The folks at Penny-Arcade report had the opportunity to interview Final Fantasy XIV: A Real Reborn director Naoki Yoshida, where he discusses not only the game's reboot, but more interestingly its reasons to stay on a paid subscription model. Among the reasons, Yoshida explains stability is a big one behind it. He states "With the free-to-play model, you’ll get huge income one month, but the next month it depletes."

When asked about some of the negative stigmas that games with subscription models have, Yoshida added, “I don’t think there’s a right or wrong for having a monthly subscription model or free-to-play model. Games like The Old Republic and The Secret World, I don’t say those games would’ve been more successful if they had been free-to-play, for example... the subscription model was unrelated to the success of the game."

While players aren't fans of subscription models, I think Yoshida's reasoning behind it it that games with the free-to-play model have a tendency to cheapen the experience, or at least give off that perception to potential players.

What payment model do you think Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn should take on? Let us know in the comments.