Maybe an actual GM can help me?

[Gokijin]

Ok, so I just bought this game 4/5/11. New to it. My buddies talked me into playing it and I've been wanting to, so I get it, make all my accounts, blah, blah, blah. I get to the character creation and I can't make a toon on the server where my friends play. Well, I just got it, so I started on the handful of servers they had listed. I've been trying to get in touch with "customer support" and finally today I did. I asked him if I would have to pay to transfer my character to the server I wanted to start on. I dug around in the forums and stuff wondering why we couldn't get a gold world pass so I could start on their server. After we dug around for a while, we found that the servers were shut off from new characters because the servers were scheduled over a month ago to be merged. The earthquake has postponed it. I began to look for info as to when the servers would be available for me to make a character on the server I had wanted to make a toon on.

I found nothing and all I get is it will be announced? So, having just purchased the game and all the expansions, I started my toon and played the last two days. The thing that upsets me is when I got ahold of someone over the phone, he was cutting me off mid sentence, rushing me, and told me to "go check the forums" for info. How in the blue hell is that service? I asked to speak to a supervisor since he was rude and I was told "he's busy" and when I said I'd like to hold for him, he comes back later and tells me that his supervisor was too busy. Then he said "you can pay your $25 to move your character, or you can delete the one you have now and start over on the server your friends play on when they become available again." I asked him when that was and he told me he didn't know that the info would be released at another date.

So my rant is I just bought this game and I was supposed to know that it was just bad timing? I dug through the posts and it never mentioned when the servers would be available again. So I was supposed to buy a game and then wait around to make a character where I wanted to have it? It really pissed me off when I asked to speak with his supervisor and he just kept giving me excuses and telling me to have a good day. The only thing he managed to help me with was to tell me I could delete my character and start a new one. I don't see why I should have to pay to move my character when the servers become available again since there has been no information as to when they will be coming back up and they've been unavailable for over a month. I did not know that I wouldn't be able to start a character at the time I bought the game. I didn't know it was my job to read through month old posts to see about server maintenance and servers being down. So if a GM could maybe talk to me and not just tell me to check the forums, that would be appreciated. I don't think I should have to wait around paying a monthly fee, checking forums to see when the mergers are going to happen, and then delete my character or pay the $25 to move my character. Sorry if this is repetitive and hard to follow, but I'm really just aggravated and annoyed at the poor "service" I received from Square-Enix about this.

[Cream_Soda]

The first step to getting them to read what you say is to use paragraphs. Nobody in their right mind is going to read that large wall of text, me included.

Clean it up

[Hoshi]

I believe the tl;dr version states that he's new to the game and wants to play on the same server as his friends. He was unable to make a character on that server because of the merge (and SE gives no warning to new players that they can't make a toon on some servers before purchase). He wants to know when the merge will happen and why SE is making it so hard on new players who are trying to do things with their friends.

I think he makes a good point. People who have started accounts since the merge announcement (and registration server shutdown) should be given a one time free pass to move their character to the server of their choice once these restrictions are removed. Sorry I don't remember the date of the merge but it should be on the official website in the news and maintenance section.

[chubrocka]

The first step to getting them to read what you say is to use paragraphs. Nobody in their right mind is going to read that large wall of text, me included.

Clean it up



Not true.. I read the whole posting. Reading it is how we make an informed response.

The reason there is such a hard time to move cross servers is RMT (real money traders) If it was easy to do people would sell there chars more often and it would effect the game. It does suck i agree, but what can they do. There are very few things i agree with when it comes to SE but this is one they cant do a lot on.

[Cream_Soda]

I said "in their right mind"

[Karbuncle]

I said "in their right mind"

those sneaky "Qualifier" phrases.

[RAIST]

Yeah, they are in a bad state right now. Not trying to make excuses for them--being rude on your customer support line is just not cool. But they have been under fire for a crap load of snafus they made over the past month, and patience is wearing thin on both sides of the line.

The merger is supposed to happen in May, they just haven't set a specific date just yet. They still have a lot of screwups to clean up first before they can move on to that project. Hopefully we'll see some of those issues finally fixed soon and start getting more info from them.

Unfortunately, you did come in at a bad time. If you just started, you are in a free trial "grace" period, and that is going to run out before the merger takes place--so if you stay active you will get hit with a double whammy for the first month billing, plus the server transfer. You'll want to make sure to remove your character and such in time before the next billing cycle to avoid the extra charges. There are some gotcha's when closing the accounts--I forget all the details but if you close it out wrong it can monkey up the content ID link and screw up an account. A friend of mine left for a while several years back and lost 2 of her level 75 toons that way.

I hate to send you back to them, but I would go through customer service again and make sure it is done properly. Just tell them you only wanted to play on x server with your friends which is locked out until after the merge, and ask them to walk you through what you need to do to suspend billing and such until you can come back and go directly to their server. Hopefully they will be able to take you through it. If not, perhaps someone here who has gone through it themselves can give you a how-to on it.

[Gokijin]

Well, either way, I appreciate the feedback and about the RMTs and I did as you had asked and broke it down, it's now three paragraphs lol.

[Zephrose]

I think there is a block on which servers you can choose to create/transfer a character at the moment. This is due to the up coming Server merger when the version update comes. They prevent players from doing this due to last server mergers grievances.

Sorry if this is an inconvenience to you. :(

[Gokijin]

Yeah, it might be bad timing, but I don't think that I should have to suffer as the player considering it really isn't something I could have prevented, or fixed myself short of just not starting the game.

[RAIST]

Yeah.. they are kind of floundering about right now just trying to keep up with issues. Would have been nice if they could have scripted something to let new subscribers know about the server lockouts prior to activating... but...meh... they aren't known for thinking that far ahead of the game. At the very least, it could have saved you some headache. You would still be out your $10-$20 for the purchase (depending on how you got it)--but at least you wouldn't be in a situation where you might get billed subscription fees with no access to the content.

Best of luck getting something done with support. Things are very screwy there atm. Keep hoping someone here or at SE can help you turn stuff off so you don't get billed in May. Wish I knew more about the process, but I've been running only one toon on one account so long, I don't even remember the initial setup process--much less what year I joined... lol.

[Gokijin]

Well, I don't mind play on a different server for now, the peeps I have come across are pretty helpful, but I don't want to stay there after the mergers, I would like to transfer, but I don't want to also have to pay for the transfer there. And what's all this about a double billing? They gonna charge for 2 months in may? I just hope the GMs would be kind enough to transfer me after the merger, then I'd be happy =)

[Laciante]

I don't know if you've gotten to attached to the progress you've already made, but wouldn't a decent solution be to make a new char and play on the destination server of your friends? I can tell you from experience that redoing basic quests and leveling takes less than half the time it originally take you, and I don't know if paying $25 (the rough equivalent of 2 months) is worth simply restarting on a new char.
or is is that both the soon-to-be absorbed server and absorbing server are locked until the merge? in that case is it really that bad to wait another month?

[Nillvast]

Gokijin,

While we’re sorry to hear of the trouble you are having, unfortunately there is not anything that can be done. As we prepare for the World Merge, several steps must be taken, including the suspension of character creation on the Source and Destination Worlds.

We can only suggest that you and your friend create characters on a World that has not been affected, and enjoy the game until the time that the World Merge is complete. You can then either have your friend create a new character on your preferred server, or you can transfer those existing characters through use of the World Transfer Service.

[thefinalrune]

...or you can transfer those existing characters through use of the World Transfer Service.
I.E. We don't really care, wait it out or pay us $25 more dollars to play with your friends. Gotta love SE's apathy.

[Gokijin]

Gokijin,

While we’re sorry to hear of the trouble you are having, unfortunately there is not anything that can be done. As we prepare for the World Merge, several steps must be taken, including the suspension of character creation on the Source and Destination Worlds.

We can only suggest that you and your friend create characters on a World that has not been affected, and enjoy the game until the time that the World Merge is complete. You can then either have your friend create a new character on your preferred server, or you can transfer those existing characters through use of the World Transfer Service.

It was real easy for me to find links to buying this product, but there no warnings to how utterly crappy the customer service is and how crappy the people are over the phone when you have questions. It is my fault for not reading over all the news letters for the last few months that you guys put out I suppose when I started. It does make me a bit frustrated. There were no warnings when I created the character or why I couldn't pick the server when I started. Apparently SE doesn't care for servicing their customer that they claim to boast about.

"This philosophy represents our company's mission and the beliefs for which we stand.

Each of our customers has his or her own definition of happiness.
Square Enix provides high-quality content, services, and products to help those customers create their own wonderful, unforgettable experiences, thereby allowing them to discover a happiness all their own."

That is straight from the square-enix website. I'll even give you the link.
http://www.square-enix.com/eng/company/philosophy.html

In no way, shape, or form have I received high-quality service. What is unforgettable is the persons employed by SE who was rude to me over the phone and said "I didn't have a question worth answering" and that his supervisor was too busy to speak with me. When I insisted he placed me on hold and later came back and said "He told me to tell you to wait it out or pay for a transfer and to call tech support about your other issues." I couldn't log on for a while and after a few days, I finally was able to figure it out myself without the help of your high-quality support. I admit, I am a little bitter about the way I was treated. The community seems to care more for other people than SE does. So to all who have tolerated my ranting and replied with helpful information, I thank you. For SE, not that it's going to hurt you, but after I decide to stop playing FFXI, I don't think I'm going to purchase anymore products.

Your suggestion to not play until you finally merge the worlds, while I wait around being billed, or to pay to transfer, is kind of lame, especially since I still have yet to read about when you will be merging the worlds together. If Square-Enix was actually concerned about their products/support, they'd listen to the people. I have read through hundreds and hundreds of posts here and I know while you can't make everyone happy, most agree that your customer service sucks. I do, however, appreciate you finally getting back to me on not being able to actually do anything.

[chubrocka]

It was real easy for me to find links to buying this product, but there no warnings to how utterly crappy the customer service is and how crappy the people are over the phone when you have questions. It is my fault for not reading over all the news letters for the last few months that you guys put out I suppose when I started. It does make me a bit frustrated. There were no warnings when I created the character or why I couldn't pick the server when I started. Apparently SE doesn't care for servicing their customer that they claim to boast about.

"This philosophy represents our company's mission and the beliefs for which we stand.

Each of our customers has his or her own definition of happiness.
Square Enix provides high-quality content, services, and products to help those customers create their own wonderful, unforgettable experiences, thereby allowing them to discover a happiness all their own."

That is straight from the square-enix website. I'll even give you the link.
http://www.square-enix.com/eng/company/philosophy.html

In no way, shape, or form have I received high-quality service. What is unforgettable is the persons employed by SE who was rude to me over the phone and said "I didn't have a question worth answering" and that his supervisor was too busy to speak with me. When I insisted he placed me on hold and later came back and said "He told me to tell you to wait it out or pay for a transfer and to call tech support about your other issues." I couldn't log on for a while and after a few days, I finally was able to figure it out myself without the help of your high-quality support. I admit, I am a little bitter about the way I was treated. The community seems to care more for other people than SE does. So to all who have tolerated my ranting and replied with helpful information, I thank you. For SE, not that it's going to hurt you, but after I decide to stop playing FFXI, I don't think I'm going to purchase anymore products.

Your suggestion to not play until you finally merge the worlds, while I wait around being billed, or to pay to transfer, is kind of lame, especially since I still have yet to read about when you will be merging the worlds together. If Square-Enix was actually concerned about their products/support, they'd listen to the people. I have read through hundreds and hundreds of posts here and I know while you can't make everyone happy, most agree that your customer service sucks. I do, however, appreciate you finally getting back to me on not being able to actually do anything.


Sorry for you, really I am. There were and are warnings EVERYWHERE. One it should have came from your friends you say you wanted to play with... The other is if you check any forum on SE customer service you will see it BLOWS. All you need to do is google "Square enix customer service" and BAM look at it all...

I hope though you see the vale of the game as a player though.. We as other players do and thats why we play.. We dont base it on the non help of SE, but by the help of fellow players.

This is one of my favorite ones...................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................


FFXI Fan Sues Square Enix For Deceiving Customers
June 25, 2009 by Ruibo
8 Comments
A lawsuit has been filed against Square Enix by a Final Fantasy XI fan for allegedly deceiving 100,000 customers with their hidden fees and penalties.

Plaintiff, Esther Leong from San Francisco stated in the suit:

This case narrowly focuses on Defendants’ deceptive advertising, unfair practices, and fraudulent concealment to conceal certain critical information about their online games. The deceptive advertising, unfair and undisclosed business practices and concealment concern, among others:

Licensing of the online games software disguised as a sale;
Monthly fees (“fees”) to play the online games;
Penalties for late payment of the fees;
Interest charges for late payment of the fees;
Charges while the online game account is suspended;
Termination of the right to use the online game for late payment of the fees;
User restrictions and conditions related to the online games;
Termination of the game date for late payment of the fees.
The class action suit is seeking damages of more than $5 million, for unfair business practices to false advertising.

The game has been out for years now and if this was true, what took so long for someone to stand up? It’s been several years since I’ve played FFXI but I’ve never encountered any of the extra charges as I’ve never ran into any problems with the monthly payments.

Any of you encounter this type of problem? Do you think Square Enix deserve what’s coming?

You can read the court filing here and special thanks to an examiner.


heres the url if you want to see it in court doc form.

http://www.gossipgamers.com/ffxi-fan-sues-square-enix-for-deceiving-customers/