Discontinuing service

[#686578]

How should I go about discontinuing my FFXI subscription if I want to potentially be able to restore my account at a future date?

The three methods that I can think of are:

1. Canceling contend IDs
2. Changing credit card info to something invalid
3. Calling up customer service and asking them to deactivate my account

I'm pretty sure 1 would get rid of my characters which I dont want. So 2 or 3?

Also, does anyone remember if FFXI makes a guarantee about how long they'll keep your character before they delete it?

As far as I can remember they keep the character for 6months and then after that it'll remain untouched unless someone uses your name. But I can't remember if that's any reliable or not considering I cant remember where I heard/read it from.

[Starr]

Never return

[#686578]

Well what if I wanted to return only to get myself banned or to pull a Genosync.

[Ohaigaiz]

Canceling IDs does nothing but stop payment. 1 character active = 12.95, so if you deactivate your IDs all it does it stop payment. It's the easiest way to stop payment.

You could just call and ask them to deactivate it, but have fun on hold.

Changing CC to something invalid does nothing as it takes a payment out of your CC right when you enter it in to make sure it's valid.

Or buy app and speed hack across a map in less than 5-6 mins

[madpersian]

Just cancel your content IDs but don't delete your characters. You'll be all set. You can also call POL and ask them to deactivate your account. That too will work.

As long as you don't delete your character or delete your POL ID you'll be able to reactivate your content IDs and play.

Just retain your reg codes, POL ID, password, current address, email, phone and credit card you are using to make sure you got all the info you need to recover your account.

[#686578]

Thanks.

[Viq]

I've taken a few extended breaks from the game (6+ months), and simply canceling a content ID will get the job done. Realistically, the only info you need to save are your POL ID# and password. You can reactive old IDs through POL easily without having to provide any extra info. Just watch out because it will automatically reactivate it under the most recent credit card info that you've put into POL. If your card has expired, or you want to pay with another card, then just take the extra step to change your CC info after reactivating, but before the next month change.

[Absolutely Virtue]

I was under the impression that if you wanted to reactivate a character that had been dormant for more than six months, you need to wait until the next Return to Vana'Diel campaign. I remember trying to activate an old account years ago and they told me that. But once they opened it up, I had no problems.

See this wiki link about it: Return Home to Vana'diel Campaign (12/08) - FFXIclopedia - a Wikia Gaming wiki

I don't think SE specifically guarantees anywhere that they will hold your account for X amount of time. But it does seem like they work with you to restore, most likely because they want the revenue (can't blame them). I'm sure this is deliberate, so they're not obligated to do anything unless it makes business sense for them.

I'm only pointing this out because, eventually, the servers will shut down. And I imagine they will shut down things like the Return campaign before that. I have no proof, of course, but just an educated guess.

Also, can I have your stuff?

[madpersian]

If you did not delete your character ID or your playonline ID you can reactivate it from dormancy at any time. I friend of mine that coincidentally restarted FFXI right as I did reactivated his character from dormancy after 3 years by booting up his old PS2, finding his POL ID on it and then he put in new CC info into the computer POL client and all his stuff was right where he left it 3 years ago.

[Bwelch]

I thought they terminate your account after a certain period of time if you cancel your content ID. Not true?

[Lithiani]

I thought they terminate your account after a certain period of time if you cancel your content ID. Not true?

I went away for 2 years, when I came back all I had to do was log back into POL, put a new set of card info in, and reactivate the content IDs.

I think in theory S-E are allowed to delete all character info after 3 months (by their own rules), but unless the game gots massively popular to the point where the servers are full, why would they?

[Bwelch]

I went away for 2 years, when I came back all I had to do was log back into POL, put a new set of card info in, and reactivate the content IDs.

I think in theory S-E are allowed to delete all character info after 3 months (by their own rules), but unless the game gots massively popular to the point where the servers are full, why would they?

Oh, 3 months? Curious, does this leave your character name in Limbo when you cancel your content ID too? Has anyone ever camp back and had to register a different name because it was taken?

[Pharaun]

The name is still taken. I had a friend who quit and wanted to make sure he'd never come back, so he changed his pol password to some random gibberish and didn't write it down. A few months (4-6) later he decides he wants to play again and tries to create a new character with the same name and it won't let him.

[Lithiani]

Oh, 3 months? Curious, does this leave your character name in Limbo when you cancel your content ID too? Has anyone ever camp back and had to register a different name because it was taken?

I'm pretty certain they just leave it on the server.

I assume that if they had to restore your character from an offline backup that might be different.

[Vodou]

I've taken a few extended breaks from the game (6+ months), and simply canceling a content ID will get the job done. Realistically, the only info you need to save are your POL ID# and password. You can reactive old IDs through POL easily without having to provide any extra info. Just watch out because it will automatically reactivate it under the most recent credit card info that you've put into POL. If your card has expired, or you want to pay with another card, then just take the extra step to change your CC info after reactivating, but before the next month change.

Actually, you won't be able to reactivate if the CC has expired. You'll have to change the CC info first and then reactivate the account. If it was not that way, you'd actually be able to re-new your subscription and play on an expired CC.

And for others, SE actually states online that you will be able to retrieve characters up to 90 days. After 90 days is a gamble but obviously most characters are maintained well past 90 days.