Cash shop confirmed

[saeedaisspecial]

With exclusive items like minions/mounts to the cash shop.
I'm pretty upset that they're double dipping.

With regards to the Odin mount, look at it this way:
At some point during the development process of either the mount or the trial the question must have been raised - Do we make this a drop, similar to the Extreme Primal mounts? Or do we put it into a cash shop?
This question WILL have come up during the development process. They have clearly chosen the route that will yield them money as opposed to the more fairer for all option.

As others have said:

I'm sure I'm not saying anything new, here (29 pages of 40 posts! TL;DR), but I feel the need to throw down my two cents in my own words.

Developmentally and mechanically, I don't have much against a cash shop. I support it, even. I want the game to succeed and I want to fund it. Didn't take the opportunity to celebrate a holiday, but want the item? Feel free to pay. It lowers the prestige of having been there, but raises money for the game. That's all well and fine; I wasn't flaunting my pumpkin head in some sucker's face 'cause they chose to skip Halloween that year, anyway, and it's not like they're selling the Dalamud Horn.

Needless to say, selling any item that provides any advantage in any way beyond aesthetics is clearly something that would make a lot of people lose faith in the game. Even selling the extra inventory space of extra retainers creeps dangerously close to that line, but who didn't have a mule or two in FFXI? It's not like they limited inventory to any degree that any meaningful advantage could be gained from 4 retainers beyond the ability to be a hoarder. SE realizes this, and that's wonderful.

But they've missed something just as important.

Selling items that were directly created for the cash shop, never giving fans the chance to celebrate them and obtain them by supporting the game in the right time or by having a certain level of skill (or determination), violates the spirit of this game and everything I've seen from it so far. When I see an exciting new item in a preview, you want my first reaction to be "I can't wait to get that!" not, "Wow, I hope it's not cash-only." And that's what I'm going to think from now on. That's going to be my first reaction to a beautifully designed piece of gear or a minion that brings a smile to my face: "Wow, I sure hope they didn't create that just to wall it off for a fee." Is that what you want to expect from us? Is that what we can expect from you? Should I be ready to accept that my subscription isn't worth your best work on anything that doesn't have stats on it, anymore? That's not the spirit of A Realm Reborn.

There should always be a chance - some chance - to get any item - just from being a loyal subscriber.

Yoshida-san, I've been with you since the beginning, and I know you're better than that.

Take a look at the Sleipnir mount. It's already in game, the model is already in use. This also could have been a reward from the Odin trial when it's added to the live servers.

Instead they have cut a mount that already has a model on the live servers to sell separately elsewhere. Notice that they have done NO extra work to produce this mount for the cash shop as it already exists in the game as Odin's mount, and since Odin can spawn as any race there is one already scaled appropriately for every race.

I'm willing to overlook it when they claim that a separate team produced cash shop fluff specifically to be sold as an extra but the Sleipnir mount is blatantly cut content just to cash in on some extra money.

Please don't claim it 'doesn't harm anyone' when they have so obviously removed content that EVERYONE could have enjoyed to sell it to a few that cough up extra for it.

The issue I'm having is that now everything not "progression" is on the table for cash shop.

New dye colors? New cute minions? New cool mounts? More vanity gear (ie lighting, dragon quest, etc)? Are they all on the table for cash shop now and we're ok with it? So if 1 out of the next 20 mounts is cash shop is that ok? 1 out of the next 10? Next 5? Next 2? You want a metallic copper dye? Well that'll be $2? I guess furniture items are not progression either right? $5 for the moogle desk is fine?

I'm not ok with this :c

I'm seriously disappointed with the cash shop, even as a 1.0 player that has always supported the game.
They started with a good idea, selling services and items you can no longer obtain, like limited event items. That's reasonable.

But in my opinion, P2P games shouldn't have cash shops - all content should be able to be accessed by anyone, because they're already funding the game by subscribing.
And I feel the same way about bonus items being given away at events and soundtracks, but I can live with that since I get a cool soundtrack or art book I can listen to.

However, cash shops are just wrong. Mainly because at some point in development, the team came to Yoshi and said:
"hey we got these 3 cute minions and this awesome mount ready. Where should we put it?"
And he chose to sell them, instead of putting them in-game. He chose to strip content from the game to sell an item.
And you can think "vanity isn't content". Well, there had to be lore on those item descriptions and in the minion/mount guides.
Probably even a quest with more odin story to get sleipnir, or just a reason to give us the Urth's Fount trial in-game.
Now we have to pay again for that lore - for that content.

Just because another P2P MMO has a cash shop, it's not a reason for us to accept that.
At the same time, I know we cannot change or stop it...

I love FFXIV for the story and the content and the people I play with - but also love to collect the items, so I'm seriously heartbroken.
I can't bring myself to unsub, and I'll probably end up paying for the items.. but it makes me sad.
Makes me sad to think people that enjoy these things like me won't have the same opportunities as I have even though they're also paying monthly.
Makes me sad to think what other awesome things they'll put cash-only next. Furniture? Costumes? Dyes? Gold Saucer coins? Triple Triad card packages?
It's just.. sad.

From now on during the development process this will be a constant question. Do we make this item available in game, or shall we just sell it to the players?