SE consider a free to play option

[Warlock]

I am asking you SE to consider a free to play option in addition to subscription model. In today's PC market the majority of MMOs and other action RPG type games are free to play. Take a look at Guild Wars 2, Star Wars the Old Republic, Aion, Everquest 2, Lotro, Diablo 3, League Of Legends, Phantasy Star Online 2, DC Univerise online, the list goes on.

The market today really won't support a paid only MMO. With so many free to play MMOs out there some where devs spent millions on like Star Wars. Why would someone pick up FFXIV when they have to buy it and pay a sub fee?

With free to play + micro transaction model some people will be inclined to buy funny hats, unique looking armor, weapons, mounts, exp boosts they will actually end up spending more money then like 10 subscribers.

A much larger playerbase will be attracted due to not having such a high barrier to entry which would be the monthly fee which in today's economy many people would not even consider paying.

A majority of games who may be Final Fantasy fans would skip FFXIV:ARR just because there is a monthly fee tided to it. However if they feel like they are not being forced to pay monthly and only buy stuff on the game store if they feel like it you can actually get more people to try the game and buy stuff. If you check out comments on gaming sites like Gamestop, IGN, Kotaku the biggest complaint you see about FFXIV when it comes up is that there is a monthly fee.

I keep a lot of F2P games installed on my hard drive and play them every so often. Same can't be said for MMOs that require a fee.

I would consider at least taking a look into the free to play model and what it can do for you.

Is this guy for real?....

[DantesAmore]

I am asking you SE to consider a free to play option in addition to subscription model. In today's PC market the majority of MMOs and other action RPG type games are free to play. Take a look at Guild Wars 2, Star Wars the Old Republic, Aion, Everquest 2, Lotro, Diablo 3, League Of Legends, Phantasy Star Online 2, DC Univerise online, the list goes on.

@ OP you fail to realize that most the games you named are horrific as well AION i won't even start in about how over 60% of the player base couldn't log in for 2months thanks to a patch they released, GW2 (very fun) but TONS of bugs and no endgame what so ever other then build a legendary weapon which takes about a month then you are outta stuff to do. SWTOR was not orignally F2P it failed so baddly they had to make it f2p and even now its not 100% f2p you have to pay for the full game, Diablo3 was fun but not really a mmo. League of Legends again not really a mmo its only what 4-6 players per round? thats hardly mmo quality... Lets look at the successful mmos shall we.. FFXI paid to play and going on 10+ years running still has millions paying for it.. WoW as much as i hate that game its going on 8+ years running and still paid to play (post level 20 so ya you can play free for 2 hours lol) I would MUCH rather pay to play and avoid those nasty cash shops, which WILL come and are in ALL F2P games. don't want to pay to play ? please dont try to F##K us all with the Q.Q just move on and let the mass stay happy with a quality game and not a cash shop failure like the mass of mmos which you named. (all of which i've tried and are serverly lacking in content, challenge, and quality haha)

[Jouten]

I am asking you SE to consider a free to play option in addition to subscription model. In today's PC market the majority of MMOs and other action RPG type games are free to play. Take a look at Guild Wars 2, Star Wars the Old Republic, Aion, Everquest 2, Lotro, Diablo 3, League Of Legends, Phantasy Star Online 2, DC Univerise online, the list goes on.

The market today really won't support a paid only MMO. With so many free to play MMOs out there some where devs spent millions on like Star Wars. Why would someone pick up FFXIV when they have to buy it and pay a sub fee?

With free to play + micro transaction model some people will be inclined to buy funny hats, unique looking armor, weapons, mounts, exp boosts they will actually end up spending more money then like 10 subscribers.

A much larger playerbase will be attracted due to not having such a high barrier to entry which would be the monthly fee which in today's economy many people would not even consider paying.

A majority of games who may be Final Fantasy fans would skip FFXIV:ARR just because there is a monthly fee tided to it. However if they feel like they are not being forced to pay monthly and only buy stuff on the game store if they feel like it you can actually get more people to try the game and buy stuff. If you check out comments on gaming sites like Gamestop, IGN, Kotaku the biggest complaint you see about FFXIV when it comes up is that there is a monthly fee.

I keep a lot of F2P games installed on my hard drive and play them every so often. Same can't be said for MMOs that require a fee.

I would consider at least taking a look into the free to play model and what it can do for you.

I just realized your main class is only level 6.... so.... not really going to take your words into consideration seeing how you've barely played this game. I mean your list of examples are okay, but I doubt it'll work for this game. FFXI is still subs and they still have a healthy amount of players.

[Bowen]

I'm not sure if someone else mentioned this, but I think it would be a bit of slap to the face if they went F2P for Legacy players.

[LunaRhiki]

No no no no no...a million times NO!

[Sanne]

No.
I dislike f2p systems.
Many people here already give good reasons why it shouldn't be f2p.

[Babydoll]

Is this guy for real?....

Yeah seriously lol. I hate reading the comments on those websites, always makes me rage...I for one am glad that SE keeps it p2p. Keeps those "wah SE make it f2p, wtf where is versus" types out of FFXIV. I hate those games with item malls..shudder

[Zumi]

I have to disagree with a majority of people on this forum I support a free to play option. Its much more friendly to casual players. I payed for FFXIV mainly because I played FFXI since release and still have a subscription. However I let my FFXI lapse whenever possible, I only pay the $12.95 when I get a IM, call, email from a friend asking me if I want to do something on FFXI, ill be like ok then pay the $12.95 to get back on.

Being a long time FFXI player I know what SE does and it usually is a patch every 4 months but it really isn't very much content at all, story content is usually beaten in 1 day and your back to being bored. WotG had story patches every 6 months, they dragged out the conclusion of that game for 3 years. FFXI is at a dead stand still at the moment they aren't releasing anything new due to the fact they are working on the SoA expansion. Would it be more economic for me to have a free to play option yes it would. Let the people who are really obsessed about the game buy all the stuff from the cash shop so I can log in on a more casual once or twice a month basis.

I like the buy once then no monthly fee like Diablo or Guild Wars has. You don't feel obligated to play those games, log in whenever you feel like it. F2P games like SWTOR I would have never tried when it was P2P but I had some fun when it went F2P messing around with the character story kinda like playing Mass Effect or the previous old republic games only I didn't have to buy anything. The heavy restrictions didn't really bother me because I was not interested in buying that stuff.

FFXIV 1.0 to me wasn't worth the money for me. I gave it a shot found the community was so closed off to any one that wasn't in their LS that there just wasn't anything to do.

I have a pretty open mind I have nothing against F2P at all, if people want to buy relic weapons for $50 a pop instead of doing a long tedious quest more power to them, they are helping me play for free after all. I myself have a no cash shop rule in any mmo I play. I am not willing to spend any money on the cash shop, however I don't mind if others do and have better or unique looking gear that I don't have. If the F2P was like any other game for every 5 people who don't spend a dime on the cash shop there is that guy who is spending like $100 a month on cash shop items. Which in the end actually makes game company more money then the subscription model.

Game companies wouldn't do F2P if it wasn't profitable and in many cases yes it can be a lot more profitable for them then the subscription model.

[Warlock]

I have to disagree with a majority of people on this forum I support a free to play option. Its much more friendly to casual players. I payed for FFXIV mainly because I played FFXI since release and still have a subscription. However I let my FFXI lapse whenever possible, I only pay the $12.95 when I get a IM, call, email from a friend asking me if I want to do something on FFXI, ill be like ok then pay the $12.95 to get back on.

Being a long time FFXI player I know what SE does and it usually is a patch every 4 months but it really isn't very much content at all, story content is usually beaten in 1 day and your back to being bored. WotG had story patches every 6 months, they dragged out the conclusion of that game for 3 years. FFXI is at a dead stand still at the moment they aren't releasing anything new due to the fact they are working on the SoA expansion. Would it be more economic for me to have a free to play option yes it would. Let the people who are really obsessed about the game buy all the stuff from the cash shop so I can log in on a more casual once or twice a month basis.

I like the buy once then no monthly fee like Diablo or Guild Wars has. You don't feel obligated to play those games, log in whenever you feel like it. F2P games like SWTOR I would have never tried when it was P2P but I had some fun when it went F2P messing around with the character story kinda like playing Mass Effect or the previous old republic games only I didn't have to buy anything. The heavy restrictions didn't really bother me because I was not interested in buying that stuff.

FFXIV 1.0 to me wasn't worth the money for me. I gave it a shot found the community was so closed off to any one that wasn't in their LS that there just wasn't anything to do.

I have a pretty open mind I have nothing against F2P at all, if people want to buy relic weapons for $50 a pop instead of doing a long tedious quest more power to them, they are helping me play for free after all. I myself have a no cash shop rule in any mmo I play. I am not willing to spend any money on the cash shop, however I don't mind if others do and have better or unique looking gear that I don't have. If the F2P was like any other game for every 5 people who don't spend a dime on the cash shop there is that guy who is spending like $100 a month on cash shop items. Which in the end actually makes game company more money then the subscription model.

Game companies wouldn't do F2P if it wasn't profitable and in many cases yes it can be a lot more profitable for them then the subscription model.

You just don't want to spend money at all i get it.. the door is over there.

[Enma]

FFXI is at a dead stand still at the moment they aren't releasing anything new due to the fact they are working on the SoA expansion.

Man, it is a 10 years ago MMO. -.-'

Let the people who are really obsessed about the game buy all the stuff from the cash shop so I can log in on a more casual once or twice a month basis.

Fail. You're saying that you want Free-To-Play just because you can log few times a month and desire to have a gorgeous equip (Since you can buy it with dollars/euros/yen/sesterzi)?!

I like the buy once then no monthly fee like Diablo or Guild Wars has.

Don't think the people from Diablo III are happy of it.[/QUOTE]

You don't feel obligated to play those games, log in whenever you feel like it.

I don't log in just because I paid the month, I log in because I like the game and want to play it.

F2P games like SWTOR I would have never tried when it was P2P but I had some fun when it went F2P messing around with the character story kinda like playing Mass Effect or the previous old republic games only I didn't have to buy anything.

There is a clear reason why SWOTR has become F2P... Survival. :P

FFXIV 1.0 to me wasn't worth the money for me.

You're not the only one. I played from day-one to the last day feeding myself with hopes of ARR. (Even if I had some great times playing FFXIV)

I have a pretty open mind I have nothing against F2P at all, if people want to buy relic weapons for $50 a pop instead of doing a long tedious quest more power to them, they are helping me play for free after all. I myself have a no cash shop rule in any mmo I play. I am not willing to spend any money on the cash shop, however I don't mind if others do and have better or unique looking gear that I don't have. If the F2P was like any other game for every 5 people who don't spend a dime on the cash shop there is that guy who is spending like $100 a month on cash shop items. Which in the end actually makes game company more money then the subscription model.

Game companies wouldn't do F2P if it wasn't profitable and in many cases yes it can be a lot more profitable for them then the subscription model.

First of all, you are doing a super personal discussion, and no talking about what is good and what is not about F2P. You're free to say "I like it, I don't like it", but it's not about who likes what, but if it could be good or bad for the game.
When I got my Relic I was extremely happy (and tired :P), because it requested me hard work, but at the same time it gave me feelings, satisfaction. Buying something in a store is like going to the supermarket... Exciting!