Steam payment HUGE price increase!

[Ayerinn]

The NA version of the user agreement, it promises 30 days advance notice for changes to recurring fees, and it also defines it:
"A 'Recurring Fee' is a fee that will be charged on a recurring basis until you terminate your subscription."
The subscription fee itself is a recurring fee because it's charged repeatedly. Whether you pay it automatically or manually doesn't change the fact that you have to pay it repeatedly in order to maintain your sub. It's even pointed out in the opening of that paragraph:"In order to access SQUARE ENIX's servers to play the Game, you must agree to a recurring subscription ("Subscription") with a minimum subscription term of 30 days, and pay a recurring subscription fee ("FFXIV Subscription Fee")."

In the EU version of the user agreement, the part about the 30 day notice doesn't even mention the fact that it's recurring, just mentioning subscription fees:
"FINAL FANTASY XIV Subscription Fee rates will be posted at http://sqex.to/ffxivfees_eu, and any changes to those rates will be posted with 30 days’ advance notice and notice will be provided to the Game community and by email to User’s registered email addresses."

By neither version would automatic versus manual payments of that recurring subscription fee make any difference to SE's promise that it won't change without 30 days advance notice.


EDIT:
It seems they may be getting around the rule by only listing prices in euros and pounds on the EU site, and only in US dollars on the NA site. Maybe they're treating it as though only those currencies are (temporarily) guaranteed, and screw anyone else.

I disagree with your interpretation (for NA ONLY...so the BRL change)- if you are not agreeing to auto renewal you are NOT incurring recurring fees...you have the choice every 30 days to purchase another product aka 30 day subscription. you literally purchased 30 days of subscription time with no recurring fees attached - if you do nothing, it ends, you are not charged anything other than what you paid upfront for those 30 days. UNLESS you agree to auto renewal - in which case you ARE incurring a recurring fee because you agreed to it. I agree that the next line of text makes it a little murky but I would be willing to bet the lawyers could successfully argue the interpretation.

The EU version is not as clean and they screwed themselves on that one - it can not be interpreted the same and they INDEED did not follow their own ToS/U. EU has a case...NA I do not believe does - at least imo.

I also think, after saying all that above, that they could argue that they didn't actually change prices on anything...technically, like you were sort of pointing out, the official pricing is in $/Euro/Pounds - they could easily argue it was an update to currency exchange rates and leave it at that.