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PlayOnline service and Content-ID's
VeeZarD
Member CommonPosts: 93
I hope I'm not asking something that has been answered 1000 times before, but I checked the official websites, the custumer support, the manual and even Wikipedia and I can't find any answeres.
Today I bought a copy of Final Fantasy XI with 2 expansions. It says that it includes 30 days of free gametime. So I instaled the game and the playonline software. And here are my questions:
1. When registering for PlayOnline account it asks me to enter a payment method. If I give them my CC number, will they charge me for the PlayOnline account or is it entirely free? There is something in the manual about buying a PlayOnline-ID so I'm not sure about that. Im not interested in any PlayOnline services other then FFXI. Any clarification on that?
2. In the manual it also says that after entering my FFXI CD-Keys I have to buy a Content-ID. Maby I'm just stupid, but I read everything on the net and I still have no idea how that works. Say I made a PlayOnline account and want to use my free 30 days, do I have to pay for activating them? If yes, how much does it cost? I read somewhere that content-ID is a character, and somewhere else that I have to buy a content-ID every month making it like a prepaid or something.
I'm realy lost here, so if anyone would be kind enough to explain this to me I would be very gratefull.
Vee.
Comments
Hi VeeZarD, I'll try to answer your questions for you.
1. PlayOnline requires a valid CC because they will auto-bill you each month until you tell them to stop. Your PlayOnline account is essentially free in that you 'buy' a playonline ID when you purchase the box, it then costs nothing to maintain the account.
2. Once you've registered a Playonline ID to start playing you need a Content ID. Essentially a Content ID is a character. Your 30 days free entitles you to 1 Content ID free for 30 days you can use to play 1 character. After your 30 days you will be billed $12.95 for your first character per month - in advance. Meaning you get billed on say the last day of January to play in February. Should you decide you want more than 1 character, additional Content ID's can be purchased for $1 per month extra per ID.
So, in summary, FFXI will cost you at least $12.95 per month after your first 30 days.
To answer the question you didn't ask, if you don't like the game to stop them billing you, you must cancel your CONTENT ID. I can't stress this enough, if you cancel your Contend ID's you will not be billed for your Playonline ID. DO NOT cancel your Playonline ID, if you do you will have to buy another box as a Playonline ID cannot be reactivated. So long as you don't lose your password etc, your characters will still exist if you decide to return. Though they officially state characters may be deleted after 3 months of inactivity, this has never happened to me personally.
Thank you very much cpoustie! You preaty much gave me all the information I needed. Although I have to say that is a very awkward way to run an MMO. Let's hope the game is worth it.
Thanks again!
I might add the bleak side to it,so you are not surprised later and get real pissed off like i did.If you EVER lose EVEN one piece of you ID good luck on getting the charges stopped or any information on your game.I found it is actually illegal to operate in this manner,you have EVERY right to stop payment and it is up to THEM to allow you that right.The problem is ,they will ignore you and what can you do about it?nothing,only option,claim your credit card stolen ,that way it gets stopped.
You are still hung out to dry,they will not help you out with your game at all,even if you say, move and forget your old mailing/postal/zip code.They operate online with absolute morons that are nothing more than cue card readers,they cannot and will not help you.I had to personally call long distance[my cost] to handle something that should not cost me anything.To think i was once terrified of giving my CC to Neocron lol.Even calling long distance gets you no where until you try several times and get an ENGLISH speaking person with some common sense.I mentioned that i was given a horrendous run around because of a forgot postal code,and the guy was just as pissed as i was so i told him some of the staff names i dealt with
.
The other thing is this,do NOT delete anything,if you choose to stop playing[as i have a couple times],just cancel your Content ID's,that way you can come back and all is well,if you chose to come back.This happened to me because i had to work out of town for several months and had to quit playing,so it does happen,luckily i did it all correctly so no problems here.I am sure you have heard from others though that have went through the problems so i am just warning you.
Never forget 3 mile Island and never trust a government official or company spokesman.
Yeah, I agree, their customer service was never all that great. They've double billed me multiple times in the past... I called them up, they told me to fax over info for verification, to try and get things sorted out (the first time it happened) and I did, and never heard back from them. A couple months later, it happened again, and I think that's about the time when I quit.
But anyway, OP, heed Wizardry's words... write down all your information in the back of your FFXI manual (like I did), or somewhere else that you can easily find it so you never forget anything. There's a good bit of info you need to take down and remember, and it's definitely overly complicated, but you do get used to it all in the end.
Thanks guys, these information sound a little disturbing. But I'm going to try it anyway, at least the first free 30 days. After all, if the game sux I'm not going to play it anyway.
One more thing I wanted to ask though: About the game versions - US, European and Japanese. Do all of these play on same servers (like I've read somewhere) or do they have separate worlds for each region? Because I'm afraid that the european version (which I have) won't have enough players to play with (like the european City of Heroes...)
The only difference i've encountered in the different regional versions is in entering your account details, and compatibility with your original version. Even here there are a few quirks lol.
For instance way back when i got the game and the first 2 xpacs in the european version. When i left and came back 2 years later when Treasures of Aht Urghan was released, i couldn't get a european version of it, and had to buy the US pack with treasures included. Only problem was, it would only accept a US zipcode in personal details.... which obviously they dont check since i just entered a valid US zip code and voila it was accepted. Did I mention I don't live in the US?
Later, the Wings of Goddess addon was released, lo and behold I could not find a US version at my local store... only the European version, (which is actually what i should be using
) so I had to order a US version from online and have them ship it to me.
So, the moral of that is, the only difference is that an expansion pack will only add on if it's the same region as the original. That is, you can't put a US expansion pack on a European original game.
Oh, and yes, you all play on the same servers.
Thank you again for these information. I think I now have everything. Time to check this thing out.
But seriously this service is not what you would expect from a MMO. Very complicated for something that should be very clear. PlayOnline should learn from NCsoft or Blizzard. Again, I hope the game is worth the effort.
It's a little confusing at first, yes. But, once you get used to it, it's not that bad, and it's actually pretty cool (Playonline, that is).
It's a little confusing at first, yes. But, once you get used to it, it's not that bad, and it's actually pretty cool (Playonline, that is).
yep and at least it is secure.We could have that NGUARD most F2P games use,and tell their players the game is safe LMAO.Ya it only gets hacked in every single game by day 1,it is real safe.
Playonline has to try and make it as secure as possible,because care less users like to download bots and scripts that are full of keyloggers.Imagine some RMT site getting a hold of your information and signing up 20 new accounts to playonline?You won't get a bigtime RMT site doing it but some joe shleprock and his cohorts would.
Never forget 3 mile Island and never trust a government official or company spokesman.
It's a little confusing at first, yes. But, once you get used to it, it's not that bad, and it's actually pretty cool (Playonline, that is).
yep and at least it is secure.We could have that NGUARD most F2P games use,and tell their players the game is safe LMAO.Ya it only gets hacked in every single game by day 1,it is real safe.
Playonline has to try and make it as secure as possible,because care less users like to download bots and scripts that are full of keyloggers.Imagine some RMT site getting a hold of your information and signing up 20 new accounts to playonline?You won't get a bigtime RMT site doing it but some joe shleprock and his cohorts would.
Yup, I definitely feel safer with this than NGuard. They do a really good job of keeping out the cheaters and gold sellers and stuff, but unfortunately, when ti comes to their own mistakes, you get no help. I just hope they dont' screw up any of my billing again.