The FFXIV Cash Shop is greedy

[Krotoan]

Nobody has to do what I demand. I'm simply giving my opinion and feedback, feel free to agree or disagree.

I also wonder why you're playing a subscription game and not a F2P or B2P game if you're so adamant on only paying for what you want.

I wouldn't even call that a demand. Just your proposed solution. It's pretty obvious I disagree.


I'm playing FFXIV because I enjoy the game. The form its monetization takes is minor as long as I enjoy the actual content. And I'm saying that you're asking for an increase in the base sub to wrap in what is considered an extra into the main game. Rather than the choice people currently have where they can decide whether all this extra stuff is something they want. This isn't content that would have been created unless there was demand for it, but it also allows players to CHOOSE whether they want to participate with that or not.

ALSO.. F2P and B2P games generally cost hundreds if not thousands of dollars a year to stay "competitive". The cost is usually hidden in the fact that the whole game is micro transactions. FFXIV is entirely accessible except for a few cosmetics. There is no functional limitation as long as you pay the sub. So again, you're asking others to pay to cover fancy extras.

[SturmChurro]

...because we needed another thread about this.

My thinking exactly. This is a literal regurgitation of a thread from like 3 weeks ago too. I just find it funny that this and the other most recent mogstation whine thread are both right here next to each other. It's ridiculous.

[DrWho2010]

My thinking exactly. This is a literal regurgitation of a thread from like 3 weeks ago too. I just find it funny that this and the other most recent mogstation whine thread are both right here next to each other. It's ridiculous.

Because ppl be lazy and my opinion on the topic is more important than that other thread so i must have my own thread.

this is why nothing ever gets to devs because of too much topic fragmentation.

as for the topic at hand. i've always been of the mindset that it's optional. OPTIONAL. no one is holding a gun to your head and saying BUY THIS OR ELSE. lol
for those that complain that it should be made available for free in game. eh whatever.
if there is an MMO out there that doesn't have a cash shop please tell me so everyone knows to go play that game instead and stop being so whiny haha.

[Gemina]

In terms of micro-transactions... yada yada yada.

Did you know that you don't have to buy one thing from the cash shop to progress in this game? Not one thing. All of it is completely and totally optional.

[Halivel]

Player satisfaction is why people play the game to begin with and is likely most important factor to consider, especially when you have a subscription business model. Even Activision/Blizzard seems to understand this with how they are relatively conservative with amount of Cash Shop items, however I'm sure that even they are stretching with what they can get away with and have the Cash Shop as a contributing factor of WoW player dissatisfaction.

So some players are entiteled enough to think "I payed 13 euro in 2013, and still pay 13 euro in 2020, company should give me more and more but don't dare they keep paying their workers money because reasons", and the one who's greedy here is the company?

Cash shop, while can be, and often is, annoying in its existence, is one of the rare ways to keep subscription fee from raising, and that's what matters much more for a consumer than the size of the shop. Believe me, if cash shop would be removed or didn't exist to begin with, and sub fee raised every year, because prices in gamedev don't mysteriously stay the same, that's where the real blacklash and massive unsibbing would happen, even if most people would logically understand why it happened. I personally probably wouldn't play this game if sub was higher, not because I don't want to pay more, but because I just couldn't afford it then - 15$ with 400$ wage (and my country isn't very generous with wages unless you're a politic) is already quite a lot as it is, and I know plenty of people who are the same. Having the compromise in the face of Mog Station helps people, who doesn't want to or can't spend more on a monthly basis, spend less with occasional extra spendings when they want to/can do these extra spendings.

Once again, amount of items in shop doesn't matter more than prices do - it's a factor, but it doesn't exist in a nutshell. What matters is what exactly and how much you can to buy for the same price. Quote, because you either didn't see it or conveniently ignored. I don't care if WoW have just 5 pets in shop if I need to pay 10$ for each at once, when I can take more for the same price in other shop or take the same amount for a lesser price without loss in the quality on top of that. And I don't think that I'm the only person who thinks this way. Mog Station is one of the rare examples of a decent balance between guality, quantity and price (and some items are still considered expensive regardless, and some items could look better than they do).

I am a consumer. I get spare 20$ (18€) and think "okay, wanna spoil myself and buy something cute in shop". I open Mog Station and can: buy 2 mount for 8.40€ each, or 1 mount for 8.40€ + 2 minions for 3.50€, or 1 mount for 16.80€, or 2 attires for 9€ each, or one attire for 13.50€ + 1 minion for 3.50€. Then I open Blizzard shop: I can buy... 2 minions. Wow, Blizzard certainly wins! (No it doesn't).

[Clover_Blake]

So some players are entiteled enough to think "I payed 13 euro in 2013, and still pay 13 euro in 2020, company should give me more and more but don't dare they keep paying their workers money because reasons", and the one who's greedy here is the company?

Those are my thoughts too.
I love how people demand more content and more everything, but at the same time they don't want SE to earn more money to make it. They simply want more for the same price.

I'm glad the cash shop exists because I can tell that updates and events have improved from 2.0 times, and I understand that improvement has happened because the game has more revenue, and thus more money can be invested back into the game. Yet I'm still paying the exact same quantity for my sub (and I barely use the cash shop because the game already provides all the glamours I need). I think all is good.

[Hysterior]

People vote with their money.

[Canadane]

You gotta realize a lot of this games success is because of how pretty looking it is.
Of course the cash shop is going to have more glamours and such than WoW.

[SamRF]

So some players are entiteled enough to think "I payed 13 euro in 2013, and still pay 13 euro in 2020, company should give me more and more but don't dare they keep paying their workers money because reasons", and the one who's greedy here is the company?

I agree that the sub cost may be too low and that most players likely aren't ready yet to pay more. I've acknowledged this before (in this thread and others) and it might be true that a Cash Shop may provide a good middle ground for now. I wish that the MMO market (players as well as games) was more saturated so more players would have more choice and that a solid game with higher sub fee and no Cash Shop would indeed exist, then I likely wouldn't be voicing my concerns and feedback here but instead pull the trigger way faster and switch game.

Once again, amount of items in shop doesn't matter more than prices do - it's a factor, but it doesn't exist in a nutshell. What matters is what exactly and how much you can to buy for the same price. Quote, because you either didn't see it or conveniently ignored. I don't care if WoW have just 5 pets in shop if I need to pay 10$ for each at once, when I can take more for the same price in other shop or take the same amount for a lesser price without loss in the quality on top of that. And I don't think that I'm the only person who thinks this way. Mog Station is one of the rare examples of a decent balance between guality, quantity and price (and some items are still considered expensive regardless, and some items could look better than they do).

I had read it and I appreciate you taking the time voicing your and other's opinion but I simply don't agree with it so I didn't bother replying

I don't care what the prices of Cash Shop items are because I won't buy it. I don't want a Cash Shop out of principle (immerion, potential slippery slope, authenticity, p2p game, 4th wall, ...), so if there is in fact a Cash Shop, I just want it to have as few items as possible. The difference in amount of items is huge when you compare both games all things considered.

Realize how WoW sells 0 glamours, meaning that when you play WoW you know that you can only get all available transmogs in game. This alone is a reassuring feeling imo and is a big deal. The amount of items in WoW Cash Shop is small enough (for how long it exists) that you won't immedietaly get suspicious that they do or will decrease the quality of items ingame to drive up Cash Shop sales (especially for glamours since there are none in Bliz Store). Not saying this is the case in FFXIV but the concern will be there and that alone is not pleasant.

Meanwhile you go to FFXIV Mog Station and see pages upon pages of items, easily makes it look like a b2p game with no supscription. In fact I'm sure it offers more items than ESO or GW2 offer in their ingame stores (especially for glam attires) at a given time and those aren't even supscription games. (of course the nature of GW2 and ESO stores are more greedy, as they probably should be being b2p)

I'd be much more happy if we only had 5 minions/glams/mounts that each cost 100$ than have a Cash Shop of this magnitude. If that doesn't make sense to you, then so be it, we can't always understand each other's perspective and that's okay.

[Halivel]

I agree that the sub cost may be too low and that most players likely aren't ready yet to pay more.

They will never be for a variety of reasons, and MMO games don't aim only at those who can pay as much as possible, they try to catch people with different wealth backgrounds (even f2p games do, as much as greedy they are). Cash Shops are a compromise for that. Having 10 items for 5$ each instead 1 for 50$ is also a compromise because:

1. They give more options for same price

2. It places lesser stretch on consumer's wallet than one single pruchase for a significant amount you owed to pay immediately. I will much more willingly buy an item for 5$ then buy one more released later also for 5$ than one single item for 50$ even if it's astonishingly amazing. No way I will buy a minion for 100$ which is 25% of my monthly wage, my (and hundreds other people) only reaction will be "are you mad there? do you suppose your players have 4000+$ wage or what?" And even for 4000$ wage asking 100$ for a minion is a poor marketing decision. It won't make the game more attractive for players.

That said... thanks god you're not developing this game.