Error 401 & Error 601 Troubleshooting Solutions Thread!

Hello everyone,

I know that a lot of people have been having issues with their payment for their account for the majority of this week. Hopefully this thread will help you with your Final Fantasy woes. First, please take a look at the official response from the devs regarding this issue: http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/t...de-401-and-601

I've been reading through the forums to find the many different solutions have found that have solved their problems and were able to get back into the game. The purpose of this thread and this list is to hope that I can help as many people as possible without needing to contact customer support (which is both busy as well as not entirely helpful at this point in time).

Ideally, I hope we'll find your problem within the first few steps before we have to really jump through hoops. I'll also post a "Why This Works" so people can understand why going through certain methods work for some people and not for others.

1) Trying a Different Internet Browser
People have been having issues with different internet browsers, so the simplest solution to this is trying a different browser and going through the payment issues.
Why This Works: Different Internet Browsers have different default security settings, or have very specific settings when it comes to paying through an online website. If you're not completely browser savvy like me, then you'll most likely can't be bothered to go through all the settings to find the correct one. Having an outdated browser might also affect your payment, so make sure you have the most up-to-date browser.
Google Chrome (this is the one I used to update my method without any problems): https://www.google.com/intl/en/chrome/browser/
Internet Explorer: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/i...wide-languages
Firefox: http://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/new/

2a. Buying Crysta
Buying Crysta might be another alternative you can try. Some people have had troubles paying for direct subscriptions but had no problem simply buying Crysta using the same credit card.
Why This Works: Certain transactions, for whatever reason, get denied by Square Enix and/or the Credit Card company. Although it's unfortunate we have to make some extra effort to pay for the game, it's only a temporary bit of extra work we need to do while Square Enix is fixing the issue (which I'm sure they are!).

If this still doesn't work, then we try...

2b. Buying Crysta through Paypal
This has been what worked for quite a few people, and I have helped someone in my Free Company with their payment issues solely with this solution.
Why This Works: Paypal is considered a separate payment method, but is still essentially considered paying with your credit card. All you have to do to start paying with Paypal is by registering your free account and your credit card information on their website (https://www.paypal.com/home).
Why This Works: Even though it's considered Paypal, you're still paying with your Credit Card so there's nothing different except PayPal will automatically be verified since they're a credited third party.

After setting up your account, go to the payment method selection screen. There you will get the option to either pay with credit card or UltimatePay. You want to select the bottom option and it will take you further to several other sub-options (one of them being Paypal).

Simply purchase the amount of Crysta you need for the subscription model you want (30/60/180). Just remember to write down the amount of Crysta you want to purchase (they give you a list of different amounts of Crysta to buy, but you can actually choose your own amount).

3. Changing Security Settings in your Browser
This will be different based on the browser you use, but here is the method for Internet Explorer 10 (source: http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/t...nd-601-errors.)
Why This Works: As I said previously, certain security settings will prevent you from paying for certain things on certain websites. This can be turned off, however, and changed so that you "shouldn't" be able to see them. The method is:
Settings or Tools -> Internet Options -> Security Tab -> Drag Security Bar to Medium setting -> Uncheck 'Enable Protected Mode' -> Apply & Close

Make sure to change all your settings back to your default after finishing your payment to be safe from any other possible websites or third parties.

So far, these are the methods I have found which worked for most people, so if you're still receiving errors, hopefully people will step up and tell everyone what worked for them outside of the methods I posted so far. I'll update this as often as I can to have all the methods that we know so far helped people.

Let's all give SE a break and see if we can find the solution ourselves!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Laela

2b. Buying Crysta through Paypal
This has been what worked for quite a few people, and I have helped someone in my Free Company with their payment issues solely with this solution.

So, how exactly do you buy Crysta with paypal, when Paypal isn't listed as an option?

http://i.imgur.com/g2unPfb.png?1

And as for your last statement of "Let's all give SE a break and see if we can find the solution ourselves!" -- How about NO. SE needs to earn their "break" by providing a stable, reliable, and enjoyable service to their customers. Which they have yet to do.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Reignson

So, how exactly do you buy Crysta with paypal, when Paypal isn't listed as an option?

When you click on UltimatePay, it'll bring up several other sub-options for you to choose (one of those being Paypal). Some people have said they just tried putting in credit card and sometimes it'll give an error. Eventually you'll make it through it and the credit card will get accepted. You can try either of those methods and see which works for you!

Ok, I figured it out. The Paypal payment option is buried (very unintuitive) inside of the UltimatePay option.

This did alow me to buy exactly 1299 Crysta, add it to my account, and then pay for my Sub with the Crysta - without having leftover Crysta or any wasted money.

http://i.imgur.com/sots4Hu.png?1

However, SE still needs to fix their $hit.

This is what every attempt to add Crysta looks like:
https://fbcdn-sphotos-c-a.akamaihd.n...21992272_n.jpg

That's before you're even GIVEN payment options. In other words, screw you, we're not letting you buy Crysta. MogStation doesn't even seem to want you to buy Crysta, because it's missing as an option on the MogStation site unless your account already HAS Crysta.

Yes, there is that work around where you harass UltimatePlay/PlaySpan to do Square Enix's job manually, but that just highlights how utterly useless Square Enix's Customer Service system is, and I'd rather not support Square Enix if they don't fix their pathetic billing system.