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No credit card ? no Star Wars! But a nice story to read ;)
Sunflake
Member Posts: 8
Greetings all,
Bought the game today. While filling out my account i encountered the mindnumbing marketing thoughts of the american companys again. On the box it clearly states 30 days free gameplay. But to play you need to make an account. The account can only be made if you entered billing payment option. There are two options. A) pay with Credit card 
pay with Pay pal.
Since i dont have a credit card i choose Pay pal. After logging into Pay pal it gave the message that Bioware only allowed payment with paypal if a credit card was attached to it. no other means. So this means you can enter billing options to A) pay with a credit card or pay with Pay pal through the same credit card. Im not gonne comment on the genius marketing behind this.
So now i bought the game for 59 euros. I have 30 days of play included. But to play the game for those 30days i have to allow a new billing. This can be done only by Credit card or ofcourse with a 30 days code to extend the game.
Cant post the complain on their forums. Since i am unable activate my account i can post. I posted on their help but you can enter 3 fields and dont get a confirmation mail even that you posted a question with them.
So i called the US from holland on my mobile phone to let them fix is manually. After a computer talking to me for 2 minutes giving me options and options of submenus to choose from i finally keep thinking i get a person on the phone yet to hear some lame text that is of zero use and that i am automaticlly being sended back to the main menu. In my creativity i choose and option where i hope to get a RL person on the phone altought its a subject that has nothing to do with my problem.
As i type this i am now for 35 minutes in the waiting que hearing every 30 secs "youre call is important to us, please hold on"
Now... I am in no way bashing the game. In fact i would love to make my account active even i can only start playing on the 20. Still i must type my frustration away in this forum since i cannot do anything else..sipping my good belgium Leffe beer and thinking outloud to myself... Why do US companys keep thinking people on the planet earth only live in the US?....
Just wanted to share this with you al... Carry on.
Comments
Sorry to hear
I recall thinking the same thing when I bought a game developed outside of the U.S. Oh the inconvenience of it all. To make matters worse, nearly everything sold in the U.S. is imported here from somewhere else. All the rest of the world needs to do is put a trade embargo on the U.S. and we'd be completely helpless to support ourselves.
yeah hate that, i guess for the time being you'll have to buy timecode cards.
{mod edit}
Anyway just called the company in the Netherlands where i ordered the game. Bought it a Bol.com
Got them on the phone in 10 secs (hint bioware
Just heared that they have had hunderds if they not more complains that the game can only be played with a credit card. They were Super and told me to send the game back and i get a full refund. Even when i told them "But do releize i used the code to try and make an account but i cant complete the account" they were very clear about it. "Send is back and 100% refund np sir its the default answer to all those people without a credit card and ordered Star Wars the old Republic".
Guess i have to wait till diablo 3 and skipp trying out STtor.
Have a good day all...
First off let me say games should be very flexible when handling payments. It's just good business sense
Having said that
I have seen several posts like yours during my 13 years of playing MMORPGS. This is not a new thing nor is it specialized to TOR. Game cards often only become available a good while after launch.
I agree it's misleading to put 30 days of free game time on the cover without specifying "credit card needed" but it's normal by todays standard. I can see how it affects people completey new to MMOs though. You need to read the fine print
Yea..... because greendot cards are Sooo expensive... seriously... there are Over the counter cards you can purchase... throw money on them at the tellar.... call the number... Boom you have a card ready to use...
Debt Cards work aswell....
Requiring a credit card isnt a new issue....
greendot.com
Thank me later
Ive been around since meridan 59
and yes i have experienced it more then once but... One call to the company and they always fixed it internally. I would disagree on "it's normal bt todays standard" thou. I can activate Any blizzard account with a credit card, game card or Paypal (where you can connect youre bank account instead of a credit card), my direct bank account number (and yes i have instant access even thou blizzard still takes 5 days to write it off my bank account or pay through Ideal (instantly from my bank account to Blizzard). This is the standard practice i see the last few years. Same goes for all NCsoft products. All very costimer friendly instead of this old way of marketing thinking that only a credit card is the real way.
In fact now that im thinking of it
i seems to remembering an article a few months ago where some peeps said that loads of stolen credit card numbers were being used for goldfarming accounts and that company like more and more direct debit from the people bank account and start a buisness relationship with them since its much saver in the long run.
Cheer for the reply thou
I don't care if you disagree
Those options blizzard has wasn't available at launch. The fact they are today is a moot point since we are talking about a new title hence why I said "good while after launch"
You cant honestly expect me to believe, that America... is the only country in the entire world that uses a debt card system? or a prepaid credit card system? Thats quite hilarious
Really...whats an Acceptcard? http://acceptcard.dk/default.aspx?
Oh and also.... Maestro or VISA Electron?
It's dishonest . Nice way to begin a relationship with a company, right?
Companies write their sales spam to entice you buy but the details of what you must actually do in order to get anything for "free" are in fine print and not immediately apparent to the potential buyer, lest you recognize before you plunk your money down that it isn't actually as free as it seems.
Do you mean debit card?
Lot of trolling no need folks. I do read something wierd between the postings....
SWtor has a 30 day play included. Some people are hinting that the fix is a prepaid card but they are not sold yet. Kinda mute point since that option would mean you have to buy the game AND buy a prepaid card for 30 days. My point is rather when a box says 30 days of play included means i should have acces to that. No matter what.
^ this. exactly. prepaid debit cards are THE ONLY way to go nowadays. with all the game companies being hacked left and right.
i have 3 credit cards and bank debit card and my trusty greendot prepaid debit card... guess which one is the ONLY one that will ever be used on the intenet? ...using any other form of payment over the interwebs is stupid.
PS: this is nothing new... this is in fact SOP for any MMO company that uses paid subs.
PPS: and yes... Holland DOES have prepaid cards. It's not just an American thing. OP just wanted to complain about something.
Agreed.
Unfortunately, what you are experiencing is what almost every MMO company has been doing in recent years. The point of the credit card requirement is so they can bill you after that first 30 days with no interuption. A person might think they're doing them a favor, but my extremely tight tinfoil hat makes me think it's more to charge people who forget to cancel.
I want a mmorpg where people have gone through misery, have gone through school stuff and actually have had sex even. -sagil
Yeah i know thats the reason still it doesnt always work. Im an example of it. Sended the game back and getting a refund and now they wont have me as a recurring player at all. Its not fullproof and us euros arnt born yesterday
Me posting it here and you all replying on might even also get one or more thinking before not buying it. Its an evil circle i tell you but us Dutch always been stubburn people when it comes to our rights hehe.
Excuse me for my ignorance but what is a prepaid debit card? (i live in Belgium and all i know exists are CC's and Debit Cards, and unfortunately for a student getting your hands on a CC nowadays is almost impossible because you need an income regardless of your savings)
Fere libenter homines id quod volunt credunt.
Among those who dislike oppression are many who like to oppress.
i would agree with this. hell... ive seen it happen.
solution: use a prepaid card that has no cash on it to activate the account and only put cash on it when you are ready to pay the bill. works for me 100% of the time.
They are cards that work exactly like credit cards but instead of having cash on them when you get them you have to put the cash on it yourself. Usually for a small fee (anywhere from 2-5 USD a month). They are safer than a debit bank card and credit card because if the information is ever stolen the theives can ONLY get what is on THAT card and not a penny more.
Western Union has a prepaid mastercard that is widely used across Europe. You can get it at any Western Union store.
ya both the crdit cards i have reject payments to funcom when i play age of conan. so i purchase prepaid credit cards for that mmo
problem solved
The op opened that can of worms, don't get upset when somebody responds.
There are certain queer times and occasions in this strange mixed affair we call life when a man takes this whole universe for a vast practical joke, though the wit thereof he but dimly discerns, and more than suspects that the joke is at nobody's expense but his own.
-- Herman Melville
If you do not have a Credit Card, or a Paypal with Creditcard attached to it...
then buy Prepaid Gamecards. If Gamemania sells them (here in Belgium),
then I'm 100% sure Gamestores in Holland will sell them aswell.
If not... time to ring your Bank and get a Creditcard, it's not like its hard to get one (if you have a job, that is).
There is something with Holland and time cards, I do remember buying a time card for my guildleader (I think it was in AoC) because he couldn't find any cards there and he had some issues with VISA currently.
Do Dutch retailers don't send time cards at all?
So youre sollution is : Buy the game. And then a game card. DO you like.. read at all what people post ?
Please READ. The whole reason of my post is that if a game says "including 30 days of playtime" you should be forced to buy a timecard. Its like buying a Ford and Ford saying "this car can be driven for 10 years easly" but to start you need to buy the keys also.