Final Fantasy XIV Will Have a Monthly Subscription

John Funk

U.N. Owen Was Him?
Dec 20, 2005
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Final Fantasy XIV Will Have a Monthly Subscription



Looking forward to Final Fantasy XIV? You'll have to pay for it, as producer Hiromichi Tanaka confirms that the title will use the standard MMOG subscription model.

Despite the growing popularity of the Free-to-Play model for Massive Multiplayer Online games, it still hasn't quite conquered the market yet. So, saying that your AAA-class MMOG will run on the subscription model, where players pay monthly in order to access the servers, is about as surprising as saying that your upcoming FPS will use the trigger buttons to shoot things.

Still, for all twelve of you out there hoping that Square-Enix might let you play its upcoming MMOJRPG Final Fantasy XIV without forking over money past the initial purchase, sorry to dash your hopes - the game's producer Hiromichi Tanaka confirmed to VG247 [http://www.vg247.com/2009/08/31/ffxiv-to-have-monthly-subs-model-says-tanaka/] at Gamescom that the game would run on a subscription model: "It's going to be 30 days-based subscription," he said.

Of course, given how much time you get out of your average MMOG per month, the standard 15 bucks/month is actually pretty good deal as far as hour-per-dollar ratio goes, especially when you're getting a game that's constantly updated. So it's hard to imagine this as a deal-breaker for much of the populace who'd have been interested in the first place.

FF14 is expected to be released for PS3, PC, and presumably the Xbox 360 as well - assuming the oddly-named fantasy world [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/94103-Xbox-Live-Hinders-Final-Fantasy-XIV-Release] once it hits in late 2010. As long as you don't mind ponying up a subscription fee, that is.

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TheZapper

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Jul 11, 2009
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I didn't really need another reason not to get this when it came out, but now I have one anyway.
 

oppp7

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Aug 29, 2009
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Wow, ANOTHER $15 a month MMO? Christ, I'll just stick to Guild Wars, 2Moons, and the other games that aren't a rip-off.
 

Fbuh

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Feb 3, 2009
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well, I guess Final fantasy has had a pretty good run. I'm amazed it made it this far. Quite frankly, I think the series is dead, unless 13 rips my eyeballs and brain out with a thoroughly good skull-fucking. Other than that, I'm a bit disappointed in where the series has gone. Bright colors, weird architecture, and homosexual characters seem to be what's in order now.
 

ChromeAlchemist

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Aug 21, 2008
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The hilarious thing is, even though they cut the amount of people anticipating this game in half, they'll still have millions that will pay.

Oh well, I was never up for that game anyway. Here's hoping Monster Hunter 3 isn't P2P, otherwise that's getting crossed off the list (and I really don't want to do that).
 

-Seraph-

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May 19, 2008
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I'm still going to give it a shot. Honestly did people not expect this? it's an MMO, a commercial one at that, to think it wouldn't have a payment plan is just stupid. I wouldn't doubt TOR being pay to play either. People shouldn't whine over this, it's just so frivolous. I'm more hyped for Guild Wars 2 anyways, seeing as thats going to be a full fledged MMO and have NO monthly fee. If this game is any good I wouldn't mind paying, .
 

DazZ.

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Jun 4, 2009
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I'll give it a trial.

Tried to have ago at the trial in FFXI but it took forever to install so gave up.
 

John Funk

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Dec 20, 2005
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NoMoreSanity said:
Yep, fuck this game. I hope The Old Republic doesn't have a subscription model, that's the only MMO I'm looking forward too.
Hate to break it to you, but odds are...

It's an MMO. They're extremely expensive to run. Unless they subsidize through microtransactions or advertising, it'll be subscription-based. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing.

I'll never get the vehemence against paying pocket change every month for a good amount of gameplay.
 

Angron

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Jul 15, 2008
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oh right...i was under the impression it was monthly anyway, maybe it was when they called it the next final fantasty online
 

Ambitious Sloth

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It kind of disappointing but given how many people play MMORPGs it's really not surprising. Simply because of how long people play MMORPG game after the release date is the reason they do this. Even after you have effectively beaten the game you still play it because, well, it's fun to interact with other players and either join with them or show off by stopping them in their tracks and watching their head roll the last few feet. Because people find it so much fun their willing to pay for their enjoyment though it does mean that eventually the games population will drop. Effectively dieing after a while since no one will play having found new games to entertain themselves with.

A way to stop the drop off would be to constantly come out with add-ons to the game but it would require an attention and focus to the one game that doesn't work in a seemingly infinite series of games such as Final Fantasy. If your constantly making new games why focus on something old and keep putting add-ons into when the same add-ons could go to a brand new game? You wouldn't and eventually the price wouldn't be worth the stale experience even if there was a huge player base.

What if though, you just had them pay of updates? (Just to present to the other common option)

That actually kills off a gaming population quicker because you get to the situation where players are several updates ahead of the original and new players join dismayed to see an empty world which they would need to pay another $30 to improve to the point they thought it would be when they bought it. Even the faithful players will stop updating eventually and sign off after the experience gets old.
 

SharedProphet

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CantFaketheFunk said:
Still, for all twelve of you out there hoping that Square-Enix might let you play its upcoming MMOJRPG Final Fantasy XIV without forking over money past the initial purchase, sorry to dash your hopes - the game's producer Hiromichi Tanaka confirmed to VG247 [http://www.vg247.com/2009/08/31/ffxiv-to-have-monthly-subs-model-says-tanaka/] at Gamescom that the game would run on a subscription model: "It's going to be 30 days-based subscription," he said.
That's not been done before, to my knowledge. Will be a pain in the ass when the due date changes every month... though I guess most people won't notice with automatic recurring payments. And Squeenix gets 1/6 of a monthly payment extra per year per player...

...or maybe he (or the translators) meant monthly.
 

Hazy

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Jun 29, 2008
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Sorry Square, don't count on me buying this one.
XIII on the other hand...
 

Disembodied_Dave

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Feb 5, 2009
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...I thought this said "Final Fantasy XIII will have a Monthly Subscription."
That would just be dastardly.