Question about races

[veraca]

I've done a fair amount of browsing but I can't seem to figure out a few things as a new user. I've only ever been on the Free Trial version of the game, and I understand that I need to purchase the $20 base game (+monthly sub).

However here's my question: I would like to switch to the dragon race (Au Ra?) that's only available through Heavensward (now Stormblood, since it's a double-pack). Do I have to buy the $20 game and then the Stormblood pack in two seperate purchase transactions making it $60 total, or can I purchase the Complete Pack for the same price?

Do both packs come with the supposed free vial of Fantasia, or was that a limited time item campaign?
The Stormblood pack on one page says it comes with 30-days free time, but other pages says that's not the case

[veraca]

And one more dumb question. I assume that purchase of the game ($20 piece) comes with 1 month of time paid with it, and I would not need to pay another $12 (base)? If I decide to stop the subscription and I've gone through this whole riggamarole, would I still have access to my account/character to log in and browse around, but stuff would be locked from me like in the trial?

[negiman4]

Purchase of A Realm Reborn comes with a 30 day trial. Your sub doesn't start until those 30 days are up. Au Ra requires the purchase of the Heavensward expansion, so if you wish to play that race, you will need to purchase Heavensward. The Complete Pack encompasses A Realm Reborn, Heavensward, and Stormblood. It would be simpler to purchase the Complete Pack than to purchase ARR and HW/SB separately. Complete Pack comes with one phial of Fantasia, though you won't need it, as you can just create your character as Au Ra if you buy the pack with Heavensward in it.

As per your last question, if you stop your subscription, your account will stay active for as many days left as you have paid for, then you won't be able to log into the game once that time has expired.

[veraca]

Thank you!
So I'd either need to delete my character to create a new one as an Au Ra (assuming I'm purchasing the base pack of 1 character per world), or I'd need to buy the Complete pack that has the phial of Fantasia in it, to make my character an Au Ra. Correct?

Wow. Can't even log in. Can't say I blame them when they're in the business of making money.

[Risvertasashi]

I've done a fair amount of browsing but I can't seem to figure out a few things as a new user. I've only ever been on the Free Trial version of the game, and I understand that I need to purchase the $20 base game (+monthly sub).

However here's my question: I would like to switch to the dragon race (Au Ra?) that's only available through Heavensward (now Stormblood, since it's a double-pack). Do I have to buy the $20 game and then the Stormblood pack in two seperate purchase transactions making it $60 total, or can I purchase the Complete Pack for the same price?

Do both packs come with the supposed free vial of Fantasia, or was that a limited time item campaign?
The Stormblood pack on one page says it comes with 30-days free time, but other pages says that's not the case

Since Heavensward has now essentially been rolled into the base game, you should be able to make an Au Ra with any purchase. From what I understand of SE's marketing, you literally cannot not buy Heavensward now. Your choices are simply ARR+HW, or ARR+HW+SB (complete pack)

The free vial of Fantasia comes with the HW collectors edition. I assume you'd need to buy something that says "CE" to get it, but you can also buy a digital upgrade via the mogstatioin. You also get a free vial of Fantasia once you've paid your first month's subscription (if you wish, you can add time even with free time remaining).

Once you buy a copy of the game, no matter the version, you get a free 30 days. Simple as that.

And one more dumb question. I assume that purchase of the game ($20 piece) comes with 1 month of time paid with it, and I would not need to pay another $12 (base)? If I decide to stop the subscription and I've gone through this whole riggamarole, would I still have access to my account/character to log in and browse around, but stuff would be locked from me like in the trial?

I really doubt you would be able to log in. Games that support this usually advertise having free accounts or being semi-f2p. Very possibly you could create a trial-style character but... I would just assume you can't play at all.

edit: Also, if you want to take advantage of the recruit a friend campaign (you get some bonus items), find someone's code to use before you put any paid subscription time on the account. There's a thread on these forums IIRC.

[veraca]

Since Heavensward has now essentially been rolled into the base game, you should be able to make an Au Ra with any purchase. From what I understand of SE's marketing, you literally cannot not buy Heavensward now. Your choices are simply ARR+HW, or ARR+HW+SB (complete pack)

I wasn't certain about if ARR+HW was a thing since the Playstation store is stupidly coy about any information of what's in what pack. Initially I was looking at the Starter Pack, but I don't think it said anything about the Phial of Fantasia to race-swap the character or that it has HW....?

edit: Also, if you want to take advantage of the recruit a friend campaign (you get some bonus items), find someone's code to use before you put any paid subscription time on the account. There's a thread on these forums IIRC.

Oh, really? I thought the campaign was limited to only newly fresh made accounts?

[Risvertasashi]

I wasn't certain about if ARR+HW was a thing since the Playstation store is stupidly coy about any information of what's in what pack. Initially I was looking at the Starter Pack, but I don't think it said anything about the Phial of Fantasia to race-swap the character or that it has HW....?

Oh, really? I thought the campaign was limited to only newly fresh made accounts?

TBH I'm not 100% sure, SE's communication here isn't the greatest either. However, I just checked the official online store, and there is no way to buy Heavensward separately. And since the $20 starter edition + $40 stormblood expansion is the same price together as the $60, I think it's a fairly safe assumption. Just don't buy any outdated ARR+HW bundles, you'd be getting ripped off there.

For the proposes of the campaign, any account without paid subscription time is 'new' and valid for it. If you've ever paid for time, you can no longer enter a code. After entering a recruitment code, you also won't receive the items until you'd paid for 1 month (after the free month).

If you really want a fantasia, the best deal might be to just get a timecard or something and take advantage of the 1 month veteran reward one. Might also be the simplest, don't have to worry about outdated CE codes and such.

[Hasrat]

Incorrect on that. ARR is still separate. HW is now bundled with SB. So, still need to buy the HW+SB expansion for Au Ra. (and pretty sure they've removed most of the ARR+HW bundles, I'd imagine, since it should be ARR+SB now, which includes HW)

On not being able to log in after a lapsed subscription, once you've registered your account for the full game, it no longer qualifies for the free trial, so no access.

Also good to know about the recruit a friend campaign. Always thought it was a thing that needed to be applied before even making an account.

[Risvertasashi]

Incorrect on that. ARR is still separate. HW is now bundled with SB. So, still need to buy the HW+SB expansion for Au Ra. (and pretty sure they've removed most of the ARR+HW bundles, I'd imagine, since it should be ARR+SB now, which includes HW)

OK great, thanks for clearing this up

[veraca]

But that still means I would need to purchase at least the base game + SB+HW in order to make use of any phial of Fantasia I get to turn into an Au Ra. Right?