Naoki Yoshida's Comment in Regard to Jump Potions/Boost Potions

[JCharms]

I hope they plan to give something to the players for the hard work we busted our arses for to be the players we already are in the community and among the servers we're on. It's not enough that we grind job after job after job after job and reap the benefits for our own work; but to hand players a silver platter with everything they need to 'catch up', just makes it look like Pay 2 Win could become a thing soon enough. Next thing you know, you'll be able to buy gil from mogstation.

If thats how you view playing a game, I'm not sure what to say.

[Felis]

So can you buy multiple job potions?

only 1 for each job (none for the new jobs)

I hope they plan to give something to the players for the hard work we busted our arses for to be the players we already are in the community and among the servers we're on. It's not enough that we grind job after job after job after job and reap the benefits for our own work; but to hand players a silver platter with everything they need to 'catch up', just makes it look like Pay 2 Win could become a thing soon enough. Next thing you know, you'll be able to buy gil from mogstation.

you saved 5000 - 30000 yen

[Austherus]

No one's saying the pay wall will stop the RMT problem altogether, but free jump potions would easily make it worse for everyone. I feel like you're blowing it a touch out of proportion there; these jump potions are optional items, and will be categorized as such in the cash shop. They're a far cry from anything actually necessary to play the game such as character creation/entering a city/load screen. Yes, the RMT problem should be fixed, but until an actual solution is found to stop it altogether, there's no point in spreading the RMT problem for everyone else in the mean time.

Optional is a tricky word (which SE adopted after it was used so much to justify the cash shop on the forums). Is it really optional if your only reason to play the game is to enjoy it with your friend that is two expansions ahead? I don't think it is. It's only optional if you don't care for it personally, like all the endgamers that said (and still say) that glamour is optional.

There are multiple accounts on this thread of new players giving up on the game because of the huge amount of fetch quests and uninteresting dialogue they have to deal with before reaching their friends. For them, it would not be optional.

Them again, you could still say yes, it's optional, they can endure through it or not, and I agree. But that would also make everything else optional, including endgame.

[Roth_Trailfinder]

Optional is a tricky word (which SE adopted after it was used so much to justify the cash shop on the forums). Is it really optional if your only reason to play the game is to enjoy it with your friend that is two expansions ahead? I don't think it is. It's only optional if you don't care for it personally, like all the endgamers that said (and still say) that glamour is optional.

There are multiple accounts on this thread of new players giving up on the game because of the huge amount of fetch quests and uninteresting dialogue they have to deal with before reaching their friends. For them, it would not be optional.

Them again, you could still say yes, it's optional, they can endure through it or not, and I agree. But that would also make everything else optional, including endgame.

Optional or not, it is still paying out-of-game money for some kind of in-game advantage over those who do not dole out that money. That makes it Pay To Win. The question of whether or not it is optional is but a red herring, and when you get right down to it, is rather irrelevant.

As someone whose friends fall into the category of "Friends I can't get to play the game because it's too much work to catch up and I have too many things to do to dedicate all my time to helping them", I can't wait to see the Levelling Potions. It might actually breathe life into my dying guild again if the people that took breaks for various other games could come back, pay some money to catch up, and be able to play with everyone again. Yeah, we'll still have to teach them how to play their classes, but with the combat revamp, I suspect we'll all be relearning our jobs in Stormblood to a large degree anyway.

So, your friends only say "want" to play the game with you, but they don't really want to play the game at all.

After all, there's the whole game in the way of playing the game. Either they want to play it, or they do not. It is not sectional (here's the story game, here's endgame) - its all one game.

I understand people's concerns about jump potions, but the game has been out for so long now. I have been trying to get some irl friends to play recently, but convincing them to trek through ARR AND HW just to be ready for the expansion is a huge ask if you have a full time job.

Its not about convincing them to trek through the game, it's about convincing them to PLAY the game. They will get to SB when they get there, whether it is a few weeks before or a few weeks after the expansion launches. What matters is whether or not they have fun going through the game, not whether or not they have caught up with the moving goalpost.

Again, the issue people who are for the potion are using to justify it is that the game is getting in the way of itself. And if that's the case, then those people don't want to play the game at all, Whether they can jump to the expansion or start off fresh.

[Austherus]

Optional or not, it is still paying out-of-game money for some kind of in-game advantage over those who do not dole out that money. That makes it Pay To Win. The question of whether or not it is optional is but a red herring, and when you get right down to it, is rather irrelevant.

That is exactly what I was saying. I'm glad someone agrees.

[Austherus]

So, your friends only say "want" to play the game with you, but they don't really want to play the game at all.

After all, there's the whole game in the way of playing the game. Either they want to play it, or they do not. It is not sectional (here's the story game, here's endgame) - its all one game.

His friend wants to play the game "with him", not a solo experience for weeks/months, which is what old story content is.

[aesteval]

Has the team considered how being able to level alts so quickly would affect the specialist system?

Personally I'm hoping for the system to be ditched because it seems like the system is more of a hassle than an actual gate because: 1) alts with their own specialists, 2) being able to hoard X item (currently the souls) to be able to change specialists on the fly as time moves on. I don't think the specialist system really added anything longterm. Trying to make players more reliant on each other is great in theory, but it did not pan out that well.

[Seig345]

[...]

Them again, you could still say yes, it's optional, they can endure through it or not, and I agree. But that would also make everything else optional, including endgame.

Just because they add an item that makes what you want to do in a game easier/faster does not make it some kind of a mandatory purchase. Since it is entirely possible to pass on the jump potions (once they're added), and accomplish the same ends by a different set of means, it's an option by definition. You can subjectively refuse to see the slower method as an option, but that applies to you, not to the player base as a whole. You're by no means forced to slog through the slow way if you don't want to pay for the shortcut, since playing Final Fantasy XIV at all is also an option in and of itself. Not playing at all may sound extreme, but it also seems a little extreme to see $50 to skip several years worth of content, legitimately, as prohibitive.

[Austherus]

Just because they add an item that makes what you want to do in a game easier/faster does not make it some kind of a mandatory purchase. Since it is entirely possible to pass on the jump potions (once they're added), and accomplish the same ends by a different set of means, it's an option by definition. You can subjectively refuse to see the slower method as an option, but that applies to you, not to the player base as a whole. You're by no means forced to slog through the slow way if you don't want to pay for the shortcut, since playing Final Fantasy XIV at all is also an option in and of itself. Not playing at all may sound extreme, but it also seems a little extreme to see $50 to skip several years worth of content, legitimately, as prohibitive.

Nothing applies to the player base as a whole, the player base is made of different individuals with different needs and views.

Let's be honest here, humans are not machines, subjectivity is intrinsic to us. Each player decides individually what is and what is not an option to them. For many players, going through weeks/months of subpar solo questing is not an option, hence why they leave. If suddenly they can pay to take it out of their way (and the price is ok for them), that is what they are going to do, as the other option for them is leaving.

I don't see how $50 to play with my friends is not prohibitive. If I look at it through the view point of a new player, and imagine myself buying FFXIV to play with someone, once I noticed the options I had: A) Play alone for months B) shell out $50, I would jut say "sorry man, I'm not going through that scam".

SE knows that the constant additions to the story has created a big problem, but they decided to sell a bandage instead of delivering the cure to everyone.


EDIT - Just wanted to comment on this: "You're by no means forced to slog through the slow way if you don't want to pay for the shortcut, since playing Final Fantasy XIV at all is also an option in and of itself" - that is a business-killing way of thinking. I don't think SE wants FFXIV to die, yet.

[Roth_Trailfinder]

His friend wants to play the game "with him", not a solo experience for weeks/months, which is what old story content is.

As I said - his friend DOES NOT WANT TO PLAY THE GAME. Jumping past content won't change that. There is still a bit of content that he and his friend can do together without a content skipping service. FATEs for one, he can help his friend run dungeons and the story mode primals for another. But no, his friend does not want to do that ... which means he won't be happy running the dungeons or raids or doing the story content for whatever expansion he jumps to.

All in all, saying "there's too much content" is a laughable reason when there are people who have gone through it and complain there's not enough content at endgame!