Cash shop announced?Follow

This is just perpetuating false info. GW2 had several sets of extremely unique armor available to players just for doing basic tasks like running dungeons. If you wanted to look like a badass, there was Citadel of Flame and Arah. For a set of ancient looking end game armor, there was Ascolonian Catacombs. For a more unorthodox look, you could walk around in plant themed armor from Twilight armor or the odd/futuristic look from Crucible of Eternity. Not to mention that this is just from dungeons. I'm not even going into things like the several unique sets for every race, all of which were in the game at launch and none of which are cash shop items. Also of note is that all of these sets could be dyed, at launch, and not just dyed one simple color like "red" like in ARR, but dying multiple aspects of each piece of armor however you want. Want your body piece to be all black? Black and gold? Black and red? White and blue? It's your call.

Compare this to the ARR launch, where for end game gear we had darklight, one crafted set of i70 gear which was mostly nothing unique and comparable to any basic set of 80 gear in GW2, and AF2, which was a reskin of the basic AF gear. Two of those sets couldn't be dyed at all. And that was about it. In terms of end game armor variety and customization, GW2's non-cash shop items had worlds more to offer than ARR despite being a non-subscription game, so I see no reason to bash it for not offering even more than they did for free while FFXIV was charging a sub for less variety and didn't even come close to catching up in any respect for six months.

I played GW2 for months after launch... FFXIV offered way more content. GW2 had bigger zones, but that was about it. The dungeons were a mess. If you didn't run dungeons, there was no way to casually get anything with any real uniqueness.

And the first six month's of FFXIV's growth blew the first six months of GW2's growth out of the water, and the disparity was so vast that it's not even really fair to compare them.

I'm not bashing GW2... it was fun for being what it is/was (though I never beat the last mission, because after being able to solo through the entire game, you were suddenly expected to magically find a party for the last dungeon).

I was referring to armor/skin variety when I said GW2 was ahead of ARR, in response to your statement that "If you were a casual player, the only way to get cool skins through GW2 was through the cash shop." The sheer number of unique end game armor and the customization for that armor at launch just eclipses the end game gear and customization options that ARR had at launch with 100% in game non-cash shop items, so I just don't think it's really a fair thing to criticize in this situation.

Also, in response to your statement that "If you didn't run dungeons, there was no way to casually get anything with any real uniqueness." For one thing the race specific armor was very unique looking compared to random armor pieces one might pick up. So were some of the high level armor from Karma vendors. But that aside, dungeons did offer a large portion of Guild Wars armor variety and they were available to absolutely everyone. If some players choose not to do them then there should be no issue with the fact that they won't be getting the gear from that content. The issue in that case wouldn't be that players are forced into the cash shop to get anything nice looking. It'd be that players didn't feel like actually playing the content to get any nice looking equipment.

Yeah, fair enough.

From the Full Patch notes.


Optional items are now available for purchase from the FINAL FANTASY XIV: Mog Station.
Item Category
phial of Fantasia Medicine Legend states that any who drink this mysterious liquid before lying down for the evening will awaken a new man (or woman).
Grants you a single opportunity to edit your appearance in the character creation screen upon your next login.
pumpkin head Head -
unripened pumpkin head Head -
white pumpkin head Head -
ripened pumpkin head Head -
the Howling Spirit Body Cannot equip gear to head, hands, legs, or feet.
the Wailing Spirit Body Cannot equip gear to head, hands, legs, or feet.

wind-up Y'shtola Minion If we are to take her word for it, the Circle of Knowing Archon has seen but twenty-three summers.
Use item to acquire the wind-up Y'shtola minion.

wind-up Yda Minion Comes complete with irremovable mask.
Use item to acquire the wind-up Yda minion.

wind-up Papalymo Minion Comes complete with irremovable smirk.
Use item to acquire the wind-up Papalymo minion.

Sleipnir horn Other This ebon horn emits a somber tone that summons Odin's loyal steed from the elder primal's side to yours.

no, I really don't know it... You said other games besides ARR don't produce "massive content and expansions" and I shut down that point in about 1 second. Because there are plenty of games which are successful on F2P models, and produce tons of content such as new character classes, areas, races, etc. and are run on cash shop costume/pet/mount sales.

I think everyone defending this looks so silly right now, because the whole justification for paying a monthly subscription fee in the first place when there are so many free games was so that we could avoid cash shops and pay walls to get specific items.

And now we have to pay a subscription fee AND I have to shell out more if I want x mount. You just look incredibly foolish and fanboyish for defending that.

Because "it's just one mount" and you'll shell out 30 bucks for it, on top of your $15 sub fee, and then in a couple months they'll release a new cash shop mount and you'll have to pay another 30 for that, all the while still paying your 15 a month for the game.

This is content that should be available in-game.... you know, that's what we ALREADY ARE PAYING FOR... don't be the sucker -- don't be a "whale" as they call us. Shocked anyone is defending this, I wonder what the official forums are saying.

A) F2P games don't offer nearly as many updates and content as ARR has offered and will offer. You didn't "shut down that point" by telling us F2P games actually release new content.

B) ARR cash shop does not compare to the extent which F2P cash shops go with their cash grab mentality. Your argument is like talking of "Korea" as a single entity, not even acknowledging that there's a slight difference between the North and the South.

F2P games offer updates. F2P games have cash shops. ARR does both in a way that is vastly superior for the consumer, and in return you pay a monthly fee for it. You can keep squirming but the facts don't lie. Customers know they are getting their money's worth even with cash shop and a sub fee in place. Sadly for you the truth is completely different to what you're trying to imply.

Edited, Oct 28th 2014 9:10am by Hyanmen

What did I just tell you about the fallacy of your argument? "Frequent updates" mean nothing unless given context. "An update" can consist of a new weapon skin and balance changes. "An update" can also consist of a new raid, a new class, one completely new dungeon and two remastered dungeons, 20 story quests and another 20 sidequests, a primal encounter, balance changes and tons of new armor and weapon skins.

League of Legends has nothing on ARR's content updates. What a hilarious example. Let's compare Angry Birds and ARR next shall we?

ARR has the biggest updates and gives the most bang for your buck in the MMO scene. This is not a sentiment only ARR players share. Go to mmorpg.com, reddit.com/mmorpg or whatever general MMO site and you can see the truth for yourself. By the way, the cash shop does not have anything interesting for me so calling me a whale is pretty funny. Which is why implying all cash shops are the same is another fallacy. They are not. ARR's cash shop is not interesting because SE has no intention to making the game about the cash shop, unlike in F2P games. That's the way I like it, bro.



Edited, Oct 28th 2014 9:46am by Hyanmen

Actually, FFXI has won in the "most bang for your buck" content updates for the last year or so. It's a completely new game.

We're even getting friggin grand companies in the form of Unity Concord in November, with dedicated chat channels for each faction.

I was combing through my GearSwap XMLs last night and half my gear has been obsoleted again, because they keep adding in better stuff.

FFXI dev team releases an expansion pack with 10% of the content available at the beginning, and the rest 90% of the content being implemented gradually. Which is par the course for all it's expansions. Except for WoTG and SoA in which 80% of the assets are recycled. We'll see what ARR team does; if what they say is true and Heavensward will be the size of 2.0, it would mean ARR dev team gives its customers in one patch the same content FFXI players receive in a year (or more). Plus of course the normal trimonthly content patches on top of all that.

As Heavensward rolls around the true scope of ARR's content cycle is revealed. Within a year and a half we will have received 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, 2.4 and 2.5 updates as well as an expansion the size of 2.0. For FFXI you can hope for an expansion that starts with slightly more content than a normal update. Either way a remarkable support for such a dated game, not many 10+ year old MMO's have the same luxury.



Edited, Oct 28th 2014 2:34pm by Hyanmen

I have been playing FFXI again as a new Blue Mage. I had to take a short break but I'm def going back soon. I just beat the BLU version of the Maat fight, which took 3 tries, so pretty soon I'll be advancing into 75+ territory for the first time.

plus the new expansion has very good music, which makes FFXIV's look really bad imo. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J283Huf1axY

Logging into FFXIV after revisiting FFXI, the world of Eorzea seems almost tacky and hoaky, as if it is a poor imitation of some other game. Perhaps, another game with flying mounts and $30 US dollar virtual horses, and where the 2h sword wielding dark knights are blood tanks. If you're catching my drift *wink wink*

Why do people pay for games they clearly don't like? I don't go to forums of games I hate and complain about everything that's wrong it. I play the game, don't like it and move on. Diablo 3 on release was bad, I stopped playing, ignored the forums. Heard good things about RoS, went back and was pleasantly surprised. If it was bad, I would of just walked away again.

Also, you're not Preludes are you?!

Edited, Oct 28th 2014 11:30am by Montsegurnephcreep

Oh noes, now anything with flying mounts or blood tanks is copying teh WOWz!