Darn, you all beat me to posting it.

This is an example of the system working!

To summarize:

- New credit card payment options for Crysta [Available Now]
While not the biggest concern (admittedly there were already a few ways to purchase Crysta, including PayPal), at least it's more options where needed.

- The ability to specify exactly how much Crysta you want to buy [Early Fall]
This is one of the specific concerns we've been voicing, along with limited availability of Crysta and exchange rates. Glad to see there will no longer be excess Crysta. It's too bad Crysta in general is terrible but at least it's a start.

- New recurring payment credit card options [Mid Fall]
This, if implemented properly, is what will be the real deal breaker. This is exactly what we wanted. A non-Crysta, non-CnB, auto-renewing credit card subscription option!

We sincerely thank you for your continued support of FINAL FANTASY XI.

Yasu Kurosawa
FINAL FANTASY XI North American Online Producer
Doesn't this just make you feel warm and fuzzy? It's almost like they DO care about doing business with us!

Also not specifically mentioned here, they are apparently extending the account conversion time limit before FFXI players have to move to the new Square Enix account billing system while they implement the new changes.

All in all, this is satisfactory. We got:

An real acknowledgement of our concerns
A surprisingly detailed roadmap for future payment options planned
Satisfactory payment methods
A formal response from a Square Enix official

I can't speak for everyone else, but I'm a bit speechless. SE actually did listen, and they acted according to the best interests of the playerbase.

So, as I said several times throughout this thread, the place where the stand needed to be taken was with FFXI, where the payment situation was already barreling out of control. This thread in the FFXIV forums started as a simple curiosity for me, but grew to become a genuine cry for change, and to increase exposure of the topic as much as possible.

Thanks for everyone for participating. You can be sure that even though the response was in the FFXI forums, where the situation was the worst, this thread and others in the FFXIV forums directly contributed to the eventual changes underway. Because FFXI is changing to the same billing method that FFXIV is using, that means the same options will be made available to us FFXIV players when the game goes pay to play. We won!

Customers have a voice, and good companies listen to that voice. SE is keeping my money. I hope the same goes for everyone else involved in this topic.