Please allow Steam License holders to buy a standalone PC License.

I hope that this is the truth here, because it feels like Customer Service provides conflicting answers. But according to this article here: https://www.fanbyte.com/news/ffxiv-s...region-locked/

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“For existing users, we understand that there may be cases where the country information in the Steam account provided by Valve does not perfectly match the country/region information of the Square Enix account. Therefore, we have not set restrictions that would impede pre-existing users who wish to link their accounts.”

Although regionality will not affect the linking process for existing accounts, there will still be a regional restriction on newly purchased registration codes. If you buy the game via Steam, the country of the Steam store/account will have to match the region of that user’s Square Enix account.

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It seems people may be fine? Just with future expacs you might have to rely on getting a copy gifted from the appropriate Region via friends. Or it could mean that simply entirely new accounts require a matching region, but pre existing ones won't. Either way, this should hopefully curb a lot of the problems people would face otherwise.

Valve won't allow that

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Originally Posted by Tanis_Ebonhart

Valve won't allow that

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If you say that in regards to gift copies. I've done it in the past, most recently with Endwalker to ensure my key would work with my service account. Don't see why it wouldn't continue working.

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Originally Posted by Yaibatsu

It seems people may be fine? Just with future expacs you might have to rely on getting a copy gifted from the appropriate Region via friends. Or it could mean that simply entirely new accounts require a matching region, but pre existing ones won't. Either way, this should hopefully curb a lot of the problems people would face otherwise.

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This is good news and I hope no one with mix region runs into any issues! What's sad to me is the lack of communication still.

Also the point of this thread remains the same. Let me buy a PC license SE, if you cannot then you need to offer a 1 time character transfer for users.

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Originally Posted by Youkulm

This is good news and I hope no one with mix region runs into any issues! What's sad to me is the lack of communication still.

Also the point of this thread remains the same. Let me buy a PC license SE, if you cannot then you need to offer a 1 time character transfer for users.

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Yeah, the lack of communication and clarification of the entire situation is quite a shame.

Though on the matter of licenses. I think SE's hands are just bound and they can't really offer anything due to existing contracts with Valve, as much of a shame as it is.

I still believe it's something they could reasonably fix by allowing character transfers as a last resort. I understand the difficulties Steam causes, heck that's why a lot of steam users want to get the heck away from it.

Bumping back up. Still waiting for an official response.

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Originally Posted by Youkulm

Bumping back up. Still waiting for an official response.

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I don't really get what you're expecting here. You purchased a Steam copy and ultimately, much like PlayStation store policies, your FFXIV game license/account is tied to Steam forever for a PC copy of the game. Square Enix, as the publisher for FFXIV, signed everyone up to that fate when they started selling the game on Steam.

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Originally Posted by Johners

I don't really get what you're expecting here. You purchased a Steam copy and ultimately, much like PlayStation store policies, your FFXIV game license/account is tied to Steam forever for a PC copy of the game. Square Enix, as the publisher for FFXIV, signed everyone up to that fate when they started selling the game on Steam.

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Your response is the exact reason why they're waiting for an official response.
You have absolutely no idea what kind of deal SE signed with steam and all you're doing is speculate that it's not possible when it's easily possible with other titles on steam that are available off steam as well like battlefield or GTA.

The comparison you made with PS store is also completely irrelevant because owning the game on PS does not force you to make a completely new account to add a PC license. If you can own the game on multiple storefronts there's no reason we shouldn't be able to add a normal windows license as well.

An official response would clear this all up instead of having us deal with excuses and speculation.

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Originally Posted by JinM

Your response is the exact reason why they're waiting for an official response.
You have absolutely no idea what kind of deal SE signed with steam and all you're doing is speculate that it's not possible when it's easily possible with other titles on steam that are available off steam as well like battlefield or GTA.

The comparison you made with PS store is also completely irrelevant because owning the game on PS does not force you to make a completely new account to add a PC license. If you can own the game on multiple storefronts there's no reason we shouldn't be able to add a normal windows license as well.

An official response would clear this all up instead of having us deal with excuses and speculation.

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Just curious...how many official responses have been made on the English forums?

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Originally Posted by Poporito_Popoto

Just curious...how many official responses have been made on the English forums?

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Just check the posts made by the english community reps.
For example we got an official response when some people got falsely banned for RP party finders: https://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/...31#post5512931
And when people had audio technical issues on Endwalker launch https://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/...06#post5773506

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Originally Posted by JinM

Just check the posts made by the english community reps.
For example we got an official response when some people got falsely banned for RP party finders: https://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/...31#post5512931
And when people had audio technical issues on Endwalker launch https://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/...06#post5773506

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The issue isn't going to be fixed by community reps.

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Originally Posted by Poporito_Popoto

The issue isn't going to be fixed by community reps.

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Neither of the issues i linked were fixed by community reps, they just post what the teams that are responsible on fixing the issues say.

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Originally Posted by Poporito_Popoto

The issue isn't going to be fixed by community reps.

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Not asking it to be fixed. Asking for clarification which has not been given. Please go back and read the thread from the start if you're confused about what were asking for.

A fix would be nice yes, but I don't expect miracles from community reps, just transparency. You know, transparency, not the super vague, slightly-ominous, and slightly-condescending news announcement we got pretending Steam Linking is the best thing since sliced bread.

Bumping back up for visibility.

The fact almost 30 days have passed and they haven't deigned to elaborate on the linking requirements aside from the vague statements given in the announcements is practically spitting in the face of all their steam-bound customers
We at least now know region locking won't be retroactive, so those people are fine. But what of people who are playing on a different steam account than the one that holds the CD-key? Or people who have their keys spread across 2 steam accounts?

We'll find out when they implement the measure, after suffering through a month of doubt

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Originally Posted by Ranaku

They can't let you do this cause it is against steams policy i think so they either have to take the game entirely from steam or can't change peoples licenses if players created their accounts over steam.

So this is not really SE fault, they can't offer you a switch of licenses cause it would violate steams policy which would make steam remove XIV entirely which would obviously cause even more trouble.

But yeah, it sucks and i am also playing over steam and i am not happy with it.

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No, it's not. You can request from some other publishers, Frontier Developers as an example, a separate client install from Steam. It depends on the developer/publisher. I can do this with Elite Dangerous and Anno 2070 (and other games), but I can't with Surviving Mars (believe me I've been looking into it, Steam can go suck goat ass with their crap policies).

If they can change your license, it will deactivate the steam license and you can have the separate install instead. It's possible, but you have to ask to see if it can be done, per every game you want to do that with, as some make it impossible.

The new steam linking system does not look for product keys, I'm happy to announce
It only seeks that the steam account has the base game

Even if it's not the cd key that's registered to the account you linked, it'll link and launch with no problem

Hope everyone has no problems with their linking

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Originally Posted by Aishikai

The new steam linking system does not look for product keys, I'm happy to announce
It only seeks that the steam account has the base game

Even if it's not the cd key that's registered to the account you linked, it'll link and launch with no problem

Hope everyone has no problems with their linking

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Thanks for the info, it means me and many others can play without no issues then.

opened and played fine for me.

a bit of a delay while it linked, but I am guessing only have to do that once.

(would still prefer to not be through steam but, it is what it is and appears the sky did not actually fall... amazing. maybe people that start these panic threads should take a few deep breaths beforehand)

Sadly the game isn't loading for me. Guess we'll have to wait for a fix on the issues they already announced with this nightmare on the lodestone.

I really wish they'd just let us buy a PC license, I don't know why this is so hard.

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Originally Posted by Youkulm

Sadly the game isn't loading for me. Guess we'll have to wait for a fix on the issues they already announced with this nightmare on the lodestone

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Reddit, and now here report

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We are still investigating the issue, but have confirmed that this issue can be avoided by setting your Steam profile name to alphabetical characters only.

We apologize for the inconvenience, but as a temporary workaround, please temporarily change your Steam profile name to only alphabetical characters and attempt launching the game.

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So, as a workaround, do try making your steam profile name to only a through z - no punctuation or other characters.

Yup my profile name is already a-z never was anything else. My issues were already reported. Just drinking my coffee and settling in to not play the game while they figure this out the next few days / weeks. If the issues persist the next few weeks, ill probably just end up making a second account and buying a PC License.

This should never have been an issue. They need to just let us have PC Licenses. I fail to see the issue, as others in the thread have already stated: other games allow this so I'm beginning to doubt its a contractual issue and more of an issue with code that SE just doesn't want to fix.

I'm very sad that we are being punished now for buying the game through Steam, a decision made 6 years ago.
The restrictions just keep on getting tighter and tighter.

- Forced to buy expansions through steam
- Forced payments through steam wallets including subscription
- Forced now to run without the -issteam launch option
- No option to switch or way out

So, we are stuck with it forever. Along with whatever other punishments come down the line. Restrictions that no other type of player is subject to.
I really hope this thread catches the attention of those at SE that can do something about this.

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Originally Posted by Calliande

I'm very sad that we are being punished now for buying the game through Steam, a decision made 6 years ago.
The restrictions just keep on getting tighter and tighter.

- Forced to buy expansions through steam
- Forced payments through steam wallets including subscription
- Forced now to run without the -issteam launch option
- No option to switch or way out

So, we are stuck with it forever. Along with whatever other punishments come down the line. Restrictions that no other type of player is subject to.
I really hope this thread catches the attention of those at SE that can do something about this.

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I have a Steam copy and I’m NOT forced to buy subscription or optional cash shop items through it. Likewise, I have a PlayStation license on my account also and I’m not forced to use the PS Store to buy game time to cash store items.

At the end of the day, buying a game on Steam is akin to buying on any console platform, it’s a game license for that platform. Square Enix should’ve been doing this account linking all along and more. The fact I still need to use an extra launcher rather than going directly from Steam to the game itself is a poor implementation. Likewise not distributing game files directly via Steam is also a poor implementation.

Complaining that you have to use Steam to play your Steam copy of FFXIV is like complaining you have to use a PlayStation to play your PlayStation games.

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Originally Posted by Johners

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I agree with all your points ( I also never use steam wallet for my sub, so it is not required like the previous poster says. It did take me a few months to figure it out, they do make it really wonky for Steam users to pay without wallet, there is a few extra buttons you need to push but it's not bad. Though to be fair SquareEnix's site isn't the most user friendly to begin with.. ) Despite agreeing, it doesn't negate the purpose of this thread.

We want to be able to buy a PC License. We cannot.

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Complaining that you have to use Steam to play your Steam copy of FFXIV is like complaining you have to use a PlayStation to play your PlayStation games.

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Also agree, this is why we want a PC License. But unlike PlayStation I can't have a Steam and PC key on the same account. If Steam wants to be treated as a console then it should be treated as separate from PC on my SquareEnix account. I should be able to have both. Period.

No one is asking them to roll back the linking. It is what it is. We just want the option to leave the platform without losing our characters and accounts.

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Originally Posted by Johners

Complaining that you have to use Steam to play your Steam copy of FFXIV is like complaining you have to use a PlayStation to play your PlayStation games.

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That's a terrible comparison and is not what this post is complaining about.
A better comparison would be that if you made your account through playstation and you'd want to switch to PC, you would have to make a completely new account, which is what steam users have to do to not play through steam.

If it's possible to own an FFXIV license on multiple platforms like Playstation and Mac at the same time, we should be able to own FFXIV on windows and steam as well.

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Originally Posted by Youkulm

We want to be able to buy a PC License. We cannot.

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thats a falsehood and a misdirect.

you can easily buy a pc license, the actual issue is you cannot transfer your Steam character account to a Square Enix character account

"All character data is tied to the service account on which it was created. As such, we are unable to move character data to another service account or SQUARE ENIX Account. "

what you are wanting, is to transfer your character data from a Steam based Square Enix account to a Square Enix account, which is basically transferring a character from one ID to another. its not as simple as you seem to think, and I believe it is that way for a reason. If anything, you may try contacting their support to see if you can transfer a character between accounts, but I suspect the ultimate answer is no since its ID based and not as simple as changing some values such as a home world transfer.

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Originally Posted by Kes13a

thats a falsehood and a misdirect.

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I don't think it's a falsehood when we cannot do it. Period. Especially without losing our characters and accounts.

Nothing you said, changes what the people in this thread want. Nothing you said doesn't change the fact that this needs to be fixed.

It's a long shot, yes, but I wont stop asking. It's been a thing a lot of steam users have wanted since 3 or so years ago when they started changing how we needed to access the game. Heck issues go all the way back to HW really.

Look, I've been playing Final Fantasy since 1990. I do not give a crap about Steam. I only used steam to begin with because I had issues with Square Enix online store for Final Fantasy. I live in the U.S.A. and we live in a free market system. I DO NOT GIVE A RATS BUNGHOLE about STEAM! Please, just give me copies of the standalone PC version and remove all STEAM access. I do NOT even understand the logic behind this change at all. Thank you! I was here when Final Fantasy had this mess of a login system and was a beta tester; Although not on this account but an actual Final Fantasy account. I'll go back to the old Final Fantasy 11 login if thats what you wish but don't integrate a damn thing with Steam. I do not care about Steam.

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Originally Posted by Youkulm

I don't think it's a falsehood when we cannot do it. Period. Especially without losing our characters and accounts.

Nothing you said, changes what the people in this thread want. Nothing you said doesn't change the fact that this needs to be fixed.

It's a long shot, yes, but I wont stop asking. It's been a thing a lot of steam users have wanted since 3 or so years ago when they started changing how we needed to access the game. Heck issues go all the way back to HW really.

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not to put too fine a point on it but..

even if you had a "PC" account and you wanted to move your character to another "PC" account... they either will not, or cannot do it.

this has NOTHING to do with it being a steam account, it has to do with you cannot switch characters from one account to another. THAT's where the problem is. has zero to do with the fact that its steam. if you are going to complain about a problem, at least complain about the right problem.

I'm not sure were asking for the same thing. So not sure why you're pointing out my posts specifically? Perhaps you need another thread?

This thread is about Steam users wanting to be able to be able to buy PC Keys the same way we can buy MAC and PS Keys. Period.

And you are (Kes13a)? Square Enix allows only a minute amount of employment to Final Fantasy 14. There are games 100X less profitable with 100X more employment and 100X more malleability. That is the facts. Your delusions of facts are NOT. What Square Enix is limited by is their own capacity for capability. BUT, they had the time to patch for STEAM who, by the way, DIDN'T pay for a damn thing. No, the player who bought the game and purchases crap IN THE GAME did.

Took me 10 minutes to log in today, because Steam runs like garbage. So looking forward to having to deal with that every single day, every time I log in.

Also great "security" update. Now instead of only having one account that could be compromised, I have two that could be and block me from playing the game. Because having a OTP was not enough apparently.

This isn't for security, it's poorly disguised DRM, which I did not agree to when I bought this on Steam 4 years ago. Just let us buy a Windows version without having to start over.

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Originally Posted by Kes13a

this has NOTHING to do with it being a steam account, it has to do with you cannot switch characters from one account to another. THAT's where the problem is. has zero to do with the fact that its steam. if you are going to complain about a problem, at least complain about the right problem.

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No one's asking for their characters to be moved to another account. Do you have any idea how the console lisences work? They can all go on the same account. Same characters, regardless of what you're playing on.

People are literally asking to be able to use the normal launcher over the Steam one (whether they need to buy a separate license or not). That is it. The account would not need to change, no character data would need to be moved.

Please stop acting like you're an authority on this when you have no idea what you're talking about.

Over 8 years ago i bought the game on Steam, never had any issues with it and now out of blue Square decided to ruin it all for giggles.

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Originally Posted by Aishikai

The new steam linking system does not look for product keys, I'm happy to announce
It only seeks that the steam account has the base game

Even if it's not the cd key that's registered to the account you linked, it'll link and launch with no problem

Hope everyone has no problems with their linking

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Can anyone else confirm this? Since it's a bit expensive to even test ha...

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Originally Posted by fxmaxximus

Look, I've been playing Final Fantasy since 1990. I do not give a crap about Steam. I only used steam to begin with because I had issues with Square Enix online store for Final Fantasy. I live in the U.S.A. and we live in a free market system. I DO NOT GIVE A RATS BUNGHOLE about STEAM! Please, just give me copies of the standalone PC version and remove all STEAM access. I do NOT even understand the logic behind this change at all. Thank you! I was here when Final Fantasy had this mess of a login system and was a beta tester; Although not on this account but an actual Final Fantasy account. I'll go back to the old Final Fantasy 11 login if thats what you wish but don't integrate a damn thing with Steam. I do not care about Steam.

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If you don't care about Steam, why did you buy it on Steam? Steam isn't a random license key website, it's a fully fledged platforms with games designed around its feature set. FFXIV is no different in this regard and the fact you could launch FFXIV in this way for so long is a mistake on behalf of Square Enix as the publisher. If you went through the process of selling a game on Steam and actually looked at the agreement between publisher and Valve (the platform holder and distributer), you'd have to deal with the same thing.

It's highly likely that SQUARE ENIX can't just provide a non-Steam alternative based on how these platforms operate. The game licence and any accounts under that will always "belong" to Steam in that regard and thus you will always have to use it to play FFXIV unless you want to start again which you're welcome to do.

There's so much COPIUM on this forum of people that don't understand how Valve/Steam operates as a platform like the other major platforms. It's pretty standard for a game purchase on a major platform to also tie progress to that platform and in situations where things can be transferred, limitations apply and/or the publisher pays for the right to do that (why do you think it took so long for online games like Fortnite or Destiny to actually implement cross-platform multiplayer).

SE aren't just going to barge in and tell Valve no, it simply doesn't work like that. Not to mention all the people, myself included, that like using Steam and would like to see SE actually use more of the platform's feature set in the distribution of FFXIV. I'd love to see the Steam version not require the extra launcher and use Steam's CDNs for distributing the game and updates. It could also be like Destiny 2 in having it's own account but doing all the setup and linking in-game directly so pressing play on Steam takes me straight into the game, not another launcher (not to mention never having to enter your username/password because it authenticates via the linked Steam account) that you'll already be signed into).

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Originally Posted by Johners

If you don't care about Steam, why did you buy it on Steam? Steam isn't a random license key website, it's a fully fledged platforms with games designed around its feature set. FFXIV is no different in this regard and the fact you could launch FFXIV in this way for so long is a mistake on behalf of Square Enix as the publisher. If you went through the process of selling a game on Steam and actually looked at the agreement between publisher and Valve (the platform holder and distributer), you'd have to deal with the same thing.

It's highly likely that SQUARE ENIX can't just provide a non-Steam alternative based on how these platforms operate. The game licence and any accounts under that will always "belong" to Steam in that regard and thus you will always have to use it to play FFXIV unless you want to start again which you're welcome to do.

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This is victim blaming. If steam users had been made well aware they would be signing up for extra DRM they would have avoided it entirely. Besides, the same is fucking hard enough to purchase on its own. Am i supposed to perform research on how to buy the game before even buying it?

The smug holier than thou attitude is palpable.

I dislike posting publicly about this sort of thing but honestly I hope they here this.

This is not a good change. It's increasing the points of failure in the product. It's already impacting users. Even if it worked as intended it's extra steps in the user experience.
This affects users that may not have known about other options to purchase the game. It leads to regret from the people that have actually purchased the game on steam.
If I had known it would affect me the way it has before I purchased the game I would have 100% used their website instead. However I purchased the game on steam because of the ease of access and the local currency.

For those saying this is how it has to be due to user agreement I direct you to look at games with similar launchers on steam. Warframe for example doesn't have this sort of DRM and it uses a very similar style of launcher.
I would also like to point out this also impacts users on non-windows platforms.

While I don't expect anything to come from posting this, I do help that is lets SE hear the community.