Online Store is Getting Worse!

[Deveryn]

Some back of the envelope calculations on my part

Assuming:

1. Squenix reporting of 24 mil accounts as of Oct 21 is both accurate and each is a distinct subscription
2. Each of these is paying a 30 day standard sub in my region at 8.99/month

Thats ~2 billion (2,000,000,000) gross annually, not including Mogstation transactions or upfront expansions payments.

I don't claim to be an expert on MMO maintenance costs, but that seems like plenty of income to me.

You don't seem to understand basic economics and the fact that prices for everything else have gone up, yet the subscription fee remains the same.

I don't claim to be an expert on the costs, but I've paid attention to this genre and what those in the industry have had to say on the matter. Years ago, decisions had to be made in order to support these efforts. One thought that floated around was actually in-game advertisements. Thankfully, that never happened and they instead decided to address the market for luxury goods.

[Iyrnthota]

You don't seem to understand basic economics and the fact that prices for everything else have gone up, yet the subscription fee remains the same.

I don't claim to be an expert on the costs, but I've paid attention to this genre and what those in the industry have had to say on the matter. Years ago, decisions had to be made in order to support these efforts. One thought that floated around was actually in-game advertisements. Thankfully, that never happened and they instead decided to address the market for luxury goods.

Nah, I reckon even these days they could sustain on subs alone. Obviously we'll likely never know for sure, cause they're never gonna release that info, but I even with the increase in costs due to inflation over the years they'd be fine.

Least I'm honest enough to put it up front where my opinions are based, not hiding behind mysterious industry insiders and thinly veiled insults.

Edit: There's a daily post limit apparently.

[Deveryn]

Nah, I reckon even these days they could sustain on subs alone. Obviously we'll likely never know for sure, cause they're never gonna release that info, but I even with the increase in costs due to inflation over the years they'd be fine.

Least I'm honest enough to put it up front where my opinions are based, not hiding behind mysterious industry insiders and thinly veiled insults.

Edit: There's a daily post limit apparently.

I'm not hiding anything. I just don't keep it handy. It's 20 damn years of articles. The proof is out there. Just google it.
There's nothing thinly veiled about my insults. Why it's insulting to state the obvious lack of understanding on your part is another thing.

My point is this shop and its patrons are helping keep the sub cost down.

[Raoabolic]

I'm not hiding anything. I just don't keep it handy. The proof is out there. Just google it.
There's nothing thinly veiled about my insults. Why it's insulting to state the obvious lack of understanding on your part is another thing.

My point is this shop and its patrons are helping keep the sub cost down.

Source: Trust me bro. :^)

[Deveryn]

Source: Trust me bro. :^)

That's their source for all the evil SE is doing.

The last time I had this conversation was probably around 5 years ago. Like I said, you can find the info out there if you bother to look. I can't be arsed because ya'll aren't worth the time and won't listen anyway.

[Raoabolic]

That's their source for all the evil SE is doing.

I agree! I don't see why everyone gives EA so much flack. :^)

[Deveryn]

I agree! I don't see why everyone gives EA so much flack. :^)

Now you're fishing for a proper rant. They have really ruined so many good things.

[SturmChurro]

My point is this shop and its patrons are helping keep the sub cost down.

I don't know if that is necessarily true. It'd be nice to think of the mogstore as having a positive effect on the game, but as the years have gone on, I don't think it really is. I personally don't mind non-predatory cash shops, as I have said before on these forums. If the game likewise has desirable things to earn, then buying something desirable off of a cash shop - something that wouldn't have been created otherwise - only enhances the experience, in my opinion. I like outfits! However, I'd like to see a certain level of quality, especially if players are going to be paying a premium for said item, and this more and more doesn't seem to be the case. They also seem to be adding things that were already in the game to the store - not referring to seasonal items (although, some would argue those should be available in-game as well).

[GeminiReed]

I'm always willing to support developers for good work, but I can't justify paying $20 for $1 worth of effort despite being able to part with that $20 very easily.

The development cost is somewhere between us$2-4k if they're using in-house developers. If they offshore some of the work that could drop well below us$1k. If they sell 10 or 100,000 the cost is the same other than transaction fees. I'm willing to bet the sales figure will be closer to 100k (20 cents per piece) than 20k (1 usd per piece)

In other words, it's fountain soda.

My point is this shop and its patrons are helping keep the sub cost down.

Hardly. No matter how much profit the cash shop makes they'd dearly love to jack up the sub fees. The don't because there's sufficient competition in the MMO space that any attempt at such would cause enough unsubs for them to be required to make a note in the next annual report. (I do not miss working for publicly traded companies).