What are the Chances FFXIV will go F2P?

[Alkoun]

Considering the lost player base, and their commitment to keep what few players they have plus attract new people with the ps3 release, how likely do y'all think it is that they'll go free to play forever, with microtransactions?

[Zahak]

Don't think SE would do that myself

[Kiroh]

Slim to none.

[Malakhim]

Assuming they want to maintain SOME semblance of class, they probably won't. They've maintained that they're pretty much against anything that would arbitrarily give some players an advantage over others anyway. And personally the idea of having certain pieces of content locked behind money doors doesn't sit well with me.

[Jennestia]

They're banking on the PS3 version, so I highly doubt it.

[viion]

If ps3 version fails, (which it will if its release anytime this year / early next year) then it will have to stay free to play.

In its current state up until way past 1.20 if they went p2p or micro-transactions people will leave in a heart beat.

[Xenor]

If ps3 version fails, (which it will if its release anytime this year / early next year) then it will have to stay free to play.

In its current state up until way past 1.20 if they went p2p or micro-transactions people will leave in a heart beat.

If the game isn't worth paying for after 1.2 then they may as well shut the servers down because they'll have failed. It's people like you expecting the game to stay free forever that will kill this game. Developing extra content and expansions relies on funding, if it remains FTP for much longer after 1.2 you'll see many people leaving. I don't wish to play a FTP game.

[Verecund]

If they can't hammer out a good groundwork, F2P wouldn't matter much. If they can't attract enough people now, how would they be able to generate enough profit for this game to even pay for itself? (also consider the quality of future content as a consequence of this)

[Khalus]

I could definitely see XIV going F2P within the next year, especially if the PS3 ver doesn't attract the playbase SE is banking on, but as others have said, at the current rate of updates I wouldn't expect to see it released until fall 2012.

And in all honesty, I'm not totally against F2P games anymore as long as the cash shop is fair and doesn't cost a fortune for simple items. Its the way MMOs are headed, and the best way to keep a solid # of subscribers even if they only pay a little here and there, or not at all. There are just so many MMOs that are getting released that its hard to dedicate all your time to just one anymore, but I won't pay for more than 1 at a time with a full sub.

I like how Turbine has handled LOTRO and DDO, where the entire world and storylines are open to explore and adventure in and kills mobs all you want, but with optional quest packs. If XIV ever went F2P, SE could release a new zone every 2-3 months and you pay $10 or so to unlock all it offers, and a cosmetic equip screen would be great as well. There are so many great looking sets of gear to choose from, and it'd be great to see what else their art team could conjure up with no stats.

[Alexis_Arteme]

Microtransactions? That assumes they're making smalltime content. Heck, they could have that now.