Unable to Register Expansion (Think twice again if you wants to come back to XIV)

I have a very disappointing experience with SE today.

I brought a brand new copy of HW which indicate NOT suitable for STREAM account which I am not, however, only found that I am rejected for registered after i tried installing

The code's region is inapplicable.
You can only enter codes from the same region as your Square Enix account.

There's no indication from the boxes the game only works for EU OR NA account, when i contact SE support for help, only receive by a unfriendly agent that refuse to provide any assistant and say it's my problem and i need to sort a solution out with the retailer myself.

Now i am stuck with a unusable copy of expansion
an extended periods of subscription

I feel con and it's a extremely unhappy experience for me. I am not buying another copy and pray it works or beg thier unfriendly agent for solution to no where.

I hope player which think of coming back or starts the game, do think twice or hope for the best

Where did you buy it from?

so far this is the only "incorrect" purchase i can see happening that isnt the fault of the user. went thru both EU and NA versions of the SE store, and neither show that there is a region specific anything, store itself not included. where did you buy your HW at?

local store in shopping mall, i am from singapore, so every copy sold here could be imported from EU or NA, and since the box never indicate which region it works only, as a consumer we can't tell from the box will which copy works for your version of XIV

Return the thing to the retailer and tell them your ARR copy is of a different region and thus, won't accept the expansion. It was a simple mistake and you had no idea your copy was regionally different.

And no, if it is a region locking issue, the agent you contacted wouldn't be able to help you, as, unsurprisingly, they can't give away free copies of the game if you, the player, bought the wrong version.

It's no different than complaining your PS3 copy won't work on PC.

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Originally Posted by Valvatorezero

local store in shopping mall, i am from singapore, so every copy sold here could be imported from EU or NA, and since the box never indicate which region it works only, as a consumer we can't tell from the box will which copy works for your version of XIV

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the only way i know the difference would be thru the rating system. EU uses pegi, while NA uses ESRB

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Originally Posted by Kaze3434

so far this is the only "incorrect" purchase i can see happening that isnt the fault of the user. went thru both EU and NA versions of the SE store, and neither show that there is a region specific anything, store itself not included. where did you buy your HW at?

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Unless it says it not region locked you should always assume that it is region locked not the other way around.

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Originally Posted by Valvatorezero

local store in shopping mall, i am from singapore, so every copy sold here could be imported from EU or NA, and since the box never indicate which region it works only, as a consumer we can't tell from the box will which copy works for your version of XIV

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Well that not really a SE problem then and you should take it up with the local shop you bought it from should be their responsibility to tell you where the copy of the game came from if they import both EU and NA copies.

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Originally Posted by Lexia

Unless it says it not region locked you should always assume that it is region locked not the other way around.

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normally that is true, but its the other way around in regards to sony stuff. there is like 3 games that are region locked on ps3/4. this game is one of them, and the other two are persona games; the fighting games.

can't agree with that logic, I remember in FFXI, they will indicate if it's a NA or EU copy. This round they dont, which indirectly would have consumer assume it's global friendly.

Example, if u brought a new window OS, after a DIY setup and connect to internet, MS block you saying ur version of windows dont work in ur region, where no region lock specification hv ever indicated anywhere in ur purchase copy... would u still agree with your theroy?

My HW case for PC is not in your face and does not say the exact phrase that it is region locked but there couple clue that it is. NA copy is rated by the ESRB, and states at bottom of back cover that ToS can be found at http://sqex.to/ffxiv_na_legal being I don't think the NA ToS going to be much use to person in the EU or vice versa.

It's correct to say is consumer fault when the product is clearly stated that it meant for PS3 and consumer still brought it and hope it works for PC.
But when publisher selling 2 different copy with similar package, i feel they hv responsibility to make consumer aware there's a difference for their 2 similar package product

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Originally Posted by Valvatorezero

can't agree with that logic, I remember in FFXI, they will indicate if it's a NA or EU copy. This round they dont, which indirectly would have consumer assume it's global friendly.

Example, if u brought a new window OS, after a DIY setup and connect to internet, MS block you saying ur version of windows dont work in ur region, where no region lock specification hv ever indicated anywhere in ur purchase copy... would u still agree with your theroy?

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this is the closest i could find that say anything. http://support.na.square-enix.com/fa...la=1&kid=67433
also, what i said still stands, because the boxes of the NA region are different from the boxes of EU.

Use these symbols on the package to determine what region the game is from and like said before don't assume a game is region free just cause it don't say.
http://www.ghostrecon.net/images_reports/esrb.png
ESRB = NA
PEGI = EU

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Originally Posted by Kaze3434

the only way i know the difference would be thru the rating system. EU uses pegi, while NA uses ESRB

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Thanks for the useful information. Pegi and ESRB have never mean anything to me over here as we never have any issue for any other game till now.
It maybe a common knowledge for EU n NA player. I might need to pay attention to if i ever buying another SE game

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Originally Posted by Ametrine

It's no different than complaining your PS3 copy won't work on PC.

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I'd normally agree but the OP said there was no indication of this on the box. It's not really her/his fault by assuming it would work when it doesn't specify otherwise.

I once bought my boyfriend Heavensward online and again, it didn't state the game was region locked (I live in he UK and my boyfriend lives in the USA) and in the end we had to just give it away.

I understand the frustration and hope it gets sorted soon, Valva.

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Originally Posted by Lexia

Use these symbols on the package to determine what region the game is from and like said before don't assume a game is region free just cause it don't say.
http://www.ghostrecon.net/images_reports/esrb.png
ESRB = NA
PEGI = EU

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Thanks for the enlightenment.
It's just that where I am neither NA nor EU, and all games we manage to play here was never being 'block' by any game developer, thus gamer never really know what ESRB or Pegi have any meaning to it.

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Originally Posted by WinterLuna

I'd normally agree but the OP said there was no indication of this on the box. It's not really her/his fault by assuming it would work when it doesn't specify otherwise.

I once bought my boyfriend Heavensward online and again, it didn't state the game was region locked (I live in he UK and my boyfriend lives in the USA) and in the end we had to just give it away.

I understand the frustration and hope it gets sorted soon, Valva.

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Even if they did state it no one would pay attention to it anyways like the SE store saying that the copy they sell will not work with steam but people still buy it and then get upset that it don't work with steam.

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Originally Posted by Lexia

Even if they did state it no one would pay attention to it anyways like the SE store saying that the copy they sell will not work with steam but people still buy it and then get upset that it don't work with steam.

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But it doesn't state it. That's not the OP's fault. If it did then of course, but I know for a fact at least some of the games don't state it because I was in the same situation.

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Originally Posted by WinterLuna

But it doesn't state it. That's not the OP's fault. If it did then of course, but I know for a fact at least some of the games don't state it because I was in the same situation.

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perhaps it not OPs fault but it not really SE fault either as the retailer should know what they selling as they didn't buy it directly from SE and I said it wouldn't matter even if they did state it and I gave an example.

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Originally Posted by Lexia

perhaps it not OPs fault but it not really SE fault either as the retailer should know what they selling as they didn't buy it directly from SE and I said it wouldn't matter even if they did state it and I gave an example.

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I didn't blame SE :P

And you can't really generalise the entire FFXIV community and say everyone would buy the wrong game even if it did state it >_> you're not really proving anything there. But anyway, good luck OP, I hope you get it sorted!

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Originally Posted by WinterLuna

I didn't blame SE :P

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I didn't say you did, but does sound like OP is blaming SE.

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Originally Posted by Lexia

I didn't say you did, but does sound like OP is blaming SE.

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ofcoz I am, haha
Cause have a rating logo and assume everyone knows what it mean doesnt sounds convincing enough for me.
It's a lack of responsibilty to inform consumer properly,,, atleast from my perspective i feel so.

But if i am the only one that didnt know bout the rating mean region locking, then probably i am the only fool to be blame

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Originally Posted by Valvatorezero

ofcoz I am, haha
Cause have a rating logo and assume everyone knows what it mean doesnt sounds convincing enough for me.
It's a lack of responsibilty to inform consumer properly,,, atleast from my perspective i feel so.

But if i am the only one that didnt know bout the rating mean region locking, then probably i am the only fool to be blame

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If you're not used to ratings on your region then it's not your fault, but the seller's. In my case, if I go to a certified game store in my country (NA), I don't expect to see the pegi logo on the boxes. I could probably tell something is off, haha. Also the boxes usually have a legend on the back that specifies the region they belong too.

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Originally Posted by Valvatorezero

ofcoz I am, haha
Cause have a rating logo and assume everyone knows what it mean doesnt sounds convincing enough for me.
It's a lack of responsibilty to inform consumer properly,,, atleast from my perspective i feel so.

But if i am the only one that didnt know bout the rating mean region locking, then probably i am the only fool to be blame

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Maybe you should be blaming the local store you bought it from, as they should of had the information to be able to inform their customers.

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Originally Posted by Lexia

Maybe you should be blaming the local store you bought it from, as they should of had the information to be able to inform their customers.

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Small gamestore with friendly salesperson in my country have mostly close down in last few year due to popularity of online purchase nowsday.
Now we either buy game online or purchase from the bigger mall which we(Gamer) just read information bout the game from the box ourselves then make payment at the cashier(which they know nothing bout games)

I guess it's just $50 down the drain($40game $10subscription) and a sign for me to retire from FF.

Perhaps I been a fan way too long... since FF3 or 4..too long ...

As a person also living in the pacific region, I've seen my share of NTSC versions mixed in with the PAL. In a country that isn't one of the 'big three' (JP,NA,EU) It's a lesson you learn as a gamer.
You already knew from your FFXI experience that you need the same region across your expansions. In fact any gamer who has a game that needs expansions knows this (likely they learned it by making the mistake)

It's just one of the things you do to protect yourself, esp if you have no faith in the store employees. Heck, one of the first things I used to do was turn the case around and look for the region sticker because we had a surge of little second hand game stores open up at one point. Not just for protection but so I could get excited that I found a game not usually imported in. Granted, this was 10 years ago...

It's nothing more then a mistake
Take it back to your retailer for an exchange. I don't know what the retailers are like there, but they are much more flexible when you just want to swap the product, not get a refund usually.

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Originally Posted by Valvatorezero

Small gamestore with friendly salesperson in my country have mostly close down in last few year due to popularity of online purchase nowsday.
Now we either buy game online or purchase from the bigger mall which we(Gamer) just read information bout the game from the box ourselves then make payment at the cashier(which they know nothing bout games)

I guess it's just $50 down the drain($40game $10subscription) and a sign for me to retire from FF.

Perhaps I been a fan way too long... since FF3 or 4..too long ...

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you do know you can go back to the store and return it? unless they have some stupid rules in regards to returns of those types. if anything, you may be able to exchange for the one you need. SE isnt going to be able to do anything for you because your problem isnt thru them.

thanks for the sharing n concern,

appreciated

I must apologize as I didn't consider the fact that certain regions are simply forced to import or than ratings may go right over the head of other region's players.

But I do hope the store is willing to give you a return or exchange! That looks to be your best route.

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Originally Posted by Ametrine

I must apologize as I didn't consider the fact that certain regions are simply forced to import or than ratings may go right over the head of other region's players.

But I do hope the store is willing to give you a return or exchange! That looks to be your best route.

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no one has to import. at all. there are digital downloads, and those are also region locked.

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Originally Posted by Valvatorezero

It's correct to say is consumer fault when the product is clearly stated that it meant for PS3 and consumer still brought it and hope it works for PC.
But when publisher selling 2 different copy with similar package, i feel they hv responsibility to make consumer aware there's a difference for their 2 similar package product

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In this case, SE doesn't officially sell the game to singaporeans though, do they?
It would have been a different thing if it was an NA store and you got an EU copy there.
Sorry to say, but in this case you'll have to turn to your retailer.

this is only a suggestion not sure it is feasable but.....maybe posting in a section of the FOrum that you have a copy of HW that is region locked (name the region) and you would exchange it for one that is not locked for you....and see if someone has a similar problem somewhere.

Maybe someone willing to buy his HW copy could buy it send it to you and you to him /her..of course there is trust to have had but well asking doesnt cost anything.

I would attempt this road too if the one of asking your retailer to refund you/exchange it for one that works failed.

Actually OP, which store did you buy your game from? TOG and GameMartz always labels their copies of Heavensward with EU or NA on the back and sometimes the side of the box. You can try going back to the store itself can try to request for an exchange.
I managed to exchanged my NA copy for a EU copy at TOG (back when it was still Comics Connection), though I have not opened the package. Your chances of exchanging your copy would be quite low now that you opened the box.

Otherwise, you can just try MeiUshu's suggestion and try to arrange a swap somewhere.