It has been 5 days now since I entered in my full CD key and upgraded my account from the canceled pre-order account. I still don’t have access to the forums. I’d like to because with any game launch most of the good early research and tips are on those forums. I can’t get in though. I have managed to scrounge up a few good tools like:

• Ten Ton Hammer’s guide to AoC emotes.
• The Goonheim (SA Forum/EvE’s Goonsquad) Feat Calculator
• The Wikia AoC Wiki... which still sucks atm. It took the WoW Wiki years to start being good.
• The other AoC Wiki. Just as half-finished as the wikia one.

I sent an email to Funcom support to figure out what in the world was going on with my forum account. At least the language of the error message had changed from saying that I was permanently banned and that it would never be lifted to a message that says I don’t have permissions and perhaps I should contact support.

Here’s what they sent back. Does anyone else think it’s alarming that their form letter that they send back has to clear up so much miscommunication?

Greetings,

We understand that there are still some problems and confusion with a number of player accounts as well as in-game technical issues. This email, while a form response, was specifically written to address the major issues and to direct you to the appropriate places to help you solve your problems. Please read through it to find the section that addresses your issue. We understand some account and in-game issues are quite specific (or even unique) in nature and will require us to look into them individually. PLEASE DO NOT REPLY TO THIS EMAIL IF THAT IS THE CASE. REPLIES TO THIS EMAIL WILL NOT BE ANSWERED.

If you are having an account or billing issue, please direct your query to the account departments. That email address is account@ageofconan.com.

If you are having a technical issue, whether in client set-up or in game problem, please direct your query to the tech department. That email address is tech@ageofconan.com.

ACCOUNT ISSUES

If your account issue dates back to the period between the 14th of may and the 19th of May and is in regards to Early Access, please note that Early Access was closed on the 14th and if you didn’t specifically purchase the 5.00 USD/EUR pass, then your account was not eligible and thus would remain inactive until the main launch on May 20 (or May 23rd for European players). This includes many Authentication Error issues.

If you did purchase your EA pass but your account froze, it means that your payment was denied and requires resubmission. That is done automatically for you and your account will auto-unfreeze but in the case that the payment continued to fail, get back to us using the account email address listed above.

For those that purchased the EA pass and were never able to utilize the pre-launch playtime because of technical issues, we will compensate your account. In this instance, please create a new ticket with the subject header COMPENSATION FOR LOST EA.

If your account suddenly froze or was canceled on or after May 20th, it is because the pre-order has ended and the retail key is required to continue playing. To upgrade your account with the retail key, you need to first log into your account at https://register.ageofconan.com/account and enter your Funcom account information. From your account page, select the fourth option, Add card/Create account. Enter your game key in the box and click validate. Once you have done that you will be prompted to either create a new account with the key or attach it to a pre-existing account. Select correct option and then choose which account to attach it to. At that point you will be all set.

If you are receiving an error about your username and password being invalid, please check your account and make sure that you are using the correct password. Even with only one account, you can have two passwords- one for the registration site and one for the game log in. Make sure you are using your AoC log in password when logging into the game.

If you are unable to create an account with your pre-order key, and it is after May 20th, you need to wait for your retail copy. Pre-order keys ceased to be viable account creation keys once the game went to wide launch. You will first need to register your retail key. At that point, you will be able to add your pre-paid key.

If your /claim is not working, please make sure your retail key is registered. You cannot utilize the /claim function until your account has been upgraded with the retail key.

If you have any other account questions, please check out this forum post:

http://support.ageofconan.com/category.php?id=35

TECHNICAL ISSUES

If you are receiving an error while patching, like ERROR 105, please create a new ticket with the subject header ERROR 105 and include your patcher.log file form the AoC folder. We have QA personnel standing by to assist.

If you are receiving an Authentication Error, it is more than likely the result of one of the aforementioned account issues. If your account was not enabled for play, then that error will appear. However, for those instances when a closed account was not the culprit, check the following link for a list of the possible causes and their corresponding fixes:

http://forums.ageofconan.com/showthread.php?t=14651

Also, you can troubleshoot many of your technical issues using the following link:

http://support.ageofconan.com/category.php?id=8

PLAYER POLICIES

We understand that some players may not be familiar with Funcom’s in game policies. A comprehensive list can be found here:

http://support.ageofconan.com/category.php?id=7

GAME DESIGN QUESTIONS

If you are looking for information on Age Of Conan classes, races or other general design question, please visit this link:

http://support.ageofconan.com/category.php?id=30

AND FOR EVERYTHING ELSE…

We have created a knowledge database for all of the miscellaneous questions you may have regarding Age Of Conan. You may access this database form here:

http://support.ageofconan.com

We also offer help on our forums, where the Community Team will be glad to assist you:

http://support.ageofconan.com/category.php?id=31

We understand there will be some of you that did not have your question answered by this email and for that we apologize. We are extremely happy at the level of enthusiasm we have encountered but that has led to some difficulties in us being able to help all of our customers in a timely manner. We assure you this is only a temporary issue and we appreciate your patience as we attempt to help everyone who has an issue, as soon as possible.

Thank you from the Funcom Customer Support Team

Thought: I’m not sure what the point of creating a pre-order account was if I was just excluded from EA and then had my account canceled automatically by Funcom once the product went live. I might as well just have not created one.