Registration

[Roahin]

After trying out the fourteen day free trial, my spouse and I decided we liked the game enough to purchase it. We went ahead and canceled our other MMO subscription and...

Nearly two days later have been struggling to just buy this damn game. I've never seen a game company work harder to keep people from being able to purchase their game.

We started on https://store.na.square-enix.com/ and bought two Digital Download copies of the game. Our bank account was charged immediately for both copies and... we didn't receive any registration code. Nothing explained how or where it would be coming, so we scoured the internet and apparently they'll e-mail it to you.

...eventually.

It would've been nice to know that's what I was waiting for, though I find it odd that they helped themselves to my money without actually giving me a code first. Still, I checked my e-mail and... nothing.

An hour later? Nothing.
Two hours later? Nothing.
Six hours later? Nothing.
Twelve hours later? Nothing.
Eighteen? Twenty-four? Thirty-six?

Nothing.

It was recommended that I use the findmyorder.com website to get my registration key by some tucked away advice page in the Square-Enix website. Naturally, the website couldn't find the key either. So, time to contact customer support!

...they don't work on the weekends. Figures.

I go ahead and fire off an e-mail and go back to waiting. A day or so later I get one informing me that they have no record of the purchase. Granted, they still have our money, just no record of the purchase. I responded to the email with all pertinent information and have gone back to waiting.

Let me again stress that the amount of waiting to purchase this game is just... cartoonish.

Now, it did occur to me that I bought two copies of the game on my Square Enix account. The website assures me that it shouldn't matter, I'm essentially just buying two registration codes. But... since this whole operation looks nickle and dime like the Three Stooges set it up, I have my spouse go ahead and try to buy a copy on her account. Sure, we may end up with three copies, but gosh, we REALLY want to buy this game!

Apparently, her username is in use from creating the trial account, but she can't log into it because the system has no record of her e-mail. And so when she tries a new username, she can't create an account because her e-mail is in use.

...

Sound complicated? It does to me. You can't create an account because your username is in use by you, but you can't pick a new username because your e-mail account is in use.

More than once we've flung our hands up and announced we're done with this whole process. But curse us for the suckers we are, we stupidly really want to play this game.


And so we wait.

[Roahin]

A couple of hours later, we decide to go out and purchase a physical copy of the game. It turns out that the local GameStop doesn't have one in stock, but they can have one there in approximately a week.

A week.

Dejected we come home and... it occurs to us to try Amazon.

Minutes later we've got two Registration codes and are in the game. We should've just gone with Amazon in the first place, but who's going to guess that a third party vendor would be easier than buying it directly from the company?

Now all that's left, I suppose, is to wait another couple of weeks while Square Enix flounders with the digital purchases we attempted to make and then try to cancel those purchases when they do figure it out.

A lesson was learned here. Square Enix makes amazing games... but don't ever buy them directly from them. Apparently being able to make a great game does not translate into any competency in selling it.

[tisfortana]

So did you ever get your money back? I am dealing with this right now.

[Squa11_Leonhart]

A couple of hours later, we decide to go out and purchase a physical copy of the game. It turns out that the local GameStop doesn't have one in stock, but they can have one there in approximately a week.

A week.

Dejected we come home and... it occurs to us to try Amazon.

Minutes later we've got two Registration codes and are in the game. We should've just gone with Amazon in the first place, but who's going to guess that a third party vendor would be easier than buying it directly from the company?

Now all that's left, I suppose, is to wait another couple of weeks while Square Enix flounders with the digital purchases we attempted to make and then try to cancel those purchases when they do figure it out.

A lesson was learned here. Square Enix makes amazing games... but don't ever buy them directly from them. Apparently being able to make a great game does not translate into any competency in selling it.

I bought directly from them, twice in fact and both times succeeded. Depending on your mail provider, the emails being sent by SE may infact be being blocked by a harsh junk filter.
I know lately the likes of hotmail and gmail have added sender black lists which has caused hell for some site administrators....