Quote Originally Posted by AsterBarnivere View Post
This is where people underestimate Arenanet's ability to grab players with it's B2P/microtransactions that are only for cosmetic purposes. GW1/factions ran on the same model and still has a strong amount of players (including myself) because their transactions are done "right" and had no effect on gameplay AKA buy to win. GW2 is following the same B2p/cosmetic model, and if there is nothing "game-breaking" with the model being used, then I believe it will be a success just like it's predecessors..
Forsaken World operates on the same model but caters to a more 'anime fan' gamer. Some of the outfits are absolutely wild, but people love it. When Age Of Conan went free2play thousands of players screamed at Funcom telling them not to make 'character enhancing' items available in the market. Funcom did that, AoC hit the 2 million player mark about a month after going f2p.

FFXIV could easily operate using a similar cosmetic market based model along with selling expansion packs.