Steam payment HUGE price increase!

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Originally Posted by Miscanth

I think it was a PR manager or someone else who doesn't know anything about inner workings of company. So they may as well have completely another stance on it because it's sure can't be just "making prices fair". Till then we can wait, but how long are they gonna get hit with bad reviews and losing trust of people because of silence?

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He wouldn't have the authority to come out and say something like that without asking first regardless. No one representing the company would without consequences at least.

It's not out the realm of possibility that they might change their stance, but SE's word is out regardless.

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Originally Posted by Nezia

Actually they can delete any thread at any time, the truth is we have no rights here, we paid for the game and we have rights over it.

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Actually we also dont have rights over game :(
All the data and all characters is belong to SQEX

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Originally Posted by Texa

They deleted a very constructive post from DoppelShifter telling people to not let this get swept under the rug and that Steam has started to say they are investigating refunds instead of flat out saying no.

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Doppelshifter asked me to relay thie following message:

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"Hi, DoppelShifter here. I got a one-week ban here in the forums for my last post calling for people to speak up. The justification seems to be that I said the curse-word for "poop" twice in it."

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Her post, reproduced below, without cursing:

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I'm still waiting for answer on my contacts, but I'll contact some other outlets tomorrow. And meanwhile... whoever can go with this story to any games media outlet to try to help out, go ahead. Also, apparently people who requested refunds to Valve while explaining the situation about the price change without warning and all the REDACTED "[woefully displeasant]" radio silence and ambiguous terms of service, instead of getting a "no refunds" response from Valve, got instead a slightly more hopeful "we will investigate this issue".

So if you or anyone you know did mention they wanted to try to get a refund on Stormblood, even if they already tried that though Square Enix's support, try contacting Valve's support instead, and explaining the whole situation. We might get Valve to make a move to try to plug the hole on their side (because this can become a PR nightmare for them as well), even if its just poking Square Enix to say the corporate equivalent of "Hey dudes, can you please sort your REDACTED "[things]" out? It's spilling on us over here". And *that* might force Square Enix to act.

And speaking on Steam, the reviews keep lowering. Currently at 47%.

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Doppel got a ban?

This is not right.

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Originally Posted by Alleo

So instead of admitting to it and try to do some damage control its better to just stay silent?

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Anything else they say here that is not about reducing the price to it's old state or allowing people to refund stormblood would pretty much sound like mockery, so they choose to stay silent and wait until people calm down on their own.

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Originally Posted by Nezia

Anything else they say here that is not about reducing the price to it's old state or allowing people to refund stormblood would pretty much sound like mockery, so they choose to stay silent and wait until people calm down on their own.

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:Сумасшедший:Who said? That we will remain silent? NO, we will demand that they return as it was, otherwise their company will have no success in the future .... it was a great game ...

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Originally Posted by Nezia

Anything else they say here that is not about reducing the price to it's old state or allowing people to refund stormblood would pretty much sound like mockery, so they choose to stay silent and wait until people calm down on their own.

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Ppl will calm down on their own when their subs run out, but se's reputation will have a bad stain by then

Asked for a refound on Steam, they said it's not possible because the time for refounds expired, sent a ticket for SE on the 20th, still got no answer. FFXIV: the game where the devs do all they can to make their playerbase happy while the publisher doesn't care at all. I really thought SE was different from the other MMO publishers, but they are actually worse, scamming their own playbase to sell more copies of Stormblood :D

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Asked for a refound on Steam, they said it's not possible because the time for refounds expired, sent a ticket for SE on the 20th, still got no answer. FFXIV: the game where the devs do all they can to make their playerbase happy while the publisher doesn't care at all. I really thought SE was different from the other MMO publishers, but they are actually worse, scamming their own playbase to sell more copies of Stormblood

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If it were in developed countries the answer would very fast and ready to get a solution. We are garbage to them.

Got this e-mail today and it feels so ironic lol
Pretty sure Eorzea doesn't need me. This thread made it pretty clear.

https://preview.ibb.co/hM9Ozk/renew.png

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Originally Posted by gustavray

Ppl will calm down on their own when their subs run out, but se's reputation will have a bad stain by then

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Guess what? SE doesn't give a rat's behind about their reputation. Proof? Last second (after the game has been released to the press) microtranscation addition and deliberately cutting the game in parts in hopes of making a sequel (sequels?) with Deus Ex MD and after people get angry and vote with their money, they put the whole series on hold. Again, basically forced DLC plans for FFXV (anyone who played the game knows that it has been added in such obvious story points that it gets uncomfortable). So doing this with FFXIV to russian and brazilian players is just an icing on the cake

Oh and it's not the first time they pulled this stunt off either. Back when Heavensward was released RU Steam CE version used to cost like 18-19 EU. Shortly after putting the game on preorder SE "adjusted" the price to be equal to that of other regions. So regional subscription rates for Russia and Brazil existed on purpose for at least as long as 2 years

I'm having lag since Omega (normal) patch, i've been patiently waiting for you guys to fix it and your answer was kinda like: 'Oh, you're having lag? Wll, please, pay more for this game that does not work!'. Fees should be based on the economic reality of a country, make people pay that much monthly is begging them to leave the game, really.

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Originally Posted by AsmodeusML

Again, basically forced DLC plans for FFXV (anyone who played the game knows that it has been added in such obvious story points that it gets uncomfortable).

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Story DLCs are for free (at least in the european PSN store). Most of the other stuff is for people who don't have the CE version, but want the CE items.

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Originally Posted by AsmodeusML

Guess what? SE doesn't give a rat's behind about their reputation.

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https://www.reddit.com/r/ffxiv/comme...tor_community/

:thinking:

for those who didn't yet, go make a review on steam. this is the only way for senpai to notice us!

I have played WoW for 7 years. But I was tired, the game is amazing, but I wanted something new and similar at the same time, so here I am. I was lin love for FFXIV, it's not better, but it's different. But now I'm not sure if I wanna to get attached to a company like that. Blizzard Customer Support is so amazing, they probably would be answering our thread if I was there but here things are so weird, we felt so insecure and nobody seems to care. There's only one or two GM replies lost in more than 70 pages, no stick, no official note. Sorry SE, but you're not going anywhere with this attitude.

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Originally Posted by Felis

Story DLCs are for free (at least in the european PSN store). Most of the other stuff is for people who don't have the CE version, but want the CE items.

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Story DLC are not for free
http://i.imgur.com/HW36V4d.png

You are completely right about the conversion rate, the 3.14 rate (7/23/2017) but you are completely wrong when we talk about minimum wage, in America the minimum wage is 1440,00 USD, in brazil it is 933,00 BRL
we have a shitty government and unorganized country, which makes the tax hit the ceiling, so, 28.99 is already TOO MUCH against 13.99 to 14.99 (which in my opinion is already TOO MUCH for a subscription of 30 days) + you have to buy the game...
now you have to pay 48.99??? this is freaking insane, I would stop playing this game...

DoppelShifter banned ? We have a martyr now.

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Originally Posted by Ckrownz

DoppelShifter banned ? We have a martyr now.

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Um....Who?

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Originally Posted by Ckrownz

DoppelShifter banned ? We have a martyr now.

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He's not a martyr. As he claimed, he was banned for a bad word. Sure it's petty, but it's most likely a few salty players reported his post for that word because they didn't agree with him, and now his post/s are deleted. I do hope that words like that are indeed against the rules and this is not an attempt at heavily policing the forums and removing anything negative. I also think it's not a good idea to derail this thread, we should try and keep it on track.

Russian here. This is pretty outrageous, the price has actually tripled. If it's not regulated by the end of my current subscription period I'm abandoning ship.

Completely unreasonable keeping in mind that WoW costs half that price and has actually warned people of the price increase beforehand.

What a way to annihilate an entire playerbase.

Swearing is actually against the games ToS.

Even his very reasonable posts with no swearing are gone, what a shame. That's why we gotta keep it civil, guys. Let's not give them reason to be silenced.

Question: do we need active days in the game in order to post in the forum?

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Originally Posted by Rofel

Even his very reasonable posts with no swearing are gone, what a shame. That's why we gotta keep it civil, guys. Let's not give them reason to be silenced.

Question: do we need active days in the game in order to post in the forum?

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Yes, I believe after 10 or 15 days unsubscribed you will not me allowed to login here.

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Originally Posted by Ronivan

Yes, I believe after 10 or 15 days unsubscribed you will not me allowed to login here.

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Not quite. You can have an active sub and still not be able to login. Basically, if you don't login to the game for 14 days, you will be automatically logged out of the forums and niot allowed to log back in until the servers sync from your last login to say "Yes, they last logged in less than 14 days ago, let them on"

Got it, thanks you guys. Gonna be able to keep the subject up for a while, then... *wink wink*

I'm reading all this thread from the beginning...
I'll just tell that I came in the game with my best friend and had a really great time, we loved the world, characters, gameplay... But now with cancelled regional prices he can't afford to pay so much for the game that he loves, and I left alone and don't feel that I can continue to play without him.
And what's worse - we can't find the better alternative and now just can look at FFXIV like at a really beautiful and tasty cake that we can't touch.
I just really upset with this...

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Originally Posted by Ambrosius

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I can relate to this. I started playing it 2 years ago and I had a group of friends with me. Even the regional prices were a bit too much for them so most stopped playing. Long story short I'm the only one who can afford the sub now :(

I really don't want to sound like a jerk, as I know it sucks a lot for those of you that may not be able to afford the sub anymore, but... Doesn't that mean that you were paying your sub way less than anyone else for a few years? SE determined a sub price, and you guys weren't paying it in full (according to the GM post). I feel like it is more a corrective move than a greedy one.

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SE determined a sub price, and you guys weren't paying it in full

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What? No, you make it sounds as if we were exploiting a bug or something lol!

SE determines the rate Steam will use with foreign currency, and regional prices are a common practice. FFXIV as the secong biggest premium MMORPG was just keeping with the trend.

I am personally not against adjustments. But killing the regional vallue and sudenly doubling the cost for the players without warning then before purchasing a whole expac is a step back imho.

There is a lot on the previous pages about currency if you are interested, I think there are some good posts who were not deleted.

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Originally Posted by Kuwagami

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We can discuss all day what is fair and what is not and not get into agreement. The thing is most people started playing because they could afford that price back then, I won't get into economics but even then the price was a bit on the high side for some people and yet they would still pay for it. The way it is now is more fair in your guys' point of view because it's the same price in USD but it's way too high for a mmo for us. You have to remember we don't get paid in USD which is why Steam payment offered that price in the first place. Also most people cannot afford the game as it is so they'll just stop playing altogether. That added to the fact that they waited until 1 month after Stormblood was released to do this change so people now have bought a game they cannot afford to play anymore and they can't get a refund. So yeah it may be fair in your point of view but try to understand why people are upset :/

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Originally Posted by Rofel

What? No, you make it sounds as if we were exploiting a bug or something lol!

SE determines the rate Steam will use with foreign currency, and regional prices are a common practice. FFXIV as the secong biggest premium MMORPG was just keeping with the trend.

I am personally not against adjustments. But killing the regional vallue and sudenly doubling the cost for the players without warning then before purchasing a whole expac is a step back imho.

There is a lot on the previous pages about currency if you are interested, I think there are some good posts who were not deleted.

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Its pretty much what everyone who disagrees is posting. Like we've been exploiting something for more than 3 years and only now SE stopped to notice.

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Originally Posted by Kuwagami

I really don't want to sound like a jerk, as I know it sucks a lot for those of you that may not be able to afford the sub anymore, but... Doesn't that mean that you were paying your sub way less than anyone else for a few years? SE determined a sub price, and you guys weren't paying it in full (according to the GM post). I feel like it is more a corrective move than a greedy one.

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I see it differently. If SE is being honest, they should have announce the price increase "before" Stormblood hit. By doing it secretly and after expansion hit it look very bad. It almost felt like back then Sony suddenly launch NGE right after the expansion launch. The thing is, if it was announced ahead of time, there will be some grumble but it is fine since they said it ahead of time. Regional price is nothing new but in my opinion it is Square Enix once again believe as long as it is Final Fantasy, people will stay subscribe no matter what. I wonder if they did a cost calculation if they will lost money by rising the price. IF more people decide to unsubscribe because of the price increase then the money they get from the remaining player in the affected region it made no sense to do it. It will cost chain reaction that will made player who can afford to quit because their friends quit. In MMO, player IS content.

Just adding my voice to this thread. I do not care how much someone else is paying for their sub. If it is $13 us or $.13 us, it should be based on the ability to pay in your country.

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Originally Posted by Kuwagami

I really don't want to sound like a jerk, as I know it sucks a lot for those of you that may not be able to afford the sub anymore, but... Doesn't that mean that you were paying your sub way less than anyone else for a few years? SE determined a sub price, and you guys weren't paying it in full (according to the GM post). I feel like it is more a corrective move than a greedy one.

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Now I'm not brazillian or russian but saying that they paid 'way less' is a little bit off. They paid 'way less' if they had to pay in USD, but they weren't paying in USD, and you have to bear in mind that they earn their local currency, they don't earn USD nor do they earn the same amount of their local currency as minimum wage compared to USD, in fact they earn a lot less even then. Try to be more sympathetic and see things from others' points of views.


I wish I lived in America so things would always be so convenient for me lol

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Originally Posted by Rofel

What? No, you make it sounds as if we were exploiting a bug or something lol!

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I did not mean it like that. I just meant that SE didn't bother to check conversion rates for a few years, keeping you with preferrential prices (good for you! I couldn't care less unless my sub suddenly got affected by it in a bad way). I don't even know if they are right or not about the new conversion rates they applied. Just trying to understand (if the new rates are good) why people are acting like SE robbed them. As far as I can tell, they didn't.

(I do agree SE should have warned 1 month prior as per their own ToS agreement though)

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Originally Posted by Ailis

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I do understand. What I don't understand is what they are upset about. People should be upset about SE waking up after 4 years and suddenly realizing that exchange rates have changed, not because SE adjusts the price to adapt to the new rates.

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Originally Posted by Korihu

I wish I lived in America so things would always be so convenient for me lol

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Now that's a snarky comment if there is one.

Nope, I am not living in the USA. I'm European, which you could guess from my world I guess. And while I understand why people are attached to regional pricing and all that it entails, you seem to ignore (or refuse to acknowledge) that there are people with horrendous minimum wage, and suffering from € when it comes to pricing. Should we stop caring about them because "they just had to live in a country with a lower currency"? Of course not.

It's just a matter of logic. If you want SE to practice prices based on living standard per country, then all the more power to you. But the be fair to everyone, not just some (no offense, BR and RU players). However, SE apparently thinks that they prefer "one price for all" policy, and that's their decision. Now all you can do is accept it or petition them for a change of policy

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Originally Posted by Kuwagami

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Whats upsetting us and making us feel "robbed" is that SE only bothered to change it right after we bought the expansion, exactly after most people bought the expansion, its money we can't get back on a game some might not keep playing.

Lemme tell ya:

One single Dollar is way more than THREE Brazilian Reais. And thats because things got worse, it was close to two when they implemented the regional price. The way you are saying it, SE had no idea, but they would have noticed when our currency was falling like a rock.

Just in case people dont know what are regional prices and why they are used.
Regional prices is not a steam or SE bug. They are not something u dont notice for 3-4 years and then "fix".
They are set by publishers that decide that having less is better than having none. And in steam its the publisher who choose prices.
Publisher set price. Its not a exchange rate, its not steam who choose the price and it clearly not bad cunning abusive russians that set price. Its SE.
So even if it was mistake for entire steam ff14 lifetime it was SE mistake and they shouldve apologised to all customers for that, give us a notification and 1 month after change price.
But its look like a scam more than a mistake.
The timing exactly when we cant refund a 35eur addon (no regional price for addon full cost for everyone). They even broke their own ToS to make sure there would be no refunds. If they announced increased cost in time their addon sales in affected regions wouldve been atleast 3 times lower.
People complain mostly not because of a cost increase. WOW increased cost too and that is fine. They complain because SE broke ToS. They complain because SE made a greedy scamming move by basically baiting us to buy addon before forcing us out of the game and ignoring us. They complain because of no communication. Still only 1 moderator post. That is why people complain. And we have all rights to do it.
Even people who can afford subscriptions will probably leave too. Not because of cost, but because of dead FCs, dead raid groups, friends leaving or just because they cant trust SE anymore like i myself cant.
If there will be no reply, apologies and a stormblood refund for all who want it i will probably never deal with SE again, never recommend their games to anyone.
Betrayal is the easiest way to turn love into hate. I really liked ff14 but this is not acceptable. Hope SE get punished for that one way or another.
Ban and post deletion incoming.