Why no Plex system?

[Aldora]

Because the Crafter could buy game time with that hard earned gil, and thus not have to expend their Real Life currency?

That question was part of something else, which you've left out of your quote. What i said was:

Game time should never be sold through in-game currency and the reason why is basically due to the question: “How much in-game currency do you think is game time worth?” Depending on who you ask, you will get a different answer every time.

Even if SE sets a fixed price for the tokens on the Market boards, if we take the housing system into account, how many people would actually be able to afford these tokens? There’s a very big disparity between players when it comes to their virtual income. Top tier crafters tend to have a heck of a lot more Gil than someone who only runs battle content on a casual level. So, why would only a “select group of players” be able to purchase game time through in-game currencies?

And if we turn this question around, if someone wants to get more Gil (to buy an in-game house or crafted raiding gear), they would be able to buy a Token and sell it on the Market boards. However, there are plenty of crafters who work for the Gil they earned. How would that be considered "fair" for the amount of time and effort the crafter has put into the game?

It's not just about being able to buy it. It's about the means in regards to getting the Gil, compared to the players who actually worked for it and earned the gil they have gathered up. You can have a player wanting to buy a house (assuming that there are any plots), but he doesn't have enough gil in order to buy it. With this system, he could buy a Game Token and sell it through the Market boards, in order to collect the amount of gil needed to buy that house.

That literally costs no effort what so ever from the player, just a deeper pocket. On the other side, you have players who actually play the game, craft / gather items and sell those on the Market boards in order to collect that same amount of gil. Those players put effort into getting the gil needed to buy the house. That's the issue some of us are talking about here.

Then there is the matter of buying Game Time through an in-game currency. Like Richard said himself, someone has to buy the Token, so SE will still get their money (and maybe more). Even though that is true, who in his or her right mind will by Tokens aside from paying for their own use or gifting it to a friend/relative? The only reason i can think of, is to sell it for gil and that's exactly the wrong reason to do it for.

You can save up that money to buy something that actually matters in real life. Which brings me to this comment right here:

The ONLY WAY to stop RMT is to sate the demand for it yourself.

If you actually believe this, then that's your given right. But, that's the worst possible thing you can do. You're basically giving in to people who are greedy and want to get Gil by throwing real money at it.

I mean, think about it. We are living in an era where a lot of people want to get “stuff” for free, while throwing money at other things without a sliver of thought. For example, we want to play a MMO for free, but on the other hand, we’re not hesitating when it comes to spending a fortune on vanity items in cash shops.

The main reason behind it is the desire that you just have to have it. But, wouldn’t you agree that there is something very wrong with that picture?

Like i said before:

RMT is a bannable offence and thus has to be punished. You buy gil? You suffer the consequence. Period.

You were only talking about banning the RMT account, but i was mostly talking about the players who are buying. If you as a player buy gil through RMT means, then you should be punished just as severely as the people who are selling it. Both parties are partaking in an illicit activity.

You can only really stop RMT if no one is buying from them. If they can't sell their goods in a game, they will leave eventually. What you are suggesting is to have these kinds of players the means to still pursue the same activities, but through means supplied by SE. That doesn't fix the root of the problem, namely that people are buying gil with real money. That is the real issue here.

People are saying that we are living in a regression, that everything is expensive, but on the other hand we're buying a luxury item like the latest iPhone for more then 800 bucks because it's the "thing to have"? Then we have people saying that they'd want to be able to buy game time with an in-game currency, so that they can save money on a game with a 15 dollar a month subscription?

What is wrong with this picture here?

I mean, honestly, in a way I feel like a Plex system would probably benefit a lot of the players who are in the regions about to be affected by the subscription price normalization. Brazil and the likes. A Plex system would at least give them the opportunity to continue playing if they could earn enough Gil to buy tokens.

I'm truly sorry (and i'm sure i'm going to get flamed by this), but when people are talking about the regions who are affected by the subscription price normalization, i think of the following article:

The reason for this increase was to ensure that no matter where someone plays from, what currency they use, or which platform they play on, the price would remain roughly the same for everyone. Before this change, the price for Brazilian and Russian Steam platform users was lower than what other users, even those in Brazil and Russia, were paying when not using the Steam platform. After the change, everyone was paying roughly the same price.

We will temporarily revert the recent price adjustments in the upcoming Mog Station maintenance planned for August 16, 2017. These reduced prices will be in place for approximately 60 days. After that, prices will return to the levels they are at today.

This extension of the reduced prices and when they are ending will allow Brazilian and Russian Steam platform users to prepare for the price change. We will also be adding 30 days of game time to the accounts of Brazilian and Russian Steam platform users who were impacted by the subscription price changes.

Source: Regarding Price Changes for Brazilian & Russian Steam Users

I'm going to be very harsh here, but i believe that everyone should be paying roughly the same amount for a subscription (taking inflation and currency conversion into account). If this price change would mean that you aren't able to pay for the subscription fee, then i believe that you should think about other things then playing a Subscription MMO.

If you really want to play games, there are plenty of alternatives out there that are either free (regular single-player or multi-player) games or "Free-to-play" MMO's (where i also include GuildWars 2 and WildStar into). A token system like this doesn't not belong in a Subscription MMO, not even for cases like this.

However, like i said earlier:

But, make no mistake. I’m all for the opportunity to gift game time to friends or family, but not like this. If you want to gift game time, either buy a game time card for them, or have the ability to purchase game time through the Mog station, which then can be sent directly to the SE account of person you want it to be sent. The person would then receive either a real life e-mail saying that their game time has been extended for the amount which has been paid for, or the person would receive an untradeable and unsellable item in the Moogle Mail box which will extend their game time upon use.

This on the other hand, should not be a substitute for people who are unable to pay for the subscription.

If i was being confronted with a massive increase in subscription fees, i would seriously rethink if i want to continue my subscription for this game. I love the game with every fiber of my being, but i cannot justify paying a 30 dollar (slight exaggeration) subscription fee for it.

I stand by what i wrote above and you can take it anyway you like. I want people to be able to play this game and love it as much as i do. But, i will never agree to a system suggested here.

[Shihen]

Few things here.

You can have a player wanting to buy a house (assuming that there are any plots), but he doesn't have enough gil in order to buy it. With this system, he could buy a Game Token and sell it through the Market boards, in order to collect the amount of gil needed to buy that house.

That literally costs no effort what so ever from the player, just a deeper pocket.

Those pockets don't get deeper by themselves. The effort cost is there, it just doesn't take place in FFXIV.

someone has to buy the Token, so SE will still get their money (and maybe more). Even though that is true, who in his or her right mind will by Tokens aside from paying for their own use or gifting it to a friend/relative? The only reason i can think of, is to sell it for gil and that's exactly the wrong reason to do it for.

You can save up that money to buy something that actually matters in real life.

For a lot of people, getting the most out of this game does matter in real life. It's a connection to people you never would have met otherwise, and experiences you never would have had otherwise. Enjoying it matters.

You're basically giving in to people who are greedy and want to get Gil by throwing real money at it.

The main reason behind it is the desire that you just have to have it. But, wouldn’t you agree that there is something very wrong with that picture?

What about the guy working 9-5 with kids, a wife, and 2-3 hours of gametime a day? Greedy probably isn't the best word for him. And the girl trying to balance a few courses, studying, and working part time probably just wants to get the most out of a hobby she enjoys.

Some people love the game just as much as anyone else, they just don't have the time to invest in it. I don't want to see an unrestricted money to gil conversion system, but I think a capped form of conversion should exist. Marketable game tokens with a monthly cap on how many you can buy, for example. Enough to equate to a crafter that spends a few hours a week on the market, and far less than the hardcore crafters that do nothing but.

You can only really stop RMT if no one is buying from them.

Agreed.

What you are suggesting is to have these kinds of players the means to still pursue the same activities, but through means supplied by SE. That doesn't fix the root of the problem, namely that people are buying gil with real money.

Lost me a bit on this one. If you're an RMT company and you buy a 15 dollars worth of gil via token from SE, what are you going to do with it? Sell it for 16? No one will buy it when they can just get it from SE at 15, and selling it at anything less is a loss.

With a monthly cap on tokens in place, RMT will still exist but their profits will take a massive hit. Less money means bans are more effective as replacing lost accounts is now more costly, and the end result is a better experience for all legitimate players.

Edit: Actually, I see your point here. If players buying gil for real money is a problem, it doesn't change anything. I'd just argue that allowing players to buy gil for real money in moderation via game time tokens does more good than harm.

People are saying that we are living in a regression, that everything is expensive, but on the other hand we're buying a luxury item like the latest iPhone for more then 800 bucks because it's the "thing to have"? Then we have people saying that they'd want to be able to buy game time with an in-game currency, so that they can save money on a game with a 15 dollar a month subscription?

What is wrong with this picture here?

It's not because they have trouble affording a 15 dollar subscription. There just aren't many gil sinks in the game and they have far more than they need. If they can save money by giving what they don't need to someone who does need it, then all the better. It's not really any deeper than that.

I want people to be able to play this game and love it as much as i do.

This is a sentiment we share. I just think there should be a way for people with less time on their hands than others to get a limited push forward. If it also pushes RMT closer to the garbage bin where it belongs, even better.

[Krotoan]

Those pockets don't get deeper by themselves. The effort cost is there, it just doesn't take place in FFXIV.

This is the part I don't believe most understand. I think a lot of the opposition thinks some people just magically have more money.
I has a job, I work a lot. I play FFXIV to relax, not to put in another 40 hours a week farming for stuff. My time is worth significantly more than 15 extra dollars a week.. or even 100. Giving your players the option to trade money for removing tedium is smart.
In the end we are all spending TIME. How you spend it is entirely up to you though.

[Eclipsed]

Snip

Removal of RMT through enforcement actions in-game has proven beyond any doubt to be an unreasonable goal. There are just too many of them, they can never all be caught and punished. And they have all the motivation in the world to keep doing it as the business is incredibly profitable.

[Celef]

I would love such a system

[Deceptus]

All I'm hearing is a someone who doesn't want to pay for a sub trying to implement a system that would assist in not having to pay for a sub.

[LittleSparrow]

I support this.

[uvuvwevwevweonyetenyevweugwemu]

Because SE use mogstation for subscription services. If they put crysta to be bought with gils that means they can't sell
other stuff like potions, glamours and more importantly handcrafted artworks. Not only game economy, but wreck their income too.
Do other games sell as much/diverse as mogstation? Sub is only useful for maintaining the servers, they still have to outsourced/pay
some talented people for content from something.

edit:correct me if I'm wrong. free crysta is what OP wants, right?

[Snow_Princess]

Because SE use mogstation for subscription services. If they put crysta to be bought with gils that means they can't sellother stuff like potions, glamours and more importantly handcrafted artworks. Not only game economy, but wreck their income too.
Do other games sell as much/diverse as mogstation? Sub is only useful for maintaining the servers, they still have to outsourced/pay
some talented people for content from something.

edit:correct me if I'm wrong. free crysta is what OP wants, right?

???????????????????

Does anyone else think this post makes no sense? what does having an ingame item to use to get sub time have to do with "crysta to be bought with gils"? Also what is the link to "crysta to be bought with gils" and "can't sellother stuff like potions, glamours and more importantly handcrafted artworks. " Even if they allowed someone buy crysta with gil, it has nothing to do with the other thing, though I do admit it would be nice to buy mog station stuff with gil since it is overpriced to hell.

Last thing : no

It works like this:
I go mog station and buy a sub token (does not matter what means I buy it with)
I get said item in moogle mail
I sell it on MB, trade, exchange trade agreement for savage/mount deal, whatever

What exactly is it then? Because other than introducing a crysta-like currency, there is only straight buying with gils. Where else would you buy subscription?

I edited, not reposing because of strict post limit, it is answered.

[uvuvwevwevweonyetenyevweugwemu]

???????????????????

Does anyone else think this post makes no sense? what does having an ingame item to use to get sub time have to do with "crysta to be bought with gils"? Also what is the link to "crysta to be bought with gils" and "can't sellother stuff like potions, glamours and more importantly handcrafted artworks. " Even if they allowed someone buy crysta with gil, it has nothing to do with the other thing, though I do admit it would be nice to buy mog station stuff with gil since it is overpriced to hell.

Last thing : no

What exactly is it then? Because other than introducing a crysta-like currency, there is only straight buying with gils. Where else would you buy subscription?