How to play without a credit card

ohoni · April 2014

I bought the game under the assumption that I would get the thirty days to play promised, but as I understand it, I won't be able to access those thirty days without registering a credit card. My question would be, if I don't enter this information immediately, but instead wait, say, six months or more before entering it, would I still get my thirty days at that point, or does the clock start ticking at April 6th whether I'm able to get in or not?

I want the 30 days I was promised, but I have no intention of paying for more time than that, including in the form of "authorization fees."

kenneaalb16_ESO · April 2014

It is not an authorization fee, it is an authorization hold. Depending on your bank, the hold will clear in hours, or in a day or so.

KerinKor · April 2014

ZOS_AmeliaR wrote: »

We understand your frustration and want to reiterate what some folks here have already stated:

Players setting up their subscription plan using Visa, MasterCard or PayPal may see an initial transaction against their account. However, this transaction is only temporary. The charge represents an authorization check against the account provided, and will be removed once the authorization check is complete. For players using American Express, the transaction is also temporary although the authorization check against their account may take anywhere from 3-7 days to resolve.

Ulven · April 2014

This is incredible... a lot of us dont have an international credit card for NA, you are about to lose one customer...

krilleyy95 · April 2014

And not everyone will have funds on their Credit Card immediately when forced to enter their information, so they can't play. Applause for Zenimax, for this wise thinking

Doxie · April 2014

have you tried paypal?
you dont need an international credit/debit card to use it

Ulven · April 2014

Not in my country, on paypal i need a method of payment that i dont have, and even if would, why should i create and account, deposit money in it to use a 30 days time that i've already purchased with the game??? is insane

Frosthawk · April 2014

How there is people still without some sort bank card? at 2014 when so many payment systems are moving more towards e-billing.
You don't need International card, common debit card is enough when you use it via paypal if don't want place card info to your gaming profile.

Spawnsplitter · April 2014

The "authorization fee" is nothing to do with Zenimax. its simply how creditcards work. Its how paying for plane tickets works with the same card.

Its simply to uncover fraudulent cards.

The "hold" on the cash can be for 10 minutes, or it can last for up to 7 days.

Be mindful that normally its the bank of the card company that would need to unlock this and not zenimax nor the actual creditcard company.

Its all about the bank and credit card provider that have their own routines. Especially on a weekend its not uncommon that it will stay locked over the weekend atleast. So be mindful of the term "workdays".

Soloeus · April 2014

1. @OP: It says that additional requirements are to provide payment information.

2. @Frosthawk: There are quite a few good reasons why. Especially in smaller towns with only 1-2 banks, they include terms such as $50.00 fee for direct deposit (employer passing cost onto you). This is the case in my town, and a lot of people just use the grocery store to cash their checks because of this.

There are also issues some banks have with some payment providers; my brother's bank doesn't let him use his account with Paypal, and I recently had an issue where my account was investigated by federal authorities; for purchasing Minecraft (I had to go through the motions to get my account unlocked).

Jessabella · April 2014

I'm very annoyed by this as well, It's not that I do not have a credit card, I do, but I had to have it reissued by my bank last week. I am still waiting on the new card to arrive, So in the meantime I am unable to add my codes in and activate my game or 6 months sub.

Sure I can head to the store and pick up a fake pre paid card, but I am ill right now, pregnant, and it's pouring rain outside. So I only have until Sunday 5am my time to play and then I have to wait on the bank to send the new credit card number to me, to play a game that includes 30 days free time.

This is my first sub MMO but regardless life happens at times and I wish I had prior warning that my credit card number would be required up front. I may have been able to make arrangements with my bank ahead of time.

krilleyy95 · April 2014

Spawnsplitter wrote: »

The "authorization fee" is nothing to do with Zenimax. its simply how creditcards work. Its how paying for plane tickets works with the same card.

This is not true.. I've played both World of Warcraft, Warhammer Online, and SWTOR, none of them required you to have a credit card associated with your account to play, you bought the game, and you had access for 30 days, simple as that.

Zenimax just needs to learn the basics, before they try reinventing the wheel, sorry to say.

Ulven · April 2014

Frosthawk wrote: »

How there is people still without some sort bank card? at 2014 when so many payment systems are moving more towards e-billing.
You don't need International card, common debit card is enough when you use it via paypal if don't want place card info to your gaming profile.

I don't have. Even if i had one, why should i create a paypal account and invest more money for something that i already paid?

starkerealm · April 2014

krilleyy95 wrote: »

Spawnsplitter wrote: »

The "authorization fee" is nothing to do with Zenimax. its simply how creditcards work. Its how paying for plane tickets works with the same card.

This is not true.. I've played both World of Warcraft, Warhammer Online, and SWTOR, none of them required you to have a credit card associated with your account to play, you bought the game, and you had access for 30 days, simple as that.

Zenimax just needs to learn the basics, before they try reinventing the wheel.

Funny, I remember a thread almost identical to this on the TOR forums at launch. WoW required a credit card to sub until their permanent free trial mode got released, I never messed around with WHO, but from what I know, it did as well.

felixgamingx1 · April 2014

Subscription talks shouldn't even be mentioned by ZOE until the game is fully functional.

krilleyy95 · April 2014

starkerealm wrote: »

krilleyy95 wrote: »

Spawnsplitter wrote: »

The "authorization fee" is nothing to do with Zenimax. its simply how creditcards work. Its how paying for plane tickets works with the same card.

This is not true.. I've played both World of Warcraft, Warhammer Online, and SWTOR, none of them required you to have a credit card associated with your account to play, you bought the game, and you had access for 30 days, simple as that.

Zenimax just needs to learn the basics, before they try reinventing the wheel.

Funny, I remember a thread almost identical to this on the TOR forums at launch. WoW required a credit card to sub until their permanent free trial mode got released, I never messed around with WHO, but from what I know, it did as well.

Nah, WHO only had a sort of "fraud" (not sure if it was an accident, or on purpose) issue, where they charged everyone twice for the monthly fee, or something like that

Jessabella · April 2014

Actually, It looks like I can link my bank account directly to PayPal and use PayPal to add my sub info. Maybe that can help others in a similar situation out.

krilleyy95 · April 2014

Jessabella wrote: »

Actually, It looks like I can link my bank account directly to PayPal and use PayPal to add my sub info. Maybe that can help others in a similar situation out.

I believe it's gonna take some days for your bank to authorize the payment, and sometimes you have to go sign some paper in the bank to make the payment go through, in some countries.

starkerealm · April 2014

krilleyy95 wrote: »

starkerealm wrote: »

krilleyy95 wrote: »

Spawnsplitter wrote: »

The "authorization fee" is nothing to do with Zenimax. its simply how creditcards work. Its how paying for plane tickets works with the same card.

This is not true.. I've played both World of Warcraft, Warhammer Online, and SWTOR, none of them required you to have a credit card associated with your account to play, you bought the game, and you had access for 30 days, simple as that.

Zenimax just needs to learn the basics, before they try reinventing the wheel.

Funny, I remember a thread almost identical to this on the TOR forums at launch. WoW required a credit card to sub until their permanent free trial mode got released, I never messed around with WHO, but from what I know, it did as well.

Nah, WHO only had a sort of "fraud" (not sure if it was an accident, or on purpose) issue, where they charged everyone twice for the monthly fee, or something like that

EA's subs have always been... "buggy" like that. There were a couple people who reported being out a couple grand. But, I don't think that was WHO. There was also the part where TOR temporarily took it's subscription cancel option offline, and directed people to customer service, 28 or 29 days after launch.

randwlcx · April 2014

starkerealm wrote: »

krilleyy95 wrote: »

Spawnsplitter wrote: »

The "authorization fee" is nothing to do with Zenimax. its simply how creditcards work. Its how paying for plane tickets works with the same card.

This is not true.. I've played both World of Warcraft, Warhammer Online, and SWTOR, none of them required you to have a credit card associated with your account to play, you bought the game, and you had access for 30 days, simple as that.

Zenimax just needs to learn the basics, before they try reinventing the wheel.

Funny, I remember a thread almost identical to this on the TOR forums at launch. WoW required a credit card to sub until their permanent free trial mode got released, I never messed around with WHO, but from what I know, it did as well.

You are 100% correct. Anyone that does not believe that, google the game and how to play (for SWTOR its FTP now, so different- but at launch as a sub game exactly the same). Just trying to keep the records straight with some facts.

jason523b14_ESO · April 2014

I can't even get the site to accept a credit card. It keeps saying that the address is wrong. I've tried 3 cards and even called my mother and borrowed her card. No one is selling the game time cards around me, so I can't use that. I've been saying such good things about this game and even got a few people that are on the fence to actually buy it. Now with this issue, I am getting very low on hype.

7788b14_ESO · April 2014

Spawnsplitter wrote: »

The "authorization fee" is nothing to do with Zenimax. its simply how creditcards work. Its how paying for plane tickets works with the same card.

Its simply to uncover fraudulent cards.

The "hold" on the cash can be for 10 minutes, or it can last for up to 7 days.

Be mindful that normally its the bank of the card company that would need to unlock this and not zenimax nor the actual creditcard company.

Its all about the bank and credit card provider that have their own routines. Especially on a weekend its not uncommon that it will stay locked over the weekend atleast. So be mindful of the term "workdays".

Unless this is something new. In all my years of paying by credit card for MMO subs, I've never had a full fee taken in advance even if some say it is temporary. I just played FFIV and they didn't even ask for sub fee until after the 30 free days were up.

krilleyy95 · April 2014

randwlcx wrote: »

starkerealm wrote: »

krilleyy95 wrote: »

Spawnsplitter wrote: »

The "authorization fee" is nothing to do with Zenimax. its simply how creditcards work. Its how paying for plane tickets works with the same card.

This is not true.. I've played both World of Warcraft, Warhammer Online, and SWTOR, none of them required you to have a credit card associated with your account to play, you bought the game, and you had access for 30 days, simple as that.

Zenimax just needs to learn the basics, before they try reinventing the wheel.

Funny, I remember a thread almost identical to this on the TOR forums at launch. WoW required a credit card to sub until their permanent free trial mode got released, I never messed around with WHO, but from what I know, it did as well.

You are 100% correct. Anyone that does not believe that, google the game and how to play (for SWTOR its FTP now, so different- but at launch as a sub game exactly the same). Just trying to keep the records straight with some facts.

But I bought WoW a few months back, and I could play immediately with no subscription active, just from the 30 days game time, so I could when I bought WHO when it was popular

starkerealm · April 2014

jason523b14_ESO wrote: »

I can't even get the site to accept a credit card. It keeps saying that the address is wrong. I've tried 3 cards and even called my mother and borrowed her card. No one is selling the game time cards around me, so I can't use that. I've been saying such good things about this game and even got a few people that are on the fence to actually buy it. Now with this issue, I am getting very low on hype.

I'm in the same boat, my address is listed as invalid.

...Weirdest damn thing. My girlfriend just got our address to work by switching to another computer. Same account, same information, different physical system.

BooWitchkraft · April 2014

I don't think I should forced to put my credit card number so I can bind my keys to my account. Just let us put our keys and then afterwards choose our payment methods.

Grizzly_UK · April 2014

ohoni wrote: »

I bought the game under the assumption that I would get the thirty days to play promised, but as I understand it, I won't be able to access those thirty days without registering a credit card. My question would be, if I don't enter this information immediately, but instead wait, say, six months or more before entering it, would I still get my thirty days at that point, or does the clock start ticking at April 6th whether I'm able to get in or not?

I want the 30 days I was promised, but I have no intention of paying for more time than that, including in the form of "authorization fees."

It doesn't matter when you enter your game code(s), the 30 free days will begin on the day that you do enter the code(s), no matter whether you do it today, next week, next month, next year or whenever.

ohoni · April 2014

The "authorization fee" is nothing to do with Zenimax. its simply how creditcards work. Its how paying for plane tickets works with the same card.

Its simply to uncover fraudulent cards.

The "hold" on the cash can be for 10 minutes, or it can last for up to 7 days.

Be mindful that normally its the bank of the card company that would need to unlock this and not zenimax nor the actual creditcard company.

Its all about the bank and credit card provider that have their own routines. Especially on a weekend its not uncommon that it will stay locked over the weekend atleast. So be mindful of the term "workdays".

Sure, but it is Zenimax that is requiring it as a condition to receive the 30 days we were promised. Obviously IF I give them my credit card information and try to make a subscription purchase they would have to verify the card, but they should not require access to a credit card UNTIL my 30 days are up.

I intend to play the game the full thirty days, and then hang it up until it becomes free to play. They have absolutely no reason to EVER know my credit card information, and I do not intend to provide it, but I WILL receive the 30 days I am owed.

Frosthawk · April 2014

@Soloeus I'm amazed that bank takes such fees as 50$ even for smaller bank, when thinking this it seems more or less illegal to do such but of course i'm looking to this thing from Skandinavian/Finland perspective where isn't such huge fee payment moving or depositing money and what comes to checks they are so rare that you see them barely anywhere except as gifts to make such special event.

Some banks do have here too negations towards paypal but most allow it since they understand need of security when buying from another countries, but
how something what is only around 27$ (20€) can take federal authorities atention? that is so absurd amount to take any actions what so ever.

Spawnsplitter · April 2014

WoW had it, FFXI had it... its a normal procedure...

Think about it for more then believing that they will steal your credit card information -- 1 credit card = 1 person.

chapter 5 in the terms of use:

As the Account holder, You are responsible for all charges incurred on Your Account, including, but not limited to, applicable taxes, and all purchases made by You or anyone that uses Your Account, including, but not limited to, Your family or friends.

And you are "owed" the 30 days when you identify yourself as you...

Personally I do not want an open 30 day trial game where all the spambots have free reign to keep relogging with new accounts. They might aswell help pay for the game if they want to use it.

ohoni · April 2014

Personally I do not want an open 30 day trial game where all the spambots have free reign to keep relogging with new accounts. They might aswell help pay for the game if they want to use it.

They would need to buy a new box and register a new key each time they did that, and as soon as they get outed as bots or spammers their accounts would be terminated prematurely. Having a functioning credit card is not a useful barrier against spammerbots.