A video looking at cash shops from WoW and FFXIV. Cash shops just seem to be a thing we have to get used to, but it seems players are less annoyed with FFXIV cash shop and more annoyed with WoW’s. Why is that?
LINKS:
Twitter:
https://www.twitter.com/WillYum_PLAYS
Music:
Twoson Hits the Road – Dj Pretzel – https://ocremix.org/remix/OCR01427
One Hero’s Journey – Calico – https://youtu.be/YieDIB7G0J8
Description:
Final Fantasy XIV[b] is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) developed and published by Square Enix. Directed and produced by Naoki Yoshida, it was released worldwide for Microsoft Windows and PlayStation 3 in August 2013, as a replacement for the failed 2010 version of the game, with support for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, and macOS releasing later. Final Fantasy XIV takes place in the fictional land of Eorzea, five years after the events of the original 2010 release. At the conclusion of the original game, the primal dragon Bahamut escapes from its lunar prison to initiate the Seventh Umbral Calamity, an apocalyptic event which destroys much of Eorzea. Through the gods’ blessing, the player character escapes the devastation by time traveling five years into the future. As Eorzea recovers and rebuilds, the player must deal with the impending threat of invasion by the Garlean Empire from the north.
(source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Final_Fantasy_XIV)
World of Warcraft (WoW) is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) released in 2004 by Blizzard Entertainment. Set in the Warcraft fantasy universe, World of Warcraft takes place within the world of Azeroth, approximately four years after the events of the previous game in the series, Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne.[3] The game was announced in 2001, and was released for the 10th anniversary of the Warcraft franchise on November 23, 2004. Since launch, World of Warcraft has had eight major expansion packs: The Burning Crusade (2007), Wrath of the Lich King (2008), Cataclysm (2010), Mists of Pandaria (2012), Warlords of Draenor (2014), Legion (2016), Battle for Azeroth (2018), and Shadowlands (2020).
(source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_of_Warcraft)
CHAPTERS:
0:00 Introduction
1:02 WoW Cash Shop
7:27 FFXIV Cash Shop
11:19 Conclusions
#FFXIV
#MMORPG
#WorldofWarcraft
#FinalFantasyXIV
#MMO
#RPG
#JRPG
#Square
#WoW
#SquareEnix
#CashShop
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In a perfect world, we wouldn't have cash shops, but at least they aren't loot boxes!
Great breakdown. Caveat, I think the FFXIV cash shop is very fair and well applied and while I also wish it just didn't exist, I can't think of a more ethical in-game shop. That said, you do mention the Fenrir mount with movement speed bonus which is a significant advantage, although only early on in an expansions life cycle. Beyond that, players can pay for many additional retainers, which amounts to much more storage space, and even more importantly, access to more retainer ventures. These require investment, but can effectively gather crafting mats and harder-to-farm monster drop mats passively. For players like myself that play a lot over a long period of time, this amounts to enormous amounts of gil, especially if one knows which mats to sell raw and which to process etc. Of course, all of this is much more involved than just buying a wow token and listing it, but I think it's worth mentioning as it's one of the few areas where spending real money can be converted into in-game advantage. Of course, gil is largely useless in XIV in my opinion anyways, I can't seem to get rid of the stuff :p another example would be the multi-person mounts in the mog station. Not a big deal today, but anyone who did the Eureka content during Stormblood knows what a massive advantage it was to yourself and your friends to have access to these.
I am a long-time hardcore player of XIV and love the game, and that's why I think it's important to mention these criticisms. Thank you for the video.
I haven't utilized the WoW cash shop, so I can't comment on that..
As for the FF14 cash shop i was gifted a moogle hat that I was obsessed with. I wish i could have pulled it from the game and wore it in real life lol.
I havent explored it more thoroughly because my main focus is the msq.
As long as it isnt like genshin impact type gambling, im fine with it. Nothing worse than sinking money into a game and getting nothing back.
My kid made fun of me for "spending money on pixels"
Both games would be better without them.
Another important aspect is that gil is nearly useless in ffxiv for raiding. The few mil you might "need" each raid cycle can be easily gathered passively by a level capped player over the months between patches with retainers and company seals. Meanwhile in WoW the amount of resources a guild has is a major factor in how quickly they can prog fights as consumables are so comparatively expensive. This steers people towards buying WoW tokens for gold massively and exacerbates the p2w
I think one of the massive bonus' about the XIV cash shop is there is no in game tab that you can open the shop with, there is a clear seperation between the game, and the shop. They will be adding the ability to try on store clothes, but Yoshi-P didnt want to add this as he wants the seperation to stay so the try on store clothes UI is basic and tied to the Inn room beds
Isnt the boosts in ff14 a one time only per character?
I remember buying a boost to 70 for NIN and days later I wanted my DRG boosted too but I couldn't buy it on my character since I already had one
You can't buy something that can be sold in game for in game currency in FF14 and the developers take care to listen to the playerbase. If the FF14 devs started making a shit game like wow, they would get the same exact backlash
oh god i remember when lil xt came out…oh god i can still hear it
Whether the cash shop is pay to win, also depends on how the game (and players) define "winning."
In FF14, at least, finishing the main story or getting to level 80 is a personal achievement, not something you brag about.
I think that even the use of the moneys earned from the cash shop can say something about why people are angry or not about that. Remember that SE basically used the extra cash from the shop to move and fix the european servers, Blizzard just want more moneys.
Biggest problems with WoW’s cashshop isn’t the fact there’s a cash shop but how they use it. The cash shop usually hold some of the BEST items with the highest fidelity and work put into it and usually also holds mounts which are a part of a 6 month sub deal after that 6 month is over. (You sub for 6 month and you get the mount for free)
Whereas in FF there’s equal work if not more work put into items in the game than in the cashshop.
There is also the fact that you cannot access or view the cash shop from in game.
It got even worse with the advent of the WoW Token. People argue that people can use gold in game to buy those cashshop mounts now or pay for their sub and whilst that’s true that’s only relevant for the 0.1% of people who cash out with wow tokens…vast majority use it as a means to get gold….meaning…people were paying real money for gold in game…the currency the economy runs on….people can buy carries in game for real money, top level Bind on Equip items from the auction house for real money. Everything for real money.
Another well informed Caveat with FF cash shop is that it was created as part of a deal Between Yoshi P and SE:
Yoshi P would essentially have complete control over FFXIV, which was obvious when he can literally delay the game for a week because he isn’t happy with it and stop sales because it’s too popular.
What was given in return? The cashshop would be created and managed by another party, who Yoshi P calls the Cash Shop Baroness. So because the cash shop exists, yoshi has the ability to make the game as he sees fit and that’s a big reason players don’t mind as they can see the give and take. Oh and it was promised 100% of proceeds from the cash shop go back into FFXIV which was the case for adding the new OCE data center for example
Biggest difference is the value of Gil in FFxiv, you can get gil enough for anything easy, that's why there's not many bots, and the only ones that you found are idiots who doesn't know the game or are hunting for new players from other games that think Gil will make them go further. The truth is the best gear you can get is with tomestones, and those are untradable, or other items from the raids wich are also untradable, the Crafted gear is just gear at the same level or less (after Alliance Raids come up) and someone should be really an idiot to get level skips to get the Gil that you can get in just a few hours of playing or less (examp. bunny fates in Eureka), So if you're new to the game don't think that Gil will get you anywhere and pay to someone to get more. And btw best things you can get in the game (coolest mounts and Glam) are only achivable by playing the game
The only really consumer friendly monetization is in GW2.
80% of FFXIV cash shop items were previously a reward for seasonal content and such. For example, Little Ladies crown that you can get ingame for free right now will be added to the shop after a year or so. And considering that game releases patches pretty regularly compared to WoW, those items are just a bonus that active players get as reward for their active sub
All videos like this one never do enough research to point that major distinction out
I am not entirely sure so correct me if I am wrong but I heard that the funding for EU Data Centers/Servers came from the Cash Shop and I am guessing even the Oceanic Data Center/Servers as well. I also think that they even used some of the profits to help fund other SE titles. In the end, and in my opinion, FFXIV looks like they are using their Cash Shop earnings to help improve their game while WoW is shoving theirs down their pockets.
why do u want cash shops to be gone ? i think its a good way for players to support the game they love. (its basicly donating money to them)
ive spend so much money on path of exile for example, everytime i loved a league and played it a lot i bought someting, not because i wanted it, not because i needed it, just because i wanted to support them for a great patch/league or whatever.
all you "i wish there was no cashshop guys" think about how much money they make with that and how that money translates to a better game.
also on wow vs ff14 note: i played so much wow when i was younger but the only stuff i remember that i ever boght was char transfairs from ally to horde or to another server witch costs HUGE almounts of money, i think if u wanted to change server and fraction it was at lest like 40+bucks ?. (in ff14 you can just visit another world by default .. also you get a free race/gender change and i think even if u wanna have more its only like 7-8bucks ? in wow its at least 3-4 times almount)
in ff14 i boght some cosmetics or emotes that really no one needs but its "fun" to have em.
also i think boosting is way less harmfull in ff14 as it is in ff14 because lvling alt jobs is so fucking easy anyways in ff14.
Just for those who still thinks that FFXIV ability to get gil for money, I will say just this: one level 90 roulette (random dungeon with random party) gives you base bonus of 12000 gil. That's more than twice from what you would get for buying a boost. And single dungeon tends to last anywhere between 10 to 15 minutes. That's not considering "Adventurer required" bonus or basic dungeon rewards. So in short – for 10 minutes you will get more money than what your boost would provide to you. Some will say "You also get tomestone gear", but that would be basic gear you will buy anyway just to be good enough for leveling in the game. This is what it is
WoWtoken is the reason of cancer among WoW community. if it would cease to exist the game would be infinitely better
People can make alot of money with the popular Dye you can buy them in the shop and sell them i game. But, gil is pretty useless outside of casual with glam and housing. Yea on launch of raid you can buy full craft set with panta meld but at the end, its not bis at all and only temporary
Something that XIV did brilliantly with their cash shop is apply a face to the means. Yoshida mentioned in a live letter once how the cash shop was encouraged and enforced by higher ups, and was a condition added practically to their ability to make the game. Because of this, there's someone called the "Store Baron" who runs it for the team, and to quote Yoshi: "She scares me, we don't talk much."
Giving a REASON and a PERSON to something we don't like actually makes the sting hurt less. Because if something we don't like gets added to the cash shop, we can imagine this faceless woman with an evil laugh in a dark corner of the Square building.
When FFXIV dropped the cash shop people were pretty upset about it. They feel if they are paying a monthly sub then you should get everything. Personally I dont care that much, it allows me to get last year holiday items if I missed them, dye instead of paying in game gil, or outfits that only get released to other countries like Korea. FFXIV has honestly been a great example of a cash shop and how to do it right. Now, if only they update the log in and the payment system for that site it will be great.
I don't want to defend the blizzard, I'm not a big fan of wow, I'm just telling my opinion. I understand that this is the trend in the world to complain about wow, but wow does not generate the gold you receive for the token ( while FFXIV generates that money for you) , it comes from the players, those who buy the token would have bought gold from the boots, and it was still the problem of the boost. for sale, it is impossible (I guess I don't know) to solve the problem of bots in games, so I don't think it's wrong to put in the game something that brings you profit that already exists only as made by boots, the thing with the shop is like you go to a movie and say you paid for the movie already, the food and drink should be free, you just paid for the movie, why isn't the food free, you can watch the movie without food and drink? Of course but if you want food and drink, pay for it. I'm really open to anyone explaining to me why the logic with the film can't be applied in this situation?