billing question

(all you that are about to jump on the rage bandwagon, i hate to let you down, but this is not a "i don't want to pay" post. this is a real question that i want to clearing up before we get billed

ok so although it has been F2P for awhile now. when we first started we had a service charge to pay. also we are being charged for char's and retainers and then we have the monthly subs, which we can pay 1 month, 3 months or 6 months (if this is incorrect plz let me know)

so my question is

is the service charge a one off payment or a monthly payment?
is the char and retainer charge a one off payment or a monthly charge?
if the answer to these questions is yes, and i want to pay for 6 month sub, will these charges be included in my 6 month plan or will i be charged separately for them on a monthly basis?

sorry if i posted this thread in the wrong place but i wasn't sure where to put it

everything is monthly

if they do "3/6/year" plans itl be charged at those aniverseries, not per month

Are they still making us use Click and Buy?

thank you for the response :D

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Originally Posted by AeraLucis

Are they still making us use Click and Buy?

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we are apperently gonna have other options
wait and see i guess(no concrete info yet)

Yep, though you can technically pay for advance months/years by buying enough Crysta but as of now that's the more expensive route as, given a $12.95 month fee, it's $30 for 2 monthsish, $50 for 3 monthsish and 100+ for 10,000 Crysta which would be a few months give or take depending on finalized pricing.

However they are changing things around which should be put into play by next month. (late fall)

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Originally Posted by AeraLucis

Are they still making us use Click and Buy?

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Depending on where you live, you may already be able to use PlaySpan/UltimatePay to purchase Crysta (USA / EU). And PayPal can be used through PlaySpan/UltimatePay.

The subscription prices for FFXI and FFXIV are slightly different. Whereas you pay for FFXI on a 30 day basis you can purchase subscriptions for FFXIV in 30/90/180 day increments. When I first set up my account in Sept 2010 I did so for 180 days. Total price for me would have have been $84.00 base service and 2 characters. Recently checked Acct Management and that appears to be still in place.
As for payment methods SE appeared to have capitulated when the FFXI player base revolted when they announced the implementaion of the new system. Nothing said about it since then.

Here's hoping that we in mostly S.E.A (Not OCEANIC) get more than C&B, because that what we S.E.A has anyway.

So you're saying you have to pay per character and retainer? That's pretty lame. Do i have to buy the one retainer I currently have? why not just charge $15 and allow players to make a bunch of characters/retainers, can give it a cap at like 50?

Last i remember is that for each character you will get 1 free retainer.

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Originally Posted by Lavani

So you're saying you have to pay per character and retainer? That's pretty lame. Do i have to buy the one retainer I currently have? why not just charge $15 and allow players to make a bunch of characters/retainers, can give it a cap at like 50?

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Each character gets a free retainer, but additional has a cost, much like additional characters have a cost. It's not lame perse, since 1 character can experience pretty much every class/jobs that will be released compared to other MMOs where 1 character = 1 class (tree) forever.

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Originally Posted by Jennestia

Each character gets a free retainer, but additional has a cost, much like additional characters have a cost. It's not lame perse, since 1 character can experience pretty much every class/jobs that will be released compared to other MMOs where 1 character = 1 class (tree) forever.

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Yeah, and there is no limit on character creations. I can make as many as I want, even the same class. These can also be on different servers to play with different people that have established characters on various servers. This is my current issue with them charging for each character.

Each char now gets 2 free retainer you want 3? you have to pay other 1$

German Rep (Sasu) said that there is an official announcement about how the billing system will function in the works, so we should sit tight for that.

Sasu also confirmed that you'll now be able to buy more retainers as well once billing goes live, but more details on that are also still to follow.

I still hoping all regions regardless where you are have more option payment, not to be stuck by one.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Jennestia

Each character gets a free retainer, but additional has a cost, much like additional characters have a cost. It's not lame perse, since 1 character can experience pretty much every class/jobs that will be released compared to other MMOs where 1 character = 1 class (tree) forever.

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I don't see how it isn't lame, knowing it cost absolutely nothing to SE. Being able to play each jobs in the game is not a valid reason. As said above, you may want to play on different World. And we aren't 100% sure yet that everyone will be able to level all crafting classes to maximum level in the future.

When PvP will be here, some players may want to play in different factions/company or whatever it will be. That can only be achieved through one mean, having an extra character.

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why not just charge $15 and allow players to make a bunch of characters/retainers, can give it a cap at like 50?

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Because it's a part of their business model. There is also a reason why SE tried to "improve" the retainer system rather than moving on to a straight and simple AH. Retainers ? Have to pay for them. AH ? Doesn't generate any extra income (unless they start doing like Blizzard with premium smartphone apps).

To me it was clear since day one that whoever made the retainer system took the $1/retainer business model in consideration.

(definately not the only reason, but still... money always matters when such decision are taken).