How to return?

[mgreaves]

Ok, I left FFXi just before CoP was released and haven't played it since, I was wondering what I need to do about going about reactivating my character, from what I've read I'm not sure if this is possible?! I do not remember any of my details although I usually use very similar user names and I haven't changed my password or moved house, but my credit card is different, I am also not sure what I did with the game box and discs.

So basically Is there anyway to come back to the character I was using probably 4+ years ago?! And if so is there anyway to do it on-line? I can't seem to find anywhere to do this

Or do I need to go out and purchase a new copy of the game and start again.

[Murphie]

Without a copy of the game, your account or character names, your password or credit card details, it seems highly unlikely that you'd be able to return. And that doesn't just go for FFXI. The case would be the same with any MMO.

If you are really interested in returning, pick up a cheap Vanadiel Collection ($20 or so) and give the game a shot. Or heck, pick up a starter disk from your local Gamestop for a few bucks.

[mgreaves]

I was hoping there was some form of forgotten password link, which just needed email, or some other similar method!
I was also wanting to know if I did get my information would it be possible to get my original character back after 3 or 4 years of inactivity?

[Murphie]

Possibly. But you'd want to talk to customer service about that. They'd be better able to tell you what you needed.

[mgreaves]

Ah kk, guess I'll give them a try tomorrow, I was looking at my IGN account but it has wiped my profile, I know I had my character names on there but says my forum profile was only created today :S

[Endareth]

When I tried returning some months back, I contacted customer support and was told that only accounts that had been deactivated for less than three months were eligible for reactivation. In short, it was a case of buy a new, full, copy of the game, and goodbye to old characters. Got to admit, that kinda stinks. I've played EQ and WOW on and off, and in both cases it was simply a case of logging back onto old accounts and setting up monthly payments again, even after a break of almost two years in the case of EQ.

[Murphie]

When I tried returning some months back, I contacted customer support and was told that only accounts that had been deactivated for less than three months were eligible for reactivation. In short, it was a case of buy a new, full, copy of the game, and goodbye to old characters. Got to admit, that kinda stinks. I've played EQ and WOW on and off, and in both cases it was simply a case of logging back onto old accounts and setting up monthly payments again, even after a break of almost two years in the case of EQ.

I think a lot of people are misunderstanding this. If you cancel your billing, you can come back pretty much any length of time later. SE will only guarantee that your characters will be there for about 3-6 months or so, but coming back should be as easy as renewing the content IDs and logging into the game. I've left for periods of anywhere from 3 months to 10, and I've never had a problem getting right back into the swing of things.

Now, if you deleted the characters, that's a different story. And a stupid one, since there is no reason to delete the characters. And if you cancelled your PlayOnline account, it is, again, another story. Because it's free, and you should really never have any reason to do that.

So, what is the case with you? Did you just cancel your content IDs and uninstall? In that case, just reinstall, log back on, and renew your IDs. If you deleted your characters, it's possible that you wouldn't be able to have them undeleted. And if you closed your POL account, you have to buy a new copy of the game.

[Endareth]

Hmm... good question... it was 2-3 years back, but I definitely didn't delete characters. All I would have done was cancel the content IDs and uninstall. I know that my old POL login didn't work when I tried it, but as I said that was a year or more later. I suspect they may have changed some things since then. I understand they no longer even put new players on random worlds anymore!

[mgreaves]

Hmm i know I didn't delete my character, I did give all its money away, but I'm not bothered about that and I did have some really good gear at the time which is probably worthless now!
Guess I will work on getting my user-name and password back, found a site with a download of the game so going to do that to install it and try get character back, but if that doesn't work looks like I am going to have to go out and buy the game again!

Anyone got any recommendations on what's better 360 or PC? I guess its preference but is there any big difference other than no keyboard on the 360?

[Feba]

I wouldn't trust any download site. They more than likely have malicious software inside.

Anyway, your best bet for your account information would be finding your old instruction manual and hoping that you did write it down at the time. Other than that, if you can't remember it, you're pretty hosed.

And it depends. 360 has a longer draw distance, PC will have higher resolution (on almost any monitor). It depends on your PC, mostly.

[manakel]

I recently returned from a 3+ year break. I was able to log back onto my PlayOnline account with my old username/p-word. I'm playing a new character, my old taru blm/whm is long gone.

I did have a bunch of old system messages and update emails in my '@pol.com' account, so its safe to assume I never cancelled, nor was my POL account auto-deactivated.

[Jaice]

Anyway, your best bet for your account information would be finding your old instruction manual and hoping that you did write it down at the time. Other than that, if you can't remember it, you're pretty hosed.

And it depends. 360 has a longer draw distance, PC will have higher resolution (on almost any monitor). It depends on your PC, mostly.

Ha! The same questions I had when I started back up a few months ago - I left shorly after the CoP came out and attempted to return on my critter after many many years - my Pol account was still active but my characters were not avaliable - the best thing for me to do was have a friend get one of the Gold World Passes and a brand new account, 30 days free plus a bit of fun with new items and an old friendship rekindled.

And the version of which you want to play is up to you PC gets more frames per second and now allows you to play in windowed mode so you can keep a tab on quests through out your adventure making use of sites like this.

Console has the old feel of an FFXI game...? That's all I really have to argue that point... a TV's frames per second maxes out at 32... unless it's a high def TV.. and even then I'm still not impressed

[Murphie]

Actually regardless of which version you play on, the FPS is capped at 30(ish?).