Upgraded to Heavensward and Boom.. help

[Nightscar]

Thank you for the reply.
I think I have figured out what the issue is.
& its a pickle...
Here goes.

Ok when I bought FFXIV:ARR it was when the game first came out and it was the physical collectors edition.
After some time I had a friend that wanted to try the game but did not have the money to buy it at the time. So considering I wanted the game on steam and there was no way to move things over and register my old key on steam.
I bought the game on steam.. gave my friend the CD-key from steam for FFXIV:ARR and I just installed started and logged into FFXIV:ARR on Steam with my original physical copy of FFXIV:ARR account login. While my friend used the steam CD-key I gave them and registered an account on square and registered the key.
Everyone wins.. my friend gets to try FFXIV:ARR for a month.. I get FFXIV:ARR on steam.. yay

Ok fast forward a year or so lol, I get back into FFIX:ARR I want to purchase Heavensward.. I buy it through steam. Wont work.

So here is what I figure, steams Heavensward is registered to the CD-key I originally gave my friend. I have tried to register the CD-key for Heavensward on square .. wont work.
So I figure the only option is.. get a refund from steam and repurchase the Heavensward through Square?
or write square (already did) and see what they can do.

Its a tangled mess I know.. My friend who I gave the steam CD-key for FFXIV:ARR to, downloaded the client and used the standalone client to log into FFXIV:ARR at the time.. where I have the NON-steam CD-key and log into FFxiv:ARR through steam.. (I know it just opens the launcher for FFXIV:ARR)

So here is my next question.
say I get a refund from steam for Heavensward.. and I repurchase it through squares store.
in the future if I stop playing, and uninstall FFXIV:ARR through steam.. and later want to play again .. do I .. lol install FFXIV through steam.. then Heavensward through square.. does FFXIV:ARR auto come with Heavensward no matter what.. just the CD key unlocks it..
lol told you .. pickle

Thanks for any help

[worldofneil]

Glad you were able to get a refund and now have it all working! I didn't realise you were original a non-Steam account and were trying to add the Steam version to it and as you found out, they're not compatible. What you did isn't actually that uncommon (bought again on Steam and gave the key away), although your friend may have a problem if they still play as I heard recently SE has started deactivating accounts where someone gave the key away (because it was sold to the original person, not who it ended up with). I have no idea how exactly they're doing it, I just remember seeing a post on their news pages about it. Your friend will also have a problem buying Heavensward because Steam shows it as a DLC so won't sell it without the base product so they'd either have to buy it again (and ignore that code) or get you/someone else with the game on Steam to buy the expansion and give them the code (and for future expansions too...)

To answer your questions:

in the future if I stop playing, and uninstall FFXIV:ARR through steam.. and later want to play again .. do I .. lol install FFXIV through steam.. then Heavensward through square.. does FFXIV:ARR auto come with Heavensward no matter what.. just the CD key unlocks it..

Also I guess if I ever uninstalled and reinstalled FFXIV:ARR from steam down the line .. since HW is registered under my original account it will auto download ..weather I get the standalone version from square or steam .. its .... lol really weird its like I have two copies of FFXIV:ARR one on steam, and a standalone from square. Yet the CD-key for the one on steam is being used by my friend.. *brain explodes*

The Steam and non-Steam versions of the game are actually exactly the same files on your disk, it's just the code you use to register the game flags your account as Steam or non-Steam. This makes no difference to how you install/play the game, only when it comes to expansions (as well as the Steam versions have the additional option of paying via Steam wallet if they want to). This is why you can log into the game using a Steam or non-Steam account and it doesn't stop you and it's also why you can log in on a friends computer, the game doesn't care how many PCs you install the game on, all it cares is about your account having a licence for the game and a current subscription (the game is useless without an account and each account has a code associated to it).

So basically since the game will always be in your Steam account now, you can either reinstall it from Steam (as it's not really Steam specific) or just get the launcher from the SE site and install it separately. The result will be the same.

Also just to clarify, the expansion comes, with normal updates, via the launcher as you've seen, there's nothing different to download. If your account you login with has the expansion, it'll offer to download it (and if you say no you simply won't be able to go into the new areas until you do).