So, are people who on Steam who want a Physical CE just out of luck?

I've been trying to find a proper answer to this, and am still left somewhat confused. It is abundantly clear that you cannot apply a physical CE key to an account created via a Steam key, but....is that just, it? Is Square content to just tell people that bought it on Steam that they can not purchase a physical CE? At least as of now there doesn't appear to be any information suggesting any sort of alternative.

I'm a sucker for Physical CEs when it comes to games I enjoy, especially statuettes. When the CE was initially revealed I planned to get it for the dragon mount figure alone. As of now, it appears the only way I could do that is to purchase the expansion twice, with the key that would come with the physical copy going to waste.
Has anyone else inquired as to any means around this? Would Square be willing to offer Digital CE Steam keys to people who purchase a physical CE but have a Steam version of ARR? Is there anything we can do at this point beyond just wait and see?

Perhaps this is a question for customer service.

On steam you can go on the "games" tab and select "activate a game on steam" to enter game keys from outside of steam to your steam library. If thats not what you meant and doesn't work, sorry for misunderstanding, its just what I've done the few times I've had a physical game.

I wouldn't think so, normally an install asks you where to install. You just have to navigate to the Steam folder.

Or you could do what I've done with some other games (they needed a patch that I couldn't get through Steam), remove FFXIV entirely from the Steam directory and put it somewhere else. Just remember to update your shortcuts!

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Originally Posted by Malusion

On steam you can go on the "games" tab and select "activate a game on steam" to enter game keys from outside of steam to your steam library. If thats not what you meant and doesn't work, sorry for misunderstanding, its just what I've done the few times I've had a physical game.

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He's referring to buying the physical copy, which may not contain a Steam code with it.

They have said it, if you have ARR on Steam and you wanna continue playing via Steam, you have to purchase Heavensward via Steam. If you want the physical CE for the physical goodies, you have to purchase the physical CE.

Yes, it's far from ideal; yes, there should be some way to, for example, exchange keys via the Mog Station. But there isn't, and for whatever reason, SE doesn't seem to want to bother with it either. So that's just it. :/

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Originally Posted by Violyre

I wouldn't think so, normally an install asks you where to install. You just have to navigate to the Steam folder.

Or you could do what I've done with some other games (they needed a patch that I couldn't get through Steam), remove FFXIV entirely from the Steam directory and put it somewhere else. Just remember to update your shortcuts!



He's referring to buying the physical copy, which may not contain a Steam code with it.

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I know, I assumed physical copies still come with product keys on the box. If they don't I am horribly out of touch with the times.

I think your best alternative would be to either find someone you trust who is willing to buy a steam version of the digital CE and exchange keys with you, or sell the key from the physical CE to recoup some of your costs.

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Originally Posted by Malusion

I know, I assumed physical copies still come with product keys on the box. If they don't I am horribly out of touch with the times.

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From what I recall, SE doesn't include Steam codes with their games. Sorry, I phrased my response poorly.

If I may make another suggestion, why not give SE the idea to add a Steam code to the physical collector's edition? Best of both worlds then.

Hey guys, I made a petition for this for everyone. If you want to try to get the dev attention on this, make sure to like and comment on this thread!

I actually already have inquired to customer service on this. This was more of me asking if anyone else had done the same and mayhap gotten a response.
Ideally I'd like to see Square offer Steam Keys to people who purchase the physical CE and request one. If they don't, I suspect they're going to see a bit of a firestorm in the near future. I've held off on purchasing it because I was actually waiting for it to come to Amazon. Tired of waiting, I went to look at it in Square's store and that's when I noticed the tidbit about it not being compatible with the Steam version.
According to my friend who also purchased via Steam and had already pre-ordered the physical copy, that disclaimer was not there when pre-orders first opened up. In otherwords, if they are not willing to compensate, there could be a good number of people out there who purchased it while unaware of the incompatibility, and they're going to be in for a rude awakening when they send out keys to their pre-purchasers.

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Originally Posted by Violyre

If I may make another suggestion, why not give SE the idea to add a Steam code to the physical collector's edition? Best of both worlds then.

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I don't think that would be a viable solution, as it would mean that buying a Collector's Edition nets you two digital CE keys for one, and nothing would really be stopping you from using the one you need and giving away/selling the other one.
That could result in some serious losses on Square's part. The ideal solution is just for Square to come out and either tell people who will be purchasing on Steam there is no viable way for them to buy a physical CE, or acknowledge the flub and pledge to offer Steam keys to people who buy the Physical CE who would need one, though you could argue in doing the latter you'd run into the same problem unless there was a way to void the physical CE's normal key. I guess it boils down to how much they care about customer satisfaction over potential lost revenue.

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Originally Posted by Kiyaki

According to my friend who also purchased via Steam and had already pre-ordered the physical copy, that disclaimer was not there when pre-orders first opened up.

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Playing devil's advocate, but has your friend actually got proof of that otherwise it'd just be their word against what it says now. Don't get me wrong I think the Steam/Non-Steam policy sucks, but I can't see them offering refunds after they've shipped orders because the codes won't work etc when it (currently) says about that on the ordering page.

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Originally Posted by worldofneil

Playing devil's advocate, but has your friend actually got proof of that otherwise it'd just be their word against what it says now.

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Haha, I actually worded that incorrectly. When I said he had purchased via Steam, I was referring to the fact that he purchased ARR via Steam, not Heavensward. Heavensward is not even listed in Steam's system as of now and is not available for purchase. Still, this issue isn't with Steam or Valve from what I've seen.
I hadn't been to the Square Store before today, which is when I pointed out the disclaimer to him and he said that it was not there when he put his preorder up. I trust his word because I know him personally and know he isn't one to buy blindly without research, but I can't confirm or deny it factually since I did not visit the pre-order page in Square's store when it first became available.
As of now, he put in a ticket to customer support and is trying to find out pretty much the same thing I am.

Blame valve.