That seems like a bit much. I can understand being angry about having to wait that long but a new law because he couldn't find the place to cancel his subscription.

You'd think ANY company running an MMO would make it easy to unsubscribe in the first place... seems someone either has trouble navigating through a website OR someone forgot the "I want out" button.

I had an issue with blizzard in the past. Fortunately for me Paypal sided with me in my dispute, then blizzard locked me out of my account. If you don't want to go through the nonsense, I recommend gamer cards. If not then pay with paypal, you can dispute something and they may side with you if you are legit.

I am going to talk to a state senator in ct (father of a friend) to see if they can pass a similar law. Recurring charges are unfair to the average consumer, especially if it is unknown to them. We'll see what happens.

FFXI is easy to cancel I had no problem when I did it, this guy just needs to be smarter than the mouse he's trying to point at the screen......

Third paragraph, "Square Enid's Final Fantasy XI".

LOL.. I'm from Illinois and this seems about on par to how things are done there.. I don't live there now but it certanly doesn't suprise me. I've never had a problem unsubscribing from any MMO and I don't think I will ever.. I just stop paying for the game by removing my CC info and they usualy just cancel my account for non-payment.. it's the fastest way to get them to stop your subscripton.. lol

seems to me that it comes down to the credibility of his issue. I have to assume that for the sake of researching the subject, someone involved here went back and checked the site to verify that its actually hard to do and that this isnt some idiot who cant handle a browser. I personally have a hard time believing that anyone could be smart enough to play a video game and somehow also be foolish enough to have problems working a browser. Also i wouldnt count on paypal, if you look around a bit you can actually find a great deal of stories about how people are getting screwed by them unreasonably, and if I recall correctly, there was actually a trial of some sort regarding just that in the past month or two

While difficulty cancelling a subscription is not the norm, it does happen. I know from personal experience. I had to search and search for the cancellation button, which was tucked way down at the bottom of the page next to the trademark sign and with faded lettering. The developers know when and why they do this.

It was so bad for me that I was even charged an extra month of service because I thought I had went thru this particular MMO's complicated cancellation process but missed 1 little entry. I eventually got my money back, but what a hassle!

Come on MMO developers....make the cancellation page easy to find and use. It can't be THAT hard!

If I remember right, you actually need to have the game installed, or the game launcher, in order to be able to cancel subscribtion with them.

i see a lot of post talking about how dumb that guy is but in each one i see a different method for getting your account closed and none of you are saying that you use the games cancelation procedures.

its just a little funny you all use a method to force the game to end your subscription but you find it funny that this guy just wants a way out the is as easy as they make the sign up.

seems we say one thing but we pratice something else.

when you sign up for a game subscription, there usually is information stating if the subscription will automattically renew or there will be recurring charges. If you didn't see that in the first place then its your own fault for it. no reason to try to get a law made/passed for something like that. Just learn to read all the "fine print" and understand what you are getting yourself into before you go forth with it.

Again.... with FFXI Online there is nothing on Square-Enix "website" in order to un-subscribe. It is built into the game client. This law allows say, somebody who's computer died, to goto the library and cancel without having to actually get a computer, install the game, and then cancel. Most games have web-based, but with Square-Enix, this isn't the case, and I'm glad it passed.

It seems that this law has more to do with the often times predatory nature of subscription software companies attempting to lock their clients into continued payment. It may seem arbitrary to some, but the law is worded directly enough that I fail to see any possible negative outcomes for other mmorpg's. Software and the internet are relatively new concepts in terms of the law, and it's going to be more common to see laws regarding these types of mundane issues as the system attempts to integrate new technologies with old paradigms. At least it's not censorship!

This is good and bad I think.
Good in the sense that any MMO should be easy to cancel, and via a website. Calling a phone number shouldnt be used. (unless there was a SIMPLE automated way to do it)

Bad in the sense that, what if a Game Dev refused to sell their game in Illinois simply because they dont want to change their cancellation policy? Lots of people will get screwed out of a game.

i could care less about the law, the method in which the law came into place is the appauling part. It must be nice to get laws made for you everytime something inconveniances you. omg he had to wait almost 2 hours on the phone....couldn't call back during non-peak hours, nope had to get a law passed.

First off, you all need to remember that Square Enix is out to run a business. They want your money, they like your money. So having a law passed to require game companies to make their unsubscription process easier, is way overkill.

It is unfortunate that some of the people here are having a hard time reading, using their internet browser, or my favorite (DID YOU EVEN READ THE TOS???????) 100% of the time when an MMO writes a TOS it is because they want to make sure everything that can happen with your money and billing is discussed, they have to, their lawyers won't allow a game to be published without that vital info. The TOS is written by their lawyers to protect their company and to make sure you have rights also if a problem arises.

To dtfunk: If you do not like recurring billing then unsubscribe to Blizzard, Cable TV, DirectTV, or any of the other 10,000 services out there that you subscribe to that does that type of billing. Also make sure you read the TOS so that way, you know how they are going to bill you. I promise it is in there, since I just read it right now to make sure. Also, if a company is going to charge a recurring credit transaction every month, they will tell you about it, they have to or they can be sued. There is absolutely no way that a *legit* company would not tell you this, unless you are dealing with illegitimate companies over the internet.

So for all of you here who are like dtgfunk and Alex Edwards, please do not force your laziness and inability to blame yourself for your screw up because you didn't take the time to read the Service Agreement that is clearly posted. In the future, do not just check the box that states, "Check here that you have read our service agreement, and/or rules, billing agreements, recurring billing charge agreement, etc etc etc." All legitimate companies have Service Agreements or Terms of Service, that you have to read before you can even sign up with them a lot of the time.

I promise it will take you less time to read the TOS then to ask your friend's father who is a state senator to pass a law requiring the game company, or any company for that matter, to come to your home and read you the TOS and a bed time story. These people are what make it harder for the normal people to live normal lives, and not to mention, you get the game company hampered with enough stupid legislation, and I promise you won't see that game, nor any other game, being supported in your state anymore. With this type of legislation, no game company will come close to releasing anything in Illinois or any other state that tries this strong arm tactic.

What is next on this line of thinking? Trying to get a bill passed, to make all MMOs free, since the average consumer can't pay $14.99 or to get the employees of the MMO to come to your house to pickup the payment every month since your too lazy to click a couple of quick links on the web to make a payment? These comments are not meant to be funny, these bills could be brought up for new legislation. Don't believe me? Just look at one moron who got a bill passed to make MMOs practically change their process to unsubscribe to their games, into a McDonalds menu. (All pictures very few words, McDonalds doesn't want to scare their customers off with things like words and reading.)

I used to play FF XI, quit when WoW came out. Had no trouble what-so-ever canceling my account. Maybe you should actually read the text on the screen instead of just looking for the big red button saying "Cancel Account"

pointless laws make the world worse

This is AWESOME! I only wanted to pay for a F***ing month and they wouldnt let me cancel it right after I paid for a full month.

Illinois rocks!

i had the same problem with ffxi it billed my parents for 3 straight months when i had already cancelled the account and they wouldnt refund my moms visa after she got on the phone with them and reamed them out. It was a bad experience with ffxi. I then moved to using pay cards as a kid now i can pay for my own sub using my own visa. There should be an easy and precise way to cancel an account. a simple button and confirm popup is perfect.