Opt-in Pay Tier Structure until 2.0 (different than the 'half pay' or 'free to play')

[Llewelyn]

As evidenced by threads like http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/t...Then-Charge-12, a lot of people aren't happy with the idea of paying full cost for FFXIV right now. (I'm not one of them; I would have given my money a while back, even though the game might not be 'worth it' for me right now, I'm in full support of the great work Yoshida is doing, and I wouldn't mind paying in support of that)

Some people are crying that going away from free-to-play will kill the player base. This is somewhat inevitable, but blocking people from seeing the changes now really would hurt the game in the long term, I think. (more so than forcing people to pay, not allowing people to drop in after patches and see how things are moving will hurt things)

But going to half-pay isn't going to bring that much income, either.

I have a somewhat different perspective on this. Rather than "full pay" or "half pay" have "opt in pay." Let it remain free for everyone (perhaps with limited hours per week), and then let people who want to pay either half or full do so of their own volition. Paying would allow unlimited access, while everyone else essentially gets a "demo"

Alternatively (and perhaps better), allow free play up to level ___ and after that, require a monthly fee. This is essentially what a number of MMOs do to hook players. (I believe Aion does this, for instance)

What if SE adopted a free to play all content up to rank 25? That way, all the meat and stuff will be for subscribers only while non-subscribers get to experience everything up to getting the Chocobo mount as well as a few dungeons, all the first class quests, etc.

The end result would be thus:

• People who want to keep an eye on changes (1.2, 1.21, 1.22) can hop in whenever they like just to see how things have changed. This is what I was doing up until 1.18 launched - I'd jump in after every patch to see what it was like, play for a few hours, and eventually stop playing again. These people would have limited access to the game, since they aren't paying, but it would still allow them to keep track of the game or just to socialize a small amount.
• People who want to pay half pay half, and get rid of the access limitation
• People who want to pay full do so, with the only difference being how much they're paying. So people like me who can afford to support the devs and want to... can.

I think this way of handling payments would have the minimal impact on the player base. It would let people keep an eye on the game without paying, or those who do pay can choose how much they want to pay (effectively making the full pay option a donation to SE) It would also allow the naysayers to see that yes, Yoshi-P has things under control (and is listening) and the game is getting better and better!

After all, if it hadn't been for this long free-to-play period, I wouldn't have been keeping track of FFXIV's progress. I would have quit about a month after XIV came out and lost interest. Instead, since it's been free, I've been checking in with the patches and seeing progress. And I'm really happy with the state of things - I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it myself.

It's going to be very difficult to relaunch at 2.0 because of the sheer volume of negative reviews that came out at launch. EVERY chance to get more people to see the improvements will help!

[nasomi]

Here's an idea. It's $12.95 a month. Shell it out, or we'll see you in a year. SE's not going to change their policy. You're beating a dead and mangled horse.

[nasomi]

And here's why. It would cost SE a lot of man hours to implement such a system, making it counter productive. They didn't ask for your advice on payment. They asked for your feedback on systems they're putting in. [Removed by Moderator according to the FINAL FANTASY XIV FORUM Guidelines.]

[VydarrTyr]

And here's why. It would cost SE a lot of man hours to implement such a system, making it counter productive. They didn't ask for your advice on payment. They asked for your feedback on systems they're putting in. If you haven't figured out that once SE says they're going to do something they're not going to change your mind, you need to get that brain cell of yours to start multiplying before you forget to breathe.

I realize it probably takes a lot of time and effort to layer your posts with such heavy doses of snark and insult, but before insulting someone else's intelligence, you might consider at least informing yourself on the topic on which you're slinging insults. That way, it won't come back to bite you in the rear when it turns out that you're insulting someone else for not knowing something that you're wrong about.

Here's an interview that's been linked in this forum no fewer than four (4) times:

SE: It's interesting to hear that the player base was against it, but when offered paying half that more were for it.

...

SE: We went over many options when deciding to start the subscription system again. Maybe charging half, maybe charging less, maybe extending the free period. There's many options. The reason we decided to start the subscription system and charge the price we're charging is that, one of the things is players playing now, others players go "Why are you playing this game? It's not done." Maybe charging less for it, you get the sense, "Oh, it's still not done and you're still not getting a full product." This is our roadmap. This is what we're going to do. We're getting the players opinions and reflecting them in the game. We're also working to give players beyond even what they expect with update content, such as the realtime events that you will not be able to play anywhere else. We have to show the players that we'll be accepting money from you now, so now we have to work even harder in order to give you more than what you get for your money. But you went ahead and you had this poll and we know that you're a good group of hardcore players that have been there a long time. So we are taking this poll to heart and discuss this again and see if this is an option for us. We will then get back to the players and decide.

I think the problem with the OP's suggestion is that it would apply to new players just coming in and starting new characters, but not the current player base, much of which already has a job over level 25. If I've got a level 50 character, and I decide to play for free, do I have to start a new character from level 1, thus losing all the time and effort I put into the game during its "free" phase? That wouldn't be much incentive for current players to stick around or come back until 2.0.

[nasomi]

I realize it probably takes a lot of time and effort to layer your posts with such heavy doses of snark and insult, but before insulting someone else's intelligence, you might consider at least informing yourself on the topic on which you're slinging insults. That way, it won't come back to bite you in the rear when it turns out that you're insulting someone else for not knowing something that you're wrong about.

It's actually pretty easy. Just copy and paste the same response into the 100+ posts a day about people saying that SE and the game is terrible, and they're leaving, only to not leave but to continue to pollute the forum with trash like this. Just leave already.

[VydarrTyr]

It's actually pretty easy. Just copy and paste the same response into the 100+ posts a day about people saying that SE and the game is terrible, and they're leaving, only to not leave but to continue to pollute the forum with trash like this. Just leave already.

What are you talking about? Do you even know?

You said that SE doesn't want our input on how much to charge, that they're not going to change their decision, and anyone who says otherwise is an idiot. I pointed out that you're wrong. And then you respond by telling me to leave the game.

Huh? Where did I post that SE and the game are terrible? Where did I post that I'm leaving the game? Heck, search my post history. I dare you.

You're so busy banging your spoon on your highchair that you haven't even noticed that everything you've said so far is wrong.

[Llewelyn]

nasomi is a troll; Please try and ignore him (I'm on the same page as you Vydarr Tyr, but arguing with him is off topic and pointless)

I think the problem with the OP's suggestion is that it would apply to new players just coming in and starting new characters, but not the current player base, much of which already has a job over level 25. If I've got a level 50 character, and I decide to play for free, do I have to start a new character from level 1, thus losing all the time and effort I put into the game during its "free" phase? That wouldn't be much incentive for current players to stick around or come back until 2.0.

A fair point. The whole limited-access idea in my mind was less about hooking new players (like it typically would be in MMOs), and more about giving people a way to "check in" on the state of the game without playing. That said... I think most people with jobs in the 25-50 range are probably sticking around and paying, and nothing stops someone from making a new character and playing to 25. Another option perhaps would be reintroducing fatigue for free players... but I think that would be a huge PR mistake. Basically, what Ken Jammin said:

A lot of people are interested in FFXIV and SE needs to send the message that they want you to view their progress to win back your trust regardless of if they want to play FFXIV or not.

A few people have pointed out there might be an advantage in people leaving because of mandatory payments. That's something I hadn't considered. That said... the people who do the whole "this is it, the last straw, I'm leaving" aren't exclusive to people who aren't paying. In fact... I'm pretty sure that the pay structure won't really drive these people away. Every other MMO I've ever played continues to get these kinds of people, even though they're essentially paying to complain.

Look at a certain unnamed griefer in this thread. He's meta-trolling (complaining about complainers... just to provoke a reaction. Despite nobody complaining in this thread except him...). But he's also stated he's willing to pay. Griefers, like it or not, are probably here to stay. But winning over people who are as yet undecided...

I've already paid. I've had 6 months worth of crysta since the end of the first month after launch.

I have as well since shortly after Yoshi-P took over =]

[Wynn]

I think the problem with the OP's suggestion is that it would apply to new players just coming in and starting new characters, but not the current player base, much of which already has a job over level 25. If I've got a level 50 character, and I decide to play for free, do I have to start a new character from level 1, thus losing all the time and effort I put into the game during its "free" phase? That wouldn't be much incentive for current players to stick around or come back until 2.0.

I would say yes. You already know if the game is worth you paying for it. The objective is not to give vets more free time, it is to fairly allow people to decide if the game is worth paying for in their opinion.

[Zuellni]

What if SE adopted a free to play all content up to rank 25? That way, all the meat and stuff will be for subscribers only while non-subscribers get to experience everything up to getting the Chocobo mount as well as a few dungeons, all the first class quests, etc.

[MrLion]

What if SE adopted a free to play all content up to rank 25? That way, all the meat and stuff will be for subscribers only while non-subscribers get to experience everything up to getting the Chocobo mount as well as a few dungeons, all the first class quests, etc.

You've had plenty of time free of charge...time to pay up.