when they start charging for stats+ at end game and no I don't consider level-up or story skips a part of that.

[MikkoAkure]

Also if you are paying a sub what are you entitled to if not the content that you are paying for? Is it really entitlement to say "I would like the money that I pay to go towards content as a player?" What if they stop making unique armor and weapons in the game..then are we entitled. Where is the line?

That kind of attitude is just as greedy and selfish as the cash shop you’re arguing against “It exists, so I want it”. I’m not the biggest fan of the cash shop either, but the items in it would not exist if they weren’t going to be sold for real money. It’s a completely different team of people who work on most of that content. So then it comes down to either having items that are completely optional that you have to pay for, or having none of them at all.

I could be wrong, but because it’s a different team, I don’t see these products interfering with the development of the game itself. I don’t see them purposefully holding back on the quality of the game in order to push the cash shop. So that all brings me back to my point of how does having optional items in a cash shop have any bearing on the game or you as a player? The subscription is ultimately a service fee to access the game. They can do whatever they want on the side. No content is being gated. There’s no in-game link to the cash shop whenever you highlight a mogstation item.

It may sound awkwardly white knight-ish, but considering we’re still paying 2005-era subscription prices on a modern game, I don’t see too much of a problem with mogstation existing to make up the difference. If I paid $13 on a sub for FFXI in 2005, that’s $17.55 now after inflation. Our sub prices aren’t that high and the game quality and development costs are higher so the difference has to come from somewhere.

[Delis]

They money from our sub, buying the game, the expansions don't all go to the FFXIV team, it goes to SE. SE gives a budget to all their departments/sections, and it is not a very large budget either(after all they are a company and companies are around to make money, not hand it out.). A few years ago the game needed server upgrades badly. SE wasn't keen on paying for it since in their eyes the game was doing fine and they weren't going to spend money on something they thought pointless. The Devs came up with the MogStation (which all the money that is spent in the Mogstation goes to the FFXIV team) to help pay for things like server upkeep/maintenance, as well as help pay for future expansions, content etc. Nothing in the Mogstation is a must have, no one is entitled to any item that is in the Mogstation.

[Iscah]

I know we have the association between spriggans and Hatchingtide, but beyond that it doesn't really look like a themed mount at all. It's carrying a gem and a basket of cushions. Either they designed it for the event then dialled it back to make it generic, or it was never intended for the event but made as a generic mascot mount.

[Arngrim_Greyashe]

Man... if OP thinks the completely noninvasive and separate cash shop that is Mog Station to be bad, they shouldn't check out any other MMO on the market right now. This game is so non predatory with its cash shop and I feel like people take that for granted. Play BDO, Tera, or any other recent MMO and notice how much more predatory those are. Heck, BDO has items in their cash shop that actually affects your character stats to an extent. So just think about that when you look at this cash shop that isn't even directly even in the game. Y'all need to stop crying.