Thread: 2.2 Retainers via Microtransactions

They are not free - they cost $15 per month. And that $15 is apparently not enough to be granted full access to the game's functions and features? No, I disagree with that sentiment entirely.

Originally Posted by Naunet

They are not free - they cost $15 per month. And that $15 is apparently not enough to be granted full access to the game's functions and features? No, I disagree with that sentiment entirely.

Yes it is. What can't you do with the initial 15$ a month? As I'm legacy I know for a fact I can do everything in this game for my $10. You're paying for extra - not basic functionality.

EXTRA functionality.

Originally Posted by Skyhound

The second issue is more of a gray area. Can these retainers sell to the MB? The MB largely limited by the inventory space of the retainer. If you can buy more retainers that can sell to the MB, that is an advantage. As a business owner IRL myself, I can tell you that is 100% an advantage and would be P2W. If you can only sell 50 items, but the next guy can sell 100 items then the next guy is going to end up making more money than you.

After 157 posts, someone touches the damage that can happen. What can happen is someone can throw down money to instantly have many more market sale slots. This gives this seller an advantage over sellers who don't buy more as the person with the most slots can then buy up and corner the market on certain items then control the price because they have a monopoly. Two things would happen then: 1) Only the really rich can buy the better items and the average player is locked out. (I was there in the early days of FFXI when you couldn't buy potions except for insane prices on the market) 2) The economy on the server would be highly unbalanced and SE would have to put in another huge money sync like the original prices of housing.

There are people who play MMOs to win at the business side of the game and this would be P2W for them since their goal is to get as much money as they can and/or control the economy.

Originally Posted by RavinousKurohi

After 157 posts, someone touches the damage that can happen. What can happen is someone can throw down money to instantly have many more market sale slots. This gives this seller an advantage over sellers who don't buy more as the person with the most slots can then buy up and corner the market on certain items then control the price because they have a monopoly. Two things would happen then: 1) Only the really rich can buy the better items and the average player is locked out. (I was there in the early days of FFXI when you couldn't buy potions except for insane prices on the market) 2) The economy on the server would be highly unbalanced and SE would have to put in another huge money sync like the original prices of housing.

How is this any different from creating a second character or third or fourth and just lvl up to the point u got retainer???

And seriously, stuff do not sell..... for the past 2 week i am selling the same 8 item because of constant undercutting

Originally Posted by Tupsi

Yes it is. What can't you do with the initial 15$ a month? As I'm legacy I know for a fact I can do everything in this game for my $10. You're paying for extra - not basic functionality.

EXTRA functionality.

The idea is that one might expect the cost of a subscription to cover any quality of life upgrades that are introduced. Where a free to play game might throw extra inventory slots up in the cash shop (and they often do), a subscription based game which is already being funded by players monthly may offer them through some sort of quest instead.

Both charging a subscription and then dangling the same quality of life incentives as free to play games is just double dipping. It's great if SE if a good chunk of their player base is willing to throw money at them for both a subscription and free to play style microtransactions, but that doesn't necessarily make it a good value for the consumer.

Originally Posted by Xellos2099

How is this any different from creating a second character or third or fourth and just lvl up to the point u got retainer???

It's not any different, considering you have to pay a higher monthly sub to get access to more than one character. More money = more retainers in both cases.

Originally Posted by MurakumoMillennium

It's not any different, considering you have to pay a higher monthly sub to get access to more than one character. More money = more retainers in both cases.

Collector edition have access to 8 character per server with no extra fee..