Incorrect PlayOnline ID or Password... Except That It’s Not

[Nyarlko]

Glad you got it fixed. Welcome back!

[Trisscar]

Thank you! Right now I’m playing a lower level character rather than use my original character in order to relearn the game and get good understanding/appreciation of the game.

[Alhanelem]

Well seems I jumped through abunch of hoops for nothing, but hopefully this will help some people having issues.

I know that it’s been a couple years since I’ve played, but I thought that you still needed to use POL in order to play FFxi? How do you bypass it?

Several years back, Square Enix went to a cetnral account system that encompasses both of their MMOs, their forums, most recently their online store, their support site and some other things. Players of FFXI were required to obtain a Square Enix Account and link their PlayOnline ID to it in order to play. So you currenlty need four (or five) pieces of information to log in:

PlayOnline ID (ABCD1234)
PlayOnline Password
Square Enix ID (has a name of your choosing)
Square Enix Password
(Optional) Security token password

Here is what you need to do:
Go into PlayOnline's login screen and click Add Member. You'll see this:

Member name can be whatever, but I suggest to use your main character's name or your SE account name for the sake of not confusing yourself.
PlayOnline ID should be your ABCD1234 playonline ID name.
You must change "Set Password" to "Set" (not "Not set")
Then Enter your playonline password in the box.
Ignore the Member password/confirm password boxes.
Enter your Square Enix ID in the SE ID box.
Set One Time Password to "Use" if you have a security token.

Now, log in to the account. You'll be asked for your Square Enix password, and this is what you enter, not your PlayOnline password (which is saved).

If you get error code POL-5311, this means you entered your Square Enix Account password, or your security token password, wrong.
If you get some other error, it is your PlayOnline info that is incorrect.

[Alhanelem]

Well. This is embarrassing. When I set my POL ID I accidentally put 1 instead I.

End result I’m logged in regularly and I have egg on my face.

This mistake can be avoided if you can remember that the POL ID is always four letters followed by four numbers, so if it's one of the last four characters, it cant be an I or l, and if it's one of the first four, it can't be a 1.