This is just appalling

[Alleo]

First off, SE is a business, and obviously it is in this industry to make a profit, and in this day and age, almost no one will reject the idea of making a bigger profit as opposed to a smaller one, when given the chance to do so. It is covfefe to think otherwise.

I love this "SE is a business" argument. Just because you are a business does not make it right to sell everything for whatever price you want. And I do believe that people would be way more happier if those things would have been ingame or less expensive. Nobody on the witcher forum cried out that they should have paid for the free DLC, no they were happy to have a game company that does not see their customers as cash cows. Just because a lot of companies do this and people buy this does not mean that they are happy with that.

Also SE can come out and tell us anything..saying thinks like cash shop financing FF14 (yet somehow we get less content in SB than HW which is already less than ARR) or that it would not exist if it was not for it, but this does not make it true. Its not like they would ever come out and say that they could have put this into the game but did not do it because they saw a way to make money.

And about WoW. Maybe we should start comparing how many items they have and how many FF14 has. I am quite sure that FF14 will win. I also read that there was quite the backlash to some of the cash shop items in WoW and that the devs reacted to that and did not release something like that again. And in lots of MMOs with a cash shop (heck even in WoW) you have the way to earn the currency ingame, so you dont even need real life money to buy those. So even if other MMOs do that too, a lot of them have a way to earn it through playing the game. But nothing like that is available here.

The only thing we as a customer can do is post our opinion about that. If you are (still) fine with that, its alright, but we also have the right to post that we dont like it, without having to read that we are all children, have no money and other things..I am quite sure that most of us know that the cash shop will stay and I know that even with all the posts they did not change their way. But I will not lay down and say nothing at all, because in the end I can at least tell myself that I tried to change something even if it bears no fruits.

(And just to make sure: I also purchased things from the cash shop, I own one paid retainer, I am not someone that wants the cash shop to burn or hate people that buy from it. Heck I can understand that you will buy it even if its overpriced, simply because there is no other way to get it. But I still find the recent expansions of the cash shop really worrisome, especially the price.)

[dlgc]

Snippet jutsu

A business can indeed charge whatever they want for their products, is it within their right to do so? Of course it is! Should they do it from a moral standpoint? No they shouldn't. However, tell me a business that will refuse bigger profit margins when the chance is there for them to do so.

If we present an enquiry, and someone from SE comes out and gives us an explanation, that will become the default "truth" unless we can prove otherwise. That's how our judicial system work as well.

[Bourne_Endeavor]

I love this "SE is a business" argument. Just because you are a business does not make it right to sell everything for whatever price you want. And I do believe that people would be way more happier if those things would have been ingame or less expensive.

Well, duh.

I don't mean to sound rude, but of course people would prefer it being in-game or less expensive. That doesn't benefit Square Enix though. They aren't setting these prices on the fly, but likely using market research to determine what garners the highest profit. Would it be nice if outfits were reduced to $5? Absolutely. However... SE now needs to sell four times the amount just to accumulate the same profit they have now. Hence why they don't.

And about WoW. Maybe we should start comparing how many items they have and how many FF14 has. I am quite sure that FF14 will win.

Only because a large portion of FFXIV's Cash Shop consists of old event items no longer obtainable. Correct me if I'm wrong, but in WoW, event items are a one time deal. Either you get them or they're gone.

It's baffling how even F2P MMOs don't go that crazy high with their cash shop items,

Blade & Soul outfits sell for $15
Black Desert sales their outfits for a whopping $41; slightly cheaper if you only purchase piecs ($29, I believe)

Keep in mind, both games have several times the amount of outfits on their respective cash shops. FFXIV has only three that were never intended for release outside Korea and China. Are they overpriced? I feel so. But let's not compare them to F2P games.

[Alleo]

@Bourne_Endeavor

And I dont work at SE so I dont really care if it benefits them less if they would decrease the prices. Also I am quite sure that they are earning quite enough, especially on services like retainers or fantasia. Also lets not forget that the creation of a digital good is a one time fee. They dont pay money to duplicate the first creation, they simply but it in there and I just cant believe that you need thousands of Euros to create a reskin of an existing mount or to put something that NPCs once wore in there for all races. There quite some people in this very thread that said that they would buy it if it was cheaper so it seems that they will loose some money thanks to their pricing policy. I dont have a way to see their selling statistics or know how many more would have bought it but I get the feeling that they will shoot themselves in their foot if they go on with this pricing. I just dont see any reasons to argue for a company as a customer and not against their pricing. Its not like I am against any DLC or something like that but for me SE feels greedier with each cash shop item.

Even if I would take away all the seasonal items FF14 would still win with more items. (I will not look it up again, counting that stuff took way to much time already, dont want to put in more) It also might be that its a one time deal in WoW (which I dont know since I dont play this game) so one could say that its nice from SE to put those items in the cash shop but lets not forget that all this stuff was once in the game in the following event next year. Yet if someone starts now and wants some of these decorations or clothes they will have to pay cash for it. So for them its 250 items! If they keep this up will we have like double the amount of the items in here in 2 years. Would be quite discouraging for a new player imo.

In the end I would be way more okay with this if it was seasonal events only and maybe the stuff from other versions and if they were priced better. Instead of wanting that price for one halloween chair they could have bundled it with four. Instead of making things destructible if you put them away, go away with that. Thats something I could be behind.

[JunseiKei]

They dont pay money to duplicate the first creation, they simply but it in there and I just cant believe that you need thousands of Euros to create a reskin of an existing mount or to put something that NPCs once wore in there for all races.

Uh, it's a process and not nearly as simple as you make it sound. From what I understand is that many NPCs that are like Aymeric, are special and do not always conform to skeletons set for player characters or other NPCs. If you simply copy and paste the mesh onto the player model without editing, I could almost guarantee you that you'd have a broken mess.

[Bourne_Endeavor]

snip

Of course you don't, however Square Enix certainly does. And frankly, they are the only one who matters because they set the price. Businesses do not settle on "good enough" in a capitalist market. The fact they can easily reproduce the product only makes it a more profitable endeavour, which, at the end of the day, is all Square Enix cares about: profit. "Quite a few people" isn't a strong enough sample source. If it were, Savage wouldn't ever been nerfed to Creator levels because Reddit overwhelmingly adored Midas. Online forums represent a very small fraction of the playerbase of any game. Even if we assumed every post in this thread were unique and every single one of us purchased this outfit because it were listed at $5. That is a measly $1,235. Sleipnir alone made nearly one million when the last estimation had been done.

What determines pricing on micro-transactions and DLC is what the average person is willing to spend. Considering the Far Eastern outfit became the highest ranked item on the Mogstation within a day of its release, that tells them enough people are willing to pay $18 for it. The only way they would lower the price now is if that trend did not continue: i.e. less people purchased newer outfits at that same price.

I am not arguing for Square Enix, I simply arguing from a business perspective. Put simply, companies will charge whatever they can reasonably get away with. No amount of complaining on the forums will change that, especially because it's unlikely Yoshida or the dev team mandating Mogstation prices. All that will influence Square Enix's decision is sales. If you deem it too expensive, don't buy it. If enough people agree, the price may be lowered.

[JunseiKei]

I am not arguing for Square Enix, I simply arguing from a business perspective. Put simply, companies will charge whatever they can reasonably get away with. No amount of complaining on the forums will change that, especially because it's unlikely Yoshida or the dev team mandating Mogstation prices. All that will influence Square Enix's decision is sales. If you deem it too expensive, don't buy it. If enough people agree, the price may be lowered.

(Day 2 of Frankfurt Cleeng Live Letter, 38:38)

From how it was phrased in another question in Live Letter and other instances, Yoshida is not involved in the Mogstation at all.

[Miste]

From how it was phrased in another question in Live Letter and other instances, Yoshida is not involved in the Mogstation at all.

Hmm but I am wondering if that is altogether the 100% truth though....He IS the producer and director of the game...to not have any influence or power over the cash shop of that game seems a bit suspicious.

Not that it definitely is a fib or anything...just you can't always believe every thing people say especially when it comes to businesses...they may fib or little white lie to keep business practices secret. (Source: working for companies irl and hearing these "little white lies" on a daily basis when it comes to keeping customers happy or reassured.)

[JunseiKei]

Hmm but I am wondering if that is altogether the 100% truth though....He IS the producer and director of the game...to not have any influence or power over the cash shop of that game seems a bit suspicious.

Not that it definitely is a fib or anything...just you can't always believe every thing people say especially when it comes to businesses...they may fib or little white lie to keep business practices secret. (Source: working for companies irl and hearing these "little white lies" on a daily basis when it comes to keeping customers happy or reassured.)

I thought that as well. Until I sat back and thought how the Mogstation is completely sterile from the game and would require someone who is focused on following player trends. The only things I could see that would involve Yoshida getting into this field would be items that directly affect the game. Things like jump potions (to which we have a thread with his responses on the topic).

[Naunet]

Blade & Soul outfits sell for $15
Black Desert sales their outfits for a whopping $41; slightly cheaper if you only purchase piecs ($29, I believe)

Honestly outliers. Several MMOs have been mentioned in this thread that price their account-wide outfits at $7-9.