SE Please implement a Chonoscroll/PLEX system in FFXIV: ARR

[AhmeraMae]

1. Wouldn't this allow RMT to remove their own subscription costs, since they will clearly have gil to spend on these tokens? While I can see decreased demand for RMT gil as a function of this system, I am guessing RMT has decreased costs as well.

You're right. The person RMTing against SE's EULA would definetly be able to keep his account(s) running without spending one dollar as long as there's enough supply of PLEX/Crysta/ w/e available on the market.

2. What's to stop RMT from cornering the market in these tokens? Can they not be resold? I'd think that RMT, with unlimited (hypothetically) gil, would almost be forced to buy all tokens and then resell them at the same rate they sell directly. Is that observed in other games?

The PLEX/crysta is meant to be tradeable and resellable, so in theory, this could happen.

This, however, never happened in EvE Online. There are people in the game that could easily do so, but they don't. The fact that CCP is hardcapping the price on PLEX is key.

No more PLEX for an acceptable amount of money available on markets would result in all players currently using PLEX return to the normal method of recurring payment via bank transfer. Actually, every EvE-player is at all times subscribed via a payment method, CCP simply isn't pulling any money as long as theres gametime via PLEX active.

All players who want to sell PLEX to receive ingame currency in return simply buy them from CCP and put them up for the usual amount.

Sorry for language, not a native speaker.

[AhmeraMae]

@Nuinn

you're wrong. nice troll.
3/10 for the attempt.

[Nuinn]

@Nuinn

you're wrong. nice troll.
3/10 for the attempt.

Prove me wrong or a troll Yeah, I thought so. . . .
Btw how long did it take for you to switch accounts? Just curious Shhh, your secret is safe with me *angelface*

[AhmeraMae]

Prove me wrong or a troll Yeah, I thought so. . . .
Btw how long did it take for you to switch accounts? Just curious Shhh, your secret is safe with me *angelface*

That's my only account. Prove ME wrong on this one.

Regarding your "request": The GTC-Item is capped in it's value by the currency you buy it with, rl money. If you raise the price above this threshold, no one will buy from you. But there are competitors who also want to get rid of their GCT-Items. They'll undercut you. Some maybe by a fair bit. Also, selling GCT-Items isn't a infinite source of wealth b/c supply of gil and ppl who want to extent their gametime is limited.

Let's assume you tinkered some deals and suddenly own a large amount of money. You spend 30M on a doublemelded weapon, required for your relic-quest. Other ppl see your purchase in the history and adjust their prices according to your wallet. Great.

Now they all offer their weapons for 29M per piece... and wait, adjust their price to be lowest offer... and wait... a competitor undercuts prices by 200k... all adjust... And so on, ans so on. Prices may go crazy for the first week but they usually adjust pretty quickly to a healthy amount.

That's how the cookie crumbles.

[Nuinn]

That's my only account. Prove ME wrong on this one.

Regarding your "request": The GTC-Item is capped in it's value by the currency you buy it with, rl money. If you raise the price above this threshold, no one will buy from you. But there are competitors who also want to get rid of their GCT-Items. They'll undercut you. Some maybe by a fair bit. Also, selling GCT-Items isn't a infinite source of wealth b/c supply of gil and ppl who want to extent their gametime is limited.

Let's assume you tinkered some deals and suddenly own a large amount of money. You spend 30M on a doublemelded weapon, required for your relic-quest. Other ppl see your purchase in the history and adjust their prices according to your wallet. Great.

Now they all offer their weapons for 29M per piece... and wait, adjust their price to be lowest offer... and wait... a competitor undercuts prices by 200k... all adjust... And so on, ans so on. Prices may go crazy for the first week but they usually adjust pretty quickly to a healthy amount.

That's how the cookie crumbles.

Except we're forgetting that RMT and botting will still exist, meaning easily obtained gil in large amounts will still exist for the ones willing to risk their accounts or the companies that deal with RMT. If they chose they could still sell gil on their site, in a model close to this:

10$ = game time item = for example, 1mil gil ( if 1mil would be the average price of such item on a server)

RMT company takes notice and adjusts their prices resulting in:

10$ = 2mil gil on a RMT site

SE can only do as much to prevent/ban/terminate RMT or botting accounts. They can't exterminate them completely, and I'm sure that the RMT companies are financially doing just fine not to be upset if they lose 10, or even 50, accounts.

I'm just not sure why people claim, or fail to see, that introducing real money 'advantages' (as in, I can earn gil without actually playing the game for more than 30 minutes) has no long term impact on the game's economy. Just makes me go Jackie Chen face. Furthermore, why they refuse to acknowledge that it is an advantage.

As it is, we're all of different economic status right now => we all play the same game, the same way (not talking about those players that opt to take the illegal route paying for RMT gil).

If game time items are introduced => our economic status allows some to bypass the gil-grind, though true enough, allows people who can't pay for the game with real life money, to still play it.

To be honest, if you can't afford to pay for subscriptions, then you can't play. If you can't afford a decent computer to run the game on, then you can't play. If your real life is crammed with changing jobs, moving to other country, loosing the roof on your house etc. then you can't play.

Tough cookie, but FF XIV will not suffer, as people are leaving and coming back to any MMO constantly.

I'd rather if SE offered deals like 3 months worth of crysta (game time) purchased = get 1 month for free, or something along those lines. Cheaper crysta prices during big holidays or whatever.

[Nuinn]

Me:

• Have a gazillion of real life coins to spend

• Buy game time items

• Sell game time items to other players for gil

You:

• Don't have as much real life coins as me

• Are willing to grind some gil ingame

• Decide to buy game time item from me

Me:

• Now have more gil than I used to

• Decide to buy more game time items (since I still have a gazillion more real life coins to spare)

• Sell those game time items

• Now have even more gil

• Now can afford to pay 40k gil for an item I need (like a double-melded weapon for relic quest, or whatever else I desire from the wards/AH since I'm rich now ingame just as I'm rich in real life)

Other players 1:

• See the transaction history in wards/AH

• Decide they will put up their items for higher prices, since obviously someone can buy them

• Hope the rich person will buy their stuff so that they can afford a game time scroll or the high-priced items, of which the prices in gil they themselves raised that high

Other players 2:

• Don't have that much money in real life, but can pay for subscription

• Don'T have the time or the will to grind 40k for an overpriced item

• Checks wards/AH transaction history

• Says "Oh f*ck"

• Curses the playerbase for inflating the prices

• Curses SE for allowing it

Me:

• Can now buy whatever I want from wards/AH

• Do so whenever possible since I know that if I need gil, I can always sell more game time items as I'm still rich in real life

• Gil has no real value for me, I can buy whatever I want, for whatever the asking price

Other people:

• Can't. . . .

Some people:

• Still think it this has no impact on the ingame economy

Me:

• LOL!

[AttacKat]

YOU: Now can afford to pay 40k gil for an item I need (like a double-melded weapon for relic quest, or whatever else I desire from the wards/AH since I'm rich now ingame just as I'm rich in real life)

• Can now buy whatever I want from wards/AH

• Do so whenever possible since I know that if I need gil, I can always sell more game time items as I'm still rich in real life

• Gil has no real value for me, I can buy whatever I want, for whatever the asking price

Other people:

• Can't. . . .

Some people:

• Still think it this has no impact on the ingame economy

Except you forgot a VERY important part in your equation, and that is, for every dollar you spent and covert into GIL, is gil that you will spend for your item purchases and in fact benefits many other players because they can convert their play time into gil-profit to also better themselves.

This by nature also sets a more true balance supply and demand cycle for the market, as people now can set a cost range for in game items against real money. IE: Back when I was playing EVE, PLEX was pigged at 300m, so players were calculating on the bases of 20m = $1.

So no, it doesn't just benefit you as you have envisioned it. It benefits all parties.

Someone just brought up that RMTs can corner the market by buying all the PLEX and resell at higher prices. Besides the fact that it takes thousands of dollars and really illogical for them, don't forgot the given condition here is that ANYONE can buy PLEX with real cash and place a sell order on the market to fuel the supply. So when the in game price goes up, more players will go buy PLEX and add it back into the market. So if anything, RMT really wants to avoid cornering the market this way, as they want your money, not spend their money.

jc

[Nuinn]

Except you forgot a VERY important part in your equation, and that is, for every dollar you spent and covert into GIL, is gil that you will spend for your item purchases and in fact benefits many other players because they can convert their play time into gil-profit to also better themselves.

This by nature also sets a more true balance supply and demand cycle for the market, as people now can set a cost range for in game items against real money. IE: Back when I was playing EVE, PLEX was pigged at 300m, so players were calculating on the bases of 20m = $1.

So no, it doesn't just benefit you as you have envisioned it. It benefits all parties.

Someone just brought up that RMTs can corner the market by buying all the PLEX and resell at higher prices. Besides the fact that it takes thousands of dollars and really illogical for them, don't forgot the given condition here is that ANYONE can buy PLEX with real cash and place a sell order on the market to fuel the supply. So when the in game price goes up, more players will go buy PLEX and add it back into the market. So if anything, RMT really wants to avoid cornering the market this way, as they want your money, not spend their money.

jc

I agree, but it still basically means that I, still, am at an advantage of getting more gil, in a shorter amount of time. . . .
. . . .buying the "new" items off the market as soon as they appear
. . . .can deliver quest supplies faster by not having to grind them etc.

provided I have more real money that I can spend.

And as I mentioned in another post, RMT won't just cease to exist, they could well offer the double or triple amount of gil for the average price of a game time item, which is to say that people who were willing and still are willing to take that risky route could get more gil illegally that by reselling the, legal, game time item. I would love to think that RMT will vanish completely, and that I'll no longer see trains of Lalafell in Cedarwood or fishbots near Camp Bald Knoll, but I'd be a fool to believe it.

Not saying that it wouldn't suck for the people that can't afford subscriptions, taking in account that I myself might, at some point, not be able to pay for them.

I just want someone, anyone, to tell me, how it's not an advantage for anyone, legal way or not, to be able to get gil by selling an item, he bought for real money, in under 30min if they /shout with a good price.

[Abriael]

I agree, but it still basically means that I, still, am at an advantage of getting more gil, in a shorter amount of time. . . .

You don't get it in a shorter amount of time. This kind of market normally balances out (as prices are decided by demand and offer) so that the price that the month of gameplay is equivalent to its time/value in real life.

IE: If it takes an average worker one hour and a half to earn the price of a monthly fee in real life, the item will settle in gil price around what an average player can farm in a hour and a half give or take a few percentage points and taxes.

[Nuinn]

You don't get it in a shorter amount of time. This kind of market normally balances out (as prices are decided by demand and offer) so that the price that the month of gameplay is equivalent to its time/value in real life.

IE: If it takes an average worker one hour and a half to earn the price of a monthly fee in real life, the item will settle in gil price around what an average player can farm in a hour and a half give or take a few percentage points and taxes.

The fact that the month of gameplay is equivalent to its tive/value in real life still doesn't negate the fact that, I can get gil by going to real life work, and not actually playing the game.

Easier? Are you telling me that earning gil in the game is harder than earning money in real life?

Boy, that's new.

Nope, that's just how you chose to read it