FFXI product ambiguity on the NA store

So someone contacted me who had played through the trial and was excited to buy the full game and start playing.

They sent me a link to this page asking if this was what they needed. I gave a cursory glance and said sure. Of course, the more astute would notice that was both bad advice from me and a mistake on their part, which we only worked out when the code didn't work on their account. They've wasted $9.99 and now may not want to take up the game after all because of the bad feeling it's left them with. They've opened a ticket to see if there's anything S-E can do, but they're also aware of the no refunds policy once the code was revealed (which I don't think makes sense, but that's another matter).

It's not an unfamiliar story, but is theirs to deal with. The purpose of this post is some feedback on the FFXI section of the NA S-E Store from me.

I'm in the EU, and our site is pretty clear about differentiating the products.

My suggestion would be that the NA site, instead of listing the Seekers expansion as the 'Standard' edition of FFXI and the full game as the 'Ultimate' edition, just use the words 'Expansion Only' for Seekers. It completely removes any ambiguity as to what's being purchased. Bear in mind that this tabbed method of display is used commonly by Amazon for people wanting to purchase different formats or editions of the same product, so a precedent has been set. Displaying two different products in this way, albeit from the same IP, is confusing (in my opinion).

I do hope that S-E support can help my new friend out. A full-price copy of the game being sold plus subscription fees is well worth crediting $9.99 (either via Crysta or directly). And Vana'diel shouldn't be missed by anyone willing to give it a chance.