Asmongold is right, FFXIV's biggest problem is selling you the game. It's too messy.

I haven't been a new player in years but watching Asmongold discuss how he had difficulty purchasing the game, making a Square Enix account versus a FFXIV account, Steam only works with Steam, etc.... It's just too much.

Think of their competition, WoW is simply open their website and/or launcher and purchase the game. One login, that's it.

For Endwalker Square-Enix should really tighten this process up. Make it one easy account and make it easier to purchase / upgrade the game.

This has been something people have been dealing with for years now, it needs to be fixed. I am tired of seeing people who would enjoy the game quit before they can even try or start with a bad taste in their mouth due to this awful mess of a system.

Yep, this makes me remember that 20 days ago i wanted to make a trial account just to see what the game had to offer, and ho boi... why do i need a Square Enix account just to make a Final Fantasy 14 account again? I mean i already had one, but man, even when i wanted to register the game after buying it i still don't know why did i had to go to 2 different stores to give my CD-Keys the Square Enix one and then the Mog Station, and 3 different ways to log with for registering them, either using my FF14 account, or my Steam account or also my Facebook account (what?), i had a hard time just trying to understand where my CD-Keys needed to be registered, it's so messy that i almost gave up.

The operational part of Square-Enix is from the stone age. Whoever is their director or general manager of operations is abolutely pathetic.
Have you ever had need of customer support? Especially if the customer support actually requires escalation or more than 1 department they take an unacceptable amount of time..
Whoever heads their operations should be replaced asap and the middle management should be reviewed and improved.. I know these factors from all too many companies I interacted with in the past.. they invested heavily to build a system in the late 1990s and early 2000s and never updated it after it somewhat worked.. its disturbing to me how so many companies that live FROM the now are stuck in the past..
And just as another example to make my point... this forum is literally based on the 90s design and never changed...
I know there is such a thing as being accustomed to something that is working.. but "If it works don't fix it" is not acceptable as a business model.. you will lose.. its only a question of WHEN

if you play on ps4/5 you will just buy a game , make an SE account and log it, i dont know where is that problem. im sure its same on pc . i personally would get rid of free trial version if thats a cause. you can always buy a game with i think with 30 days subscription included.

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Originally Posted by Morphiana

I haven't been a new player in years but watching Asmongold discuss how he had difficulty purchasing the game, making a Square Enix account versus a FFXIV account, Steam only works with Steam, etc.... It's just too much.

Think of their competition, WoW is simply open their website and/or launcher and purchase the game. One login, that's it.

For Endwalker Square-Enix should really tighten this process up. Make it one easy account and make it easier to purchase / upgrade the game.

This has been something people have been dealing with for years now, it needs to be fixed. I am tired of seeing people who would enjoy the game quit before they can even try or start with a bad taste in their mouth due to this awful mess of a system.

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i wonder if you can get WOW from Steam , and i think no. so its bad comparition. there is just more ways how to get FF14 , it should be much easier and not that as it is now, but well. many people were able to get in.

*Laughs in 1.0*

You think the current method of purchasing the game and account registration is bad? The Mogstation is a breeze compared to the hair-pulling, ulcer-inducing frustrating horror that was the FFXIV version 1.0 SE Account Management System sign up, where they didn't even have direct credit card billing originally for subscriptions, you could only use SE's own virtual currency 'Crysta', or a very dodgy third-party payment system 'Clicknbuy' that charged huge fees each time a subscription payment was made (and some credit card vendors/banks actually blocked transactions from them, preventing sign up from being completed unless the player contacted their bank first to remove the block). It was one of the most despised and complained-about aspects of FFXIV version 1.0, so much so that when Yoshi took over as FFXIV's Producer and Director, he took the complaints to heart and was determined the sign up process was greatly improved and fixed for ARR.

Accordingly, the Mogstation was created to actually simplify the process (and SE eventually kicked Clicknbuy to the kerb, finally adding direct credit card billing as a payment method before then). Believe it or not, the current Mogstation is a vast improvement.

As for difficulties in purchasing the game, unfortunately SE outsources the hosting and operation of their online game store to third party companies, and thus it actually isn't their fault for any issues the store may have. Alas this doesn't help those who encounter issues in purchasing the game. :(

Yeah, video is right here time mark: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kbBgOiqIrjo&t=539s

https://i.imgur.com/IAYrHHd.png

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Originally Posted by Enkidoh

*Laughs in 1.0*

You think the current method of purchasing the game and account registration is bad? The Mogstation is a breeze compared to the hair-pulling, ulcer-inducing frustrating horror that was the FFXIV version 1.0 SE Account Management System sign up

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It doesn't matter if 1.0 is worse, there has been a lot of feedback from multiple sources that simply buying the game has taken people hours. It's not that SE are incompetent or deserve to be bashed over it or anything, it's just sound customer feedback. They're not used to a sudden rush of interest in the game and hadn't seen it as necessary until now.

Personally I'd say they should seize this opportunity and do a rework of the purchase system as soon as possible rather than wait until Endwalker, as well as looking into adding a few new servers. There's a huge profit potential right in front of them, they've been doing a good job taking advantage of it so far, no reason not to keep pushing that.