PETITION: Regarding FINAL FANTASY XIV Steam Version (Mar. 8)

Square Enix apparently has no knowledge of how poor the Steam client is.

The majority of your users avoid the client because of this.

By making the change announced today, you are sentencing your entire userbase of gamers who are forced to remain on Steam into a nightmare of performance problems and issues. The Steam overlay built into the client alone has caused massive issues with many users.

As a result of this change, I hereby demand we be given a one-time ability to trade in our Steam keys for Square Enix direct Windows platform keys on our accounts.

they'll say there's nothing that they can do, and you should buy it from the $quare€nix store directly.

You don't understand - they are changing it to require you to login via Steam. For now we don't have to do that, but when they change it in less than a month we will no longer be able to do that. We also cannot currently add a PC key to an account that already has a Steam key - I've tried.

I was about to make the same thread. Literally no one wants to log in on steam just to log in on a game.

I'll bet they'll want us to reinstall it too. What a waste of time. No one wants this terrible change. It's complete garbage.

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Originally Posted by Bladesong

I was about to make the same thread. Literally no one wants to log in on steam just to log in on a game.

I'll bet they'll want us to reinstall it too. What a waste of time. No one wants this terrible change. It's complete garbage.

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It's even worse when you consider what happened to ESO when they did this. ESO steam users need to constantly maintain a connection to the steam auth server as well as the ZOS one. The steam auth server for ESO regularly goes down and Valve doesn't care to fix it. I made a thread earlier asking for a conversion from Steam to PC for Steam users with more details about the depth of the ESO Steam disaster there.

Consider this signed.

I am LIVID. This is not the state I bought the product in, and I was not warned of this change. I would even PAY for the option to be free of Steam. This is incredibly scummy and anti-consumer.

I put in a SUPPORT TICKET, and I would ask anyone else to please also put in a ticket! Flood them with support tickets about this issue and make them realize how unpopular this is!

I'm not taking this lying down, this is awful.

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Originally Posted by demonette

Consider this signed.

I am LIVID. This is not the state I bought the product in, and I was not warned of this change. I would even PAY for the option to be free of Steam. This is incredibly scummy and anti-consumer.

I put in a SUPPORT TICKET, and I would ask anyone else to please also put in a ticket! Flood them with support tickets about this issue and make them realize how unpopular this is!

I'm not taking this lying down, this is awful.

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Yeah I lodged a ticket earlier myself. Having been through the ESO disaster while paying the optional sub and ZOS wringing their hands saying they couldn't do anything about it because the issue was all on Valve's end I won't put up with this again. If Valve had fixed the ESO issues that would be one thing but they haven't. Service has only just be restored earlier today (my time) from two days of downtime for Steam users.

http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/t...or-Steam-users.

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Originally Posted by szalkerous

...I hereby demand...

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Yikes.

You guys should instead be petitioning Valve and Steam regarding this, since it really seems to only be in Steam’s favor—and the wording used in the announcement strongly suggests it was per their request this change be made.

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Originally Posted by Lurea

Yikes.

You guys should instead be petitioning Valve and Steam regarding this, since it really seems to only be in Steam’s favor—and the wording used in the announcement strongly suggests it was per their request this change be made.

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They won't. ESO made this change and one particular incident lead to Steam ESO accounts not being able to log on for 4 weeks, followed by two days up then another 5 down. Valve doesn't care. SE can however allow us to apply PC keys to accounts that already have Steam keys. Something we can't currently do. Or offer Steam users a conversion to PC keys like they did for PS3 users to convert to PS4.

Dear Dev team:

Please reconsider. I already consider myself to be punished for having bought the game off of Steam. Not only does it serve to be an extra layer between wanting to play the game, and logging in, but every time expansions roll around, I am never able to take advantage of the various sale prices.

Within my FC, and the greater community of allied players that comprise three other FCs with a total of over 1200 players, we always inform newcomers to the game to never buy the Steam version already. To force this onto people who made the mistake of buying the game through Steam before realizing what it entailed, feels misguided at best, and vindictive at worst.

If anything, I, and our greater community, almost universally to an individual, all feel that had we the opportunity, we would have all already purchased new, non-Steam editions of the game, just to free ourselves from having to buy all of our expansions there forever.

Signing and signed.

Direct startup should be a choice for players if steam doesn't work, like it has proved before with ESO. I hope they allow us to convert to PC keys cuz this policy is really messed up and it may hurt steam users in the long run.

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Originally Posted by SwissArmyKnife

If anything, I, and our greater community, almost universally to an individual, all feel that had we the opportunity, we would have all already purchased new, non-Steam editions of the game, just to free ourselves from having to buy all of our expansions there forever.

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I can't emphasis this enough. Those of us who have stuck with Steam have stuck with it because we've no other choice. We can't put a PC key on an account with a Steam key. I bought the game just after ARR launched. I bought through Steam because I heard about it through Steam when another friend was playing it. I didn't see buying the expacs via Steam that big a deal - though I wouldn't say I liked it either. But this is... I personally experienced the mess of ESO doing this exact same thing. Valve doesn't care if users can't log on to the game they paid for because the Valve auth servers are messed up or the connection from the Valve auth servers to the game auth servers are messed up. This change is adding to massive points of failure for Steam users and at this moment we have no way of switching out of Steam - since we can't add PC keys to an account that has Steam keys.

Consider me signing this, I got it on steam because it was easier to buy, but installed it off of it because of the terribleness that is steam and its ingame bulkiness...Even if you turn off the ingame overlay, Steam itself adds a bunch onto your games load, and do we have to reinstall it all over again? Or can we do a Blizzard thing and locate it in our files like people in 2019?

Consider it signed from me.

Consider it signed. I really do not miss having to open up Steam each time just for the sake of logging in, not to mention having to reinstall the game AGAIN if this goes through, since I recently had to upgrade my PC.

Signed!

At the very least let me purchase a second PC key that is rid of steam. I would be happy to pay for this.

Signed.

Please let us have the possibility to activate a windows ff14 key on our account without having to start from square one again.
I'd happily buy the whole stuff again.
The whole Elder Scrolls Online Issues really scared me now.

Yeah, I'm not happy either. I've seen what happened to ESO players. Heck, I'd buy a second non-Steam PC license, but I can't.

Signed! I've had a lot of problems using Steam to start the game so I stopped using it. :/

Seeing as launching through Steam is how I always run the game anyway, and have never had an issue, I dont see the issue here.

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Originally Posted by Ayer2015

Seeing as launching through Steam is how I always run the game anyway, and have never had an issue, I dont see the issue here.

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Ayer right now it does nothing different from launching via launcher. You get an overlay by doing this but there is no difference in functionality. Your client connects directly to SE's servers. When this change becomes enforced your game will function differently, it will connect to Valve's auth servers which will then forward your game connection on to SE's servers. If Valves servers go down, you will DC. If the connection between Valves auth servers and SE's auth servers overload or otherwise mess up you will be booted from the game and be unable to log in again.

This has already happened with another MMO, ESO. ZOS could do nothing to help the users because the problems are always on Steam's end. It has been a mess for over 18 months and Valve shows no signs of trying to find a serious solution to the issue. To imagine that it will somehow be different for SE belies the reality that just this morning the Steam auth servers came back up after 2 days of being down for ESO. The game is still getting days and weeks of downtime for Steam users. FFXIV will have to contend with the exact same issue.

Consider it signed from me.

Singed! I only bought the Steam Version years ago because of the easy payment with the steam cards. But since i have Paypal i dont even need this anymore and Steam itself is only making Problem with the Game. I once tried it through steam and i ended up with donloading the whole game like 3 or 4 Time because of "corrupted files". Without Steam the Game works fine. I would like to switch but i don't want to start from the beginning again and leave my Char and my MogStore Items laying around doing nothing...

Signed! This will just cause more problems, angry players and a bad reputation for SE/FFXIV. And I guess I'm not the only one who doesn't see the actual problem, i mean we still have to buy the expansions via steam. So steam doesn't lose anything when we are playing without steam. But hey..."Steam policies", even if it makes no sense.

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Originally Posted by Ranaku

Signed! This will just cause more problems, angry players and a bad reputation for SE/FFXIV. And I guess I'm not the only one who doesn't see the actual problem, i mean we still have to buy the expansions via steam. So steam doesn't lose anything when we are playing without steam. But hey..."Steam policies", even if it makes no sense.

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At a guess, I would imagine they would also like Steam users to pay their subs by the Steam wallet so Valve gets a cut. They ended up doing this for ESO as well - all crown purchases have to go via the Steam wallet. I managed to get my ESO account converted from Steam to PC though after a 4 week downtime issue. But it's also likely I only got that offer because I was paying for the optional sub at the time. Subs are not optional here. I very much wonder what SE's policy will be for all the downtime, will they compensate Steam users or will they just wring their hands and say well the issue isn't on our end.

I'll sign this for you. I don't have the Steam version, but I know people who do and I know they've had to deal with plenty in the past already, thanks to the awkward link between the services.

I don't know if there's anything that can be done, but if there is, I'm all for it.

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Originally Posted by TheGrimace

I'll sign this for you. I don't have the Steam version, but I know people who do and I know they've had to deal with plenty in the past already, thanks to the awkward link between the services.

I don't know if there's anything that can be done, but if there is, I'm all for it.

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SE simply allowing us to apply PC keys to accounts that already have Steam keys would be a start. Not ideal but a start. As it stands though you can't mix and match Steam and PC keys you also can't put a PC key on an account that has a Steam key at all. PC and Steam keys sit in this weird place of not being the same yet being the same - unlike PS3 and PS4 keys that were always treated as different in the account system. As a result at this point in time without any action on SE's part Steam users are being held hostage to this change. Assuming the service is no better or worse than ESO (which has required this for some 18+ months now) there will be at least 5 days every month where Steam users will just not be able to log into the game at all - nevermind massive and constant disconnections and disruptions to the game.

Dears! Please help me! I am so desperate now~T T
My FF14 account is steam version.
When I first heard of this game, I have no idea what the difference between those versions.
And a friend of mine, help me set up all the account details.
I was able to play the game since then.
Afterwards I noticed my account is steam version, even though I don't have a steam account:(
Now because of my relocation, I can't reach to that friend.. He just doesn't reply to my messages.
If I don't have access to the steam account which he originally bought the game for me, it means I am fxxked, don't I?...
Every time I think of I will never play my current account after late March, I want to jump out of the window. OTZ (ಥ_ಥ)

I'm on PS4 myself but absolutely signed.

Pleas SE, do something about this, free the Steam-bound players from their Steam-jail and let them have regular PC keys.

Signed. I want off this train wreck before it causes problems.

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Originally Posted by Lozza

Ayer right now it does nothing different from launching via launcher. You get an overlay by doing this but there is no difference in functionality. Your client connects directly to SE's servers. When this change becomes enforced your game will function differently, it will connect to Valve's auth servers which will then forward your game connection on to SE's servers. If Valves servers go down, you will DC. If the connection between Valves auth servers and SE's auth servers overload or otherwise mess up you will be booted from the game and be unable to log in again.

This has already happened with another MMO, ESO. ZOS could do nothing to help the users because the problems are always on Steam's end. It has been a mess for over 18 months and Valve shows no signs of trying to find a serious solution to the issue. To imagine that it will somehow be different for SE belies the reality that just this morning the Steam auth servers came back up after 2 days of being down for ESO. The game is still getting days and weeks of downtime for Steam users. FFXIV will have to contend with the exact same issue.

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Can we migrate a Steam account character to a SE version if we re-purchase the title?

nevermind: FAQ Article: 67467 says no

Consider me signed. ARR was originally gifted to me via steam so that locked me into getting the expansions that way too. It wasn't a big deal since I could just launch the game directly without even being logged into steam, but now that is not going to be allowed anymore? This is ridiculous.

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Originally Posted by Ayer2015

Can we migrate a Steam account character to a SE version if we re-purchase the title?

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No. You cannot have a PC and a Steam key on the same account as it currently stands. Hence the threads requesting it. Steam and PC keys are treated weirdly, unlike the PS3 and PS4 keys which were different Steam keys are both the same and not the same as PC. IE if you try to put a PC key for ARR on an account that has a Steam key for ARR it believes the account already has the ARR key and you can't apply it. However it also treats them differently in that you can't apply a HW Steam key to a ARR PC key. This same but not same weirdness is the crux of the issue with this change. We have no choice to change to PC - such a change is completely impossible - even at our own expense.

I would purchase the game again to get around this, if I could. In the time since ARR came out, I've kinda stopped using Steam. It would be pretty inconvenient to keep it running all the time.

Signed. I'm tired of Valve in general nowadays.

I honestly never knew people had such problems with steam. The worst I've had is it constantly complaining about a component not working but that's easy to fix. So yeah; guess I'll sign my name because people shouldn't be forced into that.

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Originally Posted by Gwenorai

I honestly never knew people had such problems with steam. The worst I've had is it constantly complaining about a component not working but that's easy to fix. So yeah; guess I'll sign my name because people shouldn't be forced into that.

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Steam as it stands at the moment isn't an issue really. All it adds is an overlay of varying usefulness and forces you to buy the expacs by Steam - which most people don't like but don't hate either. When this change happens though Steam users will be forced through a Valve auth server. We know this because this is how it works in ESO, another MMO that changed to this system some 18+ months back. The moment the auth server goes down - and it does so regularly in ESO - Steam users will be completely unable to access FFXIV even though there is no issue with the game servers.

I'll also point out that Steam users in ESO were eventually forced to pay for crowns (cash store currency) via the Steam wallet which isn't something everyone uses. I certainly don't. By that time I had support switch my account over to a PC version rather than run the Steam one so I wasn't affected. But ESO also doesn't have the weird can't have a Steam/PC key on the one account issue.

There is also the issue of what happens when someone loses access to their Steam account. Many players who have Steam versions of FFXIV don't use Steam much anymore if at all. Steam account gets hacked or locked down - lose access to FFXIV. Steam servers under DDoS. Can't play FFXIV. Steam bans you for something completely unrelated to FFXIV, they have effectively banned you from FFXIV - with no way to get your account back because you can't put a PC key on a SE account that has a Steam key.

I'm a ps4 user so i have no clue on alot of pc/steam things so i want to ask what are the steam policies that ffxiv now has to adhere to? and what are the consequences should SE not follow them?

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Originally Posted by Bladesong

I was about to make the same thread. Literally no one wants to log in on steam just to log in on a game.

I'll bet they'll want us to reinstall it too. What a waste of time. No one wants this terrible change. It's complete garbage.

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i log into steam every time i boot up my pc, in fact it auto-logs in. I literally press the Steam icon and it just opens up. Then I press FF14-Play and the FF14 launcher is up. I don't really understand the overall issue.

edit: If the steam auth servers go down as much as is being implied, yeah I would agree this is a bad change. But i have no experience with dealing with steams auth servers going down so I'll remain on the fence.

I've never had any issues with steam in the past outside of their online service randomly having a stroke and forcing an "offline" mode. This only effected Peer2Peer games for me typically, but if this does become an issue for an MMO that valve has nothing to really do with, that is silly.

Signed, for the sake of everyone's sanity. Such a pointless change if only to give headaches.