I want an official response.

[Jacost]

"They're not optional because I wants it precious"? Second post is right, anyone who thinks that they absolutely have to buy something if they want it has some serious entitlement issues and is in for a hard lesson IRL at some point.

[Waliel]

Why the hell should a Collector's Edition exist? There is content locked up there in the form of mounts and minions (coeurl/fat chocobo/ behemoth minion) I see no complaints about this. I see no complaints about the fact you can upgrade to these on mogstation. But the first thing we'll complain about is a mount in cash shop, a minion in cash shop.

This. Why are people not complaining about collector's edition upgrades? Maybe it needs to be put in its own category inside the shop for it to count.

Also found in this thread: strawmans. Strawmans everywhere.

[YukiTerumi]

I'm aware of what SE has decided a sub gives us. I'm talking about what a sub is -supposed- to give you access to. That being the game. Not part of the game, the full game. Why are we paying a monthly subscription if it doesn't give us access to everything the game has to offer?

Again sub fee gives us acess to servers you purchase the game and given an opportunity to play the game and whatever se decides to give us. If you want to play the whole I want everything the game has to offer than why an expansion? Clearly that says we have other parts of the game but making you pay for it

[Zooters]

snip

Another good example is Smartphones. If you're a tech head, which I am, you always want the latest and greatest. I was on a roller coaster ever since the OG Droid came out. Started selling "old" phones and buying a new one. Recently I became more stretched, and the only way to get the latest one I wanted was through a subsidized contract. I'm locked in, I have to force myself to not want the "new" phone because mine is "old." I use quotes because a 4 to 6 month phone in reality is not old. But at the rate new releases come, it seems it. What I'm saying is, people who are not interested in this thing would say who cares, someone who is invested in this thing can get frustrated that another new thing comes and sometimes you just can't get it. BTW, I'm agreeing with everything you're saying. If you want it, get it, if you can. Sometimes you might want it, might not be able to. Stuff happens.

[Adrian74]

I could never imagine I'd be so sick of reading the damn word "Optional".

[Cetra]

These items are NOT OPTIONAL. They are essentially mandatory if you were, or are interested in that content. If you like minions, you're going to have to buy the minions. If you like mounts, you're going to have to buy the mount. If you like the idea of getting married in-game, you're going to have to buy the complete package otherwise you get a massively gutted experience.

They're COMPLETELY optional. Nothing in FFXIV requires these items in order to complete an in game objective. If you're a minion hoarder and you decide to buy the minions that is YOUR decision, and it was in no way forced upon you. If you were actually Obi Wan, you'd be wise enough to see that. Instead you seem more like Anakin, you want everything you want and you don't wanna give anything up for it. Entitled basically.

[Gralna]

snip

"But MOOOOOM, if you don't buy this for me, no one will think I'm cool!" mom, "no" <comes to forums to rant>

[SynGrell]

These items are NOT OPTIONAL.

No, really, that's hilarious. Your game subscription pays only for access to the game servers and whatever content SE decides to put on those servers without any additional optional fees or services. Just like if you have a subscription to a magazine, you don't get merchandise the company sells for free just because you have a monthly subscription to their magazine.

All of this is in the game's TOS, just like it is in the TOS for every other MMO. If you don't like what they charge, so be it, don't buy it. Complain if you want to. But people need to stop acting like this stuff isn't optional; it is. Stop acting like you already payed for this content; you didn't. Stop acting like you have a right to any of this without paying extra, for extra stuff; you don't.

[Trashy]

Okay, so across all these threads, there's a lot of dumb stuff. Going to correct some misconceptions.

-NOT OPTIONAL. Seriously, it is. The whole game is optional. Fancy mount? Optional. Glamours? Optional. Weddings? Optional. Final Coil? Optional. FFXIV is in no way an essential good. Medicine, shelter, food, all that shit is not optional. Literally everything to do with a video game is optional. "Because I want it" does not make it "not optional." It means it's an option you want.

-"My sub pays for the servers!" OR "Cash shop means more actual content for everyone!" Neither of these is strictly true. It's highly unlikely SE operates like this, really. The money you pay for your sub or your cash shop items goes into SE's bank account. After paying the company-wide essentials, like salaries for their legal and accounting teams, executive management, taxes, etc, Matsuda and the rest of the board decide what to do with the money. They might make boatloads of cash from FFXIV and only give the FFXIV team the bare minimum, instead putting most of the money the game made into developing XV or Project Flare or into acquisitions. It's likely though, that because XIV makes so much money, when Yoshi-P goes into a meeting with the board, he can argue that giving his team more money is a sound investment.

-"It's unethical/anti-consumer" A few things. First, cash shop isn't manipulative or coercive in any way. By this I mean, you simply lose out on content by not purchasing. This is unlike, say, Puzzles and Dragons, where you will struggle to advance without paying real money. It's also not random, which would be a significant problem. With the FFXIV cash shop, you pay for something, you get it. Randomness appeals to some innate human psychology that makes us want to spend more. Second point on this is that SE is under no obligation to make you happy. They do not answer to you, but to their shareholders. I don't know the exact laws of Japan, but that obligation to shareholders is legal as well. They could probably pressure Matsuda or other members of the board to step down. Their only "obligation" to keep you happy is so that you continue paying them money.

-Which brings me to my last point. If you're unhappy with this, unsubscribe. SE doesn't care at all whether or not you're happy, (I mean, they might as people, but as a company, nope) but whether or not you're paying your sub. I'm not saying this to mean "lol if you aren't happy get out", I mean to say that in the end, FFXIV is a product: it's end goal is not to please consumers, but to make money for SE's shareholders. If the Cash Shop means FFXIV makes more money, it will stay.

[SynGrell]

-"My sub pays for the servers!" OR "Cash shop means more actual content for everyone!" Neither of these is strictly true.

The point of "what the sub pays for" arguments isn't from the point of what the money is being used for, but rather what the customer is obligated to receive for their payment in accordance with TOS. Some people act as if their subscription entitles them to anything SE releases for the game, which is patently ridiculous.

Otherwise, the rest of your comment is spot-on.