[Corrderio]

http://news.mmosite...._be_f2p,1.shtml

Quote

Yoichi Wada, CEO of the Japan-based game company SE (Square Enix), is now facing great pressure from the investors because of the sharp drop of SE's share price which's caused by the media and players' continuous criticism on FFXIV (Final Fantasy XIV). In a recent interview, Yoichi Wada said that F2P might be taken as a point of breakthrough to change FFXIV's current embarrassing situation.

In the latest financial conference, SE confirmed that it had encountered a drop in both earnings and share price recently, and its eye-catching FFXIV naturally became the focus of the reporters. Yoichi Wada said that he had got a general idea about the users of Dragon Quest-like games and those accustomed to F2P games, and believed that such users got different feelings in different business models. As is the case with Facebook, F2P makes players able to enter the game freely and introduce the game to their friends more conveniently as well. Yoichi Wada was confident that FFXIV could accustom itself to the micro-transaction business model, and thus change its current situation.

I hope this is just a rumor and they're seriously not considering this.

EDIT: Tanaka has confirmed FFXIV won't go F2P: http://www.nowgamer....c-not-going-f2p

[MrReinhardt]

I wouldn't mind it being F2P. They could probably pull it off rather well.

[Tsuji]

If it will be gimmicky like some other games with micro-transactions such as Flyff, I won't even remotely consider playing the game. So if they have some sort of cool way to implement it, it might be worth considering. Not otherwise though... they should just do the massive overhaul however possible to get their game better on the run.
Some F2P games are cool for a while, such as Guild Wars (You pay only once to buy the game and that's it, no monthly fee or anything like that) or Ragnarok Online on private servers of your choice. So like I said, SE would have to pull it off in a decent way, because if it's anything like Flyff or any other game like that with transactions such as "Pay <insert-amount-of-money-here> to buy <whatever> armour / weapon.", I highly doubt I will like it.

[Avarghaladion]

I'd rather they just fix it before PS3 release. F2P wouldn't be bad until then though I suppose.

[phunk]

Time to dust that FFXI account off!

This post has been edited by phunk: 09 November 2010 - 02:40 PM

[MattelotLeviathan]

Avarghaladion, on 09 November 2010 - 02:21 PM, said:

I'd rather they just fix it before PS3 release. F2P wouldn't be bad until then though I suppose.

I agree with you. Making it completely F2P would mean minimal support. However, I know some MMOs that are F2P offer "premium" content or what-not which they make a lot off of.

[Shirai]

phunk, on 09 November 2010 - 02:39 PM, said:

Time to dust that FFXI account off!

Heh, with the direction SE took that?
No thanks.

I'll have to thank them though, I think I'm cured from my MMO addiction.

[What?]

Yes, obviously there would be micro transactions if it went F2P, he wouldn't be thinking about it if there wasn't going to be any. The plan with XIV was for a monthly sub + retainer fees + whatever else they want to sell you like mini expansions (which they probably would have skipped and went right to the gear for less work needed on their part). They'd never put something out like Guild Wars.

[Vigilous]

So, making it F2P fixes... What exactly?

[Corrderio]

They think if they get more players they'll make more off micro transactions than monthly fees I assume. Either way if this goes F2P I'll never touch it, I never played a F2P game that didn't become a brutal grindfest unless you paid for items.

[Velhart]

F2P would not bother me necessarily. What worries me though, is that it would give them an excuse to be half ass with their game. "Ohh the interface is so slow, well at least this is F2P.".

All they need to do is admit that they screwed up and do major improvements like in the upcoming update at the end of this month. I am only waiting to see how these updates turn out, until then, it is very hard to find the will to play this game, especially with Cataclysm so close.

I appreciate SE is taking action on these criticisms, but desperately trying to keep their audience in is starting to get a bit sad now. Like Wayne's World. "If you book them, they will come.". And this is more on the line of "If you fix it, they will come....back.". Crappy way to put it, but simply fixing the issues is the only way to get people back in, not by lightening our wallets a bit.

[What?]

As long as there's competition in that F2P space, and there is, they can't get away with saying something like that. People can move onto other F2P games if they're better, I think there's more F2P MMOs now than subscription MMOs too so it'd be even more competition for them to deal with. Anyway, as it is right now XIV is the most half assed game I've ever seen shipped out, so I'm thinking no matter which payment method they choose there's nowhere to go but up.

I'd say this has a very real chance of happening, whether or not that's before or after PS3 retail I'm not sure, if he's getting hassled about it right now. As with everything it all depends on the implementation, it's not hard to please me so maybe if they do it right I might play the game someday, but considering how awful it is now I'd sooner see pigs fly probably.

This post has been edited by What?: 09 November 2010 - 05:58 PM

[Doritos]

Unless it's purely vanity items I think micro transaction would get them laughed right out of the west.

It should stay pay to play longterm, but should probably stay free until the ps3 release or whenever they get their act together.

[Avarghaladion]

Agreed. Since it feels like beta it should remain free til ps3. I think that would be reasonable.

[MIGhunter]

this is because of:
http://www.geek.com/...stock-20101024/

[nervosa]

MIGhunter, on 09 November 2010 - 08:08 PM, said:

this is because of:
http://www.geek.com/...stock-20101024/

Final Fantasy XIV player rage quits, sells $26 million of Square Enix stock said:

The player made the following post on October 2nd after what must have been a really infuriating session with the game:

First thing in the morning tomorrow, I intend to instruct those who manage my precious Square Enix stock (however little it may be) to arrange to sell all of it. To Square, thank you for the enjoyment of your products up until now, with the exception of this last one. Goodbye.

Such comments are a common site on forums from upset gamers, but this gamer was quite important to Square Enix. It turns out he owned 1% of the company’s stock, which equates to $26 million worth. He went through with the sale too, which saw the value of the stock fall from 1800 yen to 1735 yen–a major drop in value for the company.

lol If thats true, its so awesome

[MrReinhardt]

it couldn't get any worse really

[MattelotLeviathan]

What?, on 09 November 2010 - 05:55 PM, said:

As long as there's competition in that F2P space, and there is, they can't get away with saying something like that. People can move onto other F2P games if they're better, I think there's more F2P MMOs now than subscription MMOs too so it'd be even more competition for them to deal with. Anyway, as it is right now XIV is the most half assed game I've ever seen shipped out, so I'm thinking no matter which payment method they choose there's nowhere to go but up.

They actually CAN get away with it. There are plenty of F2P MMOs that i've found that have the most simple flaws that prevent them from being more than worth paying for... yet remain because they're free.

Quote

I'd say this has a very real chance of happening, whether or not that's before or after PS3 retail I'm not sure, if he's getting hassled about it right now. As with everything it all depends on the implementation, it's not hard to please me so maybe if they do it right I might play the game someday, but considering how awful it is now I'd sooner see pigs fly probably.

No offense, but SE isn't out to please "you." They're out to please the majority. Everyone has an idea.

[What?]

Okay... I don't even necessarily want a F2P model, I'm saying if it's done right, like all things, it could please the majority of people instead of just dismissing it outright. Sorry for not arrogantly saying "we" and making it sound like a F2P can please everyone, when it can't. And no, in order to be competitive they "can't" do that, if they don't want to compete in the market to the best of their abilities then yes they can slack off however, that's what they've been doing until now.

Edit: Oh hey, I never once said anything like "they need to do x and y and z before I'm satisfied", I only said depending on the implementation it could make me look at the game once more. So, knowing that I never specified something they need to do to satisfy me and only me, meaning they can do whatever they wanted with the model even if it doesn't satisfy me, what you're basically saying is that a F2P model cannot satisfy the majority. Would you care to discuss why that isn't the case? Or were you too busy trying to go against my opinions and haven't thought about an actual argument yet? It's alright though, I can wait. If you do have an argument presented as to why a F2P model cannot possibly satisfy the majority of consumers interested in FFXIV, maybe you should start off with that first the next time.

This post has been edited by What?: 10 November 2010 - 08:21 AM

[MattelotLeviathan]

I don't get into strawman arguments with people trying to play the devil's advocate, fyi. To respond to your first statement, they can do as they please. People will still buy their software regardless. Do you know how many people said/say both FFXI and FFXIV are crap but still pay to play it? I played FFXI for the longest time and WoW. In the WoW forums, I see so many people who threaten/threatened to quit but still play.