I got a copy in for review, installed it, and got all the way up to setting it up, then decided I didn’t want to put a credit card number in - bad experience last time. So I freelanced out the review and put the discs back on the shelf. This evening:
Greetings, Our Customer Service Department has recognized that you registered an account key for Pirates of the Burning Sea but you have not logged into the game. Pirates of the Burning Sea includes a 30-day subscription for new accounts with purchase of the game software. As a courtesy to you, we’ve enabled your account for Pirates of the Burning Sea. Your 30-day period will begin the first time you log into Pirates of the Burning Sea.
Yay! One step closer to just being able to play the damnable things!
I went into GameStop today and I picked up the PoTBS box and saw $49.99.
Yes yes I realize this is the price of almost all new MMOs.
But for a game that reviewers have explained is highly complex and yet has a very skimpy tutorial, there’s no way I’m paying that much money to see if I like it.
Do MMOs still, in this day and age, REQUIRE Visa/MC etc.?! (Not all parts of the world
have CREDIT cards, by the way - we prefer debit here in the third world).
I always make sure I can play with just the keycode in the box before I bother to try
another frickin’ MMO. Perhaps even Sony can learn. Eventually.
You might not know it, being American and all, but not all of the world loves credit cards ;)
It’s quite common to just pick up a gametime card here in Europe. So a code to get the account’s first free month should be all that’s required.
Yep, understandable. I lived in Italy for 2 1/2 years in a small place with one (1) ATM within 25 kms and one (1) 24-hour store within 25 kms. That was a few years ago but still, it was rough.
These days I don’t even carry cash but once every few months, even then it’s usually for gifts or travel. Literally everywhere you go and everything you do takes CC’s now, at least in metro areas in the US.
The Japanese still do almost everything with cash. I’d walk around with $1000 in cash to pay bills and whatnot. Credit cards exist there but not a lot of places accept them.
Credit card numbers are identifiers in the billing system. If you’re a jackass and you need to be banned, you’re going to be banned by that ID. That’s partially why they’re required for free trials and stuff.
As long as the debit card is backed by Mastercard, Visa, etc it can function just like a credit card to the person accepting the payment. Before I realized that I can make some cash by using rewards, I used by Chase-Visa Debit card and said “Credit” everytime.
Yep, we get the nice cover with any form of Visa/MC, too. Stores hate American Express, though, because their transaction fees suck here.
I’m really in two minds about the card requirements for MMOs. It’s a pain to many Europeans,
and many don’t even want to use it on the net (WTF have they got them if they never use them, though?).
On the other hand, not even giving a trial out without flashing your Visa could reduce the
number of gold sellers/spammers because they could ban by card number. It’s not as if
that is much help now, though, with more banks creating temporary CC numbers on the fly,
valid for only a set amount. It’s not at all going to keep kids away, either.
Europe varies a lot in this regard, so it probably makes more sense to talk about individual countries. Britain, from my experience, has one of the best and most modern banking systems in the world. I found it easier to use electronic cash there than in the US.
Germany, on the other hand, is a pain in the ass. Many restaurants, even in the big cities, won’t take credit cards, and most banks offer “credit cards” that are actually “charge cards”, like debit cards only worse. They don’t take money directly out of your account, you have to charge them with money before you can make a purchase. And they charge you an annual fee for them, unlike Britain where all types of cards are usually free.
Early impressions suggest that Hungary is better than Germany. Credit Cards offerd by banks are still mostly debit cards, but they are more accepted. They also have an advanced online banking system, where you can even use English as your main language. Their ATMs have neat little features like the ability to charge your mobile (cell) phone while you are taking money out.
One problem with Hungary, though, is the amount of paperwork that needs signing before you can get anything. I usually have to sign six pieces of paper for each feature I want from a bank. Even the cable company wanted six signatures just to add TV to my Internet. At least they waited until after they added the TV before sending me the paperwork.
You are correct that most places in Germany don’t accept credit cards, but you are quite wrong in assuming that these newfangled “charge cards” are the only alternative. Virtually every bank gives you a so-called Eurocheque card (EC card) with your account. This card used to come with eurocheques (hence the name) but today it’s a bona fide electronic debit card that is universally accepted, even in drugstores and supermarkets. If you don’t have one you should go to your bank and demand one.
Universal electronic charge cards are the default around here, but it took a few tries to
get a debit-only Visa because the people behind the counter had no idea what I was talking about!
The cards here work fine in the UK and Ireland at least, and their cards work in Scandinavian ATMs.
The eurocheque workalikes here are “Axept” and “Visa Electronic”. The latter is not
related to CC-like functionality, and only gives your card access to more ATMs around the world.
You are correct that most places in Germany don’t accept credit cards, but you are quite wrong in assuming that these newfangled “charge cards” are the only alternative. Virtually every bank gives you a so-called Eurocheque card (EC card) with your account. This card used to come with eurocheques (hence the name) but today it’s a bona fide electronic debit card that is universally accepted, even in drugstores and supermarkets. If you don’t have one you should go to your bank and demand one.
I have one. It’s great for buying in supermarkets. I can also draw money on it direct from my bank account in ATMs all around the globe. Even drew money out in a tiny town in the middle of the desert in Jordan.
However, it’s useless for buying anything on the Internet, in a restaurant, or when I am abroad. That’s where I need a debit or credit card. I have a British credit card, which doesn’t cost me a cent except for interest, and a British Visa debit card which draws money direct from my account.
When I asked at my bank for a debit card like my British Visa debit, that I could use like a credit card, the request drew blank looks. I even went to Citibank, which I thought being an international bank would know what I meant, and they just offered me a charge card. I think there are German banks that offer this service, but it’s not standard.
Seriously, the German banking system is not very customer friendly. They are always shut during work hours, they don’t offer the services that customers demand, and they charge you for everything. When I told my new Hungarian bank manager about the situation in Germany he just laughed and gave me a MasterCard debit card.
Not to knock Germany, I loved my time living there. It’s a great country. But when it comes to customer service in banks, shops, etc… no clue.
