Do you want a cash shop in FFXIV?

[Nuru]

$10.00? Hell I would pay $20.00

HA3AA6AA9X

[Zeroeffect]

HA3AA6AA9X

You can say that again!

[Zeroeffect]

I looked over the thread It's great stuff it's full of post saying No no and hell no.
Oh and mounts, hair cuts and I want shiny stuff...

Did I miss anything?
I can read over it again if you like.

[Nuru]

Actually genre does matter. More-so how the cash shop works. Especially for some f2p FPS where you can buy the most precise sniper rifles or that machine gun can can blast through walls. Items you would not normally be able to get if you do not pay real money for it.

I'm not saying that FFXIV would take that same route, but what I am trying to say is that some games just require that money in order for people to actually stand a chance, and that is how the company knows for sure that they will get the income they desire.

Say they add a cash shop to FFXIV and its all fluff. They will compare it to the amount they would be making from the monthly payments, and if they are not reaching that specific goal every month, they will resort to monthly payments or over-powered weapons that you will "need" in order to pass certain points of the games.

You are thinking more about how it affects in-game, I am figuring what the big picture looks like, especially with a game that had a very poor release, and people don't even want to pay for it right now. Cash Shop will not do the game bad or good. Whatever way they want to implement it they can, but if most people are against it, SE will most likely stick to what the player-base wants.

Besides, you'd think Aion or Tera would have picked up on cash shops by now if they were so great. right?

[Verecund]

I don't mind it as long as it doesn't turn in to a "That Retarded Horse" scenario

(see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gCjuFpQ3EeA )

[Jennestia]

Remember when in games you didn't have to pay for alternate costumes? Colors? Stages? Characters? DLC ruined gaming because of people willing to throw away money on things that come standard when you buy a full priced game.

Cash Shops::MMO destruction.
as
DLC::Offline Gaming destruction.

Not everyone likes to blow money on features that should be obtainable in game for free -- As I said, extra retainers and characters you have to buy in XI/XIV makes sense given the game's setup, but buying hairstyles and the like doesn't make sense in a P2P game.

Also about F2P making more money than sub? That's not true at all because in F2P MMOs the largest playerbase are the ones who quit or just play the "standard" because they're not going to buy their way around. It's very unlikely that they're making a comparable amount monthly compared to sub based games for the sole reason not everyone is partaking in the cash-shop, an example:

With FFXI, the sub fee is 12.95, then there were expansion packs which ran for $20-$30+ which includes Zilart (only we had to buy this, NA/EU got it packaged), Chains of Promathia, Treasures of Aht Urhgan and Wings of the Goddess, then 6 add-ons which totals $60 -- Now, given the highest population of FFXI in 2004/2005 it was nearing 1 million, with 2 million+ characters and each additional character was $1.00, they were making well over $20 million USD a month, converted to Yen is well over 1,561,204,843¥ a month.

If F2P games made that much money if not "more" then the quality of those games would be a lot better than they are, wouldn't they? Where is that money going if it's not going towards game quality? FFXI for example essentially paid for most of Square's projects including FFXIV no doubt.

So a cash-shop does supplement a P2P based game's income, but it also kills the game because I shouldn't have to pay real money to change my hairstyle, or have a wedding or to get better looking gear. Cash Shops is a slippery slope -- You want to full customize your character? We'll give you a taste, but we expect you to pay us $50 for full options!

I'll pay $50 for expansion packs, not hairstyles and color options.

[Jennestia]

This is why a Cash shop in at least the FF P2P MMOs are bad:



This simple bonus item for buying even a steam collection for example caused an uproar:

"ITS NOT FAIR!"

"I BOUGHT ALL OF THE EXPANSIONS ONE BY ONE! GIVE IT TO ME!"

The fact a bonus item for joining XI caused such an uproar, think of what cash shop items would do.

[irongripz]

This is why a Cash shop in at least the FF P2P MMOs are bad:



This simple bonus item for buying even a steam collection for example caused an uproar:

"ITS NOT FAIR!"

"I BOUGHT ALL OF THE EXPANSIONS ONE BY ONE! GIVE IT TO ME!"

The fact a bonus item for joining XI caused such an uproar, think of what cash shop items would do.

who cares... this has nothing to do with cashshops. if SE had a cash shop they could have sold those people these items and guess what....omg no uproar. if you don't want a item from the cash shop don't buy it. they could also give people a way to farm cash shop currency, in game.

[Jennestia]

they could also give people a way to farm cash shop currency, in game.

Cut the middleman and just allow the items to be obtained by normal gameplay? Also it does, anytime SE offered something that is similar to what cashshops does, there's an uproar about it. You buy merchandise (i.e use real money) and get an in-game item, that's basically the same as a cash shop (trading real money for items), if people get upset over that, how do you think a cashshop would go over?

[Agoven]

Most successful MMOs eventually integrate in multiple avenues of revenue generation. Though introducing an MMO into the market for the first 1-5 years should hold back on too many options.

It's best to offer other options when an MMO is seasoned. When the subscriber base is at it's prime and and the sub base begins to decline that's when a company generally spurs growth by adding options.

WoW did it with it's collectible offline card game with codes for in-game. Lord of the Rings Online was failing and went the free to play model. There's a rhyme or reason to do certain things...

The core player base for FFXIV and FFXI is pretty solid or will be. There's no reason to move into multiple money making schemes. SE's main staple for games is story...and people pay for the rich environment of which to play in.

The Free to Play model of cash shops is generally regarded as a cheap method of obtaining profit and appealing to the rich people to rise to the top by paying their way. Such games then generally lack in substance or content or appeal unless you pay into the cash shop model.

I'm gonna simply state it this way and anyone can totally disagree. But the base for Cash Shop games is always small, maybe 10% if that of the population pays for anything (It does generate a lot of money...it certainly caters to people who have obsessive compulsive disorder), the quality of game is usually subpar, the community because it's saturated with nonpaying players is usually horrendous. Overall, people get tired of it really quickly and lots of huge drama all the time...and eventually the player doesn't stick around more then a few months.