It's so Awesome to See All the Cool Stuff Are Now in Cashshop.

[Ranaku]

I mean, it's complicated.

On one hand, selling optional goods and services seems benign. For the people who want that thing and are willing to pay for it, hopefully it makes them happier. And presumably a segment of the profits go into further development of the game, which benefits all players.

On the other hand, CBU3 does have absolute dominion over the range of goods and services offered within their platform, meaning there are no competitors who can provide things like emotes and clothing at a superior quality or at a lower price point. In this way, any company selling microtransactions on their own closed platform has created a realm in which they have a specific monopoly. In addition, within that space the usage of these optional goods acts as native marketing, and since FF14 is a social space this can apply pressure to purchase goods not simply because they would be enjoyable, but as a means with which to be included or part of the group, as opposed to an outsider. That's a complex dynamic to engage with.

I don't think this is a black-or-white issue, and without saying that each side is equal, I will say there are compelling ideas and values on each side. So I guess what I'll close with is simply encouragement to engage with the true nuance of this issue, rather than trying to paint it as all good or all bad.

The question is if we get less ingame rewards since the shop was introduced. The answer to that is no. The games rewards have steadily grown over time and you get much more ingame than on the shop. We get with every patch new glam, new housing items, new mounts and other new things. A lot to farm and grind and enjoy. And the ingame rewards are all high quality, especially the stuff from the treasure maps. Taste in that may vary but i think nobody can say that the free glam in XIV is badly designed compared to the shops glam.

The reason why the shop looks so overwhelming is cause it had half a decade to build up all of that stuff. I remember when i started playing there were like not even a handful of things on the store. And if you play that long it doesn't seem to be that bad cause they trickled in over months and months to years. For people who join today i can see how they can get overwhelmed by it and feel like it's too much.