in light of all the payment raging, (( must read ))

[Korpg]

... and open three new accounts so we can play a 9 year old game?

Don't see 3 new accounts, just 1.

I'm surprised that most people don't have a junk account anyway, for online purchases. By the looks of the mob here, everyone is afraid that "the man" is out to screw them over and take all their money. I mean, it makes sense to have a bank account for online purchases.

[Byrth]

Don't see 3 new accounts, just 1.

I'm surprised that most people don't have a junk account anyway, for online purchases. By the looks of the mob here, everyone is afraid that "the man" is out to screw them over and take all their money. I mean, it makes sense to have a bank account for online purchases.

1) Open a bad checking account
2) Open a Click and Buy Account, which you tie to the bad checking account
3) Open a Crysta account with SE because the 3.9% surcharge for preloading with Click and Buy exceeds the interest rate I could hope to get on my money in the bank.

Three new accounts.

Beyond that, I'd prepay a few months to avoid having to do it every month. $28 per month, so three months of FFXI would be $85 worth of Crysta. Overall, infinitely more complicated than giving them my credit card and telling them to charge me once a month.

[Korpg]

1) Open a bad checking account
2) Open a Click and Buy Account, which you tie to the bad checking account
3) Open a Crysta account with SE because the 3.9% surcharge for preloading with Click and Buy exceeds the interest rate I could hope to get on my money in the bank.

Three new accounts.

Beyond that, I'd prepay a few months to avoid having to do it every month. $28 per month, so three months of FFXI would be $85 worth of Crysta. Overall, infinitely more complicated than giving them my credit card and telling them to charge me once a month.

So, instead of having to open 2 new accounts, one of which you will probably never use after you open it, you open a third one.

Which is my point. It is still one extra account that you need to open, not three extra accounts.

This system will be in place regardless of you opening or shutting down your account, if this new system will mean the lost of 50~100 players, all well. I know that you guys think that SE hasn't researched the effects of this new system and what it will mean to everyone, but I'm sure that somebody did their research.

Besides, my solution is best for those who are afraid of everything, if they want to continue playing that is. If they quit, they were going to quit soon anyway, they needed an excuse to make themselves feel better (I don't know why, people are like that I guess).

[Byrth]

So, instead of having to open 2 new accounts, one of which you will probably never use after you open it, you open a third one.

Which is my point. It is still one extra account that you need to open, not three extra accounts.

This system will be in place regardless of you opening or shutting down your account, if this new system will mean the lost of 50~100 players, all well. I know that you guys think that SE hasn't researched the effects of this new system and what it will mean to everyone, but I'm sure that somebody did their research.

Besides, my solution is best for those who are afraid of everything, if they want to continue playing that is. If they quit, they were going to quit soon anyway, they needed an excuse to make themselves feel better (I don't know why, people are like that I guess).

What are you talking about? Currently I have none of those accounts, and I'd have to open all three to continue paying SE. If they'd let me do the same thing that JPs can do (give the my credit card directly), then I'd have to open 0 new accounts. This is just one more payment fuckup in a long line of payment fuckups from this company.

Also, I think you really underestimate how many players pay for FFXI but barely play it. I have more than a few friends that log in once a month and say hello in LS, then drop off the radar again. Do you really think people like that are going to create three new accounts just to drop in for their obligatory "hi?" Heck, I got three Flist messages last month from friends after SE messed up their payment information telling me that they didn't feel like fighting the company so they could pay for a game they hardly play anymore. It's not an insignificant fraction of the current players, and it's not a population that's going to magically reoccur if SE decides to provide a more reasonable payment method. If they want to keep that profit, they'd better do something about it NOW.

[Korpg]

What are you talking about? Currently I have none of those accounts, and I'd have to open all three to continue paying SE. If they'd let me do the same thing that JPs can do (give the my credit card directly), then I'd have to open 0 new accounts. This is just one more payment fuckup in a long line of payment fuckups from this company.

This could be a new solution to getting rid of all the previous fuckups. You know, to streamline the payment process.

Also, I think you really underestimate how many players pay for FFXI but barely play it. I have more than a few friends that log in once a month and say hello in LS, then drop off the radar again. Do you really think people like that are going to create three new accounts just to drop in for their obligatory "hi?" Heck, I got three Flist messages last month from friends after SE messed up their payment information telling me that they didn't feel like fighting the company so they could pay for a game they hardly play anymore. It's not an insignificant fraction of the current players, and it's not a population that's going to magically reoccur if SE decides to provide a more reasonable payment method. If they want to keep that profit, they'd better do something about it NOW.

If those people do that, then this is a good excuse of them to quit, now is it? I don't understand how anyone can pay for something and not use it at all.

[Byrth]

This could be a new solution to getting rid of all the previous fuckups. You know, to streamline the payment process.

If those people do that, then this is a good excuse of them to quit, now is it? I don't understand how anyone can pay for something and not use it at all.

How is moving from
* "I give you my CC info and you charge me"
* "I make a shell account. Then I use an online payment service to access my shell account. Then I tell the online payment service to buy ___ of a distributor-specific currency. Then I use the distributor-specific currency to maintain my registration every month."
somehow a way to streamline the payment process?


Also, plenty of people pay for monthly services that they don't use. What do you think all the "one free month" introductory offers are for? My mom paid monthly fees for dial-up America Online for something like 2 years after we got cable. People automatically pay for shit they don't need or use all the time simply because they can't be arsed to figure out how to stop it.

[Korpg]

How is moving from
* "I give you my CC info and you charge me"
* "I make a shell account. Then I use an online payment service to access my shell account. Then I tell the online payment service to buy ___ of a distributor-specific currency. Then I use the distributor-specific currency to maintain my registration every month."
somehow a way to streamline the payment process?


Also, plenty of people pay for monthly services that they don't use. What do you think all the "one free month" introductory offers are for? My mom paid monthly fees for dial-up America Online for something like 2 years after we got cable. People automatically pay for shit they don't need or use all the time simply because they can't be arsed to figure out how to stop it.

We have been having issues with payment from PoL for, what, the last year or so?

This new change could mean that somebody has either hacked into the system but haven't stolen anything, or more likely the new rules issued by banks and World Bank has made it almost impossible for it to be effective to keep the old system in play without overhauling the entire system. Which is what they are doing, but they (as in SE) has chosen the cheaper method. I mean, why go all out on a product that is dying?

Also, laziness is not an excuse to stop payment on anything. You can't blame the companies for people being too lazy to click a few buttons.

[MarkovChain]

Overall, infinitely more complicated than giving them my credit card and telling them to charge me once a month.

4 remarks.

(1) The old system that we all know was globally retarded. It was a headache for a new player to figure out HOW to input your code then the CC info to play the game. You have to click 15 submenu in a laggy viewer and to understand the terms they use for "account" (handle, content ID, codes, optional services ...). There has never been a direct way when you start the game for the first time to "input codes"+"billing info".

(2) Due to their previous paiement system failing, I had to use my new card as debt card to pay every 3 months since it was not accepted as automatic payement every month.


(3) It took me 5 minutes total going from the POL site "how to" to the email confirmation that I was transferred.

(4) Overall the security is definitely increased. I had a subframe pop inside click and buy window where my bank asked confirmation with a code sent to my phone.

Overall It's pretty easy. If you ever managed to start the game in less than 2 hours the first time you bought FFXI then your are good with less than 5 minutes. At least that worked for me and mdk. I'm sure they had way to many problems with bank starting to refuse automatic payement and such without increased security. Not a surprise since pol is the same as 2002. So they decided to use professionals instead. I don't think there is a way to avoid this on the internetz anymore. I used to buy stuff online by just providing CC info upon payement, but now the same sites want scans of ID card, CC card, the bank asks for confirmation inside the browsers, etc.