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Cap on spending astral diamonds
chinspinner
Member Posts: 0 Arc User
I am trying to buy an item from the auction house, but I keep getting a message telling me that I am limited on the amount of astral diamonds I can spend. My character is level 60.
A few questions:
1) What is the limit, and at what level is it removed?
2) Why the hell is there not a warning when you purchase these things for rl life cash/ zen that there is a limit imposed? It is a fundamentally IMPORTANT piece of information for the consumer if they can't use the product in question until they have fulfilled certain requirements first.
I am also getting a message that I cannot use Astral Resonators due to a recent transaction. My only recent transaction was buying Zen via Steam.
What is going on? Why am I being prevented from using items I have purchased in good faith?
A few questions:
1) What is the limit, and at what level is it removed?
2) Why the hell is there not a warning when you purchase these things for rl life cash/ zen that there is a limit imposed? It is a fundamentally IMPORTANT piece of information for the consumer if they can't use the product in question until they have fulfilled certain requirements first.
I am also getting a message that I cannot use Astral Resonators due to a recent transaction. My only recent transaction was buying Zen via Steam.
What is going on? Why am I being prevented from using items I have purchased in good faith?
My new quest:
WIP
WIP
Post edited by chinspinner on
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Or did you miss out on clicking the "Withdraw" button in the ZEN-AD-exchange, maybe? Because you can only bid for the amount of AD that the bidding character has on board. If your millions of AD are sitting in the bottom line of the ZAX, you can't spend them on AH or WB...
http://nw-forum.perfectworld.com/showthread.php?719681
Buying directly through Arc (the website, not the program) usually prevents this.
Ty for the answer. I don't use steam so I was wondering if he was just bugged. Good to know though.
That is crazy. There is clearly an agreement in place for Zen to be purchased via the Steam store, and they have received my payment. This is how the world operates, goods are sold by retailers... without a bloody wait before you are allowed to use them. I can only assume this is a ruse to prevent people from using Steam for purchases and the legality of it is questionable.
WIP
Also, not like Valve has sued them over the matter or anything. And their legal team >>>>>> your Intarnets lawyer sk33lz.
The thing with Steam is they hold all the purchase money in escrow until the end of the month, and then send it to PWE in a lump sum.
So there is a stretch of time where the purchaser has Zen, but PWE does not have your money. PWE can't confirm the validity of your purchase, because they don't have your credit card information or whatever, Steam does. So, to minimize being burned by charge-backs, etc., PWE puts your account on probation.
During your probation, any Zen items you buy will be account-bound, and you are limited on AH purchases.
It sucks, but PWE needs to protect itself.
No, PWE needs to provide service to their paying customers. If they can't handle Steam-related billbacks then they shouldn't put their game on Steam. I've never encountered this with other game companies that allow you to purchase virtual currency through Steam.
Very good point...
This world truly needs more intell business entities..
When you purchase Zen with Steam you get your purchase instantly but PWE does not have verification that your purchase was valid for a period of time. Until your purchase is verified you will not be able to purchase more Zen via the Steam Store but you should have no issues purchasing it directly through the Zen Shop.
Quite honestly, as a player, this is the much better means to pay for any MMO for reasons already pointed out in this thread by other users. I love steam for the single player and co-op experience but I don't think using it to pay for an MMO is a good practice whether there is an agreement or not.
I agree with Trill, if you bought a tin of soup and were told to return to the supermarket to pick it up in three weeks after Heinz have received your payment there would be more than a few complaints. Why should it be different for PW?
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No, the issue is that I am not allowed to use certain in game items because I purchased a product from a PWE approved retailer. If it is not good practice to use Steam then PWE should not offer their product via Steam. What happens between PWE and Steam is of no interest to me, it is not my job to review the contracts that exist between a manufacturer and a retailer, and as a consumer I should not be penalised because PWE considers these inadequate.
I would add that the items I am unable to use pre-existed on my character.
WIP
In short, the money goes from the player's CC to Valve. Valve takes their prenegotiated cut, and then transmits the rest to PWE en masse. PWE then finalizes the transaction based on the information provided by Valve.
Whether or not "you care about how businesses work", knowing HOW the process works can be helpful and alleviate a LOT of headaches in the future.
This is how payment verification works with ANY merchant. The measures are not in place to "inconvenience the customer" but to protect PWE from fradulent credit card use. When you've had to eat several MILLION dollars in losses due to fradulent purchases, putting some kind of security measure in place would outweigh any potential inconveniences, unfortunately, and they reserve the right to institute the procedures they--not we--deem fit. PWE institutes the exact same practice for direct credit card purchases, however, credit card purchases are usually finalized within 3-5 business days, but can take up to 10 in some cases.
Because some have chosen to abuse the system for illegitimate reasons, everyone has to deal with the measures put in place to minimize such abuse. Such is life.
Great Weapon Fighter: Because when is today not a good day to die?
PC and PS4 player. Proud Guildmaster for PS4 Team Fencebane. Rank 5 Officer for PC Team Fencebane. Visit us at http://fencebane.shivtr.com
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It isn't JUST Steam. It's ALL new or unverified payment sources. If you're using a credit card for the first time, for example, you'll run into the same restrictions.
As I said, the actions of those who would illegitimately use credit cards for theft have resulted in this requirement for ALL customers, in order for PWE to protect itself from liability and loss.
I'll requote myself here for emphasis:
Great Weapon Fighter: Because when is today not a good day to die?
PC and PS4 player. Proud Guildmaster for PS4 Team Fencebane. Rank 5 Officer for PC Team Fencebane. Visit us at http://fencebane.shivtr.com
WIP
Problem is, PWE doesn't know that until the money is in their hands. Bear in mind that for Steam purchases, Valve is the merchant that deals with your CC issuer--NOT PWE. Therefore, PWE does NOT receive your credit card information as there are two transactions involved here. One is the transaction between your CC issuer and Valve for the purchase of the ZEN. This is processed as a credit card transaction normally would, and finalizes (or "hard posts") to your account within 5-10 business days.
(TL;DR: When you purchase ZEN from Valve, it's two steps. The first step happens like a normal credit card purchase would. However, there's more involved.)
The second transaction does not involve the end user, but a bulk payment by Valve to PWE based on a predetermined rate. In this transaction, Valve ONLY provides the ingame account information (read: NOT CC number) to PWE so that PWE is notified of the accounts that have purchased ZEN for the time frame in which Valve is submitting payment. The credit card info is NOT remitted to PWE, as PWE is NOT the payment processor, and in such case has no legitimate reason for the information to be sent to them.
(TL;DR : Valve sends PWE a check and a list of player accounts that have made a ZEN purchase on an agreed-upon interval, but does NOT send the CC information.)
This is where the probation period comes in (as well as the reason why it affects Steam users far more regularly than direct CC payments): As PWE does NOT receive your credit card information, but only notice that you have purchased ZEN and Valve has verified the payment, PWE has no way of knowing if the ZEN you just purchased on Steam is from a valid card. Again, in the matter of Steam transactions, it is Valve, not PWE, that handles the verification of payments posted. Until the payment has been remitted to PWE for that account, PWE has to assume that the payment is made from an unverified method--regardless of how many times Valve has processed that method on their end. Thus, the restriction is applied in each case that a purchase is made on Steam.
It's not so much an issue of the business relationship between Valve and PWE as the fact of how the actual transaction takes place.
Great Weapon Fighter: Because when is today not a good day to die?
PC and PS4 player. Proud Guildmaster for PS4 Team Fencebane. Rank 5 Officer for PC Team Fencebane. Visit us at http://fencebane.shivtr.com
Basically, IMHO that would be the minimally appropriate thing to do.
Because if I e.g. get the bill from public services and I say "OK, yay, You deserve you money, but well, I'll pay at the end of the month, because my neighbor has been without electricity for a day two years ago" you can guess what their reaction would be...
I also don't know any internet vendor will need to take 5 business day to clear a credit card transaction. Most of them is instant.
You may see the charge posted to your card, but I assure you that the payment is not "instant". There's a difference between a pending transaction and a hard posted one. Simply because the money is deducted from your available credit or balance does not mean the transaction is finalized. What usually happens is that the amount of your transaction is pre-authorized and "held" until the actual transaction processing is completed.
Again, it is not "PWE's funny practice". As explained before, VALVE, not PWE, is the merchant actually processing your credit card transaction at the time of purchase. Valve is charging the full amount of the ZEN as if the ZEN was actually being purchased directly from PWE, but you are paying VALVE for the transaction. Valve then remits their negotiated price to PWE as actual payment for the ZEN in bulk.
Great Weapon Fighter: Because when is today not a good day to die?
PC and PS4 player. Proud Guildmaster for PS4 Team Fencebane. Rank 5 Officer for PC Team Fencebane. Visit us at http://fencebane.shivtr.com
My point was what is the difference between PWE and other game producers who also use Valve service. Why are those company able to do that instantly (no, they may not get the money right at that moment but they allow their product be used instantly) and PWE cannot? There is only one answer for me. It is PWE chose that way although it is not the norm.
Then allow me to pose this question to you: If you were the one eating a ton of losses due to credit card fraud, wouldn't you want to lock down the ZEN purchased until you received the payment in full and verified?
That's what PWE is doing. Until the money is received from Valve, they want to make sure that ZEN is locked in place until the money is verified as good. (e.g. not from a fraudulent charge or a stolen card)
Re-reading your post, though, I don't think you entirely understand what I'm saying. Valve processes your payment through your CC provider, not PWE. The length of time to finalize the payment has absolutely NOTHING to do with the part where Valve sends their payment to PWE. PWE sends Valve an invoice for ZEN purchases made through them and Valve sends the money that they have agreed to pay PWE for the ZEN. Since the credit card information is never sent to PWE (again, that's already been handled by Valve) PWE cannot verify Steam purchases by credit card information. Therefore, the probation period hits Steam purchases every time because PWE is forced to assume that all such purchases are made through unverified methods.
The bolded portion is due to CC issuer regulations. Credit card numbers are literally treated on a "need-to-know" basis. If the transaction can be handled between Valve and PWE without the exchange of CC info, that is the requirement. Less parties handling sensitive info = more security for that info.
The bottom line, though, is this: Whether we agree with it, think it's an inconvenience or otherwise, it boils down to an agreement between two businesses about how a bulk transaction is handled. Ultimately, we have no say over how this is done. Whether you, or I, or anyone else thinks it should be done a different way is largely irrelevant and inconsequential; the two businesses involved (Valve and PWE) have arranged matters in a fashion that, in their judgement, is based on sound business principle.
Great Weapon Fighter: Because when is today not a good day to die?
PC and PS4 player. Proud Guildmaster for PS4 Team Fencebane. Rank 5 Officer for PC Team Fencebane. Visit us at http://fencebane.shivtr.com
Answer: because all companies inherently don’t trust one another. Meaning every company is in business for their own self interest, eager to steal profits from any other company to stay in business. Its all about competition, not cooperation.
If everyone cooperated, they can get a lot more done. Competition is a flawed model for humanity to live by, resulting in haves and have nots. It divides people, pitting groups, cities, nations against each other.
Was going with that for sig, but changed my mind. Or did I?
But so I ask again: Doesn't the buyer deserve a hint at that it might take some time until his delivery is made? Like, a popup dialog box?
Finding out about that afterwards, without any up-front notice just causes dissatisfaction, bad feeling and unnecessary forum threads. Also, a dissatisfied, wary customer will be less likely to contribute repeat business, and a sour aftertaste will always remain...
PWE can explain time and again why they operate differently to most other company that use Steam, but it does not explain why they do not warn the customer of the delays or account restrictions associated with purchasing PWE products via Steam.
WIP
Still I feel your pain, but it is how it is.
A proud member of "mythical horde of DPS GFs"
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That is just bogus. So if you buy a car from a dealer, you shouldn't get the key till the car manufacturer gets it's money from the dealer?
The bottom line is, IF Valve is an official reseller of Zen for PWE (I.e. officially approved), you should get your in game currency as soon as you buy it on Steam. If that is not the case, and PWE can't "verify" the payment till a later point in time, then Steam should not be an official reseller of Zen.
Think about it for a second. If you get better and faster service buying from bots than from an official source, don't you think there is a BIG issue with their methodology?
In the end I gave up on it and signed up with ARC. It's not all bad, you at least get a bonus for purchasing some zen packages through arc which you do not get through steam.
You can always send steam a message about the issue, maybe at some point they will make a change that will address it. In the end steam is the one getting screwed out of money. As a user we have other options for us, even though it may not be as convenient.