Option to get off steam

[Raist]

OK since this is my first MMO on a PC I am still a little confused by the problem here. If someone can explain the issue it would help me a little.

Long story short my current account is not "Steam" since I've been playing since pre-access. I bought a Steam version later so I can play using Steam and chat with friends. After hearing all the complaints, I recently used the Steam product code and created a new account under Steam to see what all the fuss is about. I don't see anything that would indicate that it is "Locked" to Steam other than the new Steam Pay option (Figure 1).



I do not have Steam on this computer and I re-downloaded the Amazon version of the game and see if I can log in using that. I was able to log in and play with no steam using the "Steam" account. If someone can please explain it to me would help. I am attempting to make a YouTube of what I have here so I can explain it better.

P.S. Now something that just came to me. Maybe your Steam account is locked to your SE account meaning if your logged in as someone else in Steam you can not log in to your SE account. This would be the same as the PS3 and PS4 versions that I also have locked to my account. But as far as I can tell, if you have a copy that is just pure PC XIV then you can use your account.

Notice how your Mog Station has buttons for adding console licenses? The licenses are platform specific--you can't use a console key to activate a PC install. You have to have a key that is for the specific platform. Notice you have no button to add a Windows specific key--it is because you applied a Steam key. On my Mog Station I have the reverse--a Windows key was applied so there is no option to add a Steam key.

Just like with the consoles, the keys for Steam and Windows are specific to their platforms--however they did not add the option to register them separately like you can with the consoles. So you can't add BOTH a Steam and a Windows key to the same account--but you CAN add both a PS3 and a PS4 license if you wanted, as they have the options listed separately. And here's the rub---you MUST buy the expansion to match your existing license. So, if you installed a Steam license you have to buy the Steam expansion (same goes for Windows)--as you have to be applying keys along the same platform path, and Windows and Steam are considered their own individual platforms when it comes to their license keys even though they are both PC versions of the game.

In the past when they put XI on Steam, this was not the case. A Steam license was a PC license for the purpose of registering the client. So long as you had a valid PC's license bound to your SE account, you could access the XI content across both PC platforms--whether it was a Steam key or Windows. With XIV--they locked the license key to each specific platform path: PS3, PS4, Steam, PC. The problem is they have not provided the option to register each of them all independently. You can do a PS3, a PS4, and then only ONE of the two computer options--Steam or Windows, but not both.