SE consider a free to play option

[Xatsh]

If people cannot afford to pay the low sub fee for this game, then honestly they need to stop playing games and get a 2nd job or probably in more cases a first job. MMOs are the cheapest form of entertainment you can possibly buy, F2P makes a mmo much much more expensive almost 3-5fold in most games, unless you want to be crazy casual and do not mind falling behind (Pay to Win).

If people want F2P play SWToR or Aion, if you want to play a B2P game play GW2. XIV should remain P2P until it dies. I personally do not want to have to pick up the slack of dead beats by buying crap just to progress. Companys have to make money if a group of the population does not buy crap the part of the population that is trying to do well in the game have to make up the slack... and to that I say hell no.

[Abriael]

No.

The freemium model (it's not free 2 play, as free 2 play doesn't involve an optional subscription) considerably cheapens the experience for subscribers, as sizable development resources need to be spent on optional content in order to squeeze a reasonable amount of money out of the non-subscribers.

A PLEX/Chronoscroll option is a much more balanced way to expand the accessibility of the game, without having to deal with developing and mantaining a cash shop.

[Zezlar]

No thanks.

[dbrewer225]

lol this thread needs to die. we already have 3 threads on this already and majority of the community do no twant F2P. simple fact is that P2P models gets better content along the way. If you cant afford 15 or 9 dollars a month to play an MMORPG then the game is not for you. A 30 day free trial is more than enough to consider your decision in continuing. For me if a subscription based MMORPG is worthy in your eyes , then you are gonna pay that money. So you can make a million threads on this, but the fact is that Square Enix is too smart to go down that route and it will cut alot of the base players away from this game. SO SUPPORT SE AND PAY YO SUBSCIPTION FEE. lol see i made a rhym.

[Enma]

I am asking you SE to consider a free to play option in addition to subscription model. In today's PC market the majority of MMOs and other action RPG type games are free to play. Take a look at Guild Wars 2, Star Wars the Old Republic, Aion, Everquest 2, Lotro, Diablo 3, League Of Legends, Phantasy Star Online 2, DC Univerise online, the list goes on.

Using your example Star Wars the Old Republic had no choice, and Guild Wars 2 will have big problems in its near future... If the only reason people play your game is because it's free, well... It says a lot about the success of it...

The market today really won't support a paid only MMO. With so many free to play MMOs out there some where devs spent millions on like Star Wars. Why would someone pick up FFXIV when they have to buy it and pay a sub fee?

I'm quite sure that Square-Enix's research on the Market are a little bit more accurate than ours, and there is a good reason if they decided it.

With free to play + micro transaction model some people will be inclined to buy funny hats, unique looking armor, weapons, mounts, exp boosts they will actually end up spending more money then like 10 subscribers.

Well, this would be the ruin of the game. People who wants to spend their money can get:
1) Useless items, such as "Funny hats" that probably just few people would buy ( = No money for Square-Enix)
or
2) The more you spend the more you get. (It's really similar to how OUR world works... And it doesn't work so well)

A much larger playerbase will be attracted due to not having such a high barrier to entry which would be the monthly fee which in today's economy many people would not even consider paying.

At the beginning it could be as you say. Many people would try it just because it's free and many will be attracted. But at the same time, if you want to keep those people you should offer a very good service (Remember the other MMOs... And the competition on the market) and Free-to-Play doesn't grant any sure profit for Square-Enix. This means that you cannot plan big and expensive projects for the future, and are forced to create cheap (and probably low-quality) contents eroding game's quality.

I never minded about paying a fee to play Final Fantsy XIV, and the model "if you pay you get what you want" it's the worst thing that could happen to a game.

[Huginn]

If you are not willing or wanting to pay a measly 10-12 dollars a month to play a game, especially one so fabulous as FFXIV, perhaps you do not really want to play the game at all. The investment is so minimal compared to what you get out of it. You could either: 1. Go bowling once every 2 months and not have any snacks or drinks while there. 2. Go to a bar and have three beers or less a month. 3. Play FFXIV whenever and wherever you felt like it.

The answer to your question is very plain to see. If one is not willing to spend less than 2 hours in real life to earn the money necessary to play the game, one is probably not wanting to play the game at all.

[Warlock]

I am asking you SE to consider a free to play option in addition to subscription model. In today's PC market the majority of MMOs and other action RPG type games are free to play. Take a look at Guild Wars 2, Star Wars the Old Republic, Aion, Everquest 2, Lotro, Diablo 3, League Of Legends, Phantasy Star Online 2, DC Univerise online, the list goes on.

The market today really won't support a paid only MMO. With so many free to play MMOs out there some where devs spent millions on like Star Wars. Why would someone pick up FFXIV when they have to buy it and pay a sub fee?

With free to play + micro transaction model some people will be inclined to buy funny hats, unique looking armor, weapons, mounts, exp boosts they will actually end up spending more money then like 10 subscribers.

A much larger playerbase will be attracted due to not having such a high barrier to entry which would be the monthly fee which in today's economy many people would not even consider paying.

A majority of games who may be Final Fantasy fans would skip FFXIV:ARR just because there is a monthly fee tided to it. However if they feel like they are not being forced to pay monthly and only buy stuff on the game store if they feel like it you can actually get more people to try the game and buy stuff. If you check out comments on gaming sites like Gamestop, IGN, Kotaku the biggest complaint you see about FFXIV when it comes up is that there is a monthly fee.

I keep a lot of F2P games installed on my hard drive and play them every so often. Same can't be said for MMOs that require a fee.

I would consider at least taking a look into the free to play model and what it can do for you.

Is this guy for real?....

[Babydoll]

Is this guy for real?....

Yeah seriously lol. I hate reading the comments on those websites, always makes me rage...I for one am glad that SE keeps it p2p. Keeps those "wah SE make it f2p, wtf where is versus" types out of FFXIV. I hate those games with item malls..shudder

[DantesAmore]

I am asking you SE to consider a free to play option in addition to subscription model. In today's PC market the majority of MMOs and other action RPG type games are free to play. Take a look at Guild Wars 2, Star Wars the Old Republic, Aion, Everquest 2, Lotro, Diablo 3, League Of Legends, Phantasy Star Online 2, DC Univerise online, the list goes on.

@ OP you fail to realize that most the games you named are horrific as well AION i won't even start in about how over 60% of the player base couldn't log in for 2months thanks to a patch they released, GW2 (very fun) but TONS of bugs and no endgame what so ever other then build a legendary weapon which takes about a month then you are outta stuff to do. SWTOR was not orignally F2P it failed so baddly they had to make it f2p and even now its not 100% f2p you have to pay for the full game, Diablo3 was fun but not really a mmo. League of Legends again not really a mmo its only what 4-6 players per round? thats hardly mmo quality... Lets look at the successful mmos shall we.. FFXI paid to play and going on 10+ years running still has millions paying for it.. WoW as much as i hate that game its going on 8+ years running and still paid to play (post level 20 so ya you can play free for 2 hours lol) I would MUCH rather pay to play and avoid those nasty cash shops, which WILL come and are in ALL F2P games. don't want to pay to play ? please dont try to F##K us all with the Q.Q just move on and let the mass stay happy with a quality game and not a cash shop failure like the mass of mmos which you named. (all of which i've tried and are serverly lacking in content, challenge, and quality haha)

[Jouten]

I am asking you SE to consider a free to play option in addition to subscription model. In today's PC market the majority of MMOs and other action RPG type games are free to play. Take a look at Guild Wars 2, Star Wars the Old Republic, Aion, Everquest 2, Lotro, Diablo 3, League Of Legends, Phantasy Star Online 2, DC Univerise online, the list goes on.

The market today really won't support a paid only MMO. With so many free to play MMOs out there some where devs spent millions on like Star Wars. Why would someone pick up FFXIV when they have to buy it and pay a sub fee?

With free to play + micro transaction model some people will be inclined to buy funny hats, unique looking armor, weapons, mounts, exp boosts they will actually end up spending more money then like 10 subscribers.

A much larger playerbase will be attracted due to not having such a high barrier to entry which would be the monthly fee which in today's economy many people would not even consider paying.

A majority of games who may be Final Fantasy fans would skip FFXIV:ARR just because there is a monthly fee tided to it. However if they feel like they are not being forced to pay monthly and only buy stuff on the game store if they feel like it you can actually get more people to try the game and buy stuff. If you check out comments on gaming sites like Gamestop, IGN, Kotaku the biggest complaint you see about FFXIV when it comes up is that there is a monthly fee.

I keep a lot of F2P games installed on my hard drive and play them every so often. Same can't be said for MMOs that require a fee.

I would consider at least taking a look into the free to play model and what it can do for you.

I just realized your main class is only level 6.... so.... not really going to take your words into consideration seeing how you've barely played this game. I mean your list of examples are okay, but I doubt it'll work for this game. FFXI is still subs and they still have a healthy amount of players.