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

[LaurieB]

Steam=having to log onto Steam, authenticate, check game boot files, THEN log onto SE servers, authenticate, check game boot files...so to make this short and sweet, if Steam authentication servers have an issue...YOU have an issue, you have TWO to log onto in order to play the game...no you cannot add any, any, type of key to Steam accounts once you have the game and any expansions you buy MUST be bought through Steam from then one, no subsitutions. Many, as has been stated if you take the time to read the thread entirely which you should before commenting, got this game as a gift through STEAM. Did not originally buy it themselves. Now...the contract exists by an agreement decided upon by SE and Steam. Both are responsible and I've been a network engineer contractor for 30 years, I know contracts. You can work together to come up with a solution. Do not contact Steam unless you want a canned response (post it in suggestions they say). Since the game was purchased through Steam, they already have your money..however SE gets a monthly fee from you, so they stand to lose the most money if people quit (blah blah quit no one cares...oh but they do.) They both need to work together on this, and they CAN, if they WON'T then that's another story. People have the right to voice opinions and concerns.

[DelphinusVyse]

This is awful. I was just pointed here in a response to my thread in the support forum which is still unresolved. If I launch the game from Steam it only uses 2 of my CPU's cores unless I manually force it to use all 8 in task manager. I thought I had found an acceptable workaround in using the standard windows launcher, but now that's being taken away. Guess I too am submitting a ticket for because I need this resolved and Steam support is no help at all.

[Nora_of_Mira]

This is awful. I was just pointed here in a response to my thread in the support forum which is still unresolved. If I launch the game from Steam it only uses 2 of my CPU's cores unless I manually force it to use all 8 in task manager. I thought I had found an acceptable workaround in using the standard windows launcher, but now that's being taken away. Guess I too am submitting a ticket for because I need this resolved and Steam support is no help at all.

this one is new to me. whats your setup? I launch through steam, how do i know if i have the same problem?

[LunaP]

This is awful. I was just pointed here in a response to my thread in the support forum which is still unresolved. If I launch the game from Steam it only uses 2 of my CPU's cores unless I manually force it to use all 8 in task manager. I thought I had found an acceptable workaround in using the standard windows launcher, but now that's being taken away. Guess I too am submitting a ticket for because I need this resolved and Steam support is no help at all.

Sorta sounds more like a support question, i.e whats your config, are u using dx9 or 11 for the launcher, and are you basing this on the launcher or the game after loading in as well as comparison when loading outside of steam?
Do you have any software for setting affinity/power profiles for this or 3rd party software preconfigured for this ?

[DelphinusVyse]

this one is new to me. whats your setup? I launch through steam, how do i know if i have the same problem?

Open task manager (Ctrl+Shift+Esc), select the Details tab, scroll down to look for ffivlauncher.exe or ffxiv_dx11 or dx9.exe (In my case, the launcher also runs on 2 cores, and that carries over to the game as I have learned in troubleshooting/research online.) right click, and select set affinity. If all cores are checked, you're good. If only some are, then you're in the same boat as me. In that case you can check 'all processors' and it will make the game run on your whole CPU until you close it, next time you launch it, you'll have to do it again.)

Sorta sounds more like a support question, i.e whats your config, are u using dx9 or 11 for the launcher, and are you basing this on the launcher or the game after loading in as well as comparison when loading outside of steam?
Do you have any software for setting affinity/power profiles for this or 3rd party software preconfigured for this ?

I'm running in DX 11 and as I said above, both the FF14 launcher and the game itself are set to core 7 and 8 unless I manually change it, if I run from Steam. I've already had a thread going in the support forums for the past 3 weeks, but haven't been too concerned about it because I found that running the launcher from the Steam install folder, or using the Non-Steam Windows client worked fine for me, core affinity would be set to use all cores every time I ran the game. Now that I know that soon I won't be able to do this, I had submitted a support ticket today and had a chat with support, they couldn't offer anything other than 'try running the game without any background programs running such as anti-virus, browsers, ETC. I was doubtful this will change anything as the Non-Steam Windows launcher works fine with the same background apps running, but I decided to give it a shot while I was typing this message. Well, it seems I shouldn't have been so quick to write off that suggestion, as it turns out the 'Game Boost' feature of Razer Cortex was the issue. Close or even just disable that, issue goes away.

[worldofneil]

I sent in a ticket to Steam just over a week ago asking if they were requiring this change and why now. They've just replied back that it's nothing to do with them (which matches up with the current subscriber agreement that says you "may be required to be running the Steam client", not will be).



The last part of the message is because I referenced how I've (occasionally) been playing this game via a USB drive for the last 5 years and if they had any idea as to how I could continue to do this if I have to launch the game via Steam.

[ZJyn]

Steam has been cracking down hardcore on stuff like this for the last several years, and has been become a much more closed off platform; trying to guard their revenues and profit as other competitors step onto the stage.

Elder Scrolls Online was a good example of that. There have been other MMO's who have come to Steam where Valve has required that all purchases and logins go through them.

Do I hate that this is happening? Yes. I'm one of many who have been using the regular launcher, and just buying the expansion packs through the Steam Store. I was one of those folks who bought the game because it was on sale without any faith that I would like it. Many years later being hooked, i'm still locked into Valve's platform, even though I don't want to be.

But that's not Square Enix's fault. That's Valve's. While i'm not the kind of person to usually cry out at moments like this, i'm happy to say it here: This is what anti-consumer behavior looks like, and sadly, they are empowered by a legion of followers who refuse to use anything but Steam, and put the platform up on a pedestal.

Want things to change? You're on the right track, but I doubt a forum post is going to do much about it. I don't suggest that you ditch SE and FF altogether, but finding proper channels of communication to the right places and giving your constructive feedback helps a lot. Beyond that? Shop elsewhere for other games if at all possible, because the only reason that Valve is doing this is because they can, and the only way that changes is if their hand is forced.

My 2gil.

[Lozza]

...
But that's not Square Enix's fault. That's Valve's.
...
Shop elsewhere for other games if at all possible, because the only reason that Valve is doing this is because they can, and the only way that changes is if their hand is forced.

And finding other avenues to buy our games will help us get our FFXIV accounts back how? This is the issue that is being raised with SE - we want the option to put a PC key on our accounts so we don't lose them completely. As of right now the only way to get FFXIV off Steam is to stop playing our accounts we've had for what 6 years and completely start over again. Several posters in this thread already have opened up support tickets with SE to try and raise this issue by multiple means. Several of us also regularly post on the mess of a Steam forum, asking Valve to please not do this. But as I have pointed out in the case of ESO, 18+ months of pleas to fix their auth servers has done nothing.

In my estimation SE is more likely to be receptive to some sort of change - and a change that benefits them financially is the option to allow Steam users to rebuy everything on PC while keeping their accounts. While this is not the avenue I'd prefer it will at least give those of us on Steam version an out if it goes the way that the same change to ESO Steam users did. Let's be honest here, even if the change is only half the disaster that the ESO one was it will still be a complete and utter mess resulting in Steam users being unable to access the game for days and weeks at a time.

As an aside, long before Steam became the only dog in town, brick and mortar stores where I live pretty much stopped stocking PC games. I used to import my games from the UK, then the brick and mortar stores started complaining and there was a massive crack down on game imports. While there are other avenues to get games online now, legitimate resellers are few and far between. After my third "in use" game key from Green Man Gaming and a total refusal to supply a refund it just became easier to get my games from a place I know won't ever supply me with a used or in use key, and on the one occasion where there has been a key mess up it was promptly replaced. This means I either need to get the key straight from the developer/publisher, or where they don't allow for online sales outside of the US (which is still reasonably common) then from Steam. While I don't like some of the things Steam does - namely their willingness to turn a blind eye towards various activities on the market place (which I don't use) I feel like the number of players who want to throw things at the "big bad corporations" isn't helpful in the slightest to this conversation. How much Steam/Valve is at fault doesn't matter when SE can help relieve the issues that might be caused by allowing PC keys to be added to accounts with Steam keys.

[Justadude]

I like your demand. I do not like you placing the blame on steam however. Never ever have i had an issue with the steam client in over 11 years of its existence. In fact the steam client is so freaking good Valve said we dont need to make games anymore. It SOOO good EA, Ubisoft, Microsoft, Fortnite(Epic Games), apple, google and a bunch of others copied it and made their own.
Nope sorry the entire problem with the steam / ff14 relationship lies entirely and exclusively in the client -> account server -> play server structure Square enix created back in 2010 when FF14 v1.0 launched. Yes the client changed dramatically with ARR, so did the play server. but the account server. NOPE that sucker has had no significant changes and will always behave it does because it makes too much money.
If you believe Valve is at fault and requiring something from Square enix, you are being lied to. Just remember FF14 had to go free to play because they made a game wrong. You can easily see they are still salty about that with the way they take advantage of players monetarily.

[Halivel]

I'm up for this.
I took the game in Steam only because it was gifted and also had regional price 5 years ago - now it doesn't, but we can't change Steam version to Standard one, huh. I'm also not positive about the idea of dropping the 5 y.o. character and starting from zero level if things will go bad (really hope they will not). I can deal with buying expansions in Steam, and can deal with rare problems with launching the game via Steam (which happens sometimes), but if it will end up like TESO - then no, thanks. Time buying TV and PS4 it seems?!