Just wanted to share my recent experiences with others on this board.
Since the 2.1 patch I and many others have been experiencing severe issues with the game to the point of making it unplayable. For some people the server seems to be dropping incoming packets for up to a minute or more at a time. Major dropping issues happen often, with minor issues occurring almost constantly. This happens even to people who's connections exhibit go speeds and no issues with any other service.
After a couple weeks of issues, with no resolution in sight I stopped the auto renewal on my account, and asked Square to refund the month they had billed me for just subsequent to the patch.
They declined quoting the normal billing policies. Which, I would have no problem with if the service were usable.. Since for me it isn't, and there is every indication they are responsible for the issue I decided to file a consumer complaint against them. And posted on their forums politely requesting that others experiencing the same issues do so as well.
This is thread I posted (Title bolded):
Quote:
To anyone else with serious server lag issues since the 2.1 patch.
I enjoy this game, but Square needs to take responsibility when their patches and other changes adversely affects large numbers of customers. For some of us the 2.1 patch has rendered the game effectively unplayable. If you fall into that category I would encourage you to file a consumer complaint with the Federal Trade Commission at:
http://www.ftc.gov/faq/consumer-prot...-complaint-ftc
Any company who cares for their customers would refund a portion or their service fee, extend their service time without charge, or otherwise compensate their customers for the loss of service.
Now two days later, after the posting was getting traction with users they have banned me. That isn't a big surprise, and it isn't really any sort of punishment either, since I already couldn't play properly.. What is a surprise is that apparently one of their moderators felt the need to change the thread title, so they could trump up a TOS violation against me.
This is the email I received:
Quote:
Dear Customer:
This notice is to inform you that we have suspended your access to the FINAL
FANTASY XIV Forum for one or more violations of the FINAL FANTASY XIV User
Agreement that occurred on 12-31-2013 12:27 PM.
Thread Title:
Emergency!Where can I get the gil I need?
Relevant sections from the FINAL FANTASY XIV Guidelines:
• Posting aimed to create a negative impact on the community or its members.
• Posting content that criticizes either Square Enix staff or specific
individuals.
• Doing anything that is obstructs the use of the forum or FINAL FANTASY XIV for
other users.
Original Post:
I enjoy this game, but Square needs to take responsibility when their patches
and other changes adversely affects large numbers of customers. For some of us
the 2.1 patch has rendered the game effectively unplayable. If you fall into
that category I would encourage you to file a consumer complaint with the
Federal Trade Commission at:
http://www.ftc.gov/faq/consumer-prot...-complaint-ftc
Any company who cares for their customers would refund a portion or their
service fee, extend their service time without charge, or otherwise compensate
their customers for the loss of service.
Every action we issue is based on conclusive evidence of a violation and is
reviewed for accuracy.
Based on the actions in this most recent incident and any prior record on the
service account, we have suspended your access to the FINAL FANTASY XIV Forum in
accordance with the FINAL FANTASY XIV User Agreement. The suspension will last a
minimum of 240 hours starting 1-1-2014 during which time you will be unable to
access the FINAL FANTASY XIV Forum.
For information on prohibited activities in the FINAL FANTASY XIV Forum, please
refer to the Square Enix Account Terms of Use, FINAL FANTASY XIV User Agreement,
and the FINAL FANTASY XIV Forum Guidelines.
NOTE:
Please be aware that during the suspension, we will review the case and
determine if you are eligible to use the forums in the future. Depending on the
situation, we may decide to take further action by terminating your access to
the FINAL FANTASY XI Forum and/or FINAL FANTASY XIV Forum.
In addition, actions taken against an account are accumulative. If you persist
in violating the FINAL FANTASY XIV User Agreement, we may terminate your access
to the FINAL FANTASY XI Forum and/or FINAL FANTASY XIV Forum. We therefore ask
that you do not repeat this behavior, and that you review the FINAL FANTASY XIV
Forum Guidelines.
If you suspect the violation resulted from unauthorized access to the account or
the actions of an unauthorized third party who is not your parent or legal
guardian or if there are other points you wish to clarify, please review the
following information on the SQUARE ENIX Support Center.
http://support.na.square-enix.com/fa...la=1&kid=57402
This message has been sent to you for notification purposes only, and we are
unable to address further inquiries via replies to this email. Should you have
any additional questions or concerns, we ask that you visit the SQUARE ENIX
Support Center at http://support.na.square-enix.com/
-SQUARE ENIX Account Administrator
So not only are they anti-consumer, but they have someone willing to resort to flat out deception to suppress criticism of their game. I would encourage anyone else who values consumer protections to boycott this game.