From the pay-to-win loot boxes of the infamous Star Wars Battlefront 2 launch to the ridiculously overpriced skins you can buy in competitive shooters like Valorant, exorbitant microtransactions have come in many shapes and sizes over the years and continue to be a significant issue in the gaming industry. Early Monday morning, though, Final Fantasy XIV (FFXIV) — Square Enix's globally popular MMORPG — introduced what might just be the worst microtransactions I've ever seen.
I'm referring to the Belt-Leather Attire set that was just added to FFXIV's Online Store cash shop that includes a trousers variant, a cropped slops version, and an additional purchase with a hat and gloves. Overall, the attire looks nice, if not a bit simple; it's hard to go wrong with the combo of a turtleneck sweater and a leather harness, and a pair of leather pants and shoes complete the look.
But then I saw the prices.
The two variations of the set — each only featuring some minor differences like cuffs on the pants or boots instead of regular shoes — cost $18 each, and the hat and gloves cost an additional $6. Altogether, to get every piece in the Belt-Leather set to play around with, you'd need an eye-watering $42.
To put things into perspective, that's two dollars more expensive than the entire ongoing Dawntrail expansion itself, and an absolutely absurd amount of money to charge players for some simple variations on a simplistic set of clothes. Unsurprisingly, the FFXIV community is in an uproar over these items and their prices, with several posts criticizing them at the top of the r/ffxiv subreddit right now.
"This is a new low when it comes to the cash shop," wrote one fan; in the eyes of many, the bang you get for your buck in the Online Store has been deteriorating for a long time now. "I never thought I would say this about this game, but Square Enix deserves these sh*tposts at this point. I bought a lot of glamours over the years, but this is some next-level robbery here," said another exasperated player.
Indeed, asking for $42 for a relatively plain glamour is simply ridiculous — especially when past $18 sets have included alternate pieces and fancier designs, and with look-a-like options available for barely any gil (FFXIV's main earnable in-game currency) at all on the player-driven Market Board. Within hours, a player put together a "Belt-Leather at home" set that looks nearly identical, without spending a penny on Online Store apparel.
The timing of this release isn't particularly great, either — though, admittedly, there's not exactly a good time to introduce insanely pricey cash shop items. Still, it's a shame that they came a little over a week after Square Enix announced support for Hrothgar and Viera wearing hats is coming soon, as fans have been asking for that feature since those playable races came out with Shadowbringers in 2019.
It's an unfortunate and deflating reminder that while player feedback about certain things is finally being responded to with improvements, there are also controversial mishaps like this that make it feel like there's always a step back after every step forward.
In regards to the FFXIV Online Store specifically, I expect we'll only see positive change come if people steer clear of buying microtransactions like these on a wide scale. As one player wrote, these have the prices they do "because people will still buy it and they know it."
You shouldn't, though. With plenty of alternative attires purchasable on the Market Board with gil and the Steam Summer Sale now live, I guarantee you there are better things you can spend $42 on right now.
Final Fantasy XIV is one of the biggest and best MMOs you can play today, and stands tall as one of the best PC games and best Xbox games in general — even despite things like these overpriced shop items. Notably, you can play the base A Realm Reborn experience and the first two expansions Heavensward and Stormblood for free (with limited features), and it's available on Xbox Series X|S, Windows PC, PS5, and PS4.
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