Steam payment HUGE price increase!

[Holystrike]

I love Final Fantasy 14 from the bottom of the heart, but with this change I see no other way is back to World of Warcraft (translation of the locator language, support and very good ping), and compatible price for my region.

I was loving too much StormBlood, of the will until crying for no more participating in the events.

[Ckrownz]

Waiting the expansion release to increase the monthly fee ? This is a new low, even for Square Enix.

[Azorex]

I'm not a steam user (playing from start of Realm Reborn). But I am Russian. And many of my friends want to drop a game. Triple increace of subscription and 5 or more retainers. Not too many peopple want to pay THAT price, even for your game.

It's about 1/3 or even 1/2 of all who I know will leave game soon.

You can try to calculate how is your profit falls.

[FeliX_Leonhat]

Nice one SE, even though I can pay the monthly, I will quit cause all my friends will leave the game. Goodbye FFXIV, 3.5 years were a nice time

[TheSade]

I am a brazilian FFXIV-Steam player and I've been following this thread. While this increase on the subscription doens't affect me so bad in a way to fully drop the game, I would like to point that the way everything was done makes me really sad: An uncommunicaded increase in sub less than one month after Stormblood realease. To see that we are not worth a single official announcement is what saddens me the most, this could all be done in a more respectful, dignified way.

I would also like to point that I always recommended this game to friends and was also planning to buy the PS4 version, now I'll be doing neither.

[Texa]

I am a brazilian FFXIV-Steam player and I've been following this thread. While this increase on the subscription doens't affect me so bad in a way to fully drop the game, I would like to point that the way everything was done makes me really sad: An uncommunicaded increase in sub less than one month after Stormblood realease. To see that we are not worth a single official announcement is what saddens me the most, this could all be done in a more respectful, dignified way.

It really seems like SE was trying to have their cake and eat it too with this one. Many people in other countries wouldn't have purchased Stormblood at all if they knew this was going to happen so the change is stealthily applied a month after release. It's a very, very bad look for SE to not give people advance warning and waiting to do it right now. If they wanted to up the price, fine! But it should have been announced like the drop in PS3 support was.

[Esmart]

Again, PS3 users was WARNED that they would have to spend more money to play Stormblood. If it was the same with this "adjustment", it would be fine. Sad, but fine. What actually happened is not fine at all.

[aekh]

...Wow.

I understand we aren't numerous enough to cause a significant drop in what SE earns from ffxiv if we suddenly decide to stop playing the game or something like that, but I think we still deserve to be treated with the same amount of respect and courtesy as other players. If there were changes on the base subscription price, SE would've definitely announced it beforehand to all players - why don't we get the same treatment when they decide to change their exchange rate for international players? I'm sorry, but this is just plain disrespectful.

Lots of us have invested money in buying Stormblood, expecting to play it for at least a few months. Why couldn't you announce this change BEFORE releasing Stormblood? I can't help but feel cheated.

I don't even know what to write anymore. This is absurd.

[Crypto137]

Here are my two kopeikas (Russian equivalent of cents):

This whole situation is just bizarre. The way things stand right now is that entry-level subscription in Russia costs 25.7% more than base game (880 RUB vs 700 RUB). Meanwhile in the rest of the world entry subscription costs 13 USD while base game is 20 USD; it's actually 35% cheaper than base game.

Now don't get me wrong: the price changes were bound to happen. The regional subscription prices were set before December 2014, when the Russian Ruble suffered almost a 50% devaluation. However, a) There should have been an announcement beforehand and b) The prices shouldn't have been increased as much as they were.

If we take the base game price as a starting point, the subscription price should be 65% of it. 700 RUB * 65% = 455 RUB. Still higher than the original price of 270 RUB, but a much more reasonable increase that goes in line with other MMORPG subscription fees in Russia (for example, World of Warcraft is 550 RUB).

[KAzerad]

First of all, the main thing to be said here is how disappointed I am with Square Enix. This was a great example of how you should NOT treat your customers. While I don't disagree whit price changes, the way they did it... Completely shameful.

I moved from EU to Brazil less than 2 years ago because of a work opportunity, and let me tell you something: regardless of currency rates, 13 USD/Euros and 42 BRL are completely different things. It took me a long while to get used to Brazil's currency, so I'll just use an example: My monthly energy bill here in Brazil is almost the same price as the game subscription.
So, while I can very well pay 42 BRL, knowing how their economy works, I wouldn’t encourage any Brazilian or Russian player to do so. It is miles away from what is fair, and for their reality. There is no support, servers etc in Brazil, and the lag spikes here are INSANE.

tl;dr: SE had a terrible customer policy and subscription is just not worth 42 BRL.