Square-Enix's "How the Mog Station Stole Christmas!"

[seraf]

Sometimes I have to wonder if the feedback SE takes has become detrimental to the community. The entitlement and the histrionics over something as small and dumb as a Christmas tree is unbelievable.

SE is a business. Their entire purpose is the make money, not to make you individually happy. They're going to keep putting things in the cash shop.

I'm still not over all the people that were upset about the Veteran Rewards a few months ago. It never ends.

[Ultimatecalibur]

That's not addressing the point.

That was directly addressing the point. Creativity is not related to the number of options available and the addition of new (or reintroduction of old) options does not directly increase creativity and will sometimes decrease creativity.

That said, you can create diversity with restrictions, yes, just as you can create diversity by forcing characters to be randomly generated without you having the option to make changes. But that has nothing to do with creativity. We humans are very diverse in appearance and genetical composition, but we are not "creative" for that. We are creative with the things we CAN change - hair color, clothing etc. But that's because those are options to us. If clothing was restricted like genes, we wouldn't be able to be creative with them either.

I was more referring to artistic works. Oil painting is not inherently more creative than charcoal drawing even though Oil paints have far more color options. Anyone blaming a lack of creativity on lack of options does not understand what creativity is.

[Sigiria]

I don't know what bizarre world you live in, but no publicly traded company makes a product out of altruism. SE is a corporation. Their main goal is to make money. It always has been and always will be. The only interest they have in making people happy is because happy people means open wallets.

Asking them to forgo their livelihoods to make you happy is more selfish than you're accusing them of being.

The item shop was never intented at first, Yoshida was even surprised when people started asking for it.

Because they saw an opportunity in people wanting to pay more to feel special they implemented the cash shop and put in there content they announced before even thinking about the cash shop (like the wedding stuffs)

So at that point it don't remotely get close to their livelihoods, it's greed.

I wonder what is the more selfish people expecting a game they are paying for to be fair with them, or a game company jumping at any opportunity to make even more money?

[DaikiKiyoshi]

The item shop was never intented at first, Yoshida was even surprised when people started asking for it.

Because they saw an opportunity in people wanting to pay more to feel special they implemented the cash shop and put in there content they announced before even thinking about the cash shop (like the wedding stuffs)

So at that point it don't remotely get close to their livelihoods, it's greed.

I wonder what is the more selfish people expecting a game they are paying for to be fair with them, or a game company jumping at any opportunity to make even more money?

Taking advantage of an opportunity to make extra money on OPTIONAL and, for the most part, completely cosmetic items that players themselves ask for is in no way greedy. People are just too self entitled.

[Platinumstorm]

I think it's pretty awful how it is structured. New players' enjoyment should not be compromised for this. I have all of the holiday items I need, but each holiday that passes I think of how blatant a money grab it is.

I don't care too much that items exist within RMT stores, however when it comes to items that existed within a game, I think it's a really low tactic.

I have kept basically all of my holiday items at the expense of transmog, gear, and crafting material spaces so I don't have to shill out over $50 for holiday items.

It would be awful to be a new player and see the selection of items available to them for the Starlight Festival, and to me it's a disconnect between Square caring about their player base having fun versus what they can charge for.

I think it's less about entitlement, and more about goodwill intentions by Square that make players happy to support them.

[Claviusnex]

I think the problem isn't so much the cash store but the small number of event items in game. For something like the Starlight Celebration it would be nice to also have the option of a tree and snowman. To keep each year somewhat unique they could just reskin them. This way players that haven't been here from the beginning could get basic decorations more or less integral to the holiday. Then each year they could change enhanced holiday items. Basically create a set of core holiday items and then unique holiday item that change year to year. For collectors put the rest in the cash shop and/or/both provide a holidays of the past quest to allow the old stuff to be earned and doled out. Being newer and not having a tree was somewhat of a downer.

[Vivi_Bushido]

So, if I'm not mistaken, we can't even get the Christmas tree this year without paying an additional fee on top of the subscription? I still have my tree, but my wife who just started this year will be very sad to learn this.

Grinch move, Square-Enix.

Does anyone else think that they're going a little overboard with making things Mog Station-exclusive? Sure, past mounts and minions are understandable, but Christmas trees should be obtainable within Eorzea every year.

We're one step closer to Whoville circa Christmas Eve, unless someone's corporate heart grows a few sizes.

Last I checked, Christmas Trees in real life cost money to.

[Lukha]

Not really. More options can actually lead to less creativity as using the new options take priority over using older options.

Consider what happens when a new piece of glamour gear gets added. There is a massive wave of players wearing the same or similar hot new glamour.

Those that are the most creative are those that do unusual/unexpected things with whatever they have access to, not those with the most options.

Restrictions are well known for enhancing creativity when properly used in circles related to things that require creativity.

But those who are actually going to be creative with their options will still be more creative with more options.

You're basing your argument on what the sort of people who will make a default male midlander and only change the hair color, or pink-haired catgirl #4,873,027 if they're feeling especially daring. The sort of people whose glamour efforts rarely extend beyond using a full matching set of whatever the new thing is. People like that aren't going to be creative no matter what you do, and shouldn't be considered an example of anything. They most certainly shouldn't be used as a reason to restrict options for those who would actually use them!

Restrictions and exclusives will realistically result in less capacity for creativity, because even if you have an idea for something different, you might not have access to the necessary materials to achieve it. It will also result in everyone within a certain set or class using the same components, since those are the only ones they have. You seem to want to prevent homogeneity, but the scenario you're arguing for is actually the one most logically likely to result in it.

Restrictions on options cause people to be more creative with their designs because they may not be able to simply slap on the shiny new item of the patch.

That is a major logical error on your part, because as I've pointed out previously, restrictions such as you have stated your favor for in this thread will actively force people to 'slap on the shiny new item of the patch' because it is all they will have access to.

I could probably expand an entire page worth of words on this but you can't seem to grasp creativity, so it'd be difficult for me to continue.

That's a pretty rude thing to say, but it's not difficult for me to believe you said it, since your entire argument seems to be based on imposing your own values as to what qualifies as 'creativity' on others.

It's not about what an individual player can bring to themselves, it's what a player looking out at other players in the game see.

Case in point. Glamour or decorating your personal house or apartment is 100% about the individual player doing it, and the only right you have any claim to in relation is the right to go away if you're not happy with their choices.