Emote Monetization needs to Stop.

[Raraka]

Serious question.

Can you provide a scenario in which being able to fry an egg is integral to one's character being able to fully express themselves? Particularly given that for the entire history of the game, nobody has been able to?

To put it another way, I don't think new players are having their game experience curtailed because a digital egg costs seven bucks. What they may benefit from is the revenue produced by whales buying an overpriced breakfast staple.

"Its just a cosmetic horse armor, who cares" and look at where we are now

Its not about the product (in this case, the fry egg emote) but about the practice. The goal of threads like this is to push back against bad faith practices

First its a 7 bucks emote, and then what, the Saint Wake outfit going to the store when the event is live instead of the event reward?, the MSQ opening the mogstation for you to buy the Alpaca mount?, Having 10 glamour plates and unlocking the rest by paying?

[Sensui]

I would agree, up until not just emotes, but aesthetics in general, get gated behind content nobody or their second cousin wants to run anymore, and finding a group for it would require you to go so far off the beaten path that it'd just make running said content for said aesthetics not even worth it.

I get that some aesthetics, such as Lyon's hairstyle, can be considered a trophy. At the same time, that's what is contending with cash shop. What would a majority of people rather do? Bust their ass for a hairstyle they want? Or just pay 7 buckaroos to get it?

And, fortunately or unfortunately, depending on how you look at it, the cash shop option is going to win, and so it's never going to end because of that.

Having said that, I would like to see more emotes and hairstyles get put in the game as something you can acquire through gameplay. I'd also like the effort I'd have to put in to get them to be reasonable. If I have to start hopping onto discord channels and rousing people to form a party on a specific day, at a specific time, to run a specific piece of content, all because I want a specific aesthetic, then I'd rather just buy it on the cash shop. I can't live in the game, I get limited time to play.

I agree, I think the option to acquire in game should absolutely be there. Right now a lot of exclusive cash shop stuff. Likely tho they would make the good stuff so impossible to get you would, out of frustration, open the coin purse and buy it.

[Sensui]

Sorry for double posting. Use mobile and it doesn't let you edit.. but..

Also, I would 100% do Ultimates for the floaty omega dude emote and glamours. I could care less about a glowy weapons, but it would add to the variety. This games reward priorities are so out of touch. I think great emotes and outfits add to the prestige people look for in titles and glory weapons as well,.

[Swordsman]

Snip

Not just emotes either. There's plenty of monetization of gear, mounts, etc. too. There's a reason why this meme exists:





From what I remember, the devs came out and said all the money from the cash shop goes back into the game, but I don't believe that for a second. A good chunk of that cash probably flows into the pockets of SE shareholders if anything. It's really just as believable as the time Yoshi P said the "scary baroness lady" was the person in charge of the cash shop and he has no say whatsoever in how its run.

[PercibelTheren]

Okay but that's patently false, there's a lot of emotes you can earn via in-game means especially if you do limited content like seasonal events and PvP battlepass when it comes around. There's also a bunch you can get from the Gold Saucer or tribal quests or straight up buy off the market board. Some side quests reward them. Among other stuff like Bozja and variant dungeons.

You're not totally starved of new emotes if you do content. More nice emotes you can earn in the game without having to pay money on the Mog Station or buy expensive figurines would be great, obviously, but if they've released new emotes and you consciously choose not to do the content that rewards them you can't then complain that there aren't any emotes for you to get.

Let me just make a time machine and get all of the seasonal things they added before I started playing...

[Angeldust]

Let me just make a time machine and get all of the seasonal things they added before I started playing...

or they just add them to the even shop when the even comes again so you can reget them ;p beside those are fine because they from old events, there a difference between old events you had an option to earn in game, that was fine when it was just this from old events.. noone had an issue with that although tbh they should just be brought back in game when the event rolls around again

[Birdbrain]

The monetization is getting quite eggcessive.

What a shame, I could've see the emote being part of a short side quest to discover the 100 different ways to cook an egg. I don't like this 'horse armor DLC' timeline, can we go back.

[Astronema]

I would LOVE the sunder emote but you know, I can't get it because of what it's locked behind. I like collecting some figures too but wasn't to crazy about this one.

It's a real gut punch when they do sheet like this to a lot of people.

I think all those emotes tied to a figure etc should be put in the shop after say 2 years.

[Luluya]

Gonna bring it up again but the implementation of the second dye channel to all dyeable cash shop sets but skipping over so many in-game sets (even some jobs neglected outright like WHM/BLM ARR) is proof that cash shop items do come at the cost of in-game items

[KernCadfan]

Not only do cash shop items come at the expense of in-game items and emotes, it comes to the detriment of the game and the player base. I know of three people who left FinalFantasyXIV because as very hard core players they were displeased that they couldn't use their own skill to access the content. They felt spurned that it is, unequivocally behind a paywall, and the endwalker plot wasn't enough to get them to stay when they felt disrespected as long-time players.

To the point that they're not accessible for the average person to buy, that cash shop feels malicious. Let's see: "Egg fry" is $7, "Joyious Leaping" is $12, Eat Pizza is $7... that means those three emotes alone is $26. To play FFXIV for 2 months, I buy the $30 Crysta package... so here is my question. Why are three emotes almost the price of two months of playtime?!

For a "must have subscription" model game, meaning you must pat a subscription fee to stay "on content", that's not only backwards and twisted, it's a slap in the face. Mount prices? Even worse... and if you are a person that does like to immerse yourself in this game and collect emotes and other side content you are being completely and entirely devalued and leached off of. Yes, I know a person doesn't *have to* buy them... but let's also demand reasonable pricing for junk like that. NOTHING should cost you half of the cost of your subscription fee, certainly not an emote, that's for sure... I could see exclusive packages with armor, emotes, and a mount or something included to beef up the price to something substantial.... but don't try to sell me a single emote for $12.

That's just neglectful of those who would like to earn the emotes... it's not my thing, but I don't like that it's behind such a large paywall either. That's not player friendly design, and highlights a lot of the poor choices we've all been concerned/annoyed about recently as a widely spread community. I suppose that's my main issue about it.

It's just a symptom of a larger problem we've run into as players. The devs aren't thinking about us anymore... not with the way they've been acting... let's be honest. In general new content is on a drop-feed as it is. Don't put what little else you do have behind such a difficult to attain paywall. Some people don't have that kind of money, so it's not about lacking effort or skill. It's about not being able to justify the expense... games shouldn't remind you of your own level of income (or lack there of) so perniciously.

Edit: unpopular opinion, and possible soultion... I would happily pay a $20 monthly subscription fee if I was guaranteed that nothing was behind a paywall for me as a consumer, and these objects would come in the form of side quests and unlockable content instead. I do like this game, it's fair for the devs to ask for a fair and equal compensation, and the subscription price has been around without inflation for a very long time. If they are hurting for money, maybe it's time to offer a higher priced subscription model. I'm in a position that I could pay more, and I'd be very happy to do. I'd have only one catch; the content NEEDS to be in-game and accessable to all somehow. If it meant a better game and community for players as a whole, I would offer more monetary support. I do think that many in the FFXIV community feel the same way, but we aren't given the option, and we're not given the perks for why that higher subscription model would be justified to be on-offer.