Square Enix Facing Class Action Suit Over FFXI "Hidden Fees"

A class action lawsuit has been initiated against Square Enix over the fees they charge for subscription-based MMO Final Fantasy XI. The court filing alleges "deceptive advertising, unfair practices, and fraudulent concealment" of information about the game's pricing model, essentially saying Square Enix doesn't clearly advertise that there is a monthly fee, and that failure to pay can result in late fees and account termination. The plaintiff is seeking a settlement in excess of $5,000,000 and including "all persons who purchased or played the online games four years prior to the filing of this lawsuit."

Comments

From TFA:

[Myji Humoz]

The complaints are:
1. Licensing of the online games software disguised as a sale
2. Monthly fees ("fees") to play online games
3. Penalties for late payment fees
4. Interest charges for late payment fees
5. Charges while the online game account is suspended
6. Termination of the right to use the online game for late payment of the fees
7. User restrictions and conditions related to the online games
8. Termination of game data for late payment of the fees

Lets see...
1) Normal for mmos
2) Normal for mmos
3) Sounds like a credit card company
4) Sounds like a credit card company
5) Sounds like a scam company
6) Hello, if you don't pay for something, are you shocked that they cut it off?
7) Their game, their rules
8) Their game, their rules

All in all, this set of complaints seems to boil down to: "your billing department is confusing."

Re:From TFA:

[evilkasper]

Wasn't really in fine print, found it pretty easy. http://www.playonline.com/ff11us/rule/index.html Check the Member agreement article 5a and 5c discusses fees in addition to subscription fee if you miss a payment. I'm not a lawyer, but its in the contract and if you give them access to your account/ credit card then you've agreed to their terms. If you can't be bothered to read the terms of use and user agreement then I have no sympathy, it was very easy to find once I decided to look for it. If you don't like it play any other of the 100's of MMO's that bill normally.

Re:From TFA:

[Anonymous Coward]

I've played ffxi, and the way it works is that your bill is paid for monthly at the start of a month. If you stop paying (as in remove your credit card info) you can still use your account until the end of the current month assuming it had already been paid for. If you are banned from the game you do not get a refund for the current month (so if you get banned on day 2, you lose 28 days of paid playtime) however they don't charge you anymore after that. And finally if you are suspended (max: 72hours) it doesn't affect your billing cycle since it's assumed you want to continue to play the game uninterrupted once suspension is over, if this is not true burden is on you to let them know you no longer wish to play the game.
 
There is no scam going on, it's basically common sense rules. I don't understand this about "late fees" there is no way to pay late in this game, if you don't pay on the start of the next month your account is temporarily closed until you pay your bill, there's no "late fee" since they simple close the account (they garantee keeping your info for at least 3 months so you don't lose anything, in reality they keep it for over a year but contractually they only garantee 3 months)

Re:Some insight.

[Nazlfrag]

Your cheque is waiting at the returns counter where you purchased the game. Also, the boxed game comes with the first month of gameplay free, so you could have played it for a little while at least. If you've never registered the game online you can ebay it. This class action lawsuit is a farce.

I would say they have more of a case with FFIV+

[nebaz]

They just released a Wii Channel game called Final Fantasy IV The After Years. It is 800 Wii Points, but what they don't tell you is that that is for "part 1". Parts 2-X (however many) are additionally 300 points and 800 for the final piece. They don't tell you that up front. Anyone who knows anything about FF knows XI is an online, MMO. That's why it is the one I avoided.

Horrible billing

[Squarewav]

I played FFXI for 3 years on and off. The lawsuit is probably about the horrible way they do billing if you cancel and resubscribe.

Billing (at least for me) was always on the first of the month.

If you canceled on the 20th of January, and decide to resubscribe the 23rd of March you wouldn't actually be billed until the 1st of April at which point they charge you for a full month of March and for the month of April despite only using it for 8 days of March.

In other words they don't prorate. It's a really archaic way of handling a MMO subscription. I'm not sure if this is listed in the ToS if it's not then there might be grounds for a lawsuit. $5M is still way to excessive for what should be in small claims court for $30

Re:Some insight.

[TriezGamer]

Bullshit. They will delete your characters for inactivity (happened to me 3 times), but they leave your PlayOnline ID intact, and that's what the game is registered to. While you might have to start over, you are not required to buy a new copy of the game as long as you remember your POL ID and password.

I know this from personal experience, having bounced back and forth between FFXI and several other games ever since FFXI's launch, and having been inactive for over a year in a stretch. If you were required to buy a new copy of the game, it's because you were perma-banned for a TOS violation.