Well, it sounds like I'm off the game for several further days... Square-Enix is incompetent.

I just spent 40 minutes waiting to talk to a brick wall.

Let's see: They have had "emergency registration server" maintenance on the North American side for two whole days and part of this morning.

They have said NOTHING vis-a-vis what caused this.

In fact, the less I hear, the more I think it's one of two things:

1) Either someone MAJORLY fucked up the June billings (which would explain being double-billed -- and, quite correctly, the SafeSecure, etc. flags going up)

OR

2) Someone got in, leading to 1).

And then I get the dose of the vaunted Square-Enix customer service, in which it would appear as if I knew more about what was going to happen before I got in touch with them. Speaking with "Agent Chris F." was like speaking to a brick wall!!

You would think these guys would at least be given a general understanding of some of what goes on in such LM-21 situations, or would be given some information regarding the nature of the emergency maintenance.

He, apparently, got neither.

So, I'm off FFXI until the pending charges wipe. And THEN I have to hope that that particular card has not been locked off the system. If it is, I'm gone from FFXI, and I'm going to raise motherfucking Hell.

It's clear they don't want their currently paying customers, as I've said now for about a year and a half.

ON EDIT:

RUH - ROH !!!!

There is no confirmation at this time whether the e-mails several players have been reporting as receiving today (Source: BG) are real or fake.

If they are real, then someone got into the registration servers (probably DURING THE BILLING PROCESS). Basically, the e-mail purports that this was from an "external source", but it's clear they got in!

Be very careful proceeding until further confirmation comes from Square-Enix.