New buyer. Steam or Retail Version?

[Mr. HeadButt]

Should I get this game on steam or the retail version? I know you can pay for subs and other merch in game via steam wallet but I never use steam wallet.

[RopeDrink]

Even if you're a Steam User, the majority of items can be bought right from Mog Station rather than through Steam, so if you'd prefer to just use a credit card or various other middle-man services and/or you don't want to deal with the extra layers Steam throw on to the process, just go with the non-steam version.

No matter which one you buy you'll be dealing with Mog Station for the most part rather than buying items through Steam (unless you are buying items from Mog Station using Steam Wallet. You don't HAVE to, it's just an option).

It just depends on whether you want Steam involved or not -- very little to do with using Steam for actual purchases as you can avoid that if you wish. The only reason I do so is because they don't utilize PayPal on Mog Station, but you can use Steam Wallet (which you can top-up via Pay Pal, so it equates to the same thing -- otherwise I just use cred-card).

[Elazul]

Unless you want to use Steam wallet there isn't much reason to buy Steam version. You can always add the game as a Non-Steam game if you want to use the overlay.

[Mr. HeadButt]

can I track hours played on Mog? Or do need steam

[Elazul]

Originally posted by Cookie Monster:

can I track hours played on Mog? Or do need steam

You don't need Steam to track hours played as the game does that already. Type "/playtime" without the quotes into the chat window.

[Gotsa]

i wanted to be able to use cash -> steam gift cards to fund my FF14 purchases and NOT give anyone a creditcard where they can charge monthly scrips, thats just asking for trouble. also steam offers sales on bulk purchases or expansions which i thought was a big + in my book.

if you go through steam though its only an extra intermediary step. its easier for sure to just get it directly from mogstation.

[Unholy Eve]

In the long run you end up paying more for the games on Steam as Steam is the only store you can buy it from and it only goes on sale a few times a year.

If you buy the non-Steam version you can grab a copy from which ever website is having a sale that day.

[Shiro]

What Eve said, non-steam version is cheaper and goes for like 50% every few days, steam does this like once a year. But if you have items to sell on steam market ( skins, cards. etc) its not bad to get steam version, since you get it basically free.

[Elenoe]

Originally posted by Unholy Eve:

In the long run you end up paying more...

in a long run you pay exactly the same. You are talking about one purchase every TWO YEARS. And if you are playing the game you will buy it on release anyway.

Steam or not Steam is purely matter of preference (library, screenshots, etc.). The games are exactly the same beyond the Run button. No shortcuts, not steamworks, even steam version doesn't require steam to play the game.

Just mind "the various middle-man paying services" don't include paypal. So if you want to use paypal like me, the steam wallet is the only choice.

PS. you can't "use steam" without using "steam wallet". Everything on steam is purchased with "steam wallet".

[Wraithverge]

I have bought this game on steam and I don't have any disadvantages at all.
Just keep in Mind that once you've bought the game on steam (or retail) you'll have to purchase future add-ons there, too. Steam and Retail versions aren't compatible.

[ferro]

i cant think of any reason to buy this on steam besides a sale. also a new policy means you have to have steam up to launch the game.

You have to open the launcher to patch the game (it doesn't patch through steam), and you do everything through mogstation anyway.

SE sells keys directly through amazon.

[Elazul]

Do NOT buy this on Steam. They have a new policy for Steam users going forward starting later this month. See below. I'm pretty upset here about this. It's like nobody learned ANYTHING when ESO did this exact same thing.

https://na.finalfantasyxiv.com/lodestone/news/detail/eb00facc2f6dc880aca78a9aa69d4dcbcf2c5f4d

In order to align closely with Steam policies, we plan to implement a restricted login check process for Steam service account users.

[Affected]
FINAL FANTASY XIV Steam Version

[Changes]
Current:
FINAL FANTASY XIV Steam version clients can currently be opened directly without going through the Steam application and is possible to use the regular Windows version client application for Steam version service accounts.

After the change:
For Steam version service accounts, the FINAL FANTASY XIV client application will need to be started up from the Steam application's Play button. Any other method of direct startup will no longer be available.

[Time and Date of Implementation]
Late March 2019 (tentative)

We thank you for your understanding and cooperation.