I foresee the opposite: Initially decent sales from the fans of the previous Xbox generation, then a nosedive as people realise how ripped off they are.

so games I own fully on disc will contribute to my monthly download cap. Lovely.

Because the goal of any corporation making money is to be in this situation:

Exactly.

The negativity is deserved when said company, despite having enough money to hire the best minds available, makes anti-consumer remarks/decisions in the first place. Whether they back down later to public pressure isn't really relevant. The mistake has already been made, and there's no reason to expect them not to do…

It makes little difference, if you're going to start there. It's still XCOM lite. You can get the original UFO: Enemy Unknown on Steam for about £2 and it's a much deeper and rewarding experience. Probably not if you're concerned with graphics though. If you decide to take the plunge, be sure to look up a wiki on the…

I'm not what you're arguing. An MMO is not trying to compete with the likes of TF2. They are totally different kinds of games that appeal to different kinds of players. If Wildstar was F2P, even if it had the same model has TF2 and just sold hats, it wouldn't have a crossover of players. One is an open world RPG, the…

Most of those either no longer exist or are too old to be considered a competitor. There's no current mainstream competitor, which I think is why it's a selling point for those that care about such things. Personally, if I can quest and do stuff on my own, I'm golden.

As much as I'm loath to admit it, World of Warcraft is pretty untouchable in terms of lore and story at this point. Whatever they threw together for FFXIV won't be able to touch years of built upon lore it's accomplished.

There's a massive investment and infrastructure that goes with an MMO, that doesn't even compare. Valve's f2p games already had an existing player base before they went F2p so the risk was even more minimised, and the only thing f2p is the price of the game in the first place - playing Tf2 and CS was always free.…

You can sell the gold in-game, officially, so why would you risk a potentially fraudulent third party?

If you loved 1.0, then it's obvious you are more interested in the FF brand than an actual functioning game, and if that's what makes you happy fair play to you. It's not what I and non-brand affiliated gamers look for, though.

It has a F2p option.

There is a free to play option mentioned in the article.

It's a completely different business risk/model unless there is a Valve MMO I've missed somehow.

It's got player housing. That's not often seen.

Er, yes.

I'd say it's a commendably cautious attitude you have, but it seems at odds with the fact you are promoting a game (FFXIV) which had to be rebooted before it even got off the ground because they fucked it up the first time round. Why so much trust for round 2?

With respect, haha no. I'm not new to MMOs. Nothing interests me about Final Fantasy. I've been following Wildstar's development for some time, and apart from the recent reveal of Everquest Next, it's the only one that appeals.

The business model (viewed via the site) is an interesting way of dealing with gold farmers, to say the least.