This is just appalling

[SenorPatty]

Every time SE invests development money into creating assets that they put on the cash shop instead of into the game that you're already paying for, they're ripping us off of something we've already given them money for. So each time SE puts out an ad for "new optional items" to me it's the same as them saying to me "Here's something you've paid for but we're going to hold it hostage until you pay even more. Because we care about your money more than your enjoyment of our service." Which, of course they value our money; they're a company making a profit off of us. That's why it's important for us to start threads like this and tell them when they've crossed lines. Which they have.



Hi. Did you intend for this to make a point or did you just want to guess about how many f2p games I've played? It'd be more fun if you placed a bet before guessing.

When you say "having a cash shop of this extent damages the game", do you mean how:

-The game devs have fashioned parts of the game where one way or another, you will need to get your hands on cash shop items to successfully proceed?

-Not having these items put you at a deliberate disadvantage against other players?

-Being excluded from certain group content because your gear isn't up to standard because you did not partake of cash shop items? Which, in returns creates an actual divide between regular cs users and non-cs users?

-Game devs go actively out of their way to remove any form of acquiring in-game gold farming methods just to make sure no one can buy CS items from other players?

-Game devs making your QoL essential features out of your reach unless you dip your hand in CS?

SE has made its greed move, like any owner of a cash shop. The only difference is you can still go on about your business in the game without behind hindered by it.

[Twinsoul]

Cut for length.

Calm down, bucko. Last I checked, White Knight wasn't a job in this game. Self-funded or not, they're still impacting a service we're paying for. Considering how often Yoshi uses any and all kinds of data restrictions as an excuse, one would thing we'd pay a little bit of attention to what is and isn't being added to the game and who it's benefiting. It comes down to the fact that sub MMOs are a service and this one is being monetized additionally as a potentially endless series of products, and there are things being added to the cash shop that should be made available in the base game no matter where the funding to produce them comes from.

Cut for length.

Those are all great examples of things that bad f2p games do. But that's not the kind of game we're talking about, and it's not the kind of thing I'm getting at, so what you have is a nice collection of arguments against a point I'm not making. No real need for me to engage with them.

[Bourne_Endeavor]

That's very hard to believe, you're very invested in defending the company at every chance, more than any other forumer I've seen. No offense.

Explaining the business perspective isn't a defense of Square Enix. It's simply stating facts. People in this thread act as those Yoshida maliciously tries to pilfer their wallets or that vilifying anyone who does decide to buy these outfits is okay. It may come across callous, but people assume large companies like Square, EA, Ubisoft and etc care about any of our feelings. They don't. They care about our money and how they can get it without overreaching. Once again, this isn't a defense on any of those companies. It's just how businesses operate. They only care when the consumer stops giving them money. So why post? I like debates. When I say I couldn't care less, I mean to how they price things. Do I think some things are a rip off? Yep. So I skipped out on most of them.

[Zojha]

It may come across callous, but people assume large companies like Square, EA, Ubisoft and etc care about any of our feelings. They don't.

Neither do they care about morals - If companies could legally hold slaves, you can damn well be assured they would. Letterbox companies to shirk taxes are highly popular. Here in germany we got inland vessels that are registrated on Malta or even in south america. They don't even have a keel! Our weapon industry has been supplying armed conflicts and terrorists across the world for years. Where do you think they get those weapons from? They're not producing them themselves. The pharma industry has long since departed from basing their prices on production cost and instead look at just how much you're willing to pay to ease your suffering from a disease. And if you fail to bring the money, well, go and suffer. They're not shying away from letting people downright die either - sure, the treatment only costs a fraction of what it's priced, but if you give it to that guy cheap, everyone will want it for that price and that hurts profits.

The corporate world "is" appalling. Some markets more so than others, but they all are to some degree. I strongly advise against informing yourself if you don't want to become a cynic.

[Aniond]

Umm Don't buy it.

[Laerune]

SE sold few items and they saw that it was selling like hotcakes, so they tried adding other stuff like mounts and glamour outfits and they saw those items made them alot of money. So much money that they were able to fund both the new European and North America datacenter. So SE decided to increase the price of the popular type of items (glamour) and we the players kept buying them, they started to introduce emotes and we kept buying.

Like many have said, SE is a business, their goal is to make us hand in as much money as they are able, which is a normal thing for a company to do. Yes, SE could have added the glamour items, emotes, mounts .etc into the game as quest reward, trial reward, but why do this, if people have shown you, that they are willing to drop 18 dollars for a outfit? SE has to be bonkers to not take advantage of the players need to buy these items. Maybe if the playerbase as a collective did not buy anything from the Mog Station, only then maybe we would not have these items there, but this would not guarantee that those items would be added as a ingame reward.

During one of the Live Letters, someone asked Yoshida if there were plans to add Krile's Robe to the game. Yoshida basicly sad that the only way this item would be added is, if he knew it was going to be sold alot via the Mog Station. This is where we are with FFXIV.

[supreme]

i agree , SE is pushing it to far with all this
i could live with it that they sold some dyes , and past event items ( even though i feel like that takes away from long time players for a bit )

but starting to lock more and more emotes and shit behind the pay wall is bs , its a mmorpg its ment to be social and emotes are part of that

[Ama_Hamada]

https://youtu.be/WXA559KNopI?t=445
I think this is true for SE as well. The prices I see is the result throwing darts at a dart board wondering if it is low enough to get enough "whales" to pay for the cost to make for it and to make a profit.

[Gumbercules]

about my only beef with the cash shop atm is that way too many items are "character" bound instead of account bound, but I respond to that by not buying things. As others said vote with your wallet, course i also realize that they are a business and they want/need to make money.

[Gumbercules]

on the "wow patches" thing, the issue is no one will ever question WoWs dedication to raiding, they will question their dedication to literally every other aspect of their game. Also having raids with 18 bosses, for the sake of just having alot of loot pinatas is overall as inspired as the rest of their development. (even now with legion) I personally really liked WotLK for example and even during icecrown, many of those bosses were blatant filler. I won't even go over bosses in WoD and emerald nightmare for no other reason that i don't even remember them lol. (only seen videos of NH so guess you can try to convince me that in nighthold they were all memorable and special :P) This is me "giving" the argument the benfit of the doubt too and not counting trials and 24 man bosses into the mix, hell there is a reason why wow tends to go the route of "wings" 4 wings 16 bosses etc etc cuz they then get to shove generic villain A B and C between wing bosses.