Square Enix Community Responses (Updated 10/31)

[Sonomaa]

Regarding purchase of the expansion, the official word is this.

To assist our Starter Pack players in expanding their adventures in FINAL FANTASY XI we launched the PlayOnline "Expansion Pack Registration Code Sales" service. Using the service, a Starter Pack player could easily purchase codes for the expansions that were included on their disc. However, since Wings of the Goddess is not available on the Starter Pack disc, we do not plan to sell the registration code via the PlayOnline service when the expansion hits stores. We encourage our players to pre-order Wings of the Goddess from their favorite retailers to ensure that they are ready to go once the service launches Thursday, November 22.

Visit the Wings of the Goddess website for details.

http://www.playonline.com/ff11us/altana/index.html

[Remyo]

SE must have discovered bout torrenting.

[Minions]

SE must have discovered bout torrenting.

They save money just by selling you the key for the same price as the damn cd's ;x

[orson]

SE must have discovered bout torrenting.

They save money just by selling you the key for the same price as the damn cd's ;x

Aye this just stupid on their part.

[Sykes]

SE must have discovered bout torrenting.

They save money just by selling you the key for the same price as the damn cd's ;x

Aye this just stupid on their part.

While it is entirely possible that they are too lazy or technically incompetent to make something like this happen, based on their response I'm betting it has more to do with agreements that they have in place with retailers. Keep in mind that Blizzard didn't offer a downloadable version of their WoW expansion until a few weeks after it was released.

[Rai]

Yeah, the one time I get my hopes up about not having to import or ask people to buy a copy for me ... /sigh

[orson]

SE must have discovered bout torrenting.

They save money just by selling you the key for the same price as the damn cd's ;x

Aye this just stupid on their part.

While it is entirely possible that they are too lazy or technically incompetent to make something like this happen, based on their response I'm betting it has more to do with agreements that they have in place with retailers. Keep in mind that Blizzard didn't offer a downloadable version of their WoW expansion until a few weeks after it was released.

I never thought about that but I wonder how much retailers really care about WoTG it's maybe going to sell 300k copies any more wouldn't really make sense. It just sucks for someone like myself who lives in a place where there aren't any stores that order in games odds are Walmart, RadioShack, and Video Stores aren't going to be getting this small of a title in. I'd be more then willing to pay the same retail price of the disc for the key and download.

[Ddong]

You could always, you know, order online?

[Stromgarde]

Still doesn't fix the problem for people who imported.

[orson]

You could always, you know, order online?

Definitely going to be doing that but I'll probably be stuck waiting like an extra 1-2 weeks I bet (unless I pay through the nose for like air shipping.)

[skurlover]

SE must have discovered bout torrenting.

They save money just by selling you the key for the same price as the damn cd's ;x

Aye this just stupid on their part.

While it is entirely possible that they are too lazy or technically incompetent to make something like this happen, based on their response I'm betting it has more to do with agreements that they have in place with retailers. Keep in mind that Blizzard didn't offer a downloadable version of their WoW expansion until a few weeks after it was released.

I never thought about that but I wonder how much retailers really care about WoTG it's maybe going to sell 300k copies any more wouldn't really make sense. It just sucks for someone like myself who lives in a place where there aren't any stores that order in games odds are Walmart, RadioShack, and Video Stores aren't going to be getting this small of a title in. I'd be more then willing to pay the same retail price of the disc for the key and download.

Hmm, I don't know about this. They (Wal-Mart) will more than likely have the title, but just for a very short time. With all the internet sites and EB Games, etc. around, it shouldn't be hard to find a copy. I just CAN'T WAIT to not play the game for the first 3-5 days after server traffic is terrible and/or they are fixing the bugs every 2-3 hours.

[Builttolast]

You could always, you know, order online?

$29.95 for WOTG

$31.00 for international shipping

yeah I'll just order online that makes total sense -.-;

Thanks a lot SE.

[Mugekuge]

I have to pay 59.95$ of shipping delivery .

[Ddong]

You could always, you know, order online?

$29.95 for WOTG

$31.00 for international shipping

yeah I'll just order online that makes total sense -.-;

Thanks a lot SE.

So it's SE's fault that you are importing the game? lol...

[Liquidedust]

You could always, you know, order online?

$29.95 for WOTG

$31.00 for international shipping

yeah I'll just order online that makes total sense -.-;

Thanks a lot SE.

So it's SE's fault that you are importing the game? lol...

In the same seat as Builttolast here, and yes in a sense it is SE's fault we today have to import the game at an inflated price.
Since they provide no alternative to obtaining the game keys online for an online game.

Back when I started playing it didn't matter since the EU version of the game didn't exist yet and I just imported the North American version instead. So now I am more or less stuck with importing the expansions since there is no alternatives (EU versions/keys wont work for example so cannot buy them locally). Just give me an option some time down the road where I can manage my NA import version from a EU version and I'll switch!

[Viena]

So it's SE's fault that you are importing the game? lol...

It's their fault to fail at Euro conversion and charge the same value that they charge in $, resulting of some players paying 41% more than others.

It's their fault to not provide a buy and download service for a game that it's quite rare in the stores.

It's their fault to launch it in different regions with years of difference.

It's their fault to make keys incompatible per region when the servers are exactly the same.

It's their fault to make installers incompatible when the software is exactly the same with some features toggled.

[Ddong]

So it's SE's fault that you are importing the game? lol...

It's their fault to fail at Euro conversion and charge the same value that they charge in $, resulting of some players paying 41% more than others.

It's their fault to not provide a buy and download service for a game that it's quite rare in the stores.

It's their fault to launch it in different regions with years of difference.

It's their fault to make keys incompatible per region when the servers are exactly the same.

It's their fault to make installers incompatible when the software is exactly the same with some features toggled.

Yes, of course, how could I not see it? It's obviously their fault because you decided to get a game that wasn't supported in your region yet.

Instead of blaming things on the side that is not at fault, you could try to find ways around this such as downloading the EU version of the game (regular, zilart, and toau). Burn them to disk for safekeeping when you need to reinstall or something (or keep it somewhere, ie. hard drive). Now you have a fully compatible version of the game installed on your PC for the EU version of WoTG.

[Viena]

So it's SE's fault that you are importing the game? lol...

It's their fault to fail at Euro conversion and charge the same value that they charge in $, resulting of some players paying 41% more than others.

It's their fault to not provide a buy and download service for a game that it's quite rare in the stores.

It's their fault to launch it in different regions with years of difference.

It's their fault to make keys incompatible per region when the servers are exactly the same.

It's their fault to make installers incompatible when the software is exactly the same with some features toggled.

Yes, of course, how could I not see it? It's obviously their fault because you decided to get a game that wasn't supported in your region yet.

Instead of blaming things on the side that is not at fault, you could try to find ways around this such as downloading the EU version of the game (regular, zilart, and toau). Burn them to disk for safekeeping when you need to reinstall or something (or keep it somewhere, ie. hard drive). Now you have a fully compatible version of the game installed on your PC for the EU version of WoTG.

You didn't get the idea of my post. Each point is independent from the other, and depending if you get the JP, EU or NA version some points will apply while the others not.

Besides, each of the things commented on those points are artificial limitations (DVD region codes, anyone?), it's not really a thing that you need support for.

And you shouldn't give arguments on something that you don't know about, as if you are in a different client version than your account's, while you can still login to the game, you can't do anything that requires re-authentification (billing changes/reviews, content ids, registration keys...), and even if that wasn't a fact, you still can't register a NA expansion on a JP account (or an EU expansion on a NA one) because codes are incompatible. So it's quite useless to get your region's discs of a client different to your account region, unless you want the game in certain specific language, which is also an artificial limitation as all the data is pressent on all clients.

[MaachaQ]

There is also the case of some people who bought and played the US version because they lived in the US at the time, but have since moved out of the country... like me ^^; I am currently living in Korea, but all 3 accounts are US versions of the game (1 PC, 1 PS2, 1 XBox). I'm sure it'd be much simpler and cheaper to buy the JP version for my PC (imports from Japan easier and faster than from US), but that leaves my 2 console versions without the expansion...

If only there was a way for us to download the expansion for all 3 versions using POL, I could download and update all 3 accounts and be playing at the same time as everyone else... As it is now, I'll either be making my trip home to the US for holidays earlier than I planned to (Thanksgiving instead of Christmas... /sigh), or I'm going to have to pay to have 3 versions shipped here to me and wait over a week to play with the rest of you , possibly 2 or 3.

I still can't preorder using Amazon.com... Grrr... Amazon.jp had the JP version listed before TGS...

[Lexa]

There is also the case of some people who bought and played the US version because they lived in the US at the time, but have since moved out of the country... like me ^^;

Or the other way around, like me - I'm not American, and has used EU discs since I started, but am now living in America.