Felt scammed by SE

[Dragonblanco]

I have this game twice: in steam till shadowbringers
In PS4/ps5: till stormblood

I pretended to abandon steam cause I brought a ps5, then proceeded to buy endwalker expansion on psn store, just to discovery I can’t access shadowbringers right now, I ll have to wait till November,

man I’m pissed, I’m not buying shadowbringers again just to play till November, it’s an absurd… if I’m buying the last expansion, I know, in pre-sale, why I can’t access shadowbringers today?

Really SE???

What u guys got it’s I’m not paying subs till November, thanks for nothing…

All I can say is you may want to start reading before you buy stuff. I say that because it literally says the following on the page before you buy Endwalker:

IMPORTANT:
• This product is a FINAL FANTASY® XIV expansion pack that requires FINAL FANTASY® XIV Online Starter Edition (A Realm Reborn) and an active subscription to play.
• This product also includes Stormblood and Shadowbringers expansion packs, which will only be provided at the release of Endwalker.

Well, the above is from Playstation one. I didn't save the link. Then there's the below. (I'm just gonna copy from a Facebook post I made)

Please note, each expansion does not need to be purchased separately. FINAL FANTASY XIV: Endwalker ($39.99 USD) includes all prior expansions with the purchase, including Shadowbringers, Stormblood, and Heavensward. A Realm Reborn or the Starter Edition ($19.99 USD) must be purchased and registered separately before Endwalker can be registered. Alternatively, the Complete Edition of FINAL FANTASY XIV ($59.99 USD) can be purchased, which will include A Realm Reborn and all currently released expansions. Please also note that the Collector's Edition of Endwalker does not include A Realm Reborn."

https://support.na.square-enix.com/f...Realm%20Reborn.


Or you can see:

* This is the latest FINAL FANTASY XIV expansion pack and is intended for existing users who own the full version of FINAL FANTASY XIV, as this product cannot be played on its own. In order to register this product, you will need a method to play FINAL FANTASY XIV that does not include the free trial.
* Registration of this product grants users access to Endwalker, as well as previous expansion packs, Stormblood and Shadowbringers.
* A subscription fee is required to play.

https://na.finalfantasyxiv.com/endwalker/product/#se

I mean, I feel for you. I know you assumed it would come with and it sucks to find out it didn't. But I mean, it said it multiple places if you just slowed down. Maybe a harsh life lesson? Because in all honesty, a lot of things you want to do will be lost in fine print and if you're not checking, you can screw yourself royally. I learned this lesson the hard way at one of my jobs. They had us read our Employee Handbook and then sign that we had read it. After turning it in, the manager would check. In one of the pages, there was a spot saying to initial there if you'd like to opt out of buying the manager a meal, otherwise by signing the Employee Handbook without initialing it, we had to treat them out of our own pocket. It was just their little way to check how sincere people were, to make a point of how important it is to pay attention to detail, etc.

[Dragonblanco]

Oh, I should have specified better. The last quote was basic which could be misleading. But like when you click on Pre-Order, it then takes to https://ffxivstorehub.square-enix-games.com/en_US

On that one, it then says


IMPORTANT:

• This product is a FINAL FANTASY® XIV expansion pack that requires FINAL FANTASY® XIV Online Starter Edition (A Realm Reborn) and an active subscription to play.
• This product also includes Stormblood and Shadowbringers expansion packs, which will only be provided at the release of Endwalker.

Adding that as you wouldn't know the part about "will only be provided at the release of Endwalker" from their little footnote/fine print that had said:

* This is the latest FINAL FANTASY XIV expansion pack and is intended for existing users who own the full version of FINAL FANTASY XIV, as this product cannot be played on its own. In order to register this product, you will need a method to play FINAL FANTASY XIV that does not include the free trial.
* Registration of this product grants users access to Endwalker, as well as previous expansion packs, Stormblood and Shadowbringers.
* A subscription fee is required to play.

_______

I could have edited it out, but figured I would leave it there as might kind of help serve the point of what you were saying, on how you didn't see it there and then rushed forward with buying, missing the fine print on the next screen. Also kind of highlights where in my haste to make a point, I didn't actually read every word, otherwise I would have left out that excerpt from the original comment.

[Breakbeat]

SE is in business to make money. As cool as it would be to give out free expansion packs, playable today, with the preorder ... they'd be losing a ton of money. They would have had to raise the price of the Endwalker preorder considerably.

Take me as an example. I started a few weeks ago (WoW expat), was getting close to level 60, and started seeing a ton of red quest markers telling me I needed Stormblood or Shadowbringers installed. Cool, no problem. Loving this game so off to purchase an xpac I went. StB+ShB are $40. Pre-order Endwalker is also $40.

I would not expect to get StB, ShB and EW (playable now for the former two, playable on release for the latter) for $40, when the current value of those products is $80. If you could get all three for $40, and play all of them right now, it would make no sense to leave the StB+ShB expansion up for sale. They'd have to do price re-structuring right now, which (I am assuming, similar to WoW) they only do after a new expansion drops.

So, that's why you can't play StB or ShB when you pre-order EW right now, because:

You essentially "reserved" the cheaper price by agreeing to wait.

[Lanadra]

Yes, but that’s not my point, my point is: why not give access right now to previously content?

I mean I’m buying the latest expansion, cmon, should I buy shb and in November had to buy endwalker at full price again? Let’s be fair, this political of business makes me sad…

I see your reading problems extend further than just store descriptions. I'll put Breakbeat's rather informative post below for your convenience, read it.

SE is in business to make money. As cool as it would be to give out free expansion packs, playable today, with the preorder ... they'd be losing a ton of money. They would have had to raise the price of the Endwalker preorder considerably.

Take me as an example. I started a few weeks ago (WoW expat), was getting close to level 60, and started seeing a ton of red quest markers telling me I needed Stormblood or Shadowbringers installed. Cool, no problem. Loving this game so off to purchase an xpac I went. StB+ShB are $40. Pre-order Endwalker is also $40.

I would not expect to get StB, ShB and EW (playable now for the former two, playable on release for the latter) for $40, when the current value of those products is $80. If you could get all three for $40, and play all of them right now, it would make no sense to leave the StB+ShB expansion up for sale. They'd have to do price re-structuring right now, which (I am assuming, similar to WoW) they only do after a new expansion drops.

So, that's why you can't play StB or ShB when you pre-order EW right now, because:

[dougff9]

All I can say is you may want to start reading before you buy stuff. I say that because it literally says the following on the page before you buy Endwalker:



https://support.na.square-enix.com/f...Realm%20Reborn.


Or you can see:

* This is the latest FINAL FANTASY XIV expansion pack and is intended for existing users who own the full version of FINAL FANTASY XIV, as this product cannot be played on its own. In order to register this product, you will need a method to play FINAL FANTASY XIV that does not include the free trial.
* Registration of this product grants users access to Endwalker, as well as previous expansion packs, Stormblood and Shadowbringers.
* A subscription fee is required to play.

https://na.finalfantasyxiv.com/endwalker/product/#se

I mean, I feel for you. I know you assumed it would come with and it sucks to find out it didn\\'t. But I mean, it said it multiple places if you just slowed down. Maybe a harsh life lesson? Because in all honesty, a lot of things you want to do will be lost in fine print and if you\\'re not checking, you can screw yourself royally. I learned this lesson the hard way at one of my jobs. They had us read our Employee Handbook and then sign that we had read it. After turning it in, the manager would check. In one of the pages, there was a spot saying to initial there if you\\'d like to opt out of buying the manager a meal, otherwise by signing the Employee Handbook without initialing it, we had to treat them out of our own pocket. It was just their little way to check how sincere people were, to make a point of how important it is to pay attention to detail, etc.

Yes, but that’s not my point, my point is: why not give access right now to previously content?

I mean I’m buying the latest expansion, cmon, should I buy shb and in November had to buy endwalker at full price again? Let’s be fair, this political of business makes me sad…

[Breakbeat]

Yes, but that’s not my point, my point is: why not give access right now to previously content?

Because the current price point doesn't allow for that. If by pre-ordering EW you were to gain immediate access to Stb+Shb, then the standard pre-order price would have been $80.

Since they didn't want to price the preorder at $80, they priced it at $40 and said, "Check out this great price! Only thing is you gotta wait for the old xpacs if you don't already have them."

I mean I’m buying the latest expansion, cmon, should I buy shb and in November had to buy endwalker at full price again? Let’s be fair, this political of business makes me sad…

A) You aren't buying the latest expansion, you are pre-ordering it, and though one might call "SEMANTICS!", the fact remains that the two aren't the same thing. Pre-orders have their own terms and conditions separate from standard purchases, and when they have "bundles", the bundles often vary greatly in terms of price, relative to the individual value of the items included.

B) The full price, currently, of Shadowbringers ($40) and Endwalker ($40) is $80. So, yes, if you want to both play ShB right now and have a standing pre-order for Endgame, that costs eighty bucks.

[Dragonblanco]

Yes, but that’s not my point, my point is: why not give access right now to previously content?

I mean I’m buying the latest expansion, cmon, should I buy shb and in November had to buy endwalker at full price again? Let’s be fair, this political of business makes me sad…

Yeah, business politics does get sad. Like how come you can be a customer of an internet provider but have to pay full price, meanwhile they allow new customers to only pay 25-50% of the monthly premium? How come new customers to wireless providers get free phones but existing customers don't get access to any perks like that?

It's all about bringing new business. Their assumption is anyone preordering Endwalker already likely has the other expansions. But just like the things I mentioned about cable or phone providers, they decided to add a perk to all new players. That perk is if they wait until November, they'll get the other expansions added at no cost. Otherwise, if you want access sooner, you pay for it. Long story: it's a promotional offer with strings attached.

[Evergrey]

Yes, but that’s not my point, my point is: why not give access right now to previously content?

I mean I’m buying the latest expansion, cmon, should I buy shb and in November had to buy endwalker at full price again? Let’s be fair, this political of business makes me sad…

That's because they can't just let people play the current latest content for "free" simply because they bought an upcoming expansion where the previous content is included.

[Rongway]

Yes, but that’s not my point, my point is: why not give access right now to previously content?

I mean I’m buying the latest expansion, cmon, should I buy shb and in November had to buy endwalker at full price again? Let’s be fair, this political of business makes me sad…

Even though it's in the original terms....it still seems a bit 'off' really, should be accessible straight away I think.

Shadowbringers was released in July 2019. If Endwalker were announced in August 2019 with a Fall 2021 release date and preorders went live in August 2019, it would be absolutely absurd to think you should get immediate access to Shadowbringers with your Endwalker preorder.

The situation is not any different just because it's July 2021 now. If you want to play Shadowbringers while Shadowbringers is current, buy Shadowbringers.

[dougff9]

Oh, I should have specified better. The last quote was basic which could be misleading. But like when you click on Pre-Order, it then takes to https://ffxivstorehub.square-enix-games.com/en_US

On that one, it then says


IMPORTANT:

• This product is a FINAL FANTASY® XIV expansion pack that requires FINAL FANTASY® XIV Online Starter Edition (A Realm Reborn) and an active subscription to play.
• This product also includes Stormblood and Shadowbringers expansion packs, which will only be provided at the release of Endwalker.

Adding that as you wouldn't know the part about "will only be provided at the release of Endwalker" from their little footnote/fine print that had said:

* This is the latest FINAL FANTASY XIV expansion pack and is intended for existing users who own the full version of FINAL FANTASY XIV, as this product cannot be played on its own. In order to register this product, you will need a method to play FINAL FANTASY XIV that does not include the free trial.
* Registration of this product grants users access to Endwalker, as well as previous expansion packs, Stormblood and Shadowbringers.
* A subscription fee is required to play.

_______

I could have edited it out, but figured I would leave it there as might kind of help serve the point of what you were saying, on how you didn't see it there and then rushed forward with buying, missing the fine print on the next screen. Also kind of highlights where in my haste to make a point, I didn't actually read every word, otherwise I would have left out that excerpt from the original comment.

Again, yes, I’m aware now, but that’s not my point, read my last reply to you…