Seriously SE???

[TouchandFeel]

Wait, we have to PAY for content in a game where we already PAY monthly??

That's the real rip off. This should be completely free. Why else are we customers otherwise??

You pay for the expansion because it costs money to make.

The money from subscriptions goes mainly to hardware/server upkeep and maintenance, the salaries of the development team that is focused on the content updates, marketing and distribution, utility costs such as electricity, etc.
Essentially, it pays the majority of the basic costs of running a MMO.

Expansions in MMO's are pretty much always handled by another group (the expansion team) that is separate from the group that maintains and updates the live game (the live team). The expansion team is often as large as or even larger than the live team, so essentially you have almost an entire second Dev team building the expansion. Couple that with the fact that an MMO expansion, particularly a content heavy one, can take a very long time to make sometimes almost a year and you have a pretty large development cost that the company has to recoup.

That is why MMO expansions cost money on top of the subscription people already pay, because making it costs the company money on top of the costs necessary to just keep the game live.
Subscriptions keep the game live, expansion costs allow them to make expansions.

[MilesSaintboroguh]

As someone said, how come it wasn't questioned sooner?

[BlaiseArath]

As someone said, how come it wasn't questioned sooner?

Just because you haven't seen it doesn't mean its not questioned. You could probably google "Why do we pay for expansions?" and find millions of results.

If you mean this particular expansion, I'm pretty sure its because the price was just announced/Discovered? I could be wrong there.

[Kazumac]

I'm all for questioning conventions and not burying your head in the sand but if you want SE to listen, don't buy it. Because I mean we'd all like to pay less for things in general but in the end of you are willing to buy it for the price then SE did their job well and estimated a good selling price.

For me I look at the cost of other entertainment sources that I might use to replace FFXIV and I find the price acceptable. Others may not as this is a personal evaluation of the value of the game to you as an individual. If it is not worth the price tag to you... Why would you buy it? Because lower than expected sales is how you show them they misestimated their market. Not forum posts exclaiming it should be lower when it is in line with comparable pay to play MMO expansions. (Which is the best way to estimate market value right now)

[silentwindfr]

I'm all for questioning conventions and not burying your head in the sand but if you want SE to listen, don't buy it. Because I mean we'd all like to pay less for things in general but in the end of you are willing to buy it for the price then SE did their job well and estimated a good selling price.

yeah, sure! good way to make the game go down...
it's a mmorpg, involving a loooot of people for the devellopement of content and you want to pay them what? fresh water and air? i'm tired recently of the reaction of some kids that pretend that gaming industry try to steal them... the sub didn't change since more of 10 years, actually FF14 offer one of the less expensive subs of the industry.

just like this, the price of the last expansion of world of warcraft is 49.99usd and the content we will receive far exceed what they did receive. then....

[SgtPepperUK]

actually FF14 offer one of the less expensive subs of the industry.

And one of the best for giving some great content updates in return too.

The UK amazon site lists for example the console versions for around 44-47 GBP which equals around 70+ USD but it does not list the PC price. Keep in mind none of these price listings are set in stone and I think they are placeholders or estimates for time being only.

Look carefully again, that's for FFXV, that's what Amazon UK brings up when searching Heavensward! I did a double take when I first searched and found there was an Xbox One version. It's only when I clicked into it I realised it was for XV, not Heavensward.

i already linked to official pricing a page or two back. https://store.na.square-enix.com/pro...rd-pc-download

That's only for US though, it's not listed yet on SE's EU site. Also, no confirmation yet of price for CE, which is definitely the one I'm interested in.

[Snugglebutt]

Look carefully again, that's for FFXV, that's what Amazon UK brings up when searching Heavensward! I did a double take when I first searched and found there was an Xbox One version. It's only when I clicked into it I realised it was for XV, not Heavensward.

Oh your right, seems UK amazon does not list the expansion yet but the american amazon does.

http://www.amazon.com/FINAL-FANTASY-...ds=heavensward

[Obysuca]

great content updates

>_> Just going to be "that guy" but 3 dungeons, 2 of which being rehashed versions of older ones, maybe 4-5 story quests and a fight you do once and never again and expected to last you another 3-4 months is not "great content updates"



40.00 is a bit much imo, I remember when expansions were 20.00 (pre-WoW), so no, they haven't been "that way for ages", they've just been like it since WoW. Which is kind of being ripped off in a way, considering on release, you'll only get maybe 5% of an expansion, which is usually 4-6 new zones, ~10 story quests and maybe like 3 fights and considering its a 10 lvl increase, maybe like 3-4 dungeons, if that. Half of those, you won't ever do again after you do it once. If there was maybe 10 new zones, 20-30ish quests, closer to 10 fights and more than 3-4 dungeons, then sure, 40.00 might be a valid price, but for what amount of content expansions give on release, 40.00 is a bit of a rip off.
I'm sure the people who are blindly following SE as they say "it'll have as much content as 2.0 did", have probably never played a SE mmo before (XI, 1.0 etc), so you wouldn't know that when SE says something, 90% chance is that they don't follow through with it, so I doubt we'll get "as much as 2.0 had".

[kyuven]

\
40.00 is a bit much imo, I remember when expansions were 20.00 (pre-WoW), so no, they haven't been "that way for ages", they've just been like it since WoW.\

$30 was the norm, actually. Because I explicitly remember an expansion going for $20 being met with "well, it's cheaper than a normal expansion!"
Given how full games for contemporary consoles at the time went for $50 back then, an increase to $40 for a full-size expansion with a new set of areas, story, level cap expansion of 10, three new jobs, and a new race seems just fine to me.
I've paid more for less in today's market. This is exactly how it has been and should be.
In 10 years, I won't scoff at an expansion costing $50 if game costs go up.

[Magis]

>_> J40.00 is a bit much imo, I remember when expansions were 20.00 (pre-WoW), so no, they haven't been "that way for ages", they've just been like it since WoW.

You mean like FFXI? Chains of Promathia was $29.99 released in 2004 before WoW was released.

http://www.square-enix.com/na/compan...2004/21092004/

So $10 increase after 10 years? Now how much content is in Heavensward we don't know but if there is more content than CoP, price may be justified.

Edit: Actually, funny enough the original price was $49.99, so in fact, Heavensward is cheaper than pre-WoW expansions at launch lol.

The Chains of Promathia expansion pack will be available in North America for $29.99 (USD). With the popularity of the title and the desire to expand the PlayOnline user base even further, FINAL FANTASY XI for Windows is now available for a suggested retail price of $29.99 (USD). The successful sales and subscription base in Japan and North America have allowed for a lower MSRP, which was reduced from an original MSRP of $49.99 (USD).