Micro-Transactions In FFXIV?

I'm surprised no one's mentioned EVE online yet, EVE has a very very nice system that allows people to obtain money for real money.

Basically you spend $15 to buy a 1-month timecode from the company, then you can sell that card in-game to other players for loads of money.

Would be really cool to have something like that in FFXI * XIV, there's no loss of money, seeing as the time is all paid for, and the less-fortunate players have a way of purchasing time for virtual money.

As far as selling gil would go, nothing would change. People are still very reluctant to buy gil with real money when you can just make it on your own anyway, with time.

If SE doesn't sell it, RMTs will, same situation, only more illicit.

It would deal a very severe blow to RMTs, why should I buy money from some weirdo in X country when I can just buy it legally from SE? They would have to give remarkably cheap deals to entice customers, and that means more work for them.

Only reason people are freaking out is because we're imaging everyone signing up and immediately purchasing 20 billion gil from SE. I would never do such a thing 'cause I'm a crafter and making money is part of what I enjoy doing on games like that.

The only people who would buy it are those who have no desire to need to make money while playing, they just want to play with all their nice gear which we, the 'working' players, would provide for them and their mountains of cash would end up in our wallets. *rubs hands together*

I actually did in my original reposted novel above. =)


And that's just it, right? SE can literally print money. You're not taking the gil from one player and giving it to another, like RMT do now. And they can control how that money printing effects the economy. They can close the tap if inflation gets bad, or open it if we go into deflation, etc. They have more control over the state of their own economy, which means a better experience for everyone.

Also, SE doesn't need to hire a sweatshop full of slave labor at $0.10/hour to farm the gold. It is literally impossible to sell it for cheaper than SE does, because they have no overhead. It basically drives 3rd party out of the game entirely, which removes camping of items for RMT resale... which makes non-RMT players happier too.

Again, I... kind of doubt that FF14 is going to actually have RMT. I think we would have heard about it by now. My originally quoted post was more just a statement about how the industry is trending.

I would be ok with micro transactions for rare/ex versions of items.

Lol, you must have missed a couple posts. Its been mentioned a few times but I do agree, it does seem to be a very nice system. I've never played EVE but I'm curious as to how its economy works. It seems to be a very economical driven game so I imagine the way their developers handle things is done rather nicely.

I hope SE is equally cleverly for our sakes.

Oh really? Sorry then. ><

also why do people keep saying "I don't want stuff that gives an advantage over other players just because they paid real money"

What advantage? they join your LS and help you kill HNM's easier?! ya, big advantage to them for spending RL money on in-game items.

The only thing I don't want them selling is "god" items, items that are not obtainable in-game that give a significant advantage over other players.

If they do, that sucks, a lot.

And if they're going to sell extremely rare pieces of gear, I hope they're priced accordingly. Like at the bare minimum $60 for a ultra-good armor-set.

Otherwise no one would ever bother to put forth time and effort and teamplay to get them.

It's not really about "advantage." It's about the perceived threat to the "time investment as achievement" model. A lot of people have a lot of self-worth wrapped up in that model, and the potential existence of a parallel achievement path is thus a frightening concept.

But again, it's mostly because they haven't seen how well games with both paths available can really turn out. They're stuck imagining "FF11 with RMT," which would be (arguably is already) a complete disaster.

I think they mean they don't like people throwing real cash out there and instantly becoming just as good as them, gear-wise that is. This is already happening in FFXI though.

Exactly, but people don't realize this is already happening, ALL THE TIME, in FFXI.

Also, you guys should keep in mind that 3rd party RMT is what is driving the majority of hacking. Both hacking of in-game accounts, and attempted hacking of FF11-related websites. They do it because they can cash out their stolen goods.

If there's no black market for the stolen goods because people willing to RMT can just get it direct from SE for cheaper anyway... well, even the folks that don't want to participate in RMT benefit.

Well let's get to work and come up with a economic plan and write up a powerpoint slideshow to present to SE so they go with our ideas! xD

I applaud your insight.

idc, as long as it's harmless crap, like some stupid rmt teleport robe, or necklace, or whatever.

Once they start moving into "add on scenarios" and sanctioned currency -> game currency, then it gets annoying.

If they're planning on pushing that add on scenario model, instead of just traditional expansion packs, I won't be playing XIV.

Other MMOs have micro transactions like money via server transfers and character customization: that isn't "bad" to do, and have no issue with it.

But, letting people pay for an "advantage", via "nickel and diming" or should I say "dollaring" them with an endless stream of pointless add on stories (hello moogle xpac!), or allowing a sanctioned cheating via currency purchase, then it just becomes a worthless game.

We already have micro transactions in FFXI. I don't see what the big deal is.