New Mogstation Items (Magitek mount recolours inc.)

[zosia]

What are you going on about? Not a charity? Of course it's not. There is no such thing as a 25$ a month mmo even ones without cash shops.They make money hand over fist just with the subscription. It's plastered allover the Web how the game brought not just this game but SE as a whole out of hot water. This was before they were heavy handed on the cash shop.

Nothing you are saying is based in reality. They would never charge that much ever nor do they remotely require the most at ion to rake in money.

Blame 5he execs who want to bleed customers dry quickly instead of banking on long term sustainable funding from a proper subscription.

So, the cost of game development increasing is not part of reality?

Game companies haven't been trying to find ways to keep the cost of games steady?

Have you been living under a rock?

Go look at any study examing the monetization of extra content and why it was needed then come talk to me after getting some actual info on the situation. I know no game has ever charged $25 bucks a month. You know why? DLC and cash shops.

If you think the costs of running or developing a game has not changed in the last 15 years, you have been living under a rock. Most AAA titles exceed the budgets of some movies. These costs have to be absorbed somewhere.

Here, I will even help you get started on getting lernt! http://www.wired.com/2011/02/dice-blockbuster-games/

My point was there are no free lunches in this world. If you love your $15 per month subscription, we need cash shops to prop up that stagnating pricing model.

[Colorful]

snip

Except the cost of storage and servers has dropped significantly since then too? The MMO market is also far larger than it was back in the day, that's why we aren't being charged $25+ a month. You know why AAA games still cost $60 even though their budgets are significantly higher than ever before? They sell far, far more copies. Let's take Bethesda for example, Morrowind has sold around 4 million copies over the span of what now, a little over 13 years. Fallout 4 has sold 12 million in the span on a month, at its full price. We aren't being charged more because they're making more, simple as that. FFXIV has sold 5 million copies on its own, sure it doesn't match up to the behemoth that is WoW, but WoW got lucky in that they released a fantastic and casual (at the time) game. According to a quick Google search, FFXI had 500,000 at its peak, that's the average we have in FFXIV at all times. Pair that up with retainers, fantasias, server transfers, name changes, and other services, and you get very large profit margins. Cash shop onto that? You're practically printing money... to burn on 10 year projects cough FFXV cough.

You know what would happen if they charged $15? People wouldn't subscribe, simple as that. They'd move to WoW, or whatever other option there is, or quit playing MMOs altogether. I'm not a pro cash shop person, I've spent a bit here and there (mostly) on Fantasia though. I'm fine with the services, fine with just about everything on there except NPC clothing (just a personal problem), but it has nothing to do with MMO costs rising. SE is so cheap that they refuse to give Yoshida a proper team, he's stated many times that his development team is far smaller than traditional ones. You could make that argument about other MMOs, sure. SWTOR has around 800+ people working on it, and it shows. Huge worlds, entirely voice acted, better cutscenes, nicer visuals, etc (the actual MMO is lacking though), but for FFXIV? Not a chance.

Personally, I'm fine with it, as long as they don't add new items that took actual development time. I seen people posting that it's pathetic that they're selling pre existing items and not new ones and I'm thinking, "What?". Maybe I'm looking at their posts wrong, but it seems like they want to take dev. time away from the game, and pour it into new items for the cash shop... why, to justify spending your money? Would you not prefer the new items go into the game? I'm glad that the new mounts are obtainable in game, or through recruit-a-friend. Every mount model is obtainable in-game, apart from Sleipnir, and so far they haven't pulled another Sleipnir so we're relatively safe. The problem will start being a problem when they do something similar to Sleipnir, or rather, an entirely new mount similar to WoW. WoW's most recent mount cost $30 I believe, what a joke.

Edit: Also, where did you get the $25 from? I'm not 100% sure if it's accurate, but the inflation calculator I used suggests a little over $18

[Anemone_Valesti]

* Hohenheim Obtained The White Devil *
Measly 12 Bucks. No shame in my game son :3

[Serret]

My point was there are no free lunches in this world. If you love your $15 per month subscription, we need cash shops to prop up that stagnating pricing model.

Indeed, I absolutely agree with you on the fact that there are no free lunches in this world. Which is why, they are not getting one from me. Over 8€ for a rehue? It's not a reasonable price.

So many entitled people in this thread? Again I absolutely agree with you. People are entitled to voice their opinion and voice their feedback. Especially considering the FFXIV community tends to be very loyal compared to other communities.

We're not expecting "free lunches", but after spending over 150€ in this videogame, I think customers deserve a bit more respect and not get ripped off with an 8€ rehue + monthly retainer subscription over "server issues".

Now excuse me while I go read articles on the interwebz to "get lernd" on how to better spend 8€.

[zosia]

Except the cost of storage and servers has dropped significantly since then too? The MMO market is also far larger than it was backin the day, that's why we aren't being charged $25+ a month. You know why AAA games still cost $60 even though their budgets are significantly higher than ever before? They sell far, far more copies. Let's take Bethesda for example, Morrowind has sold around 4 million copies over the span of what now, a little over 13 years. Fallout 4 has sold 12 million in the span on a month, at its full price. We aren't being charged more because they're making more, simple as that. FFXIV has sold 5 million copies on its own, sure it doesn't match up to the behemoth that is WoW, but WoW got lucky in that they released a fantastic and casual (at the time) game. According to a quick Google search, FFXI had 500,000 at its peak, that's the average we have in FFXIV at all times. Pair that up with retainers, fantasias, server transfers, name changes, and other services, and you get very large profit margins. Cash shop onto that? You're practically printing money... to burn on 10 year projects cough FFXV cough.

The cost of storage has decreased, but inflation has also increased the cost of goods and services from the turn of the millennia. In addition to inflation, costs of production and advertising have sky rocketed.

Using http://data.bls.gov/cgi-bin/cpicalc....998&year2=2015, you can see that buying power has decreased by a factor of 1/4 since 1998. That means that a dollar back then is worth a dollar and a quarter now. Our subs, just by inflation, should be around $20.00. That's just looking at inflation. It's not a fart stretch that $25 is a realistic price for a sub when you consider the increased costs in development and getting your game noticed.

You know what would happen if they charged $15? People wouldn't subscribe, simple as that. They'd move to WoW, or whatever other option there is, or quit playing MMOs altogether. I'm not a pro cash shop person, I've spent a bit here and there (mostly) on Fantasia though. I'm fine with the services, fine with just about everything on there except NPC clothing (just a personal problem), but it has nothing to do with MMO costs rising. SE is so cheap that they refuse to give Yoshida a proper team, he's stated many times that his development team is far smaller than traditional ones. You could make that argument about other MMOs, sure. SWTOR has around 800+ people working on it, and it shows. Huge worlds, entirely voice acted, better cutscenes, nicer visuals, etc (the actual MMO is lacking though), but for FFXIV? Not a chance.

I agree, I agree that if SE charged more than $15, that they would lose subscribers. That's why we have a cash shop, to off-set the financial needs of the dev team.

Personally, I'm fine with it, as long as they don't add new items that took actual development time. I seen people posting that it's pathetic that they're selling pre existing items and not new ones and I'm thinking, "What?". Maybe I'm looking at their posts wrong, but it seems like they want to take dev. time away from the game, and pour it into new items for the cash shop... why, to justify spending your money? Would you not prefer the new items go into the game? I'm glad that the new mounts are obtainable in game, or through recruit-a-friend. Every mount model is obtainable in-game, apart from Sleipnir, and so far they haven't pulled another Sleipnir so we're relatively safe. The problem will start being a problem when they do something similar to Sleipnir, or rather, an entirely new mount similar to WoW. WoW's most recent mount cost $30 I believe, what a joke.

I agree

Edit: Also, where did you get the $25 from? I'm not 100% sure if it's accurate, but the inflation calculator I used suggests a little over $17

See above.

Indeed, I absolutely agree with you on the fact that there are no free lunches in this world. Which is why, they are not getting one from me. Over 8€ for a rehue? It's not a reasonable price.

So many entitled people in this thread? Again I absolutely agree with you. People are entitled to voice their opinion and voice their feedback. Especially considering the FFXIV community tends to be very loyal compared to other communities.

We're not expecting "free lunches", but after spending over 150€ in this videogame, I think customers deserve a bit more respect and not get ripped off with an 8€ rehue + monthly retainer subscription over "server issues".

Now excuse me while I go read articles on the interwebz to "get lernd" on how to better spend 8€.

MMO's are one of the few markets where you can literally buy endless hours of entertainment for your measly sub fee. If you're bent out of shape over a re-skinned mount for eight euros, you have bigger issues than I am unqualified to address. Let the people with the appreciation for the mount and/or the extra cash to subsidize your sub fee.

You are excused.

[seraf]

I bought both new mounts the moment I heard about them this morning. If some people don't like the mogstation shop then fine you aren't forced to buy from it. But there are people who enjoy the option and regularly use it.

[DragonSlayer45]

News flash: Just because its "optional" doesn't mean it can't be obtained in game through some means. This could have easily been attainable in the Gold Saucer, some trial, or through achievements. Square Enix is sliding across a very slippery slope. I can't wait for glamour gear to disappear entirely from the game and be cash shop exclusive from now on.

[Serret]

(...)

"You have bigger issues" - Turning to personal attacks will not make your argument right

The problem is not how much it costs. It's whether the price is fair or not.
If I turn into one of my company's loyal customers that are basically "paying the bread I eat" and decide to charge them nearly the same price as a complex item for a simple one they'll tell me I'm out of my mind, I'll lose years of trust I've built with them and they'll turn to the competition.
I don't see how it's any different here. Monetization doesn't justify everything. Customer trust is equally important to keeping your reputation and to keep them coming back and bringing more along with them.

I'm not complaining against the cash shop though I'd say my opinion on it sits in the limbo considering we are paying a monthly sub and every single expansion. But they have been mostly fair with their model so far. Fantasia pricing for example is spot on and I think that's what gets people using them so often compared to other games where the fantasia equivalent cost 3-4 times more.
I do however reserve the right to voice my opinion and give my feedback, when after spending quite a bit of money in this game to support the devs I see something that simply isn't fairly priced as is the case with the rehues.

[ViolaKruger]

Just thought I'd throw in my two cents since I heard a mention of SWTOR's "cash shop"!

My partner and I played SWTOR for about two years, and then left it for this game when they announced their new expansion, KOFTE, was story, single player focused.

Anyways, in the time that we played, glamour was a lot of fun. Admittedly, my partner loved the glamour items, however it is very, very different there from this cash shop.

In SWTOR, there is the cartel market. You purchase packs that give you 5 items usually, but only 3 of those are actually armor, weapons, minions, or mounts. Now, they separated everything via a rarity scale. This makes it so you can get complete garbage, or one ultra rare item. Well, RNG is a troll, so it is very, very difficult to get an ultra rare from a pack. So many people, including friends I had, spent hundreds of dollars every couple of weeks to buy packs in hopes to get their items. If they didn't get what they wanted, they could potentially sell some items on the market to get in game currency. However this further perpetuated the RMT situation. It got so bad, that one of my friends got banned for trying to sell an item in trade chat.

Anyways, apologies for the rant.

TL;DR: MMOs are trending towards cash shop items. It is unfortunate, but I am happy to see that I can directly purchase the item I want without depending on RNG or spending millions of gil on the marketboard. I am happy they are still adding things to gold saucer, but if I miss an event, I am more than happy to spend the money to get an item. It is a "punishment" of sorts.

[seraf]

snip

The thing is that you will not make everyone happy no matter what.

If you add the Mounts to Trials then you get people who complain about RNG and how they never win their rolls or see the drops.

If you add it to the Gold Saucer then you get people who complain that 1 Million MGP is too expensive and that they will never be able to grind enough to afford it.

If you add it as an Achievement similar to the Parade Chocobo or Gilded Magitek then you get people who complain that they never get commendations because they're a DPS or something.

If you gate them behind content like PVP which is very unpopular then you will get people who complain about being forced to do content that they don't enjoy just for a mount.

What is SE supposed to do?