Final Fantasy XIV Column - Should it go F2P?

Final Fantasy XIV first launched in the hopes of delivering big. Unfortunately, it was met with a poor reception. We felt no inclination to dive in based on previous experiences and critical reaction. We'd hoped Square would have learned a lot from the competition this time, it seemed we were wrong.

Still the desire to get it right was clear for all to see. The launch was quickly followed by a massive ‘A Realm Reborn’ relaunch last year, followed by console releases, making it the first major new-gen MMORPG on Playstation 4.

Square have shown they’re not ready to give up just yet, and we're glad they haven’t. There’s a really solid game brewing underneath the surface, and lots to like here, though I am concerned that the future of the game may not end well with a continued subscription-based model.

[Cerbus]

Stupid opinion piece by cheapass gamer.

[AsimLeonheart]

They do not need to make it F2P. F2P games often suck more money out of you in the end as compared to paying a fixed amount. However, reducing the subscription fee a little might be a good idea. Right now the a year's worth of subscription fee is equal to two or three full priced PS4 titles. That is a very discouraging fact for many gamers.

[SirBradders]

Discouraging to some but let's face it alot of people buy a game for 40-50 quid and then fork out another 20-30 for DLC.
That alone gets you a sub to a ever evolving game for more than a year so it's justified in my eyes.

[Lord_Sloth]

What about a yearly plan though? Right now they have 2 million subscribers. Assuming everybody is paying the minimum amount That's $20,000,000 every single month. Far more than they would need for the servers and expansions. Hell they could charge $10 power year and be okay. XXXD

Is Be fine paying a $40 yearly sub but monthly just seems greedy and stupid to me. I don't want to purchase a game then constantly pay just to be allowed to play it. I took part in the beta and enjoyed it greatly but not $120 a year enjoyed.

[randomass171]

They could do what World of Warcraft initially did and make the first twenty experience levels free then after that you need to pay. A year long subscription plan could also be an interesting idea.

[Toon_Link]

I'm with you on a price reduction. As a FFXI player for 7 years and a ffxiv player fora year during 1.0 I lost interest in 2.0 pretty fast and paying 13 a month wasn't worth it. Now if I could pay say 8 a month I'd probably keep my subscription but I don't plan on playing the game enough to justify the premium sub prices.

[porkChop]

No. It's one of the few games that's proven itself to be worthy of a subscription.

[Volkama]

Out of curiousity, in what sense is it worthy of a subscription?

I am not asking if the game is good or bad. Forget your opinion of it in that sense, and weigh up what you get back for that monthly sub. Does the content/service justify the price?

Not trolling here. I make no bones about it, i didn't like FFXIV when I tried it but I definitely favour good fair subscription MMORPGs and they're so rare now, I'm curious as to whether I should "vote with my wallet" and hold a sub for FFXIV. I managed an entire year subscribed to Rift without ever playing it because they genuinely provided great value for the model.

[wheresmymonkey]

There's a lot to do. The community is great, everything is really well balanced (something f2p really gets right). The FATES are a lot of fun, the main questline boss stuff keeps the game engaging and there's obviously a large team working to make sure all of this keeps running smoothly.

Its a very enjoyable game. I've never been a fan of MMORPGS, I got bored of WoW really quickly, but i've found myself glued to FFXIV.

I don't mind paying £6 a month for something i enjoy with a ton of content.

just my 2 cents.

[MeteorPanda]

this game continuously adds content. l can't even start to explain how much you can do cause l havn't done all l can :/

Also you pay one sub if you get it on ps4...honestly having the ability to just switch between pc and ps4 is a absolute dream.

Also l've noticed that SE is actually listening to its western players, so many bugs fixed and features added cause of feedback. (can l mount chocobo while l have it in companion mode please" <-- this happened recently, before you had to unsummon your bird before you could mount up, was annoying and drained gyshll greens)

The c.e.o has also mentioned that he'd rather shut the game down then make it f2p, l'm with him on this, they just simply did so much on this mmo to make it free

[Volkama]

Thanks for the feedback. What kind of cycle are the content releases on?

I am aware of a big patch that added housing and such, and I think perhaps 1 big patch besides? And some kind of Lightning Returns tie-in event, but I don't know how substantial that was.

Sod it I'll re-subscribe this evening and have a look around. Even if I still don't enjoy it I appreciate their resolve to avoid a cash shop.

[Heisenburger]

A big part of it for me, initially, was that they only asked $39 for it. So it comes with a free month.

If I wasn't sick of it after an entire month of playing it, I could then pay for another month.

So far it's still cheaper than a retail game, and I've gotten two months of content.

There aren't many games, if any, that have held my attention for that long.

Considering the fact that if this were a retail game:
I would have beaten it in a couple of weeks, traded it in, and been left with nothing to play with my best friend makes it worth the investment.

Right now, there isn't anything on PS4 that my buddy and I can sink all our time into. I'm of course speaking strictly about coop experiences. Mercenary Kings being the exception.

So for the month of May, when there are not games that we collectively want coming out, we can spend fourteen bucks and have a game to play all month.

I'm not an mmo guy, so that's how I look at it. I could spend sixty on a game to play next month, or fourteen.

And honestly, the reason that it's worth the sub for me is that I simply enjoy my time with it.

[NexGen]

@volkama: Roughly three months for big content additions (free with sub, not dlc, and very hefty additions). Expansions are also coming and we'll underway. Smaller content patches are in between the big three month patches, and these "small" content additions blow most paid dlc's out of the water.

Long story short, the content they add is more than ample (and free). DCUO and many other f2p mmos charge for these as dlc packs, and contain a tenth of the content. It's quite surprising actually.

[JustPlay4]

So someone hate it, means it should be free? That kinda dumb, if don't like it don't play it.

[Double_Oh_Snap]

No shit right? This game is pure quality and far from f2p imo. Yeah it doesn't reinvent the wheel but like I said pure quality if you don't like it don't sub.

People obviously do like though as the games numbers are rising not falling.

[ThanatosDMC]

Also, f2p is not going to happen. Just look at FF11.

[randomass171]

It's an MMO. Demanding it be F2P is like demanding PSN+ and XBL be free.

[Nekroo91]

On pc yes...i still find it a bit hard to pay a subscrition fee on a console

[Panthers]

The game is great. If it did go F2P, hopefully it would still have a subscription option like SWTOR has, because I would still subscribe.

[Volkama]

But swtor is still broken by the presence of the f2p model. As a subscriber you still have xp/currency/crafting booster consumables available, and a bit of included currency to buy some doesn't make that ok.

Subscribers should have all those perks baseline, and never ever have any reason to go into the cash shop interface IMO.

[MasterCornholio]

This game no. Elder Scrolls Online yes.

[b3ast]

FF xiv is the best mmo I ever played, I hope it wont ever go f2p.

[TomahawkX]

f2p is horrible, you end of paying more than subscription in the long run.

[WeAreLegion]

I've never spent a single dollar on any of my F2P games.

[xX-StolenSoul-Xx]

On Dcuo I maxed out a few characters and only spent money on DLC, none of the items they sell.

[randomass171]

Downside there is how much longer it will take to earn all the good stuff. I refused to use the microtransactions in GTA Online and I haven't made half the progress I've wanted to.

[TL24]

FF XIV is a badass game, I haven't played a MMO since the early Lineage II (grindiest of the grinding MMO's) days and wow I'm hooked. Best MMO I've played since Lineage II!

[mezati99]

yes please

[WeAreLegion]

No. It is a fantastic game. I loved the beta on PS4. However, I'll never play it again because I simply don't have enough time to warrant the purchase of a subscription. If it were $60 like Guild Wars 2, I'd buy it in a heartbeat.

[randomass171]

Same here. MMOs are typically really fun, but I can never stick to any of them for longer than a month or two. And that's with a lot of time spaced out between them.

[souga_houjou_jin]

no it should not
the game is doing great

if ppl are mad about p2p then get a job end of story
u spend more for movies,cigs etc 10bucks should not be an issue

[marcindpol]

No, it should not at all!, great game BTW

[marcindpol]

Why should a successful subscription based game should go f2p anyway?.
It is cross platform play , has over 2.2 million subscribers and daily players exceeding 500k.

[TitanUp]

ff14 doesnt need fee to play model its just fine the way it is