Item Restoration Policy is in Need of a Refresh

[Vrasal]

As of right now, the policy in place for item restoration is one lifetime restoration per account. I certainly understand the value of having a policy like this in place, to save GM's time and to prevent abuse. In fact, I fully support a policy. That being said, the current one-time-only policy is inadequate for players.

Context
I recently purchased my new pair of credendum pants for my ninja. I accidentally purchased the 'aiming' version of the pants instead of 'scouting'. The entire right side of ninja gear is 'aiming', so at the moment of purchase I was confident I was making the right choice. After attempting to restore the item, I was told that I couldn't because I already used my one-time item restoration... in 2015.

I get it, I am the one who made the mistake in the first place. I am responsible for the initial mistake. Yet, this is a relationship between player and company and I feel that Square Enix isn't holding up their end of the bargain with their player base.

Systemic Flaws
This system penalizes players unnecessarily, and Square Enix needs to either change the policy or adopt a refund system similar to other MMOs.

As of now, there is no system in game to exchange an item purchased with tomestones or other special currency back to the vendor. Every other modern MMO has this feature built-in to the game. This is a quality of life change that should be included in the game-- and yet it is not. That means the burden to make up for this quality of life should fall to the game creators, not players. [For those unaware, systems in other MMOs have important qualifiers to getting this refund. E.g., within a two-hour timeframe, and it cannot be soulbound.]

While I understand the need to be careful when making purchases like this, expecting perfection in a game that doesn't demand it in any content except the highest level is unfair. This is my hobby, not my job. Sometimes, I'm going to make imperfect decisions. This is even more true for the end-game gear purchasing system in FFXIV. Many of the item systems are convoluted and item sprites look identical/similar in vendor windows. Again, the QOL isn't great in some of these item purchases systems, so my question is where the burden should fall.

The last thing is that as a customer, it's extremely disheartening to spend hundreds of dollars on this game over the last 8 years (and before!) on every expansion, subscription services, additional services like retainers, mogstation purchases, etc., and then to be told that the team will not be restoring my item. It really, really doesn't feel good. Is it really so burdensome for SE to do an item restoration once a year? once an expansion? In my 11 years of playing, I've only needed this service twice.

Splitting into two posts, for length!

[Vrasal]

Making Better Systems
Some folks might respond with "Well I've never used it, so it sounds like a you problem" or something to that extent. You are free to take whatever stance you want, but my follow-up question would be: why not ask for better systems? It seems like an odd line to decide that since you don't use a service, it must not be relevant to many other players in the game.

Again, I recognize that I made the initial mistake. This is on me. AND, there is an opportunity to still improve systems that don't penalize players unnecessarily:

1. A necessary and important quality of life change for this game would be to modernize the item-purchasing system and allow players to automatically get a refund from vendors as long as it is within a reasonable timeframe (2 hours?) and not soulbound. This change would not only prevent abuse, but also reduce overall time GMs need to spend on answering tickets related to item restoration. The system would already be built in.
2. Absent this change, the item restoration policy should be updated to give players a restoration either once a year or once an expansion. This balances the concerns around abuse and GM time, while also supporting players.

Thanks for reading!

[Sealslicer]

Hard agree. Things one purchases from a vendor should be temporarily refundable. My recommendations would be, if Square is reading/listening:
1. One or two hour time limit.
2. The item must have never been equipped.
3. The item must have not had materia inserted.

This QoL change would likely significantly reduce the costs associated with GMs giving bad news like Vrasal received above.

Thanks!

[HanakoSuzuki]

The fact that there's no way to refund such an important item that takes multiple weeks to grind feels like a disrespect of player time, and one lifetime exchange just isn't enough to account for the fact that human error is inevitable. Nothing will make players stop engaging with a system faster than having their time thrown out of the window.