So we don't have enough devs

[Mysteltain]

This 100%. Pretty much ends this conversation.

Sadly, that's not how the world works. I think the only source of money that the FFXIV dev team doesn't need to share with the rest of SE is the cash shop's revenue. That's what bought us the EU servers, according to the devs.

[Alberel]

Sadly, that's not how the world works. I think the only source of money that the FFXIV dev team doesn't need to share with the rest of SE is the cash shop's revenue. That's what bought us the EU servers, according to the devs.

I would take what Yoshi said regarding the cash shop funding the EU servers with a grain of salt as that's not really how businesses manage money, especially not a big global one like SE. All money that the company makes, regardless of where it comes from, goes to the company as a whole. Every year companies usually work out a budget with a forecast for major projects that various departments/teams will be working on and associated expenses. These budgets are usually reviewed and adjusted as necessary at certain points throughout the year to account for changes in priorities and unexpected costs.

The important thing to note is that just because the game is making X amount of money that does not mean the devs behind that game suddenly have X amount of money to spend. It may take up to a year for that rise in profits to actually trickle back down into more funds for development.

If I were to hazard a guess about the EU servers: Yoshi negotiated a deal with the execs at SE to introduce a cash shop in exchange for funding for EU servers. I seriously doubt the money from that cash shop went straight into the EU servers.

With regards to the OP: no amount of increased sub fees or cash shop sales would guarantee more money for the FFXIV dev team. The only way they'll get more money is if the execs at SE allocate them a bigger budget. The only way THAT will happen is if they think it would be profitable to do so. It ultimately hinges on Yoshi's ability to negotiate and convince them that a bigger budget would lead to a rise in concurrent subscriptions.

[Aivi_lo]

Then demand Square-Enix to give FF14 more money instead of taking it from the devs. The devs aren't fully in charge of where that money goes.

I was replying to the original idea on here of raising sub fees. I don't want any SE people reading something like this and getting ideas!

[Marcellus_Cassius]

If anything the fee should be lowered, we're still @ the same rate that WoW set a decade ago when a gazillion ppl were into mmos.

[Roth_Trailfinder]

If anything the fee should be lowered, we're still @ the same rate that WoW set a decade ago when a gazillion ppl were into mmos.

EQ was that same rate long before WoW came along, and I think the rate was standard for the industry before EQ came along.

But then again, if you look at the value of a dollar back in the late 1990's and compare it to today, the sub fee should probably be in the mid $20's, if not mid $30's, to retain the same value as it was back then. Inflation hurts and is the killer of bank/retirement account values (even if their numbers keep going up) and is the biggest thief of our money in the world. Be glad that the sub is only $15/mo.

[MicahZerrshia]

I already pay my sub + a stupid fee for extra retainers and there is the cash shop (albeit I don't really use that cause in a sub based game a cash shop is a slap in the face unless you do it like other games and give a cash shop credit for equal to your monthly sub price)

Seriously, how much more money does SE want from me? They need to allocate their funds better and maybe get rid of a few bonuses for higher ups.

Another dollar? NO THANKS!!!

[Hyperia]

Most of their profits are being redirected into FF XV and when XV is done, it will go into the new VII series. Like any business, they will give a product just enough to chug along until a justifiable business reason has arrived. Justifying that is on the Dev team and if there argument is not strong enough, they wont get the resources. We also have to remember that older games paid for the failure that was 1.X in the tune of $400M and an additional $100M for 2.0 rebuild (not including the 2.X series). I would love to see more resources spent on this game but there is a much bigger picture going on that we cant see inside SE. I am happy to have what we are getting which is way ahead of other games such as WoW and its 18 to 24 month content droughts. Would I love more? You bet, but I also understand why we get what we get. Remember, they ARE working on 2 other expansions of this game at the moment... 4.X and 5.X, so people are stretched thin meeting our content consumption as players.

[Riardon]

We will never have proofs where the profits of the game go and by what percentage. Whatever we write here is pure speculation. Yoshi said in recent past that they were hiring for more devs but it's not easy to find what they are looking for. I don't believe our big problem is funding. We are getting patches with new content pretty frequently. And from what I saw it's not that SE is cheap with the game either. I would say most of the problem is the game's design which is limited by consoles particularly by PS3. That poor thing will not even be able to load the new clock feature coming out with 3.4 as it's limited only to PS4 and PC users. Look the dungeons. They are small areas with not many assets and npcs but even if is they are still fragmented by areas. We have teleport zones inside small dungeons. Also the game's engine have some limitations as well. You simply can't code and implement whatever you want in a game. The game have some strict rules on what you can implement and by how much. This is our problem. Remember it was dirty fast remake of the 1.0. Although it was a successful rebuild they had to sacrifice some things. They did it in very short time and they never expected that the new game (2.0) will be so successful. New features will come don't worry the question is when. It always takes time to do new things.

[silentwindfr]

they did probably get green light for recruitement, with a game a 6M subs, it will look idiot to not have a team big enough for support this. since more content, means sub happy, subs happy, means more money coming!

they don't need to increase the subs, they already get tons of cash from us believe me...

i'm legacy, i pay 9.99 euro per month, but at the same time i did take 3 servant means my subs jump to 12-13 euro per month and i'm sure i'm not the only one with servant added. nor without forget the the shop.

[ExKage]

I believe some reports before said that FFXIV is the only game actually making profit for Square Enix and that most of the funds were being allocated to not FFXIV.