Please allow users to download the patchs without subscription...

[Jediman]

Its been ages since I came back on final fantasy XIV to check it out.
Please allow users to download the game and patch it without paying for the subscription I don't like the idea waiting for hours to download then play.
Most game are like that even WoW you can update the client without a subscription...

I rather download and update the game then pay for the subscription because I don't know if the game will run or not.

[Freyar]

Most Free-to-Play games allow you to patch prior to logging in, but most subscription titles still require a login first. While Blizzard titles may patch on the old launcher, they are moving to a new one that will require you to log in first.

Sony Online Entertainment games ALL require a login prior to play.

With all that said, I understand the frustration, but their content delivery network is fairly robust. This last patch took less than ten minutes to grab.

[Vapor]

While Blizzard titles may patch on the old launcher, they are moving to a new one that will require you to log in first.

As I use the new Battle.Net launcher, I can comment on this.
Login? yes. Have an active subscription? no.
I have barely touched WoW since before the timeless isle; what blizz games I have poked is mostly hearthstone (and then d3 a couple weeks ago), but I've been able to keep my WoW up to date, despite the lack of an active subscription to it.

For the Sony argument, yes, they all require login. Most of them, if not all, are also F2P now too.

Above all, OP isn't saying they don't want to log in, they're saying they want to patch without an active subscription, so they can be ready to go when they drop their money into SE's hands.

[Jediman]

Most Free-to-Play games allow you to patch prior to logging in, but most subscription titles still require a login first. While Blizzard titles may patch on the old launcher, they are moving to a new one that will require you to log in first.

Sony Online Entertainment games ALL require a login prior to play.

With all that said, I understand the frustration, but their content delivery network is fairly robust. This last patch took less than ten minutes to grab.

also as of now WoW cilent updates with out subscription also with guild of wars 2 ftp it updates without you even logging in.

Subscription should only be when playing the game not for freaking downloading the game hours an end and finding a problem not able to play, Most of UK ISP are are lacking behind when it comes to broadband speed Ofcom already proven that.

[Freyar]

Bandwidth costs money! :P

Naw, in a perfect world it'd be nice to be able to play as soon as the subscription is running (FFXI in particular has it's wonderful 8+ hour patches which eat up a full day.)

[Jediman]

Bandwidth costs money! :P

Thats not our problem I know alot of FTP online games that are doing great.
Also SE has already boasted regarding 1.8 million users playing final fantasy XIV so 8.99 x 1.8mil =0.000684147451 m U.S. Dollars

[Jediman]

As of now Elder Scroll Online you can download the game without the subscription tested you don't need no user name or password input.

[Raist]

Since they started hosting with Akamai, I haven't had long patch downloads for XIV... the last ~2GB one came down in roughly 30 minutes at a solid 16Mbit/sec download. Maybe you guys are running into congestion along your route that I'm not.. but it hasn't been all that bad for me with the last couple patches.

As for the subscription status denying the download.. probly a side effect of how they set up the access. You aren't just paying for game access... you are activating for access to other content as well, not just the game. The same was true for XI. It would require some substantial changes on their backend that I just don't see them assigning the resources to remedy at this point. Maybe one day down the line, who knows.

In the short term though, there are some in the community that have been hosting torrents after the big patches. Should be able to find links at the partner sites.