Online Store is Getting Worse!

[Boblawblah]

Would you all prefer the cash shop not exist in its entirety at all? Less options = better?

Or would you prefer regions where the game is under entirely different operating setup (China/Korea) which don’t have a subscription version and rely on cash shop items to operate to simply not share the things they’ve created to keep their operation afloat?

Bottom line, the things created in the cash shop were created expressly to sell in the cash shop. No cash shop = no extra optional items. And no side-benefits that come from the sales (like extra housing wards).

Love it, hate it, your call…but it is incredibly disingenuous to call this cash shop predatory or unfair when compared to other games of similar type.

If it’s an issue of price, it certainly might feel unfair for some, but as long as the items are selling, there is no incentive to reduce price..and why should SE when they know it fuels future endeavors.

You're presenting a false dilemma. We have no hard evidence that the cash shop items would simply never have been created had the cash shop not existed. We don't know how much of the cash shop income is directly returned to the development of the game or simply adds to the profits of the game. It's like saying that a billionaire CEO wouldn't give a Christmas bonus to his employees if he had a reduced salary.

Also, it's not disingenuous to have an opinion on something regardless of how it compares to other similar products. If everyone is doing something predatory, that doesn't make it not predatory.

[SturmChurro]

You're presenting a false dilemma. We have no hard evidence that the cash shop items would simply never have been created had the cash shop not existed. We don't know how much of the cash shop income is directly returned to the development of the game or simply adds to the profits of the game. It's like saying that a billionaire CEO wouldn't give a Christmas bonus to his employees if he had a reduced salary.

Also, it's not disingenuous to have an opinion on something regardless of how it compares to other similar products. If everyone is doing something predatory, that doesn't make it not predatory.

I think it's safe to say a lot of the items wouldn't exist without the cash shop.

I agree with this. However, I don't think FFXIV's cash shop is really predatory yet, people can argue the pricing, but that's not really predatory, in my opinion. Predatory would be if they were doing "limited time" sales, items on rotation, premium battlepass, lootboxes, pay for convenience, etc..

[Silverbane]

Predatory would be if they were doing ... pay for convenience, etc..

They do do pay for convenience: SDS Fenrir.

[SturmChurro]

They do do pay for convenience: SDS Fenris.

Of course, I'm sure there is an argument to be made that certain aspects or items are predatory, or bordering on it, but I don't think the whole store is at that level yet. Like someone could argue story or level skips, things not being account bound, etc..

[Silverbane]

Of course, I'm sure there is an argument to be made that certain aspects or items are predatory, but I don't think the whole store is at that level yet. Like someone could argue story or level skips, things not being account bound, etc..

I'm not saying SDS Fenrir is predatory, but the little speed boost sure is nice.

[Boblawblah]

I think it's safe to say a lot of the items wouldn't exist without the cash shop.

I agree with this. However, I don't think FFXIV's cash shop is really predatory yet, people can argue the pricing, but that's not really predatory, in my opinion. Predatory would be if they were doing "limited time" sales, items on rotation, premium battlepass, lootboxes, pay for convenience, etc..

agreed, the only thing I think is truly predatory is the retainers, but players have accepted it, so it is what it is.

[SturmChurro]

agreed, the only thing I think is truly predatory is the retainers, but players have accepted it, so it is what it is.

Right. Retainers. I don't really use them so they weren't on my mind, but I do recall complaints about them in the past. I think it really depends. People were more accepting of the cash shop in the past, or things like retainers, but things can change very quickly.

I'm not saying SDS Fenrir is predatory, but the little speed boost sure is nice.

I don't think I'd personally label it "predatory" either, but yeah, I'm sure that speed boost is nice. I don't have that mount.

[Skivvy]

I think it's safe to say a lot of the items wouldn't exist without the cash shop.

I agree with this. However, I don't think FFXIV's cash shop is really predatory yet, people can argue the pricing, but that's not really predatory, in my opinion. Predatory would be if they were doing "limited time" sales, items on rotation, premium battlepass, lootboxes, pay for convenience, etc..

One of my bigger annoyances, which I just discovered recently, is the fact that they sell retainer level skips on the cash shop. I've always hated how your retainer reverts back to level one when you switch jobs, even when switching to jobs you previously had at max level. Instead of fixing this in-game, they've gone the simple route of just selling you a quick solution.

And then there's the selling of retainers in general. Before that was a thing, there had been several quotes floating around how they couldn't add extra storage because of <reasons>, but then that went away once they could charge you for them. And we can't forget the extra retainer if you pay for the companion app. I would have liked to have seen them focus more on reducing item bloat and creating better storage systems (glamour logs, material banks, etc), but at this point, are they really going to want to get rid of all that extra retainer profit? Only SE knows the answer to that one. :X

These definitely fall more into the predatory category for me since the in-game options are optimized poorly. I realize those are incredibly mild compared to what you can find in other games, but I don't think that gives SE a pass. Then there's the issue of them just being greedy AF as a whole with their pricing models, lack of account-wide items, sheer number of paid options in a subscription game, etc....