Mogstation and New Content

[CuteWhisper]

I dont mind having a cash shop, its all cosmetic, and the extra retainers is not game breaking. I like supporting not only the game but the company behind it so if I like something, I'll purchase it.

[Kaethra]

OP is sensationalizing at best.

If we were talking about actual 'content' where you had to buy it in bits and pieces. They might have a point. You know, stuff like access to dungeons and such.

What the OP and players like them don't realize is there players like myself, who enjoy having unique stuff. While I want everyone who is subscribed to have a fair shake at real content (the more people the better for doing dungeons and the like afterall). When it comes to designing my character's look and style. I wish to be unique. There are many different ways to accomplish this.

When you down a difficult boss and obtain a piece of gear that looks unique, that is a trophy, a representation of what you accomplished. Armor and Weapons that represent what you downed and overcame. But such accomplishments don't need to have more... mundane attributes as you see on the Mogstation. Dresses, suits, swimwear, and other more 'civilian' attire does not make much sense to drop in the dungeons.

Lets be honest. Getting items from quests is easy. And well we have plenty of those already. Same thing with crafting. That doesn't allow for much uniqueness if it comes from an easy to come by quest or achievement. And making the quests or achievements hard or time consuming only sets the rarity ahead by time. In time everyone gets such things.

That leaves us the mogstation. When a piece of glamour costs a few bucks. Only those who truly want it will purchase it. Other players will not. This drives up the rarity. This is what -I- want. I like having a unique look that I was able to purchase and only those willing to make such a purchase would have a similar look. Yes I'll still see similar looks and fashions, but not as much as the Magitek Armocolypse in 2.0

But this is widely known to be a factor. People like the OP resent that I have what I want. The worst part about it is they don't merely want what they think they can't have. They don't want -ME- to have it. I want a set of glamours and fashion unique to me that I can pay for. They want to take that away from me.

That's a bit insidious if you ask me.

[ChocoFeru]

Many of the Mogstation articles were from past-events that we got for free.

I'm just concerned about where the money goes; does it go to SE in general or FFXIV? If it goes directly to FFXIV then I'm ok paying for some glamours, because I can and want some of them and I'll feel better if it helps the game somehow.

[Jandor]

I'm just concerned about where the money goes; does it go to SE in general or FFXIV?

Judging by the amount of cash the mogstation brings in, and the lack of noticeable difference in content quality or quantity pre cash shop and post cash shop, I reckon it goes to SE in general.

[Galaktica]

Many of the Mogstation articles were from past-events that we got for free.

I'm just concerned about where the money goes; does it go to SE in general or FFXIV? If it goes directly to FFXIV then I'm ok paying for some glamours, because I can and want some of them and I'll feel better if it helps the game somehow.

Both. There seems to be this ongoing notion, not from you but from others, that SE is "bleeding this game dry" to pay for stuff like FFXV, Nier, etc which is about the stupidest thing I've ever heard. Money from every division is funneled back into the company as a whole because that's just how business works. It allows them to take risks with new ventures. So for the sake of example, people need to stop thinking about it as "FFXIV single-handedly paid for FFXV" and think about it as "literally everything Square Enix produces from toys to games (and lord only knows what else) that makes money which includes FFXIV is what paid for FFXV." And because FFXV was a financial success, every division, including the FFXIV team, wins because there's more money to go around now.

The better a division performs, the more resources are at it's disposal so it can hopefully make even more money the next time around. As far as I know, FFXIV continues to do quite well (the cash shop probably helps with that) for Square Enix so it stands to reason their budget has increased as well because they want this game to keep making more and more money. "Bleeding it dry" literally doesn't benefit anyone. Players will get bored and quit.which means the game will make less money, which in turn leads to a lower budget the next time around, and then the cycle continues until they have to shut the game down.

[Zojha]

[...]so it stands to reason their budget has increased as well because they want this game to keep making more and more money.

The question is: The budget for the regular game, or the budget for the cash shop? Since the subscription is flat, you gain the same subscription regardless of whether you do more or less for it. And since the playerbase doesn't seem to have a net growth anymore, trying to increase subscription volume seems pointless. So you'd rather want to reduce your investments for regular content to the minimum needed to hold the whales and maximize cash shop investment to milk the whales. That's profit maximizing.

With enough confirmation bias, I could probably find that exact strategy in SEs actions. But I'll rather just put it out there and let others argue one way or the other.

[Jandor]

And since the playerbase doesn't seem to have a net growth anymore, trying to increase subscription volume seems pointless.

Seems busier to me, it's frankly kind of weird. Even at this point in the patch cycle I sometimes have to queue in, outside of major updates that never used to be the case.

[Kaethra]

Seems busier to me, it's frankly kind of weird. Even at this point in the patch cycle I sometimes have to queue in, outside of major updates that never used to be the case.

Its funny because some will say the game is bleeding pop. I find that hard to believe when I read such a post while waiting in a server queue. Won't be the first game I've experienced this in.

[Kaethra]

Many of the Mogstation articles were from past-events that we got for free.

I'm just concerned about where the money goes; does it go to SE in general or FFXIV? If it goes directly to FFXIV then I'm ok paying for some glamours, because I can and want some of them and I'll feel better if it helps the game somehow.

I think this issue is mostly irrelevant. FFXIV isn't going anywhere. You can't simply throw money at a game to make it better. And the stuff on the store is a service for us to use or not use. I don't go to a fast food place to 'support' it. I go there because I want a cheeseburger.

[Felis]

Many of the Mogstation articles were from past-events that we got for free.

I'm just concerned about where the money goes; does it go to SE in general or FFXIV? If it goes directly to FFXIV then I'm ok paying for some glamours, because I can and want some of them and I'll feel better if it helps the game somehow.

moving EU servers to europe
upgrading servers for bigger inventory
moving NA servers to somewhere else
maybe more server stuff in future

Judging by the amount of cash the mogstation brings in, and the lack of noticeable difference in content quality or quantity pre cash shop and post cash shop, I reckon it goes to SE in general.

Don't just look at the stage (what you see ingame), but also to the backstage (mostly hardware stuff)