Posted at 9:51pm on Mon 16 January 2012 |
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VG_Staff- Posts: 18,023
| Emily looks at why embracing a subscription model might actually be the right decision for this MMO on the edge.
Read Article |
Posted at 9:51pm on Mon 16 January 2012 |
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BMWodarski- Posts: 1
| Really the only problem I have with your article was the way it sounds reading off the page is that Square Enix didn't tell anyone way in advance that they were doing this. Other than that it's pretty well thought out.
I don't mean to sound like a troll or fanboy. When FFXIV announced they wouldn't charge a monthly fee for service, it was also stated that they would at a later date start charging a monthly service fee. The intent behind it was to not monetize the services rendered that were *****ty. When the game launched it was broken. SE basically said they would be free to play until they had the ground work layed out for the fixes and started implementing them. They players should have always known that the game would eventually have a monthly fee. It was just suspended while SE was fixing most of the broken in the game. They are finally at a point now where it's worth putting money down. Granted there is still a lot of work that needs to be done but at least with what has been given to the players you can see where it is headed and it looks good. Not just with the FFXIV 2.0 announcement but within the game itself. SE also gave a pretty big discount to players who had been playing during the free to play when they started the monthly service fee. I believe I paid about $45 for 6 months of service. Which is to me worth it.
Now I do think they would have done better waiting for one more patch before they went pay to play. Next patch adds the advanced job system (White Mage, Black Mage, Dragoon, Paladin, Warrier, and Monk) which I think would have kept a few more of the player base. |
Posted at 10:38pm on Mon 16 January 2012 |
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Geraface- Posts: 497
| Oh I'm with you all the way, BMW. Square Enix had a plan in order from the start, and I'm confident they know exactly what they're doing. You're right that they never said they had any plan to - Yoshida in particular has been very open about what we should expect from the game in the future and ongoing F2P never filtered into it.
The only question I'm looking at is WHY they're not tempted to just give in to what seems inevitable - the cash shop/freemium route to success. I've seen a few people writing nebulous articles about how the game will be an outright failure if it doesn't embrace some sort of freemium deal, I wanted to give Square Enix the benefit of the doubt and dig up some explanation.
Beyond that, as I said, I agree with you. |
Posted at 10:42pm on Mon 16 January 2012 |
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Geraface- Posts: 497
| And cheers for the comment in any case! |
Posted at 6:14am on Tue 17 January 2012 |
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coleman984- Posts: 1
| the agency wasn't canned...that was an April fools joke. Notice the date. March 31st...wow |
