Trial player with some questions regarding purchase, sub options, etc.

Hello everyone. I'm currently on trial, leveling a character with the plan of buying the ARR/Heavensward pack once I hit the level limit, but I was wondering about a few things, if anyone can clear things up for me, I'll greatly appreciate it!

a. If I buy the Steam version of the game, is it possible to upgrade to the CE version through the mogstation at a later time?

b. Can we only set up a recurring sub, or is there an option to buy 30 days at a time without worrying about automatic renewals and such?

c. So this game has 2 types of subs, Standard and Entry. My question is, what do the 30 free days count as? That is, will I be able to make more than one character per realm, or will I have to wait until my free month is finished to renew as a Standard sub to do so?

Im under the impression that if you buy the game through steam you must make all further purchases through the steam store. So probly no on the mogstation question.

As for subscriptions, you can also buy game time cards from several stores(including amazon) to get subscription time without ever setting up recurring payments.

And i believe they treat the 30 days as standard time, not entry time. Im not positive though, because i didnt personally see the point in making a second character in a game where one character can do almost everything.

Thanks for replying!

Problem with gametime cards is that they only have 60 day versions. I avoid them nowadays since I wasted quite a bit of gametime in WoW because I'd get bored after a month, then I'd force myself to log on just so that I don't feel my sub is going to waste lol. Ah well, if there's no 30 day option, I could always cancel the sub before it renews, I guess.

A) All the sources I read seem to suggest you can upgrade to the CE through mogstation, even if you have the steam version. (Including steam forum and thus, steam users of the game) I would guess this I because the upgrade itself doesn't affect to your game license, but only adds handful of goodies to your account, much like the mogstation store additional glamour items. However if you get the steam version, you need to get all new expansions through Steam too. That excludes you from getting the physical CEs in the future since those only come bundled with the non-steam version of the game or expansion license.

I see, thanks Sida. Yes, I'm aware that if we buy the steam version we have to stick with that platform, which is why I was wondering if the same goes for the CE upgrade. Still on the fence about which version I'll buy, since there's some good retail sales occasionally, not sure if it's worth to lock myself out of those just for some steam conveniences.

Well, I still have 16 levels worth of play time to make up my mind :D

I'm an avid fan of the material CE goodies, such as statues and art books and such, so for me the decision was easy one. In any case, welcome to Eorzea, whichever route you choose :)

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Originally Posted by Glottis

I'm currently on trial, leveling a character with the plan of buying the ARR/Heavensward pack once I hit the level limit

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Depending on how fast you're going through the game, another thing you might want to consider at this point is just buying ARR when you reach the limit of the free trial (or get annoyed by the free trial's other limitations), and then buy Stormblood when it comes out. Buying Stormblood will give you Heavensward for free. It's another month and a half until that will be available, but there's a lot of ARR content to get through before you get to Heavensward anyway (unless you want to play as an Au Ra. The new race is the only thing that came with HW that's available to players before finishing ARR).

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Originally Posted by Glottis

b. Can we only set up a recurring sub, or is there an option to buy 30 days at a time without worrying about automatic renewals and such?

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If you pay by credit card, it will automatically set itself to auto renew. There's a couple ways around that. You can buy Game Time Cards or you can pay using Crysta, a sort of in-house virtual currency SE uses.

Although Crysta payments can auto-renew, they'll only do so if you have enough Crysta in your account, and purchasing Crysta is a non-renewing manual purchase. So just buy enough Crysta for one month (or six months or whatever you want), and then set your FFXIV account to be payed out of that Crysta balance. Your subscription will end when a payment is due that you haven't purchased the Crysta for.

That's how I pay for the game, with Crysta. Each time the sub runs out, I need to go back into the Mog Station and buy enough Crysta to renew it. That lets me keep on top of when money is coming out of my credit card balance.

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Originally Posted by Glottis

c. So this game has 2 types of subs, Standard and Entry. My question is, what do the 30 free days count as? That is, will I be able to make more than one character per realm, or will I have to wait until my free month is finished to renew as a Standard sub to do so?

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The initial 30 days are a Standard subscription. (So is any time purchased with Game Time Cards, I believe.)

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Originally Posted by Sida

I'm an avid fan of the material CE goodies, such as statues and art books and such, so for me the decision was easy one. In any case, welcome to Eorzea, whichever route you choose :)

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haha, yes that would make things simpler, unfortunately I prefer digital, less stuff to dust that way! Thanks for the welcome :D

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Originally Posted by Niwashi

Buying Stormblood will give you Heavensward for free.

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ohh, I had no idea about this, thanks for mentioning it! I guess I'll hold of buying Heavensward then, it's not like there's a sale going on atm the moment anyway.

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Originally Posted by Niwashi

So just buy enough Crysta for one month (or six months or whatever you want), and then set your FFXIV account to be payed out of that Crysta balance.

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If Crysta costs as much as the monthly sub, I think I'll probably go that route as well. Better than cancelling my sub everytime (and ending up clicking on "cancel service account" on accident lol)

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Originally Posted by Glottis

If Crysta costs as much as the monthly sub, I think I'll probably go that route as well.

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1 Crysta = 1 cent (at least in USD), both when you're buying it and spending it. So, if you want to buy a 30 day entry subscription (which costs $12.99), you'd buy 1,299 Crysta, or if you want to buy a 180 day standard subscription (which costs $77.94), you'd buy 7,794 Crysta, and so on. (If you use a different currency, I don't know what the prices are in euros or pounds or whatever, but I'm sure the pattern of costing the same amount of crysta as what you'd get for that amount of money remains the same.)


30 days entry subscription - $12.99
30 days standard subscription - $14.99
90 days standard subscription - $41.97
180 days standard subscription - $77.94
(+ $2 per 30 days for each extra retainer beyond the first two that are available for free)

When you buy Crysta, you can select any amount between 500 ($5 worth) and 10,000 ($100 worth). Just look up the amount you'll need ahead of time and you can specify the exact amount, so that you're not overpaying and left with a few extra left over.

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Originally Posted by Niwashi

Just look up the amount you'll need ahead of time and you can specify the exact amount, so that you're not overpaying and left with a few extra left over.

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Ah great, I'll be subbing with crysta then :) I'm in EU so it's I guess it's either €10.99=1,099 for entry or €12.99=1,299 for standard. Thanks again for your help!

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Originally Posted by Niwashi

That's how I pay for the game, with Crysta. Each time the sub runs out, I need to go back into the Mog Station and buy enough Crysta to renew it. That lets me keep on top of when money is coming out of my credit card balance.

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Just a small note. If you are buying the subscription on credit card, there is an email notification 5 days prior to upcoming payment. Every month. That gives ample time to cancel the sub before the next payment goes through, if you so wish.

That's good to know, though I usually check my account page on mmos more often than I do my email :D I probably won't have issues remembering to cancel, is just that it'd be more convenient to have an option to add 30, 60, or 180 days of non recurrent time online. Maybe they'll add it in the future.

If you buy Steam version you can pay subscription from steam wallet. There is such option at mogstation.
And here you can choose you payment options including auto-renewal.

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Originally Posted by Niwashi

Buying Stormblood will give you Heavensward for free.

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Source for this? First I've heard of them doing a HW/SB bundle

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Originally Posted by Asheilin

Source for this? First I've heard of them doing a HW/SB bundle

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clicky!

After you load that page, take a look at the 2nd tab labeled as "For new players - Final Fantasy XIV Complete Edition" This will include the base game and both expansion, however you can not pre order that one and you do not get the pre order bonuses, or early access.

"Requires FINAL FANTASY XIV: A Realm Reborn to play.

Please note: FINAL FANTASY® XIV: Stormblood includes the Heavensward expansion."

From the CE's describtion in the SE store. Same was also in the standard stand alone. The complete is needed if you dont have ARR but all versions of SB include HW. Only ARR is required for the stand-alone versions..