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A horrible buying experience
Strangerous
Member Posts: 165
Just giving a heads up for anyone new to Square Enix and trying to buy this game.
So I registered for and account that seems to be with SE not FF14. That's fine, the old master account then game account pointless hoop to jump through..i can handle that been gaming for ages been through it all.
So I buy the game. Great...now what. I use the trouble shooting tips to access the invoice page, my order number is invalid (I copied and pasted from my receipt) no big deal giving them part of my CC# worked...just brings me back to my receipt page...cool.
So I try to log on to the FF14 page. Need to reset the password I just created because it didn't work. Reset my password, see on my page that my account ID wasn't the one I chose (it put an arbitrary number after the name I chose an accepted...ok...)
So I try again. Incorrect info. So I remember the double account hoop thing, go to SE website and login just fine, go to account info. See my SE account isn't registered with FF14 the game I had just purchased. Ok...so where do I migrate or merge accounts...no where I guess. Hmm odd.
So im sitting here on a $30 purchase. I have no code, no download link...nothing. I cant register with the site for the game I just bought.
So...I wonder...why do they make it as difficult as possible to play their games, download their games, register for their games. Do they not have someone testing this stuff to realize "hey this is insanely difficult and perhaps we could streamline it a bit and make it easier for the people who want to give us money"
I look on the comments page where it asks you to leave a comment about your favorite game or whatever...everyone else is complaining they bought the game and now nothing, no DL, no code...no one knows what to do. I sent in a ticket like everyone else, I expect some time next month after ive resolved the issue or charge backed ill get an auto response (ive never charged back a game so that will be a first in the decade plus of gaming for me)
So just a heads up for anyone who hasn't dealt with this game company before...im not sure if theres an issue going on, or if this is really the worst buying experience ever.
So I sit and twiddle my thumbs, not knowing if my purchase allows me to download the game, play the game, or if I have to wait until next week to join....perhaps some advice as I cant register with the ff14 site and post there...
Comments
In your email from SE, do you see an 18 digit code?
XXXXXX XXX XXXXXX XXX ?
Then you go here to register your code, Once accepted you will get a 20 digits code that will allow you to download the game.
EDIT: http://preorder.na.finalfantasyxiv.com/
"classification of games into MMOs is not by rational reasoning" - nariusseldon
Love Minecraft. And check out my Youtube channel OhCanadaGamer
Try a MUD today at http://www.mudconnect.com/I'm with you and SE doesn't seem to learn...
I have a account for FFXI. Though not directly in SE's system, it used POL (Play OnLine). It was a horror to get the FFXI keys registered and even worse to get the subscription going.
Then hopped to FFXIV 1.0. Now inside SE's accounting system but still a horrible system to enter keys and get subscriptions running. Good thing that this new SE account system also allows to migrate the old POL account (well, good...)
Then I decided to buy the FF7 remake. I logon with my (FFXIV) SE account and it's not known. The eMail address used is but when I want to use the alias I use for the FFXIV account I get the message that it's already used (DUHUH). For the FF7 purchase I am in a new part of SE's accounting system where I can use the old eMail address but not the alias (using _alias_ now).
So far so good..? Well, logging on from SE's main store now I only see my FF7 purchase and not my FFXIV 1.0 account and there's no way to get into the part where my FFXIV 1.0 account is registered. I do have to use some old backdoor to get to my FFXIV registration page.
Way to go SE with making probably the most impossible user accounting system!
Nope...don't have that email. I can see the account registration. I can see the password reset email from them. Nothing to inform me of a purchase, I checked my bank website and the charge is there so it worked.
So far nothing...lots of red flags going up here.
Yeah seeing that for whatever reason they have only a few servers open, all that are 100% full with a huge queue...doesn't help my nervous feeling here. Not sure what they were expecting.
I would at least like a confirmation email of my purchase and the code...at least let me register the game to my account and download it...even if they screw me on the early access I purchased.
But yeah im not sure what hallucinogens the web designers are on...by far the worst buying experience to date for me, that includes a LOT of 90's games and a lot of indy games where they at least have an excuse for not knowing what they are doing.
This is square enix FFS japans blizzard...these guys should know how to do this all by now.
-Unconstitutional laws aren't laws.-
Double check the email confirmation you got from when you purchased the game. I know for me, they made it sound like I should be expecting an additional email from SE with the code & instructions, that never came. Then I checked my order confirmation email, and it was all right there, in the first email.
The communication is troublesome, I know, but it is a primarily Japanese developer. So that is to be expected =/
I registered, bought the game in 1 click using paypal and 5 minutes later I was downloading the game.
Maybe its you?
Oh, they are now banning people posting about their issues on the SE website.
I expect ill get banned any minuet now for creating a thread asking for help.
Yeah the people getting banned are just asking for help, since you know they bought something and cant access their game ect.
Not looking good here. Why would you ban people for just asking for help. Its not like the stickied a solution to the issues people are talking about..or even addressed them yet..
I had a good feeling it was going to be another fail themepark again. I'm glad I didn't fall for the "Get your pre-order and have early access" been there done that for many years and always the same screw up at launch. Learn to be patient with your money and this wouldn't have happened to you.
Trust me, you'll find it more entertaining reading many posts of people going ape than wasting your money of the epic preorder with cool stuff which doesn't really benefit any thing part from falling for the same old. Besides, what did you expect from SE? We all know by now what they're like.
C"mon man/woman, it's not that hard. If you've been on the internet more than a little while, you should be able to figure things out before you meltdown and cry out it on forums. It's not that bad.
-Unconstitutional laws aren't laws.-
Instead they come here creating threads about how horrible the game/company is.
Welcome to your first Major MMO launch (well soft launch really).
Those of us who've beta tested or been apart of the launch of a game with similar numbers know what to expect the first few days if not weeks.
Happens with varying degrees depending on how popular the MMO is, and this is the most popular initial launch I've seen since WoW.
I registered an e-mail account that was already used and I didn't get a notification of it, so I kept getting a password error. I simply made a new e-mail registration on the SE site and then was able to complete the Key and downloaded the game.
ALSO make sure you put your serial number and or early key and such in ALL CAPS. The information is case sensitive so that is another FYI.
Hope that helps :-)
Momo sucks, I have proof.
Spamming "I want my money back" is a lot different than asking on the forums what the next step is after purchase.
I appreciate the assumption that im melting down and crying and all, as offensive as that is, however, the issue is that after you buy the game, you don't get the code you are suppose to immediately get.
They have not made an official announcement that there are issues, they have not addressed the issue most if not all of new purchases are getting right now.
So you expect there to be a lot of questions right? Well why on earth would you ban those people? Even the "I want my money back" threads are acceptable in demeanor. People are asking the refund process, as nothing with the SE website and support is logical and clear as to what to do.
I suggest you check the forums out before making snap judgements. Its not that bad I guess, but for those of us who just got the game and are left in the dark, we just want some information. You don't buy early access when the game is live for early access then expect to sit in the dark without even the ability to download the game and go "oh well it was only $30 im sure eventually ill get my game that I bought that has a subscription running on it"
Needless to say, you don't expect this kind of experience from one of the famous and experienced gaming studios in japan. Hell I don't even get this kind of buying experience from those fly by night Korean gaming companies.
Be patient with the Devs and the company for the first month or so. Give them time to sort things out. If things don't start getting fixed then, maybe you can complain. That's my opinion anyways.
-Unconstitutional laws aren't laws.-
So I should give them my money for a month before I can expect to get my code and download the game...are you seriously reading what you are typing.
This isn't a free game that I can hop in and out of. This is a game that I bought early access for, and that has a sub running.
Look ive been mmorpging since the late 90's I know what to expect. I do appreciate your insulting assumptions, though they seem to disregard what im actually complaining about.
Im not giving these guys a free month and waiting to receive my purchase when they feel like it. I bought early access, which I expect to have, and I expect to at least get some response from them as to why everyone who bought their game isn't receiving codes to redeem their purchase.
This isn't rocket science...you have a basic expectation when you buy something with a subscription that you are going to be able to download and play that game in a reasonable time frame given they are charging you for time.
I really don't care about the early access, though its why I bought the game now...I just want to be able to register and download the game. As are all the other people who bought the game.
Giving them a month to sort things out? You must be quite deep in the fan club to think that is an acceptable plan of action.
The least they could do is post an official announcement as to whats going on, what to expect ect. Not ban those from their forums who are asking what they should do. That's crazy what they are banning people for right now.
This much your first MMO launch... this kind of stuff is to be expected. That's also why they tell you that Online gameplay experiences are subject to change. So people expect problems here and there.
I agree with you though, if you give someone money, yes, you should be able to expect you will get said product.
-Unconstitutional laws aren't laws.-
I am pretty sure the above poster was referring to 'a month' in reference to ongoing issues but NOT with you waiting a month for your code.
If you are still having issues, cancel the SE order (or have the CC reverse the charge) and order from Amazon. It's instant and painless (well a few minutes but almost instant)
It would be nice if you could make one post without insulting assumptions. Im assuming you are just trolling now as ive posted multiple times that ive been playing mmorpgs since the late 90's and you seem stuck on assuming ive never played a mmorpg before.
All this thread was suppose to be was a warning to people new to SE that the process of buying and registering the game is brutally and unnecessarily complex.
Thanks for you input, as insulting as it was, I wont be responding to you anymore though.
I love the game but their account system really sucks and CS does too. I bough two copies from gmg and gamersgate and it went pretty smoothly.
I was going to get it off the SE store but saw what a hassle it would be so glad that I avoided this.
Brenics ~ Just to point out I do believe Chris Roberts is going down as the man who cheated backers and took down crowdfunding for gaming.
FFXIV ARR is currently experiencing problems and they have had a lot of maintenance this weekend where players were unable to login. You are only allowed to login if you have purchased the early release Collector's Edition. (You may be able to login if you had a legacy account, but it appears that this does not apply to OP).
During maintenance windows no one can login to their website and I would assume that applies to downloading the client.
If you call technical support, they are very helpful, but the wait time may be long. I was able to login and download the client after speaking with technical support about a login issue where my onetime password generator was no longer linked to my account.
Official release date was August 27th and that will probably change.
OP, I agree with you about the level of service that should be expected, but these guys do not meet it. They're no CCP, Trion or Blizzard in terms of customer service. Your actual choices are probably the usual pick between being treated like shit and waiting for the product to work, eventually, or doing a chargeback.
The buying experience really isn't great, you do have to go through multiple pointless steps before you can actually login. After that you will sadly get all the other MMO standard fare - random disconnects, server queues at best and try again later messages at worst, etc. Then if/when you get past all that, it's pretty much the same game as every other company's all over again, anyway.
The only distinction this thing gets is that it managed to fail twice where most MMOs only fail once.
Yeah, I really don't want to reverse the charge, and I see on the forums people with issues getting a refund are getting banned left and right, no matter their demeanor.
As much as this all sucks, I would definitely recommend to anyone considering a purchase with this game to wait it out for a while.
What ive been able to piece together is that they were giving out PS3 codes and codes for other regions, causing people who got a code to have incorrect codes. Im assuming they halted all codes, meaning if you buy now you wont get one.
Problem is I had to piece this all together off twitter and forum complaints, as there is no official response as to what is going on right now.
Id love to buy on amazon, but that wont resolve the issue of the redeem codes not being sent out, or being incorrect when redeemed.
I certainly would advise against any hope that you will be able to buy the game and attend early access. As this issue appears to be the first hurdle of many hurdles that are up right now between you buying and playing the game.
I really have to ask this though....is this worse than the first launch of the game?
The actual game is nowhere as bad as it used to be, but the overall service quality so far is pretty much at the bottom of the list of full-price, sub-based MMOs.
Sorry, didn't see you have been playing MMO's that long. I, and other people posting, were just saying it's not that complex. I've seen worse. /end thread... agree to disagree. What's hard for me might be easy for you and visa versa.
-Unconstitutional laws aren't laws.-
Yeah im actually getting a bit nervous. Seems the issues they are working on are for those who got incorrect codes. Im in the boat of people who never received their code...and that boat has people on it that have been waiting weeks/days and no word on their code yet.
I fear I may be waiting for a code for a very long time. Not really what you expect when you buy early access for a game that launched its early access that day...you know.
This would be only the second game in my long gaming history that I would attempt to get a refund on. Its simply not worth being out the nominal $30 with a sub running to have no clue when you can expect to get the code you bought...its not the money really its the point.
Im reading on the forums that getting a refund may be their most difficult process, granted how difficult doing anything has been thus far im wondering if a charge back is the easiest route....neither are options I want to explore.
I cant stress this enough to anyone considering buying the game...please wait, go read the official forums. I don't want to be one of those guys who have been waiting months for their codes considering they are charging subs starting Tuesday.