The Trial vs Standard Edition doesn't feel fair

[Rivlet]

Perhaps...

Aaand yet another metaphor which fails across the board. You guys must be hungry, but the restaurant is just not the best of options. And yet, I WILL TRY.

I go into a restaurant to try their famous pizza. They allow people to try the pineapple version for free. It is a big pizza, but they let you take your time, eat at your own pace... They don't care if you are occupying a spot in their establishment.

I start eating the pizza and I like it (jokes on me). Out of appreciation and because I feel bad by eating a whole pizza for free, I pay the price of the pizza I am eating (make it two, because I am also paying for my wife's).

After doing so, a White Mage Cook comes and turns our half-eaten pizzas into half-eaten pizzas without pineapple, which is nice because no one prefers pineapple pizza. After happily eating the improved pizza for a while, the waiter comes and tells us that we must finish our pizza ASAP because, if not, we have to pay the full price again to eat what remains of it. Feeling confused, I ask whether they can add pineapple again and let us eat the rest for free. The answer is negative.

Meanwhile, I see people stuffing their mouths with pineapple pizza all around us. Some of them even finished it. I am still hungry, but I know I cannot finish my pizza in time. Feelsbadman.jpg.

...and OP...

No! Nein! Non! I am NOT saying that. I am actually saying the OPPOSITE. And I think I did 4 TIMES. And I did exactly that after the FIRST PERSON explained all the technical difficulties that would arise from such downgrade.

Forums are about reading. Seeing the title, the OP post and a couple more things won't cut it.

...trial...

We can label things all we want "Free Trial", "Free to Play"... But I'd rather have us sticking to facts. Simply, the game lets you play for free. Yes, cut in QoL, but you can beat ARR and HW for free.

Doesn't make sense to go technical on the labelling. Otherwise, we would have big problems with our "labelling law". SWTOR is F2P and yet they pretty much put very similar restrictions to FFXIV FT. If two things are the same, why different labelling? Human is hard. If there's labelling to be applied, the basic is fine:

F2P - You can play the heck out of the titles for free, with some restrictions (ARR+HW)
Subscription - Content is blocked under subscription (rest of FFXIV)
Purchase - You buy the game and you get the whole thing (GW2, for instance).

...gaming...

This comment is so ... that I don't know where to start. Don't get me wrong. I am not saying you are ... , only that your comment is.

Judge your own life, not others'.

I don't think...

For @AethyrSanc.

I find it...

Exactly.

smart

Baseless judging again plus personal insult. Thanks.

[Seera1024]

We can label things all we want "Free Trial", "Free to Play"... But I'd rather have us sticking to facts. Simply, the game lets you play for free. Yes, cut in QoL, but you can beat ARR and HW for free.

Doesn't make sense to go technical on the labelling. Otherwise, we would have big problems with our "labelling law". SWTOR is F2P and yet they pretty much put very similar restrictions to FFXIV FT. If two things are the same, why different labelling? Human is hard. If there's labelling to be applied, the basic is fine

Because it's a free trial. The labeling is important in this case. You don't get to dismiss it because it gives you access to the free to play side of things, which some games have used.

A free trial is used to see if you like something or not. Free to play games are games that you can play for free for as long as you like.

By purchasing the game, you've told SE that you no longer need to trial the game because you like it.

I'm sorry that you didn't research enough into what purchasing the game meant, but that doesn't change the fact that a trial is for you to decide if you like something enough to buy it or not. And YoshiP has come out and stated that FFXIV would shut its servers down before going free to play.

You can't dismiss the labeling differences between free to play and free trial because they mean two different things. And it is just fine to get technical about it because those differences matter for this discussion.

Just because a different game is free to play but has the same number of restrictions, doesn't mean that FFXIV should follow suit. Each game has its own reasons for the restrictions they put in place on the free trial and free to play members. Each of those restrictions either aimed at enticing players to buy the game or an optional sub or to discourage RMT or both. I typically find the "other game does/doesn't do this" arguments to be very weak ones because they are different games and just because another game does or doesn't do something, doesn't mean every other game in that same genre should follow suit.

On a slightly different vein: they've changed the trial a number of times, when I tried the game out before Shadowbringers was released the trial was 14 days long and only let you level up to level 35. And players who played that trial are actually locked out of the current trial unless they buy the game on that account or make a new account. Those players I do hope one day that Square Enix is able to adjust to be able to play the current free trial on. Because they never purchased the game.

[Fyrebrand]

Sure, they're losing a few hundred customers who refuse to create a new account so they can continue to play with the trial restrictions.

I don't think you nor I can know how many customers it affects, but why would a business want to willingly lose any customers? If it eventually leads to somebody upgrading and paying a subscription, it will be more than worth it. And like I said, these are people who have already given Square Enix their money in the past, so clearly they have a proven interest and a desire to return. Why should the company bet *against* them, in favour of random people who may never hand over a dime? I get there are complications that come with flip-flopping between paid status versus free status, but it's nothing that can't be solved. You should never make it a hassle for your customers to access your product, even if it's a free sample. It's literally supposed to be a promotion, not a test of the customer's resolve to see if they're willing to put in the "work" to deserve it.

no one prefers pineapple pizza

This is flagrantly false. It is a scientific fact that pineapple is a superior pizza topping. All your arguments are rendered moot now.

[Rivlet]

Because it's a free trial. The labeling is important in this case. ...

On a slightly different vein: they've changed the trial a number of times, when I tried the game out before Shadowbringers was released the trial was 14 days long and only let you level up to level 35. And players who played that trial are actually locked out of the current trial unless they buy the game on that account or make a new account. Those players I do hope one day that Square Enix is able to adjust to be able to play the current free trial on. Because they never purchased the game.

Hi, Seera,

Thanks for your reply. I understand what you explain and I see your point. Heck, I even agree to some extent.

However, I believe that labelling doesn't solve the problem. In fact, it only helps to avoid it. And I personally think that that label cannot be applied anymore. It is the concept they chose for their early trials, which were exactly that: here, have this, try it for 15-30 days with restrictions. But they have extended it so much that it just doesn't work anymore because what they have right now (for ARR and HW only) is what most games and apps call Free to Play or Free to Use. Time limits are almost always there when they use the word "trial".

That said, this doesn't mean they can do whatever they want with their naming and concepts... It is true that it is difficult to compare different things. It is marketing after all, but they risk being confusing because of what I just explained.

Regardless of it all, call it F2P or Trial, there is an issue for some people: as an ARR + HW player, you get less the more you pay. Yeah, party, gil cap, FC... But if you are not able to play (unless you pay more, which is not what we are debating about), why should I care about partying, having gil, etc.?

And the other thing you mention is shocking. The problem I present has no easy solution or no solution at all, but allowing people with an old trial account to keep trialing is a must and I cannot think of any technical reason that would prevent it. It is a mess.

This is flagrantly false. It is a scientific fact that pineapple is a superior pizza topping. All your arguments are rendered moot now.

I knew that line would trigger something!

[Vahlnir]

However, I believe that labelling doesn't solve the problem. In fact, it only helps to avoid it. And I personally think that that label cannot be applied anymore. It is the concept they chose for their early trials, which were exactly that: here, have this, try it for 15-30 days with restrictions. But they have extended it so much that it just doesn't work anymore because what they have right now (for ARR and HW only) is what most games and apps call Free to Play or Free to Use. Time limits are almost always there when they use the word "trial".

That said, this doesn't mean they can do whatever they want with their naming and concepts... It is true that it is difficult to compare different things. It is marketing after all, but they risk being confusing because of what I just explained.

But a free trial is a free trial. There is NOTHING confusing about it for most people. They did not deceive anyone. Most people know what this free trial entails, and they aren't hiding what it includes, nor have they been secretive about the limitations. There's a reason that the free trial is a bit of a meme. It's not subtle. It's a lot of game to play for no money required. You exited the trial by paying a sub, therefore making your trial null and void. SE is under no obligation to rectify the error that you made. Nothing needs to change and honestly I hope it never does. Get over yourself. Dear lord.

[Seera1024]

Hi, Seera,

Thanks for your reply. I understand what you explain and I see your point. Heck, I even agree to some extent.

However, I believe that labelling doesn't solve the problem. In fact, it only helps to avoid it. And I personally think that that label cannot be applied anymore. It is the concept they chose for their early trials, which were exactly that: here, have this, try it for 15-30 days with restrictions. But they have extended it so much that it just doesn't work anymore because what they have right now (for ARR and HW only) is what most games and apps call Free to Play or Free to Use. Time limits are almost always there when they use the word "trial".

That said, this doesn't mean they can do whatever they want with their naming and concepts... It is true that it is difficult to compare different things. It is marketing after all, but they risk being confusing because of what I just explained.

Regardless of it all, call it F2P or Trial, there is an issue for some people: as an ARR + HW player, you get less the more you pay. Yeah, party, gil cap, FC... But if you are not able to play (unless you pay more, which is not what we are debating about), why should I care about partying, having gil, etc.?

Because Free Trial and Free to Play are two different things, the label is applicable in this discussion. You keep trying to point to Free to Play games who let players jump between having an optional sub and not to go "But other games let you play without a sub". So no, you can't drop the labels because the labels are important as to why you can't play without a sub in FFXIV.

Because you've already told SE that you enjoy the game enough to buy it. That you no longer need to trial the game.

Your problem is that you didn't do your research before buying the game and applying the code. That's your problem. It's not SE's problem as they have the information clearly spelled out on the terms page. You didn't go "Oh this is a free trial, I should make sure that I'm ready to buy before doing so.". You ignored the free trial's label.

YoshiP has already stated that this game is not going Free to Play so the free trial will remain just that, a free trial. Something that once you buy the game, you're no longer eligible for.

[Pawhilda]

I must say I find this discussion a bit funny. The free trial is really generous and nice to have but at the end of the day it don't really matter if you already know that you like the game.

I would also like to start with - OP if you have so little time wouldn't it be worth to pay a bit to get the best player experience? I mean we talk about maybe 1-2 months extra which is 20-30 euro which is maybe 1-2 hours of work max.

I'm currently level 50 and are already paying as I like the collection mounts and the 30% extra experience from pre-ordering the latest expansion is pretty nice. In the end I just want to say that you should value time more than money and this is a pretty cheap hobby as one month sub cost as much as a beer on the pub.

[Jojoya]

I don't think you nor I can know how many customers it affects, but why would a business want to willingly lose any customers?

Because those who successfully run businesses understand that you cannot please everyone. It's impossible. They have to draw the line somewhere on what they will and will not allow.

It's not like any player is being told that they cannot play at all unless they pay. They're being told that once an account is upgraded to paid subscription, it required a subscription to use. If the owner wants to continue to play without a subscription, they are welcome to make a new account and register it for free trial status.

As for promotion, that part is already done for the OP and others like him. They got to experience the game and see what it has to offer. Promotion completed. Either they want to continue paying for it, or they don't. The OP doesn't feel it's worth a subscription. Why would SE further cater to someone who's no longer interested in paying?

Regardless of it all, call it F2P or Trial, there is an issue for some people: as an ARR + HW player, you get less the more you pay.

No, you don't get less with a standard account than with a free trial account. Nothing is taken away from you when you continue to pay. It's not even taken away if you stop paying and playing. It's all still there waiting for you when you decide to renew your subscription (houses subject to demolition being an exception).

You need to get it out of your head that this is a buy-to-play game model. It's not. It's a subscription-based game model. Past payments do not grant future privilege in the game. Chalk it up as a lesson that you don't like subscription based models and avoid them in the future (good luck with your utility services unless you're totally off the grid).

Or... create a second account with the free trial status then make a new character so you can continue to enjoy playing the game at no cost without access to all the little things available only with a paid account.

[Fland]

Aaand yet another metaphor which fails across the board. You guys must be hungry, but the restaurant is just not the best of options. And yet, I WILL TRY.

I go into a restaurant .......

Your own metaphor also fails because the waiter did not come in the middle of your meal to tell you that you only have certain period of time to have access to the improved pizza. It is stated in the menu and they told you before you order and pay. It is your own oversight to miss it. You are also mistaken in assuming that once you no longer have access to the improved pizza, you are automatically get access back to the super bland pizza, which is never stated in the menu nor the waiter ever imply that would be the case.
It is also not unfair that other people can have access to finish their super bland pizza anytime but you only have certain period of time to access your improved pizza because they are not the same pizza. You also don't just pay to finish the remaining of your improved pizza. You pay to keep the access to the improved pizza and can keep eating more improved pizzas once you finish one as much as you want during the period of the access. With the super bland pizza, once you finished one, that's it.
The restaurant does not expect people to want to go back to the super bland pizza after ordering the improved pizza. The assumption is that you order the improved pizza in the first place because you don't want just the super bland pizza and you think the price is worth the removal of the blandness. The super bland pizza is not made as something for the customer to go back to when their access period for the improved pizza is finished.

We can label things all we want "Free Trial", "Free to Play"... But I'd rather have us sticking to facts. Simply, the game lets you play for free. Yes, cut in QoL, but you can beat ARR and HW for free.

But that's the thing. The restrictions are the emphasis here. Letting you play for free with restrictions is not the same with just letting you play for free in general. So no, SE does not just simply let you play for free.
There is no unfairness here for people who choose to pay to finish ARR+HW. They chose to pay to finish ARR+HW instead of just finishing them for free with the trial because they don't want the restrictions.
If you have no issue with restrictions but chose to pay for the one without, well I'm sorry but that's your decision. Accept the consequences and don't claim unfairness because of an oversight on your part.