So 1.0 owners have to start paying the monthly fee immediately?

[SkyeWindbinder]

I'll be happy to dissect that.

FFXIV:ARR includes 30 free days of playtime with purchase for new accounts.
As in, the bonus included when you preorder ARR. A completely unrelated topic.

However, even though players who own FFXIV Version 1.0 will receive FFXIV:ARR for free, this does not include the 30 free days of play.
As in, "the" bonus mentioned above. There is no reference to any other perks, merely the preorder exclusive bonus.

Okay, fair enough. So, when does our 30 days of free play begin?

[yukikaze_yanagi]

I see your point Abriael, bur personally:



it's not like i haven't got any free months in this game. Nor i need it after all this time in beta :|

[Abriael]

I see your point Abriael, bur personally:



it's not like i haven't got any free months in this game

What you got or I got isn't a problem. The problem is that a company should always try to make good of its promises, and even more importantly the lack of free trial seriously curbs the initial momentum the game will have.

If there was a free trial for 1.0 account holders, you could be sure that a large majority of those 800,000 people would give the game a try, no matter how disgruntled they were by 1.0.

Now that they have to pull out the credit card in order to even try the game, I'm not quite sure most of them will. The percentage will undoubtedly lower, and not by a little.

[Alhanelem]

Too bad that in 90% of my posts my outlook on the game is extremely positive.

Then why are you blowing such a small issue (and one that would argue isn't actually an issue at all) so massively out of porportion if your outlook is so positive. the tone of most of your posts has been extremely angry.

This ISN'T A BIG DEAL. First, I don't agree with the position that they're breaking a promise. (For one, they never said "we promise....", they simply gave a rough timeline, which as I recall did include statements that the contents of the chart are subject to change) But even if I did, it is such a minor misgiving that I'm totally willing to forgive them for it because I've already gotten so much free enjoyment out of the game (I really don't give a rats behind whether it's finished or not- it's still free and it's still fun).

They NEVER said anywhere: "We promise that everyone will get a free trial, that will last X time as per industry standard, as well as an Early Access period of 1 week as per industry standard. Cross our hearts and hope to die."

There is a difference between slapping a few words on a future-predicting chart (that was mostly wrong well before the beta ever actually started) and actually making a PROMISE.

Now that they have to pull out the credit card in order to even try the game, I'm not quite sure most of them will. The percentage will undoubtedly lower, and not by a little.

Nobody has to pull out their card just to try the game. The beta more than plenty constitutes a way to try the game out for free. Does the beta have all the content? No. But what free trial actually gives you all the content or lasts long enough to actually play all the content if it does have it all?

I really need to get going to bed, but have fun being angry at everyone else here for a trivial issue that should not have blown up into an 8 (or 16, if you are 10 posts per page) page thread.

[Duuude007]

Okay, fair enough. So, when does our 30 days of free play begin?

Effectively in the next couple weeks it begins, based on their recent comments. "Early June", subject to change.


As for who knows what the industry standard is:

A game demo is a freely distributed demonstration or preview of an upcoming or recently released video game. Demos are typically released by the game's publisher to help consumers get a feel of the game before deciding whether to buy the full version... It gave consumers the chance to try a trial portion of the game, usually restricted to the game's complete first section or "episode", before purchasing the rest of the adventure.

[source]

Open betas serve the dual purpose of demonstrating a product to potential consumers, and testing among an extremely wide user base likely to bring to light obscure errors that a much smaller testing team might not find.

[source]

Good luck revising that. They don't take kindly to acts of vandalism or PoV pushing.

[Abriael]

Then why are you blowing such a small issue (and one that would argue isn't actually an issue at all) so massively out of porportion if your outlook is so positive. the tone of most of your posts has been extremely angry.

This ISN'T A BIG DEAL. First, I don't agree with the position that they're breaking a promise. (For one, they never said "we promise....", they simply gave a rough timeline, which as I recall did include statements that the contents of the chart are subject to change) But even if I did, it is such a minor misgiving that I'm totally willing to forgive them for it because I've already gotten so much free enjoyment out of the game (I really don't give a rats behind whether it's finished or not- it's still free and it's still fun).

For the reasons that I explained above.

1: When a company communicates something to its customers, it counts as a commercial promise. "I promise" is not needed in order to make one. It influences customer choices and hype all the same. Promises can be adjusted, but this is a complete 180 without a real explanation, which isn't exactly pleasant to see.

2: Pardon me if I quote myself:

the lack of free trial seriously curbs the initial momentum the game will have.

If there was a free trial for 1.0 account holders, you could be sure that a large majority of those 800,000 people would give the game a try, no matter how disgruntled they were by 1.0.

Now that they have to pull out the credit card in order to even try the game, I'm not quite sure most of them will. The percentage will undoubtedly lower, and not by a little

And since I care, I think it's a very bad idea. Starting the game with 800,000 people in the bag is great. Starting the game with less is a lot less great.

Nobody has to pull out their card just to try the game. The beta more than plenty constitutes a way to try the game out for free. Does the beta have all the content? No. But what free trial actually gives you all the content or lasts long enough to actually play all the content if it does have it all?

I really need to get going to bed, but have fun being angry at everyone else here for a trivial issue that should not have blown up into an 8 (or 16, if you are 10 posts per page) page thread.

The beta doesn't show the full game and doesn't constitute a way to ascertain the final quality of a game. In betas by definition there are bugs, problems, stuff to fix, server issues and so forth. You really don't want people that came from 1.0 to judge the game on a beta where there's still stuff to fix.

Trying the beta =/= trying the game.

A game demo is a freely distributed demonstration or preview of an upcoming or recently released video game. Demos are typically released by the game's publisher to help consumers get a feel of the game before deciding whether to buy the full version... It gave consumers the chance to try a trial portion of the game, usually restricted to the game's complete first section or "episode", before purchasing the rest of the adventure. [].

Only, Free Trial and Demo are two entirely different things. Keep changing the terminology instead of using what's officially used by Sqare Enix, mh?

[SkyeWindbinder]

...

Um, you might want to get rid of that gif. We can all understand where you're coming from, but it's still vulgar. Funny as heck, but vulgar. You're toast if a mod sees it. lol

[SkyeWindbinder]

Effectively in the next couple weeks it begins, based on their recent comments. "Early June", subject to change.

Okay, not to be pushy, but can I get a source for that? Also, can I get a source for where they said PC's beta version and the free trial stint will be one and the same? I'm seriously trying to clear this up.

[Duuude007]

Only, Free Trial and Demo are two entirely different things. Keep changing the terminology instead of using what's officially used by Sqare Enix, mh?

I didn't write this, it is a quote. It references demos as synonymous with both trials and open beta.

And it proves that your definition is not the only definition, which means SE's definition of trial remains valid even if it is labled as beta or as a demo.

[Alhanelem]

the lack of free trial seriously curbs the initial momentum the game will have.

ok, you suckered me in, the pro troll that you are.

What lack of a free trial? Pretty much everyone here that already played 1.0 is already going to be playing. All NEW CUSTOMERS *will* get a free trial. Because new customers, everyone that is looking at the game but didn't buy it the first time around will get their free trial. This will not curb the initial momentum the game will have.

The quote you made of yourself implies that there is no free trial at all, for anybody, and that's just not true.

The beta doesn't show the full game and doesn't constitute a way to ascertain the final quality of a game.

Wrong. It does constitute a way to ascertain the quality of a game. You're kidding yourself if you think people don't play betas to preview a game and ascertain the quality they think it will have. How many games radically change from a late term beta to a launch a few weeks later? None that I know of. It is ridiculous to suggest that people can't get a good idea of what the game will be like or its level of quality at the final phase of the beta.

Many games even go from being in beta to being "launched" with little more than ceremonial patch. The difference between launch day and the day before is often minimal- and such was the case with FFXIV 1.0.