Cash shop confirmed

[Negotiator]

Probably not.
This is how it usually starts. Small, simple, unintrusive. Then they slowly add more and more to get you acclimated. Before you know it, you got a full sized cash shop with all sorts of exclusive fanciful gear, mounts, minions and 'more' all for the low price of your subscription plus a few extra bucks you won't notice add up.

yep, totally agree.

[drivendawn]

Just a bunch of alarmists if you ask me.

[Vhailor]

Odin Mount. We all knew it was coming eventually. And now it is, as a cash shop exclusive. And looking at Sqaure Enix's behaviour for the past entire console generation, is it really a wise idea to give the company the benefit of the doubt? It seems more and more that ARR was a fluke, not the company turning a new leaf.

We didn't "know" Sleipnir was going to be implemented. We didn't "know" that it was going to be available via traditional means within FFXIV. It could have been a bonus item for preordering Heavensward, or a bonus item from attending a future Fan Festival.

Again, don't mistake this as a defense of the cash shop - I abhor its existence, and I think FFXIV will be all the worse for it. I don't plan on giving the title another shot, in part because the cash shop served as a last straw of sorts. If you're objective, though, you simply cannot argue against it in the way you've chosen. It's all speculation. You might feel that it's reasonable speculation, but there's not a shred of proof, and there likely never will be.

Edit / Addition: I do agree with your assessment that SE has given us numerous reasons not to trust them if you look at the company's behaviour over the last several years. This is one of the reasons why I suspect the cash shop will eventually morph beyond its current, vanity-only type of setup, though the progress will likely be slow. This just can't be used as objective evidence, not at the moment.

I don't think ARR was a fluke, either, because taken in context, I don't think the title was all that great even upon release. I, at least, excused a lot of flaws due to the fact that it was just being launched, but subsequent behaviour on SE's part has indicated to me the flaws may well have simply been bad design. It had its moments, sure, but a lot of stuff "looked good" only because it was brand new - and much of it hasn't survived the test of time terribly well, in my estimation.

[ApolloGenX]

We didn't "know" Sleipnir was going to be implemented. We didn't "know" that it was going to be available via traditional means within FFXIV. It could have been a bonus item for preordering Heavensward, or a bonus item from attending a future Fan Festival.

But we do have the following 3 options :

1. Believe it wasn't intended for cash shop and therefor was taken away from one of those traditional means of acquisition -or-
2. SE originally planned to have a cash shop and didn't tell players... in which case their lack of transparency makes the prospects for the shop more dubious
3. SE wasn't going to give out the mount, but decided to do so, only because they could get money out of it in the cash shop (again see #2 on transparency and intention for the shop)

None of these three options is exactly "good". Yet one has to be true.

Also, imo this could be equal to P2W if the shop has cooler stuff than what's in game. With story mode options... the only real reason to do high end content is for cool looking gear. Well, if the cash shop stuff has a cooler skin... then there's no point in high end stuff. The vanity looks cooler, so you wouldn't see that gear, anyway... and it's not necessary, since you have to beat the high end to get it... so it makes that kind of pointless. Just my opinion.

I am sure some would disagree... especially if they have titles or something that you could get, that the shop wouldn't have. Then that would be something visible.

[Moqi]

Also, imo this could be equal to P2W if the shop has cooler stuff than what's in game.

This game has 1 raid only and everything else is vanity but somehow vanity isn't that important...

[Edli]

It could have been a bonus item for preordering Heavensward, or a bonus item from attending a future Fan Festival.

Or a prize from the odin fight we're getting soon which would be common sense.

[Vhailor]

But we do have the following 3 options :

1. Believe it wasn't intended for cash shop and therefor was taken away from one of those traditional means of acquisition -or-
2. SE originally planned to have a cash shop and didn't tell players... in which case their lack of transparency makes the prospects for the shop more dubious
3. SE wasn't going to give out the mount, but decided to do so, only because they could get money out of it in the cash shop (again see #2 on transparency and intention for the shop)

None of these three options is exactly "good". Yet one has to be true.

Also, imo this could be equal to P2W if the shop has cooler stuff than what's in game. With story mode options... the only real reason to do high end content is for cool looking gear. Well, if the cash shop stuff has a cooler skin... then there's no point in high end stuff. The vanity looks cooler, so you wouldn't see that gear, anyway... and it's not necessary, since you have to beat the high end to get it... so it makes that kind of pointless. Just my opinion.

I am sure some would disagree... especially if they have titles or something that you could get, that the shop wouldn't have. Then that would be something visible.

Edit: Adjusted argument.

Firstly, I would disagree somewhat with your initial contention that one of three options has to be true. The thinking is too black-and-white; for all we know, there's a reskinned Sleipnir mount planned as an in-game reward soon, and this was merely intended to be a promotional item for a business venture.

Either way, I don't view (2) and (3) as being "bad" so much as entirely irrelevant. Arguments surrounding the cash shop are best made when they focus on objective influences it will have on FFXIV, either positive or negative. How SE conducts themselves on the business level does not directly impact FFXIV. There is a possible indirect impact, but again, it's speculation. Arguments of this sort simply lead to mindless back-and-forth debate between people on either side - not exactly the definition of constructive.

On the other hand, your argument about the cash shop representing a P2W element for those who consider looking pretty as a significant component of "winning" - that's a powerful argument. That is indisputable. It doesn't depend upon some vague notion of a nefarious company out to exploit its users (vs. those on the other side who simply view it as being opportunistic). Those are the types of objective arguments that can be used effectively against the idea of a cash shop. Those contribute meaningfully to the discussion.

Or a prize from the odin fight we're getting soon which would be common sense.

Quite possible, yes. It's also possible they're offering a reskinned Sleipnir mount for it as an alternative to the cash shop - we have no idea yet. Yet another reason why we can't exactly argue that content has been removed from the game for the purpose of the cash shop.

[gorror]

Honestaly now that i think about it, this cash shop is worse than WoW's cash shop.

They are taking seasonal items, that would otherwise have been available to buy for anyone that missed the event with gil, and putting them in the cash shop instead. This would be the same as if WoW took the brewfest mounts and removed them from the event and sold them in the cash shop instead. This just made me a little depressed

[Xairos]

Wait isnt this (hypothetically) like WoW selling the old Brewfest mount from last year's fest while having the new one available in-game?

[Tupsi]

Honestaly now that i think about it, this cash shop is worse than WoW's cash shop.

They are taking seasonal items, that would otherwise have been available to buy for anyone that missed the event with gil

Yoshida said it was only that way to allow the players who didn't play 1.0 to get it in the first event rotation once ARR is released as it was the first year of ARR post original FFXIV. It was never going to stay that way. It is in no way worse than WoW's cash shop. It is yoshida's fault though for caving in and giving people access to items to a version they never chose to play, so now people come to expect it They would have offered the ghost outfit (actually an ARR event item) if they planned on keeping that practice. This year, it's the Eerie gearset, next year it'll be something new and if you have the achievement you can buy it from the calamity salvager.