Issue with license - Steam/Windows

[ChairmanSteel]

So the setup: I bought my wife a license for FFXIV years ago on my Steam account, and she's been playing ever since. Last year, SE changed their policies to require Steam accounts to only log in using the Steam version of the game. Since she does not have a Steam account, she has to use mine, which means I can't play other games while she's logged in.

I just bought a new copy of the complete collection for her, thinking we could just add it to her account like a PS4 license. Apparently that's not the case, because the whole account is flagged as the Steam version.

So I tried opening a support ticket. The rep was totally unhelpful, just kept repeating that they couldn't transfer a license from Steam to Windows, refused to bump me to a higher support tier, then disconnected me while I was typing.

I love this game but I'm so pissed off by the stupidity of this whole situation that I want to delete both of our accounts and never buy a game from this company again. I'm not actually going to do that, but it's like holy crap how can this be so dumb? All I want is to change the license on the account from one to another. I don't even care about having the old license available to register on a new account or anything. We'd also be fine transferring her characters to a new account, but apparently that's not an option either.

Any chance someone here can help?

[Canadane]

There's next to nothing you can do I'm afraid, unless she wants to play on a PS4 or Mac.
One of the many reasons to avoid using the Steam version.

I guess your steam account is hers now!
Out of curiosity, what client are you playing from if she's using the Steam account?

[Yshtola]

You do not need to have a steam client installed to run the steam version of the game.

1. Install the client (not steam).
2. Create a shortcut for ffxivboot.exe
3. Right click on the shortcut -> properties
4. In the target field, you should see something like this depending on the location of your square enix folder: "C:\Program Files\SquareEnix\FINAL FANTASY XIV - A Realm Reborn\boot\ffxivboot.exe"
5. Just add -issteam so it looks like "C:\Program Files\SquareEnix\FINAL FANTASY XIV - A Realm Reborn\boot\ffxivboot.exe" -issteam
6. yes

There's next to nothing you can do I'm afraid

Take the L

[Canadane]

We found the thing that was sitting next to the nothing.
Sounds like a W in my book.

But I'm not going to claim I'm a Steam client expert. I wouldn't want to be using it myself.

[Miracle_Diva]

I am using this thing, that Yshtola mentioned since they made Steam mandatory to run FF14 launcher, because I do not want to open Steam with it's constant self client updates and other stuff.

[Rhaervis]

Thank you for posting in the Final Fantasy XIV Technical Support Forums.

We apologize for any inconvenience that has occurred when playing Final Fantasy XIV. Unfortunately the issue you are describing is not a technical issue. We will be moving this thread to "General Discussion".

Good luck with your adventures through Eorzea!

[ChairmanSteel]

There's next to nothing you can do I'm afraid, unless she wants to play on a PS4 or Mac.
One of the many reasons to avoid using the Steam version.

I guess your steam account is hers now!
Out of curiosity, what client are you playing from if she's using the Steam account?

I have the standard Windows version. I picked up the extra license on Steam for her way back in 2.x, probably when it went on sale or something. I figured a license was a license, and for a long time it was :|

[ChairmanSteel]

You do not need to have a steam client installed to run the steam version of the game.

1. Install the client (not steam).
2. Create a shortcut for ffxivboot.exe
3. Right click on the shortcut -> properties
4. In the target field, you should see something like this depending on the location of your square enix folder: "C:\Program Files\SquareEnix\FINAL FANTASY XIV - A Realm Reborn\boot\ffxivboot.exe"
5. Just add -issteam so it looks like "C:\Program Files\SquareEnix\FINAL FANTASY XIV - A Realm Reborn\boot\ffxivboot.exe" -issteam
6. yes

Take the L

Wait, holy crap, will that actually work??

Edit: Holy crap, that actually worked. Thank you so much! SE, if you're reading this, please tell your support staff to suggest this in similar situations.