I posted about it on Twitter and it seems a lot of ppl also agree with me, but it is super bizarre to me, as I start poking at new venues to possibly visit to RP at with Duke (he and Dracyn are overdue for a date night) the sudden influx of venues that charge actual gil for their food and drink.
This was pretty unheard of during what was, imo, the "heyday" of FFXIV rp, particularly on Crystal/Balmung. It was always "gil is for immersion only, tips appreciated!" And oftentimes Dracyn and I would tip oocly because the venues we'd go to were not only cool, but even on busy nights the people running them would take the time to interact, and oftentimes remember regulars who'd make it a point to come back weekly, and that was 10000% worth both the experience and to let the roleplayers know that they were doing an awesome job.
But charging people 5k per drink, for what (especially if it's ends up busy.) amounts to someone roleplaying handing you a drink, is absurd lmao. If you have to charge people to roleplay with you - i honestly wonder if you're roleplaying because you ... enjoy roleplaying? And considering most people are gonna have their characters sit and chill, 2-3 drinks will wind up being 15k actual gil, and again. For what will likely be a completely a bare bones interaction because there's venues also charging for table services upwards of 50k+ gil (per hr) for personalized unlimited drinks and service. The server at the bar is gonna be swamped and they're not gonna give a damn about actually engaging in roleplaying with visitors cos they're gonna be overwhelmed!
And I get it - nobody is forcing anyone to go to these venues (tho I had a friend who went to one, was told it was not real gil paid for drinks, and then... were told to cough up the gil as they left lol.) and I've written off a few already despite my initial interest.
But it's a very odd thing for me to see, especially as someone who's been roleplaying for 20 yrs, not including XIV rp.
And also the pricing is *absurd*.
Again, 5k for a drink, and its not even like they're crafting and handing you an actual in game item in return. (Those venues are even more rare, but I could understand that a little more as they're giving you actual items in return.) But 5k gil for a fake drink? That doesn't even make sense on a monetary level.
Like, for reference - I run events for FFVII twt rp. Here's the menus for our 7th Heaven Night:
And while I joked to my fellow mods/admins who help run the events that we should put our cash app up when we do the events (a joke). These prices make more sense than charging 5k gil for:
"/em hands <player name> a triple deluxe rainbow titty twister supreme on a coaster."
Ultimately it makes me sad, and again - i recognize that I do not have to patronize these venues (and won't) but it also just - why? Roleplay isn't a job. We're all writing make believe, and I was under the impression - because we all love writing. Or at least, that's why I roleplay. And as someone who's worked in venues, and has been given ooc tips out of nowhere - that beats the hell out of nickel and diming players for the "luxury" of roleplaying with me/at my venue. Because then you know they're not doing because you're breaking their kneecaps - they did it because they enjoyed the experience.
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