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Simple rant: Sub auto-renew is much more scummy than convenient

IselinIselin Member LegendaryPosts: 18,719
in The Pub at MMORPG.COM
Definitely not a new thing and it pre-dates game or game service subs (anyone remember book clubs or magazine subs?) but the auto-renew feature is designed to get another month or another 6 months' sub from you even after you stop playing just because you forgot to cancel.

I'm usually pretty careful and cancel even while I use the game or service so I won't forget but I've forgotten more than once. I bet most of us have been bitten in the ass by this "convenience."

It's scummy, I tell ya!



"Social media gives legions of idiots the right to speak when they once only spoke at a bar after a glass of wine, without harming the community ... but now they have the same right to speak as a Nobel Prize winner. It's the invasion of the idiots”

― Umberto Eco

“Microtransactions? In a single player role-playing game? Are you nuts?” 
― CD PROJEKT RED

GdemamiScotWaanAlBQuirky
«134

Comments

  • moshramoshra Member RarePosts: 400
    sub and then immediately cancel.
    AAAMEOWPo_ggScotanemoPhaserlightultimateduckSinsai
  • UtinniUtinni Member EpicPosts: 2,209
    Feel like this is a rant about canceling a porn sub  :hushed:
    delete5230SovrathultimateduckAlBQuirkySinsai
  • IselinIselin Member LegendaryPosts: 18,719
    Utinni said:
    Feel like this is a rant about canceling a porn sub  :hushed:
    They have subs? :)
    AlBQuirky
    "Social media gives legions of idiots the right to speak when they once only spoke at a bar after a glass of wine, without harming the community ... but now they have the same right to speak as a Nobel Prize winner. It's the invasion of the idiots”

    ― Umberto Eco

    “Microtransactions? In a single player role-playing game? Are you nuts?” 
    ― CD PROJEKT RED

  • WizardryWizardry Member LegendaryPosts: 19,332
    edited November 2019
    Yeah i agree it is beyond scummy.I thought about it MANY years ago outside of gaming.
    So on the rare chance,what happens if someone dies,they just keep charging the account money.

    I suppose eventually the bank account is closed but maybe that is not for 1/2/3 months.You would THINK that a legit business might care even a little bit about YOU the customer,maybe if no activity for a month,shut the account down and no further money is taken but nope ,not a chance in hell there are any good people within the gaming business.

    I can't say much good about ANY business,not many good people on this planet...period,most would gladly scam you out of your money without thinking twice.

    Looking back over the years,i now realize the whole idea of MMO gaming was nothing more than a "reason"to find more ways to monetize what used to be a single sale item.
    Just when i thought we might turn the corner comes kickstarters and crowd funding,founder's all looking for free handouts.
    people need to wake up,gaming is first and foremost a BUSINESS,the gaming side takes a distant back seat.


    Never forget 3 mile Island and never trust a government official or company spokesman.

  • QuizzicalQuizzical Member LegendaryPosts: 25,499
    Down with subscriptions!  In with the pay to win item malls!

    Wait, is that really what you want?
    KyleranultimateduckAeanderAlBQuirky
  • IselinIselin Member LegendaryPosts: 18,719
    edited November 2019
    Quizzical said:
    Down with subscriptions!  In with the pay to win item malls!

    Wait, is that really what you want?
    No, I want "inconvenient" subs that don't auto-renew or at the very least, a tick box for choosing auto-renew or not.

    Even games like WOW where you can choose to play with game time cards for a fixed period of time, don't give you a tick box like that when you use a credit card instead.

    Canceling immediately after subbing is the way we get around their auto-renew horseshit but they could make it much simpler... if they weren't counting on the income from people that don't play and just forget to cancel.


    GdemamiSinsai
    "Social media gives legions of idiots the right to speak when they once only spoke at a bar after a glass of wine, without harming the community ... but now they have the same right to speak as a Nobel Prize winner. It's the invasion of the idiots”

    ― Umberto Eco

    “Microtransactions? In a single player role-playing game? Are you nuts?” 
    ― CD PROJEKT RED

  • AkulasAkulas Member RarePosts: 3,029
    Pretty much sub and immediately cancel.
    Sinsai

    This isn't a signature, you just think it is.

  • VengeSunsoarVengeSunsoar Member EpicPosts: 6,601
    You know most games have an option to not Auto renew right and just pay for a single month or 3 or 6. Additionally if the auto renew function were not there there would be people complaining about how it's such a pain to go back and renew the billing every single month why can't they just do it automatically.

    I have no issues with it.
    [Deleted User]cheebarojoArcueidultimateduckSinsai
    Just because you don't like it doesn't mean it is bad.
  • lahnmirlahnmir Member LegendaryPosts: 5,053
    Buy gametime cards. Stores might not have them anymore but many online retailers do  ;)

    /Cheers,
    Lahnmir
    Po_ggPhaserlightSinsai
    'the only way he could nail it any better is if he used a cross.'

    Kyleran on yours sincerely 


    'But there are many. You can play them entirely solo, and even offline. Also, you are wrong by default.'

    Ikcin in response to yours sincerely debating whether or not single-player offline MMOs exist...



    'This does not apply just to ED but SC or any other game. What they will get is Rebirth/X4, likely prettier but equally underwhelming and pointless. 

    It is incredibly difficult to design some meaningfull leg content that would fit a space ship game - simply because it is not a leg game.

    It is just huge resource waste....'

    Gdemami absolutely not being an armchair developer

  • rojoArcueidrojoArcueid Member EpicPosts: 10,722
    Annoying indeed so I always cancel it immediately, hit subscribe followed by unsubscribe.




  • Po_ggPo_gg Member EpicPosts: 5,749
    As others said, either gametime cards (I still have my full set of AoC gametime cards :) ), or sub and right after that cancel. If there's a questionnaire at that, I used to write as the reason: I simply don't trust your billing system, so I rather cancel now.


    If you do it well (or just have luck), you can even meet the same result as a friend of mine in DCUO: sub, right after that cancel, did some ingame purchases (without the sub DCUO has a very low money cap), rolled a new character, got the 500 stipend - and a few days later he found himself back at free restrictions. Turned out (probably due to the quick cancel) SOE haven't charged his card, but it took them a few days to realise his account was upgraded to sub already...
  • ScotScot Member LegendaryPosts: 24,426
    hmm234 said:
    Sub games can't be a bother for people that work. I think best pay plan is to pay to unlock things slowly like Path Of Exiles
    Welcome to the forums! :)
  • timtracktimtrack Member UncommonPosts: 541
    "I can't handling my own finances and therefore corporates are evil". Do you also blame others if you forget to pay your bills?
    ultimateduckMoxom914
  • KyleranKyleran Member LegendaryPosts: 44,057
    As the prophet Jackson Brown once sang,  

    "Nobody rides for free
    Nobody gets it like they want it to be
    Nobody hands you any guarantee
    Nobody"



    The best things I was taught about life came from a music video.   ;)

    "True friends stab you in the front." | Oscar Wilde 

    "I need to finish" - Christian Wolff: The Accountant

    Just trying to live long enough to play a new, released MMORPG, playing New Worlds atm

    Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV

    Don't just play games, inhabit virtual worlds™

    "This is the most intelligent, well qualified and articulate response to a post I have ever seen on these forums. It's a shame most people here won't have the attention span to read past the second line." - Anon






  • GdemamiGdemami Member EpicPosts: 12,342
    Kyleran said:
    The best things I was taught about life came from a music video.
    ...one can tell.
    Kyleran
  • btdtbtdt Member RarePosts: 523
    Funny, but WoW has been reaping the benefit of lazy gamers since inception... most of their subscriptions are from players who are too lazy to stop paying when they aren't actively playing.

    Go figure why the streaming wars are going to be so huge... they know a good chunk of these people are going to maintain a subscription for the possibility they might want to watch something on their stream down the road.

    Laziness... the lucrative cousin of capitalism.

    And, for the record, if you die, ALL auto payments in your name will continue to be processed... because, get this... no one has told them to stop.  It's not illegal, it's just one of the pitfalls of any auto-payment system... convenience always comes with a downside.  

    Imagine the debt you can incur after your death due to insufficient funds!  << This really happens!
    Gdemami
  • anemoanemo Member RarePosts: 1,903
    I normally keep on a monthly for the first month or two.  Then buy a year long sub, followed by canceling, and removing payment information.

    Especially important for see something like Pandora which has like 3 additional other subscriptions that they nag you to free trial and autosubcribe to.

    Practice doesn't make perfect, practice makes permanent.

    "At one point technology meant making tech that could get to the moon, now it means making tech that could get you a taxi."

  • moshramoshra Member RarePosts: 400
    btdt said:
    Funny, but WoW has been reaping the benefit of lazy gamers since inception... most of their subscriptions are from players who are too lazy to stop paying when they aren't actively playing.

    Go figure why the streaming wars are going to be so huge... they know a good chunk of these people are going to maintain a subscription for the possibility they might want to watch something on their stream down the road.

    Laziness... the lucrative cousin of capitalism.

    And, for the record, if you die, ALL auto payments in your name will continue to be processed... because, get this... no one has told them to stop.  It's not illegal, it's just one of the pitfalls of any auto-payment system... convenience always comes with a downside.  

    Imagine the debt you can incur after your death due to insufficient funds!  << This really happens!

    Most of their subs, eh?  Do you have some form of evidence or is that the new thing for us people that despise WOW are now saying to discredit it?  I need to know, because that game is trash.
  • ultimateduckultimateduck Member EpicPosts: 1,309
    Just don't click the "have this service reoccur every month" box... or, get this, manage your money better.

    FFS. People will cry about everything.
    SovrathmoshraGdemamiSinsai
  • IselinIselin Member LegendaryPosts: 18,719
    edited November 2019
    Just don't click the "have this service reoccur every month" box... or, get this, manage your money better.

    FFS. People will cry about everything.
    Problem is most games don't have that box. Matter of fact I don't ever remember seeing that in any MMO I've ever played. The only option is cancel the sub.

    What sub games have you seen that box in?

    So a FFS right back at you for your ignorance bud.
    GdemamiKyleranSinsai
    "Social media gives legions of idiots the right to speak when they once only spoke at a bar after a glass of wine, without harming the community ... but now they have the same right to speak as a Nobel Prize winner. It's the invasion of the idiots”

    ― Umberto Eco

    “Microtransactions? In a single player role-playing game? Are you nuts?” 
    ― CD PROJEKT RED

  • moshramoshra Member RarePosts: 400
    Iselin said:
    Just don't click the "have this service reoccur every month" box... or, get this, manage your money better.

    FFS. People will cry about everything.
    Problem is most games don't have that box. Matter of fact I don't ever remember seeing that in any MMO I've ever played. The only option is cancel the sub.

    What sub games have you seen that box in?

    So a FFS right back at you for your ignorance bud.
    Personally, I have no issue with most current gaming sub business practices.  As long as they don't hide the unsubscribe button and put it in some obscure location on the website.  

    If I have to google how to unsubscribe, I will likely never use that service again.  Also, when I have to email support to unsubscribe like I did with dollar shave club (not sure if they still make you do this), I will likely never use the service again.


  • SovrathSovrath Member LegendaryPosts: 32,936
    Iselin said:
    Just don't click the "have this service reoccur every month" box... or, get this, manage your money better.

    FFS. People will cry about everything.
    Problem is most games don't have that box. Matter of fact I don't ever remember seeing that in any MMO I've ever played. The only option is cancel the sub.

    What sub games have you seen that box in?

    So a FFS right back at you for your ignorance bud.
    It's true, most of them don't. But monthly subs have been going on since "since." 

    Just cancel it it once you sign up. Or if you forget then it's just 15 or so dollars and then cancel it.

    This has happened for magazine subscriptions, cable subscriptions, Time Life book subscriptions, you name it.

    And while I do think it would be better customer service for companies to choose how many months to charge or at least send a reminder (My Lord of the Rings Online subscription through Steam generates a reminder) it's pretty simple to just cancel after each time you pay if you don't want to auto-renew.


    Like Skyrim? Need more content? Try my Skyrim mod "Godfred's Tomb." 

    Godfred's Tomb Trailer: https://youtu.be/-nsXGddj_4w


    Original Skyrim: https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/109547

    Try the "Special Edition." 'Cause it's "Special." https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/mods/64878/?tab=description

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  • SKurjSKurj Member UncommonPosts: 162
    i recently re-subbed to swtor to see the new content, and was pleased to see they have a non-recurring 60 day option.

    KyleranIselinSinsai
  • ultimateduckultimateduck Member EpicPosts: 1,309
    Iselin said:
    Just don't click the "have this service reoccur every month" box... or, get this, manage your money better.

    FFS. People will cry about everything.
    Problem is most games don't have that box. Matter of fact I don't ever remember seeing that in any MMO I've ever played. The only option is cancel the sub.

    What sub games have you seen that box in?

    So a FFS right back at you for your ignorance bud.
    Read the second part of that line genius. Don't talk about the ignorance of others when you can't read and comprehend an 18 word sentence.

    FFS, what is wrong with people 2.0
    GdemamiSinsai
  • QuizzicalQuizzical Member LegendaryPosts: 25,499
    How do people "forget" to cancel an MMORPG subscription?  Do you quit a game and not realize that you've quit it?  How does that happen?  Do you forget that it was a subscription game and think it had been free to play all along?  Or do you just find it too much of a bother to go cancel the subscription, even though you're aware that you need to?
    ultimateduckfoppoteeSinsai
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