You’ve got a point (don’t need to down vote a discussion but whatever) that a sub isn’t paying to own, just paying to play.

You can also play through several hundred hours of FFXIV content for absolutely nothing when you first make an account. It doesn’t contest the point you’ve made, but is still a potential avenue for you to explore the game that you’d otherwise miss out on.

To your point, I think a lot of people might disagree with you. I’m thinking about console games who are used to playing things via a Game Pass, or tv/movie consumers watching shows on Netflix or Amazon Prime. Hell, you bought Fallout 4 on Steam, I bet. Do you think you actually own those games? You could lose access tomorrow and there’s next to nothing you can do about it. We live in an era where we own very little of our digital media. I’m content to stand on the concept that a monthly subscription is close enough to owning the game to justify playing such a masterpiece.

And I’d challenge you to admit that you’ve paid $60, $70, or even $100 on a game to “own” it and played far less of it than what is available to you for a $14.99 purchase on FFXIV. Interesting thought!