Through Steam Client: Play Button Does Not Appear After Login

[SithMeowth]

!!!!UPDATE!!!!: This link https://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/...79#post5877079 is having the same identical problems, I found out through clicking like a mad person on the launcher (first attempt at that) where the buttons "should" be. The buttons appear to be hidden behind the launcher when it switches to the logo or the "white box" where the buttons should pop. They are there but you cannot see them.


My partner bought the starter edition and Endwalker yesterday on Steam.
We downloaded it to his computer (all the specifications are meant for his machine, by a mile, there is nothing software orientated that should be stopping it at all, all drivers are updated etc.)

After it quickly installed the launcher, we hit the play button in Steam to start it, we took care of product codes, made him a Square account when prompted with all the info etc.

After we get through this, the login screen for the launcher appears, logging in, the green play button that's supposed to be displayed, is non-existent. The launcher around it is the same, all the links you can hover and it's responsive, task manager displays that FFXIV is definitely running and not frozen/crashed. Thinking it was just a slow response after two attempts of restart/refreshing it, we went into settings (Especially knowing the DirectX problems as of late, he's got DirectX12). However, when you go into settings you cannot go back, I can click and go into the Datacentre view but cannot go back to the main launcher.

From here another launch. Same thing happens with the play button over and over again no matter how many attempts. We decided to let it run, as task manager was still saying it was somehow running, CPU/Network and such spiking like a normal program would.

The next morning it was absolutely unchanged. We continue the steps again. Now he's gone over 10+ hrs of playtime in Steam (without actually "playing" the game). We looked online at this point. After trying reinstalls ten times, restarts, purges etc nothing changed it. Nothing online about this problem we've found either.

We gave up until three hours ago (2:00 PM central).

Now we contact Square, through the live chat Alex, was extremely helpful and gave us troubleshooting tips, checking firewalls, networks, even Internet Explorer settings. We did everything contained in there, still it persisted after restarting the computer, reinstalling again.

My partner goes to work. I get on the phone with Square at this point. We go through another attempt at troubleshooting but with no error codes, even another helpful Square employee had issues trying to get something to populate to tell us what to try and do. We deleted both Steam and Windows locations for the FFXIV folders an did a hard reset, then downloaded the launcher again. (At this point I put the password in wrong and get locked out) I let the rep go as I did not want him to wait the time I needed to get back in.

Still even after all of this however, the problem persists.

The rep let me know that that is probably an issue with Steam because the launcher works but it seems to me that the authentication between Steam and Square cannot be completed possibly?

Important other notes:

Launcher will sometimes stop on the logo screen and other times starts as normal to the launcher dashboard.
The accounts are properly linked, per investigation from the both Reps.
An error popup will display at random launches of the game, that the Steam account cannot authenticate, pretty much saying that the game codes are not there. (Although no error code)
Connection is fine through ISP and router, as mine through the Square Store instead of Steam works perfectly fine.
I have done steps inside Steam such as clearing download cache
The second Square rep has opened the issue because he insinuated that this was a freak occurrence and he'd never seen it before, nor could pull anything up on it.

So I get to the final aspect of this:

My partner is now unable to play the game at all through an exhausting troubleshooting that has done nothing to solve the issue. However, that's not all, through Steam it's impossible to get back his money because it is a code, to make matters worse, now he's out money AND the game. There is no way to convert the account to a store account that I know would work at this point, had I known I would have never said to try Steam.
It has left us both extremely frustrated, I have sent a message to Steam requesting both assistance and a refund so we can switch to a Store account but I'm afraid that this will end in misery because of what it is.
My thoughts, simply because the way subscriptions work, that if our accounts can be locked down for not having a subscription why cannot a CD code? Or if Square could honor giving him a new code and deleting that Square Enix account so they aren't "worried about having a 'free' rogue CD code"?

I have played this game for 4 years and it's a wonderful game with a very helpful community and company, I planned on continuing to play with my partner, it was my incentive to come back to the game after my year long break because of college.

If anyone else has had this issue and fixed it please let me know, if another Square rep can assist me in helping him get a refund or game switch to the store account please let me know as well.