the cash shop

[GreatMonkey]

So I remember Yosh P saying that anything in the cash shop, you will be able to get in game without paying for it with real money. Why is it that there are items in there now that can only be gotten with real money? The green dye is one of the items. I also think it is dumb that I have to pay real money just to get "bonded" in a video game. Why do I have to pay just to get bonded to another person? It should cost gil if anything.

I play this game to not have to pay to get items that I may want because I am not rich and I think it's not right to have to pay to get an item or do other events in the game when I all ready pay a monthly fee. A fee I was happy to pay but now, it's getting to the point of why should I keep paying for it if it's going to be "Pay to pay to Win"

[Krimzon]

I actually love the cash shop, I hope they give us more options in the future.
I also love reading all these threads.

[kyuven]

I don't think he ever spoke those exact words, and really it should better be interpreted that the TYPE of things available in the cash shop will also be available in game. You need to give some level of exclusivity to items in your cash shop for it to be profitable.
For example, all but 3 of the dyes are available in-game, and all but 6 including those are tradeable. They're special, you gotta do something special to get them.
All but X number of minions are available for free in-game. But hell there are some minions you will NEVER have if you weren't a legacy/CE person. I use X because I can't be bothered to count them and they WILL be adding more so yeah.
All but two (and let's not kid ourselves, there will be more) mounts are available in-game, three if you count the recruit-a-friend mount. But most of of them ARE "free"
The seasonal items WERE available for free. Now they're not. You missed em. oh well.
Eternal Bond is a tiered service, much like real weddings. You want a big nice wedding with gifts for everyone? pony up the currency. But you can have a nice simple one for free.

If you think it's not right that unique variants of things you can already get cost real money, speak with your wallet and quit.

[cookiecutter]

Looks like GM Enkrateia has got more work to do later on since people keep making new threads about this instead of just posting in existing ones. It's like the groundhog day movie.

[Amiantos]

Cash shop is pretty early on still. A possibility is that all cash shop items like dyes will be in the game to obtain at some point.
Example: Odin mount is in the cash shop for $20 and we know there will be an 8 man Odin battle in the nearish future. Who is to say that the mount won't also drop there but not a 100% chance of course.

They've done a piss poor job honestly with transparency about the cash shop. If they were to be more clear about things like this I would think this would quell SOME of the doom sayers but not all as well some people are never happy.

[kyuven]

They've done a piss poor job honestly with transparency about the cash shop. If they were to be more clear about things like this I would think this would quell SOME of the doom sayers but not all as well some people are never happy.

Your second sentence here is why the first sentence doesn't happen. Often with things like the cash shop, there are plans in motion that may or may not get changed. The 8-man odin battle may happen, and it may have a mount, but in all likelihood it'll be a unique variant that's distinct from the cash shop one.
It shouldn't be a surprise that adding something to the cash shop is fundamentally easier than adding it as a drop or craft in game, so it also stands to reason that if they were transparent about the circumstances behind EVERYTHING being added to the cash shop, it may or may not involve "jerking the playerbase around" by talking about something that's either months off or may end up scrapped altogether. For all we know the Y'shtola and Papalymo minions were part of a scrapped holiday event, for example.
It's easier to simply announce that something will become available in the next patch without context to it. Especially since players will figure it out anyway because we read the .dat files.

[Tarenti]

I don't think he ever spoke those exact words, and really it should better be interpreted that the TYPE of things available in the cash shop will also be available in game. You need to give some level of exclusivity to items in your cash shop for it to be profitable.
For example, all but 3 of the dyes are available in-game, and all but 6 including those are tradeable. They're special, you gotta do something special to get them.

I just checked the keynote from the European Fanfest, and YoshiP did actually say that future minions would not be exclusively obtainable through the cash shop. Obviously this doesn't include the 6 minions that were released at the launch at the cash shop, but it does make them feel rather disingenuous; like they can provide them exclusively from the cash shop because of a technicality. He said nothing about mounts though, which is either doublespeak saying some mounts will be exclusively available from the cash shop, or he just didn't have enough time during the Fanfest keynote to go over the entire issue. YoshiP has been good to us players so far so I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt on this though.

The biggest problem that I have with the cash shop is that it creates an inversion of priorities. If the cash shop is driving more sales than the subscription fee, then more development resources will be allocated to developing items for the cash shop rather than to the actual development of the game. The reasoning for that is simple. If the cash shop generates more sales, then more effort should be put into the cash shop to improve the cash shop experience. Make more items available in the cash shop and make more money from selling those items. With all those resources diverted from actually developing the game, the game itself grows stagnant and uninteresting. If a cash shop is to exist, then it should exist to augment the game not to replace the focus of the game. However, the fundamental nature of the cash shop makes this impossible.

One of the big reasons I've enjoyed FFXIV so far is because I'm not constantly nagged and harassed about all the stuff I could be owning if I would just pay $2 here and $3 there for stuff in the cash shop. Microtransaction systems power many free to play MMORPGs, but that doesn't make them very pleasant for people like myself who do not like using microtransaction systems. I was OK with paying a monthly fee just to not be harassed by all that nonsense. Advertisements from the cash shop aren't limited to actual in-game banners though, seeing someone wear something or use something that you physically cannot obtain outside of the cash shop is another form of advertisement, albeit one that is a little less intrusive.

Items from past events and items given to legacy 1.0 players are a separate issue entirely. Those items are tied to an event and I honestly don't understand why they would ever be added to the cash shop in the first place. The same goes for the moogle outfit that users got from subscribing to the Fanfest streams, but I have no doubt in my mind that those items are also going to land in the cash shop come December 20th. That being said, event items are one of the lesser evils living in the cash shop. They were at one point obtainable in-game and were moved to the cash shop at a later date.

Last but not least, the eternal bond. Somehow, if you're a rich character in game, but not willing to spend real money, you still can't get the highest level wedding. This kinda shatters any role playing immersion. Suddenly, all the money in the world doesn't let your character purchase a fancy wedding ceremony, you have to spend real money to do it.

In essence, the cash shop so far has been a far cry from what was advertised in the beginning. I'm very worried about what's next.

[Lycieus]

I'm about at my limit with this. I'm really disgusted that not only are we adding new items to the cash shop every patch(expected), but that SE feels compelled to add whole new categories of items every patch. I had hoped, and part of the reason I play subscription mmos is to somewhat avoid the pre-order/dlc bonanza that has infected the gaming industry at large.

Now, not only am I paying square every month for what is basically dlc every three months, but now they too are cutting content out of the game and putting that into separate dlc. Clearly, my sub, and the subs of my friends mean nothing to square.

I've been trying to see the other side of the argument, but I simply haven't seen a good one yet.

If gold saucer has any 'premium' options, I'm done with this game.

[GreatMonkey]

But hell there are some minions you will NEVER have if you weren't a legacy/CE person. I use X because I can't be bothered to count them and they WILL be adding more so yeah.
All but two (and let's not kid ourselves, there will be more) mounts are available in-game, three if you count the recruit-a-friend mount. But most of of them ARE "free"
The seasonal items WERE available for free. Now they're not. You missed em. oh well.

Yes there are 1.0 items I will never be able to get and I am OK with that. Why? Because I never play 1.0 and I think the 1.0 players earn the right to have them.

If you think it's not right that unique variants of things you can already get cost real money, speak with your wallet and quit.

Not all players are rich. I know people who play this game and find a way to pay for the monthly fee because it is "fun" to them. Having stuff in the cash shop that can only be gotten in there will make them feel like they are being single out just because they cant get a "cool" item, mount, or minion.

[zar]

Looks like GM Enkrateia has got more work to do later on since people keep making new threads about this instead of just posting in existing ones. It's like the groundhog day movie.

wind-up Enkrateia in the cash shop pls