Upgrading from demo to subscription :mad:

I've been playing the demo on Steam, I wanted to buy the game and pre-order Stormblood so I bought the game on Amazon, but when I try and register the game it won't let me saying that I've got to use a Stream licence to do the transfer to regular service.

WHY MUST THIS BE SO COMPLICATED!

Do I really have to ask Amazon for a refund, and buy the game on Steam just so that I can play?

WTF!

I carefully avoided buying the game on Steam because I'd heard just how screwed up licensing on this was but I naively figured that since I didn't have a subscription they'd be happy to take my money and I'd just get a new account.

Help. I was hoping to have an afternoon enjoying my new game, not an afternoon tearing my hair out over nonsensical licensing restrictions.

I'd like to keep my character, but I guess that's becoming somewhat negotiable at this point. Is there anyway forward with this?

Can you transfer characters between accounts?

Seriously, I'm so frustrated with the stupid thinking behind all of this that I'm wondering if I care enough to sort it out or whether I should just abandon the whole game and play something less broken.

Having spent a while reading more about this cluster f**k, I can see that a) I'm not the first person to get in this mess, and b) there's no solution.

What an incredible way to piss off the customer.

If you have a steam account you need to purchase the game through steam.

You can not transfer between accounts.

It's pretty well documented at this point.

It might be pretty well documented if you already understand how their crazy system works, but coming to it new, why should I assume that since I'd not bought a Steam game, I was tied to a Steam game moving forward. I could have bought the Mac game and attached it to the same account or a PS4 one, WTF would any sane person expect that an unpurchased Steam download (the demo) would f you up so thoroughly.

And yes, I guess I was venting, but damn it all, this just makes no sense.

To be fair, this info is pretty obviously displayed on the Steam demo page and says that if you want to continue past level 35 then buy the game on Steam. That said, I do sympathize, since the account system is pretty convoluted.

You have two options right now:
1. Return the game through amazon and purchase it through steam. I'm not sure how amazon handles returns of digital downloads so this may or may not be viable depending on download status, etc.
2. Start over with a new character. Not ideal, but the limits on advancement while on the demo means that it's not going to be that massive of a loss.
(3. I know I said two, but I'm 99.9% sure this one won't work, so just putting it here in case you want to try it. You could contact SE customer support and explain your situation and they might be able to do something. I doubt they will. Regardless, if you do contact them, I would advise a more level headed request than you have done here. Expressing your frustration is fine, but doing it in less emotional terms and without the swearing is more likely to get a productive response.)

You bought the game on Amazon and expected it to work on Steam?
I know I haven't opened Steam in a long while, but does that work for any game on there?

We did warn you in the other thread you started, though...

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Originally Posted by Mhaeric

2. Start over with a new character. Not ideal, but the limits on advancement while on the demo means that it's not going to be that massive of a loss.

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This is the option I'd recommend. It uncomplicates things right now, and avoids further complications in the future.

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Originally Posted by Hasrat

You bought the game on Amazon and expected it to work on Steam?
I know I haven't opened Steam in a long while, but does that work for any game on there?

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No, I bought the game on Amazon and expected it to work, period.

I assumed that Windows was a separate platform, like Mac or PS4 and that since I'd heard that Steam was effectively a separate Platform that they simply wouldn't interact and I'd just work through on the Windows version. Little did I know that Steam and Windows are actually the same platform, but licensed in a way that means that you simply can't ever have both attached to the same account.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Mhaeric

Regardless, if you do contact them, I would advise a more level headed request than you have done here. Expressing your frustration is fine, but doing it in less emotional terms and without the swearing is more likely to get a productive response.)

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Good advise, and completely deserved :)

I really was frustrated yesterday.

In the end I gave up on expecting help from Square because basically I'm impatient and I wasn't expecting any response before Monday. Amazon explicitly don't do refunds on any sort of digital downloads, but I phoned them anyway and since this was basically an unused license key they just refunded me with no particular effort. Full kudos to them here, their support was fantastic. Then I just bought a Steam license and moved on.

On further note, though, if you buy the game from Steam, you will also have to buy every single expansion from Steam as well, because Steam version is not compatible with the PC version. Just so that you're prepared for that.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Hasrat

You bought the game on Amazon and expected it to work on Steam?
I know I haven't opened Steam in a long while, but does that work for any game on there?

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In fact it works for virtually any game on PC, especially the many out there that cannot be played standalone and require Steam (Or Blizzard's Battlenet, Ubisoft's Uplay, and so on). You buy them on Amazon, or wherever else, and still use whichever company's gaming software.

It's really only FFXIV/Squaresoft that treats Steam as a separate platform, where buying Steam vs Windows Standalone is as bad as buying it for a PS4 without owning one. So, confusion's pretty understandable, especially, you know, for a new player that hasn't experienced Squaresoft's account system before... That said, if OP asked in another thread... well, then yes, s/he should have known. But at least Amazon CS saved the day here...

Fair points. And I do seem to recall you can at least make Steam recognize you have other games on your computer maybe?

It is pretty fair to say SE's platform/license/account system is a bit wonky.

Also, lol, Squaresoft. Man, the good old days.

Well it wasn't exactly the same question in the other thread since I was asking about the Mac, and as several folks mentioned, what would work in that situation actually doesn't work with Steam and the Windows version. In fact it was my misunderstanding about the advice in the other thread that led me down trying to avoid the Steam thing in the first place.

Anyway, moving on now.