How Much For 6 Days Play?

On the 26th of March I decided to restart my Final Fantasy XI account. As many of you will know Final Fantasy XI is an online MMORPG with PS2, PC and 360 gamers all being able to play together. Like most MMORPG's you have to pay each month to play the game, Final Fantasy XI costs £8.99 ($13) which is about the average price so I am told.

The reason why I decided to restore my account is because I like to purchase Final Fantasy games, and as the expansion pack "Wings of the Goddess" was on sale I felt the need to purchase it. To justify the purchase of the expansion I felt I needed to actually at least play Final Fantasy XI again.

Look at the stunning graphics!!

Upon the time I quit I was a lowly level 14 Warrior so basically I hadn't really done to much in the game, that is apart from kill Bees, Worms, Rock Lizards and Quadav's. Since returning I now have a a character that is a level 19 Monk with a level 8 Warrior as the sub job. To be honest I started to enjoy the game and thought I would play it at least once or twice a week. Now I am thinking about if it is worth it, after finding out that Square took out a months payment for 6 days play. All because I restarted my account on the 26th of March.

I thought that you get charged each month for a months playtime. (So basically after 30 days I would get charged.) Would I have been charged £9 if I started my account on the 30th or 31st of March? According to Squares Technical Support Team I would have done. Apparently it is in the Terms and Conditions that nobody ever reads. So basically because I happened to decide to play the game a few days before the end of a month I get hit with a full months charge.

Why doesn't it look like this on my 360?

Square should think about new and returning users and really adjust the price accordingly, so if you re register the game after the 10th of the month you get charged 2/3's of the price, if it is after the 20th 1/3 this would be much fairer price point and may encourage people to return to Final Fantasy XI. As apposed to getting charged £9 for 6 days play and getting pissed off about it.

Final Fantasy XI is outdated and there are much better MMO's out there, so Square should try to be helpful and encourage players to return instead of pulling crazy crap like this. Maybe it's a sign telling me that Final Fantasy XI just isn't for me, or maybe I should learn to read all the boring crap in the Terms and Conditions from now on.