First Accessory in the “Final Fantasy XI Players' Collection” Line Now on Sale! (08/18/2008)

[ringthree]

Paying to play the game in the first place is a lot different than paying real money for virtual items, which is by definition real money trade. If SE started selling gil, ebodys, d. rings, relics, etc. you would be cool with that too right?

This is the kind of item that should be the reward for doing a quest, or an in-game holiday type event. Regardless of what $40 means to you, why are you willing to give your money away like that, to a company that's so blatanty shitting on your face?

First thing, you are playing their game. You are paying them to play their game, they can do what ever the fuck they want. If you don't like it, you can quit.

Second, have you ever even heard of the term "game balance"? This doesn't effect game balance AT ALL. It is NOT like selling gil, it is NOT like an E. body, it is NOT like a Relic. You are classically defining the fallacy of the slippery slope.

This is NOT new, SE has been doing it for years. If you don't like it, DON'T FUCKING BUY IT! It doesn't effect you AT ALL.

And finally, if you think that SE is sooooo fucking evil, and hates the players sooooo fucking much, THEN WHY THE FUCK ARE YOU PLAYING THE GAME? What kind of paranoid delusion do you have to be living in to actually believe that a fucking video game company, who's entire income is based on the notion that they need players to make money, is out to fuck over the player base. Jesus fucking christ, this is so god damn stupid it's mind numbing.

You have to be living in a freaking box. Every thread anymore needs to be locked because no one can freaking think with the brain they were born with. >.<

[ringthree]

RMT = Real Money Trade

Trading REAL money for non-tangible goods is where the term came from. You are giving real money for an in-game item. This just happens to be official and supported RMT.

Anyone who says they're buying it for the real necklace is full of it.

/facepalm x 100000.

[ircgeek]

Sorry, but S-E didn't invent the term RMT. There's a difference between RMT and ILLEGAL RMT. Chill out.

[ringthree]

Sorry, but S-E didn't invent the term RMT. There's a difference between RMT and ILLEGAL RMT. Chill out.

Actually, RMT is almost universally used to refer to transactions outside of those intended by the people that created the game, and make an illegal profit on the game without the consent of the game owner. (I use the word almost just because there are people like you that confuse the meaning. RMT as a term of art has always been used to describe illicit transactions.)

What you describe as RMT is actually just how the game is supposed to function. By your definition, paying for the game is RMT, paying for an expansion is RMT. It makes the term useless for what it was created to describe.

[ircgeek]

There's a difference between RMT and ILLEGAL RMT.

Should we come up with a new term then to define when a company *legally* trades money for in-game goods? I propose we use the term "legal real money trade."

[Vidar]

how is buying this any different than attending the fan festival where they give the people attending special in-game items? You pay money to attend their event and they give you something in game. Though I think that the moogle caps they gave last year are a much better item.

[Lordender]

hilarious that they can annouce this but say nothing about PW after all that has happened in the past week.

[Vuitton]

The actual pendant is rather lame. For those of you who are like myself and would never wear such a thing, turn it into a christmas tree ornament! Rip out the fake leather, insert some twine and a hook! Voila! Leviathan christmas goodness.

[ircgeek]

how is buying this any different than attending the fan festival where they give the people attending special in-game items? You pay money to attend their event and they give you something in game. Though I think that the moogle caps they gave last year are a much better item.

It's about intent if anything, I suppose. Like I said, it would be a different story if they were selling items that people would maybe want. Items from the game people liked, such as the nation rings. This hunk of crap was put into the game to help justify selling the in-game item to customers.

hilarious that they can annouce this but say nothing about PW after all that has happened in the past week.

Not unexpected. It took them years to address AV, and any time they did it was just them asserting there was a trick to it.

[Xno Kappa]

Why are people getting so bent outta shape about this lol.

[Jonel]

BCUZ FFXI IZ SEEREOUS BIZNESS! (x_X)

[Thistle]

The actual pendant is rather lame. For those of you who are like myself and would never wear such a thing, turn it into a christmas tree ornament! Rip out the fake leather, insert some twine and a hook! Voila! Leviathan christmas goodness.

Wow, that's a really good idea. I feel less bad for paying $56 (item + tax + shipping) on it now. I was buying it for the good looking shirt, but it's nice to be able to put the RL item to some use, too.

[Vidar]

It's about intent if anything, I suppose. Like I said, it would be a different story if they were selling items that people would maybe want. Items from the game people liked, such as the nation rings. This hunk of crap was put into the game to help justify selling the in-game item to customers.

I had seen this before, thought you might want to see that they do want more of our money:

http://www.square-enix-shop.com/usa/...game_cat_id=15

[ircgeek]

Oh, I know they exist. It's why I mentioned them specifically.

[Auspice]

Hay guyz, sure is QQ in here.

Reminds me of Fanfest with everyone crying about in game items being given out. Christ, people would bitch if their ice cream was cold.

[nitsuj]

I guess I'm the only one that just sees them finally offering merch as a good thing?

The in game item is just a bonus. If you like to collect stuff, then buy it. Until they start selling many items that come with in-game equivalents (especially ones that effect the game more than just a city teleport) then I really don't think any of this is justified.

Where is the OMG! They're selling a PIANO for 25 dollars! Or.. $100 USD for a Moogle had that lets me teleport to my nation! OMG OMG OMG!

Seriously if you need a reason to hate this game so badly that a free in-game necklace makes you this angry, PLEASE go play WoW.

[Kylen]

Bleh. If I wanted to play a game where players were encouraged to shell out RL money directly for digital items I'd be playing Second Life. Part of the fun in FFXI for me comes from working with friends towards new gear in the game and feeling like I've earned it, whether it be a rare drop from a difficult HNM or event, or even a small reward from participating in an easy holiday event.

By itself, this pendant isn't so bad, it's more the fact that after the enormous success of this promotion, SE is going to start releasing more desirable in-game items disguised as crappy RL memorabilia on a regular basis to milk even more money out of players. And you can be sure that future in-game items will also be items that make the game slightly easier and more enjoyable to play for those willing to shell out the cash.

You can't blame people for wanting this pendant, or for paying for it. For anyone who does Einherjar, they're basically paying to have a few extra minutes to merit/Campaign/afk before Einherjar starts without holding the rest of the group up. Or they're saving 3-4 minutes and a few gil to avoid having to run to the Whitegate NPC then the Jeuno NPC to get from their hometown to Jeuno. Sure it's not much by itself, but over time those few minutes saved here and there add up.

Just to be clear, I don't have any moral objections either to SE instituting this "legal" RMT (it's an incredibly smart/profitable move on their part and other MMO companies already do it), or players for buying it (since lets face it, the pendant is pretty useful). I'm more just disappointed because this represents a direction I've been hoping SE would resist going in, and IMO it takes some of the fun out of the game.

I won't be buying one of these on principle, but I can admit that I will feel slightly jealous every time I see someone use one of these to warp to Nashmau while I'm spending 7-8 minutes taking the Runic portal or 20 minutes afk'ing on the boat. Which, incidentally, is exactly what SE wants and is why they are going to make a killing off of this.

Edit: That Pandemonium Barf Bag was hilarious, btw

[Lexa]

So I paid RL money for pixellated stuff... total RMT... and boy am I glad I got those FFXI expansions, otherwise nobody would play with me! o.o;;

Jesus, shut the fuck up about the RMT thing. "UR PAYN REEL MONIES FOR INGAME STUUUUFFZ!" Guess what, you do that every single month when you pay for the game. You did it when you bought the expansions. These ingame items are not items that are being farmed or monopolized by a select group of gamers, only to sell it back to the community for blood prices. This is not gil that's being jacked up in value and spit back out at an inflated cost. This will not affect the ingame gil-economy one single bit! This will not create level 75 players who doesn't know the simple basics of their job, because the item does not allow them to merrily skip across 50-75 levels of exp and learning to play.

SE wants money? OMG REALLY?!? Well, color me surprised! Here I thought they were a charity origanization dedicated solely to bringing us the best of the best free MMOs out there. Their customer service is still sorely lacking after all these years - some areas have improved, others have not - but that does not in any way change the fact that this is SE's company, their business, to run as they damn well please. At the present moment, there are areas of their business I'm not happy with, but overall I think it's worth it to keep paying the monthly fee for the game. If you don't, shut the fuck up and GTFO, instead of sitting around and QQ'ing over it.

[Dohorehn]

And finally, if you think that SE is sooooo fucking evil, and hates the players sooooo fucking much, THEN WHY THE FUCK ARE YOU PLAYING THE GAME? What kind of paranoid delusion do you have to be living in to actually believe that a fucking video game company, who's entire income is based on the notion that they need players to make money, is out to fuck over the player base. Jesus fucking christ, this is so god damn stupid it's mind numbing.

I agree with this. However, SE's customer service and shoddy GMs lead me to believe they actually do hate us, haha.

[kuronosan]

$45 is overpriced for what they're giving you - BUT, people should consider it a bonus that they're giving you an in-game item that goes with it. They could just as easily... you know... give you NOTHING but an overpriced necklace.

Fuck sake.