Voting with my wallet

[Corfish]

If everyone is so upset for even the smallest idea of Pay 2 Win, then shouldn't they have quit right from the beginning? The Warrior of Light Helm gives a 10% EXP increase from lvl 1 to 10, and you get it by spending extra money. That's pay 2 win in essence, is it not?

But really, the whole point is moot since at the moment there is no reason to assume we will have pay 2 win items. Let's freak out AFTER we know it will happen.

[Freyar]

If everyone is so upset for even the smallest idea of Pay 2 Win, then shouldn't they have quit right from the beginning? The Warrior of Light Helm gives a 10% EXP increase from lvl 1 to 10, and you get it by spending extra money. That's pay 2 win in essence, is it not?

But really, the whole point is moot since at the moment there is no reason to assume we will have pay 2 win items. Let's freak out AFTER we know it will happen.

How many games with cash shops didn't dip into pay-to-win? The only one that comes to mind is Path of Exile, and even that is walking a very fine line with storage tabs.

[Vhailor]

The amount of money Square Enix is going to make from the cash shop is going to astronomically crush any amount of loss from people upset about the matter and unsubscribing. You'll have one less game to enjoy that's it.

Likely so, though I would point out that for most of the people who are leaving, they likely don't enjoy the game that much to begin with. Catering to the mainstream makes good business sense, but you won't attract certain gamers when you do this. It's a choice SE has clearly made, and they'll profit from it - but they'll lose some of their customer base in the process.

My thoughts on this are fairly basic - FFXIV is being designed with accessibility in mind. This is probably the most obvious principle that SE keeps in mind with any particular decision they make. This also results in a particular type of game, which in turn attracts a particular segment of gamers. Given that XIV is also a "spiritual successor" to both FFXI and XIV 1.0, it's important to note that the community ARR attracts is quite different from the community that embraced XI and XIV 1.0.

As a result, a lot of people, myself included, embraced ARR initially before slowly realizing that the game didn't appeal to us. The cash shop is just the latest item we don't like - but it's a fairly visible one, easily vilified. It's a creation that is largely tolerated / embraced by the crowd that ARR is targeting - which doesn't include some of us that loved XI or 1.0. So, as a result, there's a lot of friction on the forums for the moment. It's not that any side is "right" or "wrong" - it's just that some of us don't like how ARR is being developed. This assessment is relatively independent of the business side of things, so the argument about SE being a business is somewhat irrelevant.

Ultimately, those of us who dislike ARR's direction will likely leave. That's our right as consumers, and a sacrifice that SE is knowingly making. That said, many of us will continue to make our views known on the forums, as is our right - so as to let SE know, in an angry fashion or not, that we dislike what they're doing to a title we wanted to enjoy. There's no point in "arguing" with this feedback; it's not directed at other players (in general), nor is it an argument that can be won, by either side. It's simply a result of individuals voicing their opinions in a public fashion.

[Riviere]

How many games with cash shops didn't dip into pay-to-win? The only one that comes to mind is Path of Exile, and even that is walking a very fine line with storage tabs.

When most MMO's are doing bad, they either shutdown or become F2P with a cash shop. In order to survive, they need to add a lot of attractive items to their cash shops so that people will buy them, even if it means adding Pay to Win or Almost Pay to win items or a Premium subscription mode which gives them advantages over other players.

FFXIV 1.0 was a disappointment to many, but instead of shutting down or switching to a F2P + Pay to win model, they removed the subscription for a time until they fixed many major issues, then they decided to make a massive overhaul of the game and release it again. How many of these games did that? Most of the games that I played and went F2P with a cash shop were pretty much "We're not doing so good anymore, let's not try anything new and just go F2P with a cash shop."

Why do you compare games that didn't try with this one?

[RoninDarkchild]

Ughhh this again.....
Why must everyone exiting insist on making a dramatic exit?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f1Hnv4nRsnA

That cash shop for vanity is NO different from exclusive items that you get from buying certain versions of the game for extra cash. These same people raging, stayed.....
So SE has to offer CDs, and a Collectors edition so those ppl will not whine? I dont see the Coeurl or Fat Choco mounts offered in game like the demands here...

No ones world has crumbled just because they do not have access to those mounts, a Helm of Light, or a Cat Sith minion......
The market has spoken (given the number of ppl who DO have those items and paid the EXTRA MONEY to have them)... and it doesnt care. So QQ more and quit over silly things that do not effect you unless you want it to.

There is a very specific reason games go F2P..... And it is when the game cannot hold a profitable subscription model.... Not because it gives vanity items in cash shop.

[Freyar]

Why do you compare games that didn't try with this one?

Because the likelihood of FFXIV managing to pull off the impossible twice is not high.

[Riviere]

Because the likelihood of FFXIV managing to pull off the impossible twice is not high.

So, basically you have no reason other than "Just because."? Okay then.

[Freyar]

So, basically you have no reason other than "Just because."? Okay then.

Are there other games out there that have tried to relaunch as a subscription title? Please give me an example of a game that launched, failed miserably, shut down for a year, and relaunched to success as a subscription-based title.

[WinterSolstice]

The only reason this waste of a thread is even here is because it's the weekend.

[Riepah]

Ughhh this again.....
Why must everyone exiting insist on making a dramatic exit?

The question you SHOULD be asking is "Why do people (including myself) insist on bumping the thread and make it over 15 pages long?"