Problem with "Optional" Items in the Cash Shop

[Belhi]

Again I'm just wanting, preferably someone from SE, to say why one set of cometic gear is worth paying for. 18 bucks at that. When another set of cosmetic gear they put in the game, either as a recipe or a reward or w/e. The question applies to all the cash shop stuff. Like Mounts and emotes.

People are explaining.

Look this is just straight forward financial planning within a business. FF14 makes a certain amount of revenue from core game sales and subscriptions. It has certain base expenses to keep the server infrastructure and support services running. What is left over after that is used to determine the games performance financially and allocate a budget to the developers, taking into account things like necessary upgrades and alterations needed for sustained subscriptions and growth. That budget is then divided up into the various development projects used to produce in game events, expansions and the patch cycle and work on infrastructure upgrades and game features.

To expand their revenue they created the cash shop. Rather than determining the net revenue by factoring in infrastructure costs, net revenue is determined by the production costs. SE forecasts what they expect sales figures to be and determine if the production costs are sufficient to justify the production of the items for sale.

Now here is the interesting bit often overlooked. Net revenue from the cash shop would be factored into the total earnings of FF14 which in turn will dictate the core budget for the main content production and will help justify investment into the game such as server upgrades. The cash shop helps pay for stuff you get for your sub fee, not the other way round. Additional revenue streams help the developers put more into the game, not less.

That is a very simplified version but almost certainly close to what SE's model is from the information I have seen.

I get some of the reason people has put forth. But that begs another question. Why put the effort into making something people might not buy? If they had put the Fuga gear out and no one had bought it then they wasted that time and don't get paid for it? It's the same for the items in the game tho right? If no body does the content they spent the time developing then that time is still going to waste?

Sales forecasting is a basic part of developing new products for sale. They would be using a lot of existing metrics to determine what is in demand and likely to provide good returns. This goes for the base game as well. The features they have developed and the focus of content and design will have taken into account what players are likely to react positively to and enjoy.

[Claviusnex]

My main point was, what's the difference between the Thavnarian gear in the game that you can get by crafting recipes, and the Fuga gear on the cash shop? Why is it ok to charge for one when they put the other one in the game? What is so different about them that they can't put all the glamour items in the game?

They need to recover the cost of the new items that many players could care less about. Even something simple costs money. Would you rather have them increase the monthly sub to cover the costs? If SE does they run the risk of losing players who don't want to pay for extras they didn't ask for. The cash shop lets SE take the middle ground by offering additional items to those that are interested without impacting those that aren't.

[Cynfael]

My main point was, what's the difference between the Thavnarian gear in the game that you can get by crafting recipes, and the Fuga gear on the cash shop? Why is it ok to charge for one when they put the other one in the game? What is so different about them that they can't put all the glamour items in the game?

Again, I would guess that the payroll hours it takes to design and implement some of this additional content are funded at least partially by the cash shop's revenue.

Personally I don't mind this cash shop because it's purely cosmetic, offers nothing that's of substantially better quality than what you can already find in the game, and supplements a game I enjoy and pay a piddly base monthly fee to access. I kind of look at it as SE's tip jar tbh.

[Belhi]

The production of most Mog store items is authorised taking into account the cost of production vs the returns on the mog store. If it wasn't on the mog store it likely wouldn't be in game anyway because they wouldn't have authorised additional resources for its production. This is why we haven't gotten a Krile coat yet. They were uncertain that the returns from sales would justify the development costs.

The Mog station has been with us for several years now and hasn't crossed the line into selling things it shouldn't. If it did we should most definitely kick up a stink. However people have been raising these concerns and saying 'how long until' since it opened and they have shown no sign of changing.

Let me reiterate. You most likely wouldn't get these things in game anyway if they weren't on the mogstation because they are developed outside the budget your sub pays for. All removing the Mogstation would do would be to remove those items completely from being developed. The only exception is the seasonal event gear and some arguments could be made on that front (though technically if you weren't subbed at the time of the event when they were free you sub wasn't paying for them either) but that isn't what people are currently up in arms over.

[Yallaid]

The production of most Mog store items is authorised taking into account the cost of production vs the returns on the mog store. If it wasn't on the mog store it likely wouldn't be in game anyway because they wouldn't have authorised additional resources for its production. This is why we haven't gotten a Krile coat yet. They were uncertain that the returns from sales would justify the development costs.

The Mog station has been with us for several years now and hasn't crossed the line into selling things it shouldn't. If it did we should most definitely kick up a stink. However people have been raising these concerns and saying 'how long until' since it opened and they have shown no sign of changing.

Let me reiterate. You most likely wouldn't get these things in game anyway if they weren't on the mogstation because they are developed outside the budget your sub pays for. All removing the Mogstation would do would be to remove those items completely from being developed. The only exception is the seasonal event gear and some arguments could be made on that front (though technically if you weren't subbed at the time of the event when they were free you sub wasn't paying for them either) but that isn't what people are currently up in arms over.

just to defend myself, it is sort of what I am up in arms over.

I'm just busy imagining the game that might have existed without a cash shop. I think there'd definitely be a lot fewer of these types of items, period. There's no argument against that. But of the stuff that would exist, I think it would be far better utilized in-game. imo.

[Claviusnex]

just to defend myself, it is sort of what I am up in arms over.

I'm just busy imagining the game that might have existed without a cash shop. I think there'd definitely be a lot fewer of these types of items, period. There's no argument against that. But of the stuff that would exist, I think it would be far better utilized in-game. imo.

I doubt any of it would exist. Would you be willing to see your subscription go up to cover them? Someone has to pay for the work as it isn't free.

[Yallaid]

I doubt any of it would exist. Would you be willing to see your subscription go up to cover them? Someone has to pay for the work as it isn't free.

lol, don't get into how much I'd be willing to spend on my 'perfect' MMO. People go nuts with the cash shop so if some dev clearly expressed the same ideals (Tanaka where are you??) as me, I'd be willing to go pretty nutso with my monthly bill

[Claviusnex]

lol, don't get into how much I'd be willing to spend on my 'perfect' MMO. People go nuts with the cash shop so if some dev clearly expressed the same ideals (Tanaka where are you??) as me, I'd be willing to go pretty nutso with my monthly bill

OK .. I understand.

[Valinis]

I doubt any of it would exist. Would you be willing to see your subscription go up to cover them? Someone has to pay for the work as it isn't free.

We already pay for it every month. Also, an eastern-inspired glamour 2 weeks before an eastern-inspired expansion that we payed $60 for?

Micro-transactions are a permanent part of the gaming world and is no surprise that Square-enix is one of the major companies who have been pushing micro transactions. In a recent survey the majority of players are actually for micro-transactions. 57% liked micro-transactions while 52% were not for it. This has been increasing through the years as gamers are more accepting of this feature.

Survey taken by: Nelson Games (consumer report company)
Link: http://www.nielsen.com/content/dam/c...eport-2017.pdf
Page: 22

This has absolutely zero context. Of course people are "for" micro-transactions in a game that is F2P. The opposite is true of a P2P game such as FFXIV (the whole reason this thread even exists).

[Felis]

We already pay for it every month. Also, an eastern-inspired glamour 2 weeks before an eastern-inspired expansion that we payed $60 for?

Let's wait 2 weeks and then we all can look if in the crafting log are more eastern themed gears or in the cash shop