Thread: Patch 4.2 Extra Retainer should be free

Originally Posted by Xlantaa

Well. Stop buying retainers. No one buy retainers. That service will die.

But if you pay for 9 retainers, well. They won't stop. It is the same as DLC. If you don't want DLC everywhere, stop buying them.

You are correct, but its easier said then done. You only need a handful of player to keep renting the retainers, for SE to see it as a sucess. Its like with the F2P games. Majority of F2P players do not buy alot of items, maybe a glamour, inventory or a mount, but there are small group of players who spend alot of money (whales) and their monthly spending outweigh, the players not spending anything. I reckon its the same with FFXIV, if majority of the players decide to not spend a cent on the retainer service, it wont change a thing, because a small group of players will be renting 6 extra retainers for their characters.

Unless the whole community comes toghter and stops spending money on the retainer service, nothing will change.

Originally Posted by Xlantaa

Well. Stop buying retainers. No one buy retainers. That service will die.

But if you pay for 9 retainers, well. They won't stop. It is the same as DLC. If you don't want DLC everywhere, stop buying them.

I’m a huge fan of the vote-with-your-wallet philosophy (it’s why I refused to buy anything off the Mog Station. I’m already paying you for that content Square, every single month).

The problem with that philosophy and retainers is that the game is designed to waste inventory space. I have two whole retainers JUST to hold on to glamour gear and that’s only for two different jobs, that’s in addition to needing 2 slots for any current crafting material (NQ and HQ), a good ten slots just to hold onto maps because for some reason they’re marked as unique items, the seven different current raid currencies, two slots for Chocobo summoning items and food, another slot for fish meal for gardening, etc. So many ways they take up inventory doesn’t have to be in the game or doesn’t have to be as bad.

Thankfully they’re making small improvements out help (999 stacks is appreciated, as 2is moving beasttribe currencies into the currency tab...mind you it came months after I started tossing those currencies to save space) but every patch adds dozens of new materials and gear we need to store.

The only way to have space for all of that is retainers. The game is designed in such a way that you either pay for retainers or you have or discard items that you earned. It is beyond frustrating. :/

Originally Posted by Caitlyn

It would be really nice to have at least one additional free retainer PER expansion. That would make 3 or 4 free retainers in total.

THIS! Returning to the game after a few years away, I really expected this to be the case. It is quite sad to see it is not so.

Originally Posted by WellFooled

I have two whole retainers JUST to hold on to glamour gear and that’s only for two different jobs,

How many times a week do you change your job glamour?

Originally Posted by Krotoan

How many times a week do you change your job glamour?

Not incredibly often :P but how often I change my glamour has no effect on the point. Some of that gear took a substantial amount of time to acquire. In many ways, my glamour collection is the only evidence of much of my in game activity. The constant vertical treadmill means the stats on that gear is soon useless, but the visuals of it still hold value. The game should be designed in such a way that I never lose that value. As is, I barely have the space to keep a collection just for two jobs and that’s with extra retainers. It would be impossible with the base two.

Originally Posted by Aniond

Square Enix is giving you inventory + 3 retainers. Thats a lot more space then WOW gives you for free. You can do what people do on other games. Start a guild and use guild storage for space. Have alts and use their storage and retainers for storage...
Im personally happy to pay 2 dollars a month per retainer. Its nice to have an extra miner and botanist running around for me.

No, Square give us 2 free retainers only, not 3. If we had 3, I'd be happy and thanking them.
The storage in FFXIV is pitiful compared to WoW when you take into account that people are encouraged to level every class on one character. And you do have to take that into account because it's a major selling point. Each of my characters in WoW has one battle class, one gatherer and one profession, with no special gear or tools needed to gather or make things. My main here has all the professions, three gathering classes and several battle-classes most needing their own tools, weapons and gear.

FC storage. Don't make me laugh! Eight very large tabs in my WoW guild bank compared to the tiny little chest we have here.
When our FC started making Airships I had to pay for an additional retainer simply because FC storage couldn't cope with all the extra airship parts and items and function as general storage for our members.

Alts for storage? Sure, as long as you are willing to pay more for your sub. And even if you do pay more, enjoy never being able to mail them and needing friends to act as go-betweens when you want to pass items between them or as you suggested, having to make a single-person FC to get around that restriction.

Retainers used wisely, provide not only storage but a steady stream of income. More retainers means more items from ventures and more market board slots for selling things. Increasing the advantages in-game to those who are willing to pay more goes against the spirit of a subscription game.
And remember, even FtP games that sell storage usually do it as a 'once and done transaction'. Here we are renting it by the month.