Billing's back FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)
Posted: Mon Apr 27, 2009 8:13 am
Fortunately, after more than 8 months of free gaming, the new billing system is now ready to be put in place. It's been a hard few months but you all knew that this very long free period would stop one day and that day is now set ! 
We know you all love Ryzom as much as we love it and this new step will help us pay for all the servers, hardware, people and bills necessary to run Ryzom; it can only be done with your participation !
* When the billing is back and what will be the process for installing the billing system?
They will be 4 steps :
* What will happen to my account?
*ALL* registered accounts that were made before Monday 4th May 2009 will be reactivated. This means that you'll all be unbanned, unsuspended and subscribed (initially on a free trial remember). Since we don't have credit card information or any other payment information, it'll be like the first time you paid. At this point you will all have an automatic 2 free weeks starting from Monday.
If you were banned or suspended we will offer you a second chance, so it's time for you to prove that we made the right decision and that you will play according to the rules from now on. For anyone who tries to take advantage of our generosity to cause trouble, we will have no qualms about re-banning them immediately.
* What will happen to accounts created after Monday 4th May?
All new accounts that are created after Monday 4th May will automatically have 3 free weeks of access to the full game, with no level cap or geographic restriction. This is a change to the previous Silan-only unlimited trial, so you will have to make sure to take full advantage of the three weeks before they're up !
* Which payment methods will be available?
We will be using two companies to manage the payments, the first of these is Bibit (who manage a number of credit/debit crads including VISA, MasterCard, Visa Electron, Maestro and UK domestic Maestro, and are the same people used previously for Ryzom). The other is PayByCash who handle a wide variety of payment methods, all the way from sending cash through the mail, through prepaid cards or with some others cards like the French "Carte Bleue", up to direct bank transfers. You can see all of the different methods that PayByCash acccepts here
* What are the guarantees regarding the security of transactions on payment of the subscription?
As indicated on the payment page, we do not store your billing information and never have any of it in our possession - everything is handled by either BiBit or PayByCash.
During your subscription you have the choice of two major payment sites, Bibitand PayByCash. Both of these are specialists in this area and have put security systems in place to guarantee you the best possible protection.
* What is in the future of Ryzom?
We plan to release new patches regularly with fixes and additions as we have already done so far. We are constantly working on new improvements to the game and working hard to fix all of those bugs that still remain, so please bear with us !
We don't want to say specifically what we will be working on because we want to surprise you and we don't want to promise what we can't actually deliver on time. We strongly believe that it's better to say we'll do something and then deliver it very soon, rather than give you "pie in the sky" ideas and then never deliver them.
We know it's hard for you to wait but we hope that if we do everything we say, then you can trust us.
We have tons of great ideas and not enough time as always :-/ Of course, your money will help Ryzom a lot since it's with your money that we'll be able to pay for the future developments !
* What is Winch Gate Property Limited?
It's the full name of the company who today completely owns all of the rights to Ryzom. Winch Gate Property Ltd bought Ryzom from SpiderWeb at the end of last year. We are based in Cyprus and are a small dedicated company managed by some highly motivated former employees of Nevrax.
* Should I start over?
Of course not - not unless you want to! You will keep all of your characters.
* Will the Atysian lifetime subscription be in place?
No, not yet; we want to take some time to look back on the subject before making a decision taking your comments into account.
* If I want to help Ryzom financially, can I make a donation?
Thank you for your willingness to donate but for now we're unable to accept.
* Can I change my payment method in the middle of a subscription period?
Yes.
* What will happen to Events?
As they are unrelated to billing itself, things will of course continue to progress - see the post from wiedii for more confirmation.
* What about technical support?
Our teams of CSRs (Customer Support Representatives) will continue to be the system for support; you can find here all of the ways that you can contact them.
* When is the next patch coming?
The next patch is being prepared but everything has its own time, right now we have to focus on subscriptions. We will provide you more details about the next patch in the upcoming announcement.
* Will the billing system automatically debit payment for my account at the end of the free trial period?
No, your account will be unsubscribed at the end of the free trial period and all access to Ryzom services will be withdrawn. To play again you will have to manually choose a payment method and subscribe.
If you do not wish to receive emails from us, you can change the settings on account page. Your account and characters will be stored indefinitely just in case you choose to return Ryzom at a later time.
We know you all love Ryzom as much as we love it and this new step will help us pay for all the servers, hardware, people and bills necessary to run Ryzom; it can only be done with your participation !
* When the billing is back and what will be the process for installing the billing system?
They will be 4 steps :
- On Monday 4th May at 10am French time (see here for the time in most major cities), we'll bring the game servers down. During this down time, we will clean all previous billing information, reset all accounts to a new state (two weeks free trial) and set up the new free trial (3 weeks) system for future new accounts. And of course, we'll also install the billing system.
- We plan to reopen access to the game servers before the evening.
- Then later on, we'll reopen the subscription process for new players.
- Finally, we'll fully open the payment process and subscription system at some time during the week.
* What will happen to my account?
*ALL* registered accounts that were made before Monday 4th May 2009 will be reactivated. This means that you'll all be unbanned, unsuspended and subscribed (initially on a free trial remember). Since we don't have credit card information or any other payment information, it'll be like the first time you paid. At this point you will all have an automatic 2 free weeks starting from Monday.
If you were banned or suspended we will offer you a second chance, so it's time for you to prove that we made the right decision and that you will play according to the rules from now on. For anyone who tries to take advantage of our generosity to cause trouble, we will have no qualms about re-banning them immediately.
* What will happen to accounts created after Monday 4th May?
All new accounts that are created after Monday 4th May will automatically have 3 free weeks of access to the full game, with no level cap or geographic restriction. This is a change to the previous Silan-only unlimited trial, so you will have to make sure to take full advantage of the three weeks before they're up !
* Which payment methods will be available?
We will be using two companies to manage the payments, the first of these is Bibit (who manage a number of credit/debit crads including VISA, MasterCard, Visa Electron, Maestro and UK domestic Maestro, and are the same people used previously for Ryzom). The other is PayByCash who handle a wide variety of payment methods, all the way from sending cash through the mail, through prepaid cards or with some others cards like the French "Carte Bleue", up to direct bank transfers. You can see all of the different methods that PayByCash acccepts here
* What are the guarantees regarding the security of transactions on payment of the subscription?
As indicated on the payment page, we do not store your billing information and never have any of it in our possession - everything is handled by either BiBit or PayByCash.
During your subscription you have the choice of two major payment sites, Bibitand PayByCash. Both of these are specialists in this area and have put security systems in place to guarantee you the best possible protection.
* What is in the future of Ryzom?
We plan to release new patches regularly with fixes and additions as we have already done so far. We are constantly working on new improvements to the game and working hard to fix all of those bugs that still remain, so please bear with us !
We don't want to say specifically what we will be working on because we want to surprise you and we don't want to promise what we can't actually deliver on time. We strongly believe that it's better to say we'll do something and then deliver it very soon, rather than give you "pie in the sky" ideas and then never deliver them.
We know it's hard for you to wait but we hope that if we do everything we say, then you can trust us.
We have tons of great ideas and not enough time as always :-/ Of course, your money will help Ryzom a lot since it's with your money that we'll be able to pay for the future developments !
* What is Winch Gate Property Limited?
It's the full name of the company who today completely owns all of the rights to Ryzom. Winch Gate Property Ltd bought Ryzom from SpiderWeb at the end of last year. We are based in Cyprus and are a small dedicated company managed by some highly motivated former employees of Nevrax.
* Should I start over?
Of course not - not unless you want to! You will keep all of your characters.
* Will the Atysian lifetime subscription be in place?
No, not yet; we want to take some time to look back on the subject before making a decision taking your comments into account.
* If I want to help Ryzom financially, can I make a donation?
Thank you for your willingness to donate but for now we're unable to accept.
* Can I change my payment method in the middle of a subscription period?
Yes.
* What will happen to Events?
As they are unrelated to billing itself, things will of course continue to progress - see the post from wiedii for more confirmation.
* What about technical support?
Our teams of CSRs (Customer Support Representatives) will continue to be the system for support; you can find here all of the ways that you can contact them.
* When is the next patch coming?
The next patch is being prepared but everything has its own time, right now we have to focus on subscriptions. We will provide you more details about the next patch in the upcoming announcement.
* Will the billing system automatically debit payment for my account at the end of the free trial period?
No, your account will be unsubscribed at the end of the free trial period and all access to Ryzom services will be withdrawn. To play again you will have to manually choose a payment method and subscribe.
If you do not wish to receive emails from us, you can change the settings on account page. Your account and characters will be stored indefinitely just in case you choose to return Ryzom at a later time.
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