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

[fulminating]

That's because they approve of it. It's their money. I'm not so arrogant to say what others should be doing with it. I only have control with what I do with my money.

Do you know what a whale is?
It's an individual who pays enough to be worth hunting for and catering to, distorting the game under their oppressive weight. It doesn't matter if 99.9% of people don't pay $35 for a reskin mount; as long as that 0.1% do it will remain profitable and worth damaging the game over. This system is a necessary evil in free to play games - but this isn't f2p is it? Not only is there the monthly subscription cost, but the optional monthly extra retainer cost (up to 7 more directly), the companion app monthly fee including another extra retainer, past event rewards on the mogstore and the regular exclusive additions to the shop. While it shouldn't be necessary to mention, I will at least credit them for not having layer upon layer of obfuscating currency to hide the true costs, nor being able to directly buy power beyond the "catch-up" books (level and story sold separately).
Whales being so uncommon, yet having so much impact does necessarily mean that their purchases affect developer decisions and thus every player in the game.
Cash shops are a cancer that will only grow and metastasise if left unchecked.

[kpxmanifesto]

I don't believe any of this pathetic excuses, I heard it first hand from ex-sqex employee working on FFXIV. When I asked them, they laughing their ass off, there is no such thing as angry lady LMAO....

I'm surprised there's still a few people who believe this. The "baroness" is an obvious PR stunt meant to shift blame off of Yoshi P. Everybody at SE knows the cash shop is a blatant cash grab so what do they do? They create a fall guy, this baroness. She might be an actual person, she might not be. The point is she's there to take blame for the unpopular decision that is the cash shop. SE can't afford to have Yoshi P's image be tarnished by the addition of a cash grab feature, so this is where the "baroness" steps in. She essentially acts as a buffer or a lightning rod for Yoshi P, taking all the hits so he doesn't have to.

The baroness and the statement that "all proceeds from the cash shop go back into FFXIV" are very obvious PR tricks that a few people sadly still eat up.

[JamieRose]

I honestly think the Mods should pin this thread, because it's painfully clear that we're gonna get a thread of this nature, and the same discussion, every single time they add anything to the cash shop

Wait until The Rising. The yearly sale gets chintzier every time it rolls around.

[Koros]

Do you know what a whale is?
It's an individual who pays enough to be worth hunting for and catering to, distorting the game under their oppressive weight. It doesn't matter if 99.9% of people don't pay $35 for a reskin mount; as long as that 0.1% do it will remain profitable and worth damaging the game over. This system is a necessary evil in free to play games - but this isn't f2p is it? Not only is there the monthly subscription cost, but the optional monthly extra retainer cost (up to 7 more directly), the companion app monthly fee including another extra retainer, past event rewards on the mogstore and the regular exclusive additions to the shop. While it shouldn't be necessary to mention, I will at least credit them for not having layer upon layer of obfuscating currency to hide the true costs, nor being able to directly buy power beyond the "catch-up" books (level and story sold separately).
Whales being so uncommon, yet having so much impact does necessarily mean that their purchases affect developer decisions and thus every player in the game.
Cash shops are a cancer that will only grow and metastasise if left unchecked.

The paypigs in this game won't ever understand

[Theodric]

If anything, the amount of merchandise in general seems to be rising. For example, I checked the lodestone and yet another two pieces of merchandise was announced. Namely these:





The latter isn't due until next April. Certainly, the Fan Fest is next week but these days it seems as if there's more focus on ensuring a steady stream of optional items are available as opposed to content for veteran players with staying power.

I'm not even necessarily against the existence of a cash shop - it's a necessarily evil these days for many companies in the pursuit of ever increasing profit. I just wish more of the money raised went back into the game itself and a greater variety of player tastes were catered to.

That being said, the game's been courting 'superfans' on social media and regularly sends them free merchandise for their collections that they then brag about to their audience during streams and claim the game and company is the bestest ever, so it certain seems to be working for them...

[LittleImp]

no wonder lots of people here post on alt. Probably have more cash shop mount than me on their main account

To be fair, it's possible they received it as a gift from another player. I myself have quite a few cash-shop mounts and outfits, despite never having personally purchased any of them.

[Stormpeaks]

To be fair, it's possible they received it as a gift from another player. I myself have quite a few cash-shop mounts and outfits, despite never having personally purchased any of them.

My ex partner literally gifted me 50% of what I have personally including the most expensive stuff, the only one I would have bought myself is the whale because I think it's pretty cool and is also a 8 seater which is amazing, the rest is just blah

[Aword3213]

To be fair, it's possible they received it as a gift from another player. I myself have quite a few cash-shop mounts and outfits, despite never having personally purchased any of them.

idk, grow a backbone and decline it?

I think u need to calm down, u ppl are way too easy to rile up lmao

Actually I'm quite happy about it because I only checked 1 account and it's bingo

if only such luck can extend to my 400 grand company seal lootboxes.

[Dionysius]

This "Fanfest" feels more like Sqexfest since they're the one reaping (milking dry) all the best rewards from their players, money.

Their 10th anniversary and fanfest is just pure consumerist advertisement.

[Kazhar]

idk, grow a backbone and decline it?

What would that accomplish (beside looking incredibly ungrateful)? Square Enix don't offer refunds.