Online Store is Getting Worse!

[rainichan]

Imagine ...

100% of the funds from the Mogstation go back to the devs. They've said so in fact, and it was the money generated from the Mogstation that funded the EU DC before it was even implemented.

Since no one seems to understand econ101 otherwise with this game, I swear I need to just copy and paste this comment every time I see someone complain that ff14 is funding other projects:

FF14 funds other games as the sub money and sale of the game goes back to Square-Enix AS A WHOLE. In turn, every other project that makes sales that they push out also goes back into Square-Enix as a whole to fund other projects that the main JP branch is creating, such as Kingdom Hearts or Final Fantasy 7 Remake games, upkeeping and creating some minor content for FFXI etc. That money that the company makes also goes into paying their employees, buying/replacing hardware, keeping the lights on assuming it's not built into the rent payment, paying rent on however many floors they rent out in the office building they're in, buying/upgrading software, taxes, insurance, and more that I'm probably missing. Their net amount made then goes into a budget to dole out to each CBU + non-game dev expenses (so the rent, employee pay, etc) for a business quarter for four quarters, or sometimes maybe even the entire business year.

So really, it's disingenuous to whine that "FF14 is funding other games!!!!" when those "other games" are also funding FF14 in turn from their profits, that's how it works.

Since the Mogstation is connected to FF14 and FF14 only, the funds they generate from all the Fantasia junkies and people who instabuy glams or mounts or emotes or whatever goes back to the devs independent of the budget they're given by the company to add into and use for new DCs, new server blades, bolstering their budget for certain things in the game like better and more fluid animations, upgrading all of the upcoming content in 7.0 (and hopefully the engine 14 is running on because that really needs an upgrade) and whatever else they need it for that goes back only into FF14 and its upkeep and development. Promos generate profits on both sides - having FF14 branding on a Butterfinger means people get curious and try the free trial, 14 players buy Butterfingers for what they want that they get in game, win win on both sides from a business perspective.

For the record, Blizzard also runs a cash shop for WoW and their prices are higher than FF14, with added Faction Change for $30. Race Changes sit at $25, and most mounts sit at $25 - one is $15, and another is $30, and their mounts aren't designed for two or more people, just one.

And no, before anyone comes at me over this: I don't like that some things have hit the Mogstation like the spriggan mount or the Pagaga emote instead of a reward or available outside of the cash shop, at least one of their promos was super mishandled and I'm hoping they make that emote available in another way for people, and it's tiring to see people complain over things that, while true in part, are still completely incorrect as a whole with how 14 sale/sub/MS money is used.

[Iyrnthota]

I hadn't considered comparing it against expansion prices.
Where I am, to buy Endwalker on Steam currently it's 29.99, this glam set alone is 15.00.

It would cost me more to buy this glam set for two characters (which I would have to do, because it's Single Character only) than it would to buy the most recent expansion.

[PyurBlue]

I hadn't considered comparing it against expansion prices.
Where I am, to buy Endwalker on Steam currently it's 29.99, this glam set alone is 15.00.

It would cost me more to buy this glam set for two characters (which I would have to do, because it's Single Character only) than it would to buy the most recent expansion.

I think it's eye opening for sure. It's clear that the prices of these sets far exceed how much it takes to produce them. If SE really needed anywhere near $10 per sale to cover the cost of creating an outfit, how much of the budget was put toward the default ones in the $50ish game?

Willingly paying these prices doesn't make someone a bad person, but I think it should be fairly obvious why they create so many negative reactions. It's not just about affordability, but obviously milking profit to extreme degrees. I'd like to buy some mogstation outfits and I'm always willing to support developers for good work, but I can't justify paying $20 for $1 worth of effort despite being able to part with that $20 very easily. I don't think that it's inaccurate to say that it's beneficial for everyone if the prices of options items were more reflective of their cost of production, even if you can afford them as is. Given how massively inflated the prices are right now, even an 80% cut would almost certainly still leave SE with profit. I'm also sure that such a cut would not lead to a proportional drop in income as with lower prices they would likely increase sales.

[Lustre]

Everyone knows XIV is the cash cow. they invest the absolute minimum (shout out to intern-san) and extract the maximum. If you dont agree with this cash shop stuff, vote with your wallet and dont buy anything off there. While whales will continue to urinate their money up the wall, at least you'll know you didnt contribute to the problem. There is absolutely 0 reason for the cash shop to exist when they charge a base fee and a sub cost. Maybe they could add these items into the game to be earned instead of brought to help with player retention and droughts but I guess mr shareholder wouldnt be too happy with that.

[XiRon]

Yknow maybe bc I'm petty and full of correct opinions but considering the devs screwed over hrothgar for 3 years by charging $10 for an ingame feature everyone else can enjoy, and nobody BUT hrothgar gave a wet fart until zepla dropped that video on hroth/viera hair, I just have to laugh.
Oh you think $22 is ridiculous? Nonsensical for a cosmetic purchase? Gosh tell me all about iiiiiiiituh.

[Cheremia]

Snip

What sort of grinds my gears is the fact that people are saying f2p Games are less predatory because you CAN play them without paying anything. Maybe even endgame!

Just needs a lot of grinding, because you can buy these handy skips and things that can make it faster.
Sets with way better stats than you can get anywhere ingame? Got that! Sometimes they even have really hood effects, too!
Upgrade things for weapons? Yep!
Better pets if any? Yes
Better mounts if any? Yes

So while yes, you can indeed be f2p but chances are, you will never really be part of the current meta or get anything good fast.
And these games really want your money, since its the only way they make money.

Since f2p games „secretly“ is p2w

I see these games more as free to enter and nothing else.

[Mika_Zahard]

Everyone knows XIV is the cash cow. they invest the absolute minimum (shout out to intern-san) and extract the maximum. If you dont agree with this cash shop stuff, vote with your wallet and dont buy anything off there. While whales will continue to urinate their money up the wall, at least you'll know you didnt contribute to the problem. There is absolutely 0 reason for the cash shop to exist when they charge a base fee and a sub cost. Maybe they could add these items into the game to be earned instead of brought to help with player retention and droughts but I guess mr shareholder wouldnt be too happy with that.

Yeah you sum it all up. It’s a losing battle. At least we can pat our backs saying we didn’t contribute to that..

[Deveryn]

MMO Subscriptions have never gone above 15/month in about 22 years. If you think developers are really getting by just on that and the base entry / expansion costs, you're sorely mistaken.

[Iyrnthota]

MMO Subscriptions have never gone above 15/month in about 22 years. If you think developers are really getting by just on that and the base entry / expansion costs, you're sorely mistaken.

Some back of the envelope calculations on my part

Assuming:

1. Squenix reporting of 24 mil accounts as of Oct 21 is both accurate and each is a distinct subscription
2. Each of these is paying a 30 day standard sub in my region at 8.99/month

Thats ~2 billion (2,000,000,000) gross annually, not including Mogstation transactions or upfront expansions payments.

I don't claim to be an expert on MMO maintenance costs, but that seems like plenty of income to me.

[Deveryn]

Some back of the envelope calculations on my part

Assuming:

1. Squenix reporting of 24 mil accounts as of Oct 21 is both accurate and each is a distinct subscription
2. Each of these is paying a 30 day standard sub in my region at 8.99/month

Thats ~2 billion (2,000,000,000) gross annually, not including Mogstation transactions or upfront expansions payments.

I don't claim to be an expert on MMO maintenance costs, but that seems like plenty of income to me.

You don't seem to understand basic economics and the fact that prices for everything else have gone up, yet the subscription fee remains the same.

I don't claim to be an expert on the costs, but I've paid attention to this genre and what those in the industry have had to say on the matter. Years ago, decisions had to be made in order to support these efforts. One thought that floated around was actually in-game advertisements. Thankfully, that never happened and they instead decided to address the market for luxury goods.