> @jorantomalak said:
> olecrookedeyee olecrookedeyee#6739
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> wrote: »
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> Hi everyone...I am new to online gaming like this...actually STO is my first game of this nature. I am not a strong gamer and can't afford to really subscribe monthly or lifetime so when I heard there was a FTP version I was so stoked as I have been a life long trek fan since the cradle literally. The more I play the game and learn the more I thought I loved it....but I don't have hours a day to farm dillithium into zen, I've never been able to open a lockbox, and I don't have even a bank account since I just got done with a chapter 7 discharging in december so when Someone said they would let me borrow a credit card so I could buy a T6 ship as a "test" purchase to see if subscribing or putting money into the game was better than just playing it I used steam wallet out of ignorance...never reading the forums....never knowing better....
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> And as soon as I bought my ship I got the red message of doom and my ticket complaint put me to this thread in a robo response.
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> Please be kind...I am about the noob of noobs to this gaming world. I just run the game through steam because it's what I run everything else through and the only thing I know so that's not why I am here posting this.
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> My question is how will I know when they unlock my account so I can go back to trading on the exchange because that's pretty much how I get by in the game and I feel like I am stuck sitting on my hands. I am such a small fish in this pond I feel like I got eaten by a shark...and this isn't making me feel comfortable subscribing and giving these people even more money....yes I got a ship but from their automated message I'll never be able to by one again or trade one or anything else so I feel kinda robbed. And after I cited anti harrassment laws that might be aplicable to this situation I am afraid they'll boot me from the game since they obviously have no problem robbing people under the guise of a false layer of security.
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> I've skimmed about half of this but if anyone can give me any real info about how this works in plain noob words would be greatly appreciated and sorry for asking but sometimes I need things in big letters with construction paper and crayon. Never said I was smart...just here for the love of franchise that apparently only loves to take my money but also falsly accuse me of taking from myself because I don't know better than to use the only thing I know and trust....again...help please?!? and Thank you whoever is kind enough to respond and have a great weekend all!
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> Lesson here? never use someone elses credit or debit cards not only for online purchases but in everyday life, sadly idk if there is anything that can be done since the card was not in your name , the fraud prevention feature worked as intended.
fair enough...but you've never bought something for someone else online? I have. I've used prepaid cards as well...it's not the craziest idea. But thank you...
either way if the card was not in your name then the feature worked as it was intended, ik you may not like it but if you had bought with your card you would not be have been tagged by the fraud prevention feature.
Wrong, I paid in my own named card just yesterday, have an account from 2010 with established purchase history, and got shafted.
I can only encourage people hit by this to complain to Valve, as they take it very seriously when a company intentionally discriminates against people for using their payment system.
well the OP had used a card not in his/her name thats what i was talking about.
i would advise linking whatever credit/debit card to paypal and make any in-game zen purchases with paypal as the payment processor, i've been doing it that way for over 4 years and have had no problems with"probation" periods on my zen purchases......thats my advise....for what its worth.......
I Did as you said as its the safest way to pay on the net, and i still got flagged and my zen locked down. Same paypal account ive purchased from over a dozen times in the past few months alone. ive even spoke to my bank who said that they have no issue with the card that they issued to me and was attached to my paypal. At the end of the day they got the authorisation from my bank and happily took the money. then basically told me that the zen is in the mail and ill have to wait for 1-2 weeks before i can use it. Robosupport is no use as usual (never once helped in over 3 years) and so im stuck. the whole thing stinks
I will never purchase from this company again and im going to call paypal to recover the funds
From my experience, using a card in someone else's name is no problem at all. I make almost all of my Zen purchases using a debit card in my name, no problem, a few times my son has owed me money and I happened to need some zen at the time he was ready to pay me back. I log into my account, he enters his debit card info, bam, zen is in my account seconds later. Or, I had cash and wanted some Zen without my wife knowing I was spending even more money on a "free" game, so I give him the cash and he uses his card to buy me some Zen. The fact that he also plays STO and has used that card buying himself Zen in the past (so the card was already verified as valid) might have made a difference.
Of course, I don't use Steam to buy zen. It's a well known fact that buying zen through Steam to use in STO is a major headache, at least it's a well known fact to anyone that visits the forums. Even if you happen to prefer launching the game through Steam, you still have to have an Arc account to play STO. So, why log into Steam, give them your money so they can buy the zen from ARC, knowing it's a huge headache, when you can just log in to Arc and buy it directly yourself with no headaches ?
A slight disclaimer, a very few times I have purchased Zen it hasn't shown up immediately, but in every case, a check on my bank account has always shown the transaction as "pending" so the delay, for me, has always been my bank, not Arc.
One more disclaimer. It's been a long time ago, but I seem to remember that the very first time I ever bought zen, it took a few days and I do believe that delay was on ARCs end due to it being the first ever transaction. Then again, I'm old and senile and that was a long time ago....
Of course that is only my own personal experience, and all my transactions, whether me, or my son paying, have been using a debit card so I have no experience with using pay pal, credit cards, prepaid game cards or any of those other methods.
On a side note, does anyone know anywhere in Texas where you can even buy prepaid game cards ? It would be much easier for me to sneak a few zen purchases by the wife if I could just buy a game card instead of having to get my son to buy it for me.
Edited to add: I have both Steam and Arc and I don't use either one to launch STO, I don't need yet another program hogging my computer resources while I'm trying to play a game.
made several purchases through steam lately, didnt have any problems trading zen or zen items, make a larger purchase today and my zen is now locked for up to 10 days? Ridiculous, i payed real money and i want to spend it in game. Im requesting a refund through steam and this experience has soured me so much i will likely never spend another cent on a cryptic game. Customer service was all "ohhh your accounts on probation but we cant tell you why or for how long" completely and utter chicanery
They neither care or will not even discuss it with you. last time this happened to me it had reached 12 days and no sign of when it would end.
To cut a long story short. just get your money back and spend it somewhere else.
i made another small purchase after the refund came through and didnt get put on probation. it makes no sense and i would just stay away from purchases in general. ill never make another purchase from them and hardly even play anymore because of this experience.
What a horrible experience I've had. If only they had advertised this "probation" system in any way...
I use Steam to play games. I haven't had such a horrible payment experience with any other game. Typically you make a payment, and the content is unlocked as described. Not with hidden limitations.
I finally decided, "I'm having fun, I'll spend some money on this game". My thought now is "What a headache this has been, I doubt I'll try to do this again"
got slapped with the probation status after buying zen through steam..now, I just finished my christmas shopping for some friends and have change left over on my steam account..if I buy more zen through steam, has it been the experience of anyone on this forum, that this has had a negative impact on an existing probation status? aka has it made it longer?
Murphy's laws:
1- Murphy’s Law tells us that anything that can go wrong will go wrong.
2- And anything that does go wrong will get progressively worse.
3- And if you survive the first two laws it’s time to panic.
You know, it seems Cryptic really is encouraging people not to use Steam to buy Zen.
I'd guess its because if people buy through Steam then whomever owns Steam takes a 'slice of the pie' so to speak instead of all the money going to Cryptic so they put on this 'probation system' to discourage people from using Steam. At least that's the only reason I could guess they would do this.
As for myself, I just use the Arc Website and pay directly by debit card for those few times once every so often I have some disposable cash and I'm enjoying the game enough to want to purchase some Zen. I've never had any issue with using my devit or old credit card using the Arc Website. No issues, no delays, no probation. I purchase the zen and by the time I fire up my Arc Launcher, the STO launcher and actually get into the game my newly purchased zen is there and free to use however I please.
I can understand the frustration of this 'probationary period' though. When I buy Zen its usually because I'm starting a new character and want to purchase new BOFF slots for her or more DOFF slots or perhaps a Caitian BOFF. Or maybe I want to play with the new lockboxes and buy some keys. Maybe I want to sell keys to convert to EC so I can buy that sweet thing on the Exchange. I sure as hell don't want to have to wait to use the zen I paid for with my own money. Money that's already left my pocked and landed in theirs.
Well, I took the advice of this board and purchased Zen through Arc's website. I wanted to buy some of the Phoenix packs during the sale. After I made the purchase, I logged in to buy some dilithium, but can not as I am in a probation period. I got a refund for the purchase as the probation period will extend beyond the sale making my purchase useless. I'm not sure what they are trying to protect with this probation, all I know is it is going to protect them from ever getting my money again.
I always move money from my bank acct into my PayPal acct when I want to make a zen purchase. Have never been put on any probation periods doing this. I don't do it often as we're now on a fixed income (SS and a retirement from one of his other jobs, barely enough to do bills/groceries).
Still, I get some zen on my lifer acct with the stipend/arc quests and arc quests on a FTP acct.
Now a LTS and loving it.
Just because you spend money on this game, it does not entitle you to be a jerk if things don't go your way.
I have come to the conclusion that I have a memory like Etch-A-Sketch. I shake my head and forget everything.
Well, I took the advice of this board and purchased Zen through Arc's website. I wanted to buy some of the Phoenix packs during the sale. After I made the purchase, I logged in to buy some dilithium, but can not as I am in a probation period. I got a refund for the purchase as the probation period will extend beyond the sale making my purchase useless. I'm not sure what they are trying to protect with this probation, all I know is it is going to protect them from ever getting my money again.
This is for YOUR protection as well as Cryptic's. You only get 1 probation period as far as I know. The period is anything from 24 hours to 1 week as far as I know, but I've never heard of probation period stopping people buying Dil with Zen.
"You don't want to patrol!? You don't want to escort!? You don't want to defend the Federation's Starbases!? Then why are you flying my Starships!? If you were a Klingon you'd be killed on the spot, but lucky for you.....you WERE in Starfleet. Let's see how New Zealand Penal Colony suits you." Adm A. Necheyev.
This is for YOUR protection as well as Cryptic's. You only get 1 probation period as far as I know. The period is anything from 24 hours to 1 week as far as I know, but I've never heard of probation period stopping people buying Dil with Zen.
The message I get when using any Zen related purchasing:
Due to your recent Zen purchase, our billing system has automatically placed your account on a temporary probation period as an increased security measure designed to protect you, our users. You will be unable to use the Dilithium Exchange or purchase unbound C-Store items until the probation ends, and we advise you to hold onto your Zen until the probation expires if you wish to purchase unbound items.
Dilithium exchange is greyed out for buying Dil, can use dil to buy zen, but can not use the zen I purchased except to buy C-store stuff that gets bound.
was unaware of this mechanic until I purchased zen thank god it was not much though a learning experience. Really glad I managed to warn my friends before they invested lol. Granted we are pretty new to the game it would have been nice to have this warning before going through with the purchase. Anyways glad its just me that jumped the gun first instead of all of us. Kinda sucks though, 3 of the 5 guys dont want to play the game simply because of this mechanic. 7-10 days is a little steep waiting time lol.
Comments
well the OP had used a card not in his/her name thats what i was talking about.
I Did as you said as its the safest way to pay on the net, and i still got flagged and my zen locked down. Same paypal account ive purchased from over a dozen times in the past few months alone. ive even spoke to my bank who said that they have no issue with the card that they issued to me and was attached to my paypal. At the end of the day they got the authorisation from my bank and happily took the money. then basically told me that the zen is in the mail and ill have to wait for 1-2 weeks before i can use it. Robosupport is no use as usual (never once helped in over 3 years) and so im stuck. the whole thing stinks
I will never purchase from this company again and im going to call paypal to recover the funds
Of course, I don't use Steam to buy zen. It's a well known fact that buying zen through Steam to use in STO is a major headache, at least it's a well known fact to anyone that visits the forums. Even if you happen to prefer launching the game through Steam, you still have to have an Arc account to play STO. So, why log into Steam, give them your money so they can buy the zen from ARC, knowing it's a huge headache, when you can just log in to Arc and buy it directly yourself with no headaches ?
A slight disclaimer, a very few times I have purchased Zen it hasn't shown up immediately, but in every case, a check on my bank account has always shown the transaction as "pending" so the delay, for me, has always been my bank, not Arc.
One more disclaimer. It's been a long time ago, but I seem to remember that the very first time I ever bought zen, it took a few days and I do believe that delay was on ARCs end due to it being the first ever transaction. Then again, I'm old and senile and that was a long time ago....
Of course that is only my own personal experience, and all my transactions, whether me, or my son paying, have been using a debit card so I have no experience with using pay pal, credit cards, prepaid game cards or any of those other methods.
On a side note, does anyone know anywhere in Texas where you can even buy prepaid game cards ? It would be much easier for me to sneak a few zen purchases by the wife if I could just buy a game card instead of having to get my son to buy it for me.
Edited to add: I have both Steam and Arc and I don't use either one to launch STO, I don't need yet another program hogging my computer resources while I'm trying to play a game.
To cut a long story short. just get your money back and spend it somewhere else.
i made another small purchase after the refund came through and didnt get put on probation. it makes no sense and i would just stay away from purchases in general. ill never make another purchase from them and hardly even play anymore because of this experience.
I use Steam to play games. I haven't had such a horrible payment experience with any other game. Typically you make a payment, and the content is unlocked as described. Not with hidden limitations.
I finally decided, "I'm having fun, I'll spend some money on this game". My thought now is "What a headache this has been, I doubt I'll try to do this again"
1- Murphy’s Law tells us that anything that can go wrong will go wrong.
2- And anything that does go wrong will get progressively worse.
3- And if you survive the first two laws it’s time to panic.
I'd guess its because if people buy through Steam then whomever owns Steam takes a 'slice of the pie' so to speak instead of all the money going to Cryptic so they put on this 'probation system' to discourage people from using Steam. At least that's the only reason I could guess they would do this.
As for myself, I just use the Arc Website and pay directly by debit card for those few times once every so often I have some disposable cash and I'm enjoying the game enough to want to purchase some Zen. I've never had any issue with using my devit or old credit card using the Arc Website. No issues, no delays, no probation. I purchase the zen and by the time I fire up my Arc Launcher, the STO launcher and actually get into the game my newly purchased zen is there and free to use however I please.
I can understand the frustration of this 'probationary period' though. When I buy Zen its usually because I'm starting a new character and want to purchase new BOFF slots for her or more DOFF slots or perhaps a Caitian BOFF. Or maybe I want to play with the new lockboxes and buy some keys. Maybe I want to sell keys to convert to EC so I can buy that sweet thing on the Exchange. I sure as hell don't want to have to wait to use the zen I paid for with my own money. Money that's already left my pocked and landed in theirs.
So tl:dr, Use Arc Webside with debit card.
Still, I get some zen on my lifer acct with the stipend/arc quests and arc quests on a FTP acct.
This is for YOUR protection as well as Cryptic's. You only get 1 probation period as far as I know. The period is anything from 24 hours to 1 week as far as I know, but I've never heard of probation period stopping people buying Dil with Zen.
The message I get when using any Zen related purchasing:
Dilithium exchange is greyed out for buying Dil, can use dil to buy zen, but can not use the zen I purchased except to buy C-store stuff that gets bound.