No longer able to log into Steam version with my non-Steam account. Why do this SE?

[illutian]

There is nothing to explain, FFXIV and ESO are not comparable cases for the sole reason that one is F2P and the other B2P. STEAM treats them differently.

Theres more on that matter here https://partner.steamgames.com/doc/store/pricing

The only comparable case in STEAM is FFXI but that doesn't help as it is another SquareEnix tittle using pretty much the same system as FFXIV.

EVE Online also had the game as B2P on Steam years before adopting a 'free2play' with sub option.

Point is, it can be done. Square is choosing not to.

Furthermore, they did a piss-poor job informing us. I sign in and immediately think something happened to my payment options, because the warning is a generic message. I had zero clue this was going on. No emails. No banners (the scrolling ones on the launcher).

[enthauptet]

EVE Online also had the game as B2P on Steam years before adopting a 'free2play' with sub option.

Point is, it can be done. Square is choosing not to.

Furthermore, they did a piss-poor job informing us. I sign in and immediately think something happened to my payment options, because the warning is a generic message. I had zero clue this was going on. No emails. No banners (the scrolling ones on the launcher).

Yep, SE just does not want to put in the effort to manage platforms properly. An example of how to do it right is what Bungie is doing. They are transferring platforms, migrating everyone for free, adding cross-save, introducing a free version all at the same time while moving from battle.net over to steam. Steam is not the limiting factor here even though it has its own issues, SE just does not want to.