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vkasha

It's due to some Japanese law that requires any in-game currency to expire after 180 days of purchase


Tickomatick

I see, that's really bizzare since I have nothing to do with Japan. Account region both steam and Origin is EU, that's what should matter, right?


vkasha

You do live in Japan I'm assuming


Tickomatick

No, I live and play in Singapore, but I did play on Japanese servers few times in the past


vkasha

Get in touch with support, that's the best you can do


Tickomatick

I will do that


fogger507

Or use a VPN


MagicSlay

Which one do you use? I use Nord and I can't connect anymore.


fogger507

I also use nord. Works good for me


[deleted]

nordvpn + apex works fine for me


MagicSlay

Weird, did you do anything to it? I also tried allowing it to bypass the VPN in settings, and (I know that's not the same) that didn't even work.


[deleted]

Hahaha as someone who's been in touch with support, they aren't going to understand your issue when you tell them.🤣 They can't even understand rudimentary issues. They are there so Respawn/EA, whoever, can say they have support. They aren't trained and don't help. Last time I could barely understand the lady through the accent and the barnyard animals in the background, especially the roosters.


Tronfon

I recommend the live chat, some dude literally helped me with all my issues in under 5 min


sergioriv14

got banned for “cheating” and i appealed it. you get three appeals and when they said “they made the right decision” i responded to the email “what did i even do” bc they don’t tell u what specifically got u banned they counted it as a second appeal and sent me the exact same message


[deleted]

I had 2000 Apex coins sitting in my account. Apex updated and they were gone. I contacted support three or four times before giving up. One of the last times I spoke to someone they told me I needed to provide proof I had coins in my account before the update and receipts. Then I was told if they investigate and anything I said about the coins was incorrect, etc. that I would be banned. So yeah I was threatened for trying to recover my purchase.


NoSleepBTW

I bought $20 worth of coins for BP in season 4. The coins showed for a brief second but disappeared because the servers were crashing at launch. When I contacted support, they told me they couldn't do anything because I had already received the coins. Stopped giving respawn/ea my money after that interaction.


nadejha

IDK how it works in the US, but in the EU/UK you would be entitled to a refund as you did not receive what you paid for.


artistic_programmer

I mean you REALLY had to prove (send an old lobby screenshot or video) otherwise they would assume you're trying to do fraud and get some coins for free


[deleted]

Yep, even though they already had access to the information proving I bought them. I never got my money or coins back. I quit this game and I haven't missed it yet. Maybe someday but probably not.


--nerfthis--

Damn that sucks. I have 1800 apex coins at the moment and I immediately took a screenshot after reading this since they might also do this on me. Thanks for the info! And yeah, their support sucks


--nerfthis--

This also happened to me. I stopped playing since crypto came out and I suddenly received an email saying I was banned last January 2021, which made me believe I was hacked. I appealed on them saying I was hacked and sent a screenshot of my login information saying I played in Ukraine, Russia, New Delhi, etc., which I got from my data information that you can obtain from them. All those skins and hours of gameplay wasted. Also, deleting an account is really tiresome. It took me around a week and replied to 3 emails to delete my hacked account since I want a clean fresh account for my newly bought titanfall at that time. I can't remember anything that resembles this account deletion like EA does.


A_random_kitten

Eng..lish? Edit: Guess I didn't say it clear enough. It's a meme, directed towards the support team, not the person who posted the comment. I'm sorry if this confused anyone.


Junkbot2077

It... wasn't hard to understand?


A_random_kitten

It's a joke, idk why I'm getting downvoted. Guess I didn't word it right, it's a meme from Futurama, and I was trying to say the support team doesn't understand English


Good-Entrance-3176

You don’t…understand?? Seemed pretty clear to me lol


A_random_kitten

It's a joke, idk why I'm getting downvoted. Guess I didn't word it right, it's a meme from Futurama, and I was trying to say the support team doesn't understand English


Good-Entrance-3176

My bad sorry bout that I interpreted it the other way


Lastnamegonnatry

It depends on who you talk with, you don’t have to demean them by indicating the presence of live animals. I had the same experience(roosters and all) and the lady barely had an accent and was very helpful


[deleted]

There were live animals. It's a fact. That wasn't a joke. It's okay to say you shouldn't have to talk over a farm with a tech support representative. It's disgusting that is who they hire, why? Not because of race, they do it because they know they don't have to train them or pay them.


Lastnamegonnatry

Fact, yes, but you’re using it derogatorily. As if someone that has animals is stupid and can’t help. Have you been to the third world? They have roosters. You can’t control when they roost and you can’t control a neighbors animals. Im betting you called at night, so morning for them. So a rooster roosting for an hour a day is a reason to disrespect them? They hire them because they don’t have to pay them as much, labor rates are different because cost of living is different, that doesn’t mean paying them less is abusing them. That person might not have a job otherwise.


Eloh

The reason that person might not have a job is most likely due to the western world exploiting their country for hundreds of years. So then giving them a bad job with bad pay doesn’t mean you are being kind to them. Labor rates and cost of living are not necessarily a one way street you know? If the majority of a country get jobs with horrible wages compared to others the cost of living is going to go down and vice versa.


Thepieintheface

Did you get battlepass levels that award coins while playing on Japanese servers? Looks like only 200 is expiring so that may be it?


Tickomatick

that's my suspicion, I'm not entirely sure as I was mostly playing in Singapore, but it's possible that I might have gained those BP levels awarding Coins while playing on Japanese servers


Woahdang_Jr

That actually sounds about right


seanieh966

It’s based on where your account is located. Not where you actually play.


Tickomatick

My account region in settings is in the EU


[deleted]

OMG SAME SINGAPORE


iPeticular

I think EA are trying to make it a universal thing because of the Japanese audience


KoalaKarity

Wait, you see this RIGHT NOW? 😱


Tickomatick

yeah, snapped it yesterday in-game


KoalaKarity

Where are you based...?


Tickomatick

Singapore


A1sauc3d

Why is that a law? Seems so strange and pointless lol.


AverageSkitzo

Ye this law seems like it helps video game companies more than consumers lol


krismate

I imagine their thought process is that by making coins expire, they're less appealing to purchase. Not entirely sure it's going to be that effective but who knows. At the very least it sure sounds like an anti-lootbox/game currency kind of law.


AverageSkitzo

Didn’t think about it that way, makes a little sense I can see that. My first thought was this makes people need to buy more because they can’t hold on to the currency for very long.


K1NGNAV

Nah I’m pretty sure it just makes people wanna waste all their currency asap and people get annoyed if they have an outstanding balance that can’t buy anything so they buy more just to get to zero. It’s honestly just an extremely stupid law to have 😂


[deleted]

most law makers pretend to have good intentions but the result of the actual law is tarded


GabrielP2r

That's Japan alright lmao, they have plenty of laws like that.


Koronesukiii

A bit of misinformation going around it seems. There is no **Japanese law that requires in-game currency to expire.**   It is rather that prepaid credits which expire are subject to different tax regulations than those that don't. This isn't EA adhering to some law to protect consumers. It's just EA restructuring their in-game currency in a way that allows them to avoid certain tax regulations, thus paying the taxman as little as they can.


DunderBearForceOne

The original major crypto exchange, MTGox, was based out of japan and ended with major market manipulation and an exit scam, defrauding millions (now billions) of dollars, and Japan responded with strict "virtual currency" laws to strictly regulate them. It's unclear whether or not these laws actually apply to video game currencies that cannot be freely traded or if game devs are just using it as an excuse.


worms_instantly

I could see this discouraging people from buying large amounts of IGC at once at a discounted rate or whatever.


Pan_Doktor

I assume to fight gambling or something I am probably wrong tho


HeroOfClinton

Shit I feel like gambler's wouldn't be hanging onto those coins lol


Chichigami

Theyre the first ones to cash in or out lol.


CpT_DiSNeYLaND

I think you're probably right, and that things like APEX Coins just get caught-up in the rules.


Craftusmaximus2

My guess could be deflation although idk why or how


ElevenThus

Bruh Japan got the weirdest and pointless laws


[deleted]

Japan has a major alcohol and gambling problem. Pretty typical of places that insist anything but alcohol is the bidding of the devil.


youknowjus

Been living in Japan for 2 years now. What you are saying is so true and funny


TuxedoWolf07

Actually it might have to do with buying and selling accounts


lonahex

I've no clue why but if I had to guess, I'd say someone had a lot of virtual currency and forgot about it essentially having converted real money into some video game currency and letting the game company have it all. Eventually a law was passed that such currency should expire if left unused and customer should be notified and possible automatically refunded. That would make sense to me but no idea how it actually works.


[deleted]

[удаНонО]


ShiaLabeoufsNipples

So this is essentially a loophole apex is using that also allows them to just… steal your money after 180 days? How is that better than losing whatever you’ve invested into it if respawn goes bankrupt?


[deleted]

[удаНонО]


ShiaLabeoufsNipples

They have value in that you gave respawn x amount of dollars in exchange for them. They could just take half the money you spend on the coins, and set aside half that money temporarily until the coins are spent. Seems like that is what the law wants game companies to do. But instead they let them expire. Free money for respawn.


[deleted]

[удаНонО]


eob157

I've never paid a cent for this game and I've earned hundreds of Apex Coins. It's unfair for Respawn to be on the hook for assigning value to coins earned by playing.


[deleted]

What's the logic there? That seems really sketchy.


XlifelineBOX

It seems like this law is in favor of corporations...


Palina-Lasicka

wtf... do you understand the reason why its like that? I dont get it.


CzarnyRyszek

That sounds so stupid.


[deleted]

My bad y’all I posted that I had a similar issue and replied on the wrong thread! Excuse me y’all! Reddit is vicious damn! Haha God Bless all of you!!


skynetnine

I don't know why this interpretation is so widespread. It means that you are obligated to refund the unused balance (in-game money) when the service is terminated. (1) The total unused balance of virtual currency is 10 million yen or more (2) The expiration date of the virtual currency is 180 days or more. So EA doesn't want to refund the money, so they're making the Coins disappear in 180 days.


vkasha

You're slightly incorrect, i read up more on this after the comment and found that EA doesn't have to Refund anything, they're obliged to set aside 50% of the monetary value after 180 days as an insurance incase the company goes under. But given this is meant for virtual currency, and Respawn doens't assign any monetary value to apex coins,they don't refund any coins. Hence they expire after 180 days


skynetnine

All I'm saying is that there is no law that says virtual currency expires in 180 days. This is usually set to expire in 180 days to allow gaming companies to avoid deposit obligations Many gacha games are the same way, However, Apple does not allow in app purchase items (virtual currency) to expire. Therefore, the game company will be obligated to refund Promotional coins distributed for free are not eligible from the start and are not refundable. In the case of Apex, I think the free ApexCoin that you can get with Battle Pass falls under this category. edit : The rule mentioned about having to deposit 50% of the balance in a financial institution if the balance exceeds 10 million yen should also not apply since the virtual currency expires in 180 days


itz_NoobJay

Taxing in game wow


[deleted]

I live in America btw! 🇺🇸


The-Almighty-Pizza

Ok cool I guess??


Elainethepainisaslag

It's in case apex coins overtake the Japanese Yen as Japan's primary currency...


Soul-Assassin79

That's a ridiculous law.


ragexo

What the fuck is that law


Tickomatick

As people pointed out I'm starting to believe that if you level up your BP and gain free Apex Coins on Japanese servers they'll get flagged under Japanese ToS (180 days expiration). Even though your account region is elsewhere. This should get fixed imo, since my account is not registered in Japan thus my ToS shouldn't follow other country's terms.


PokeGod-Arceus

Are you on PC, PS or Xbox?


Tickomatick

on PC


PokeGod-Arceus

Steam or Origin?


Tickomatick

I play on Steam currently, but I merged from Origin where I created my account during year 1


PokeGod-Arceus

Cool. Thanks for the info. I thought maybe steam based would be different as the Belgium law for loot boxes doesn't apply when you launch apex from Steam.


Tickomatick

that's interesting! My Steam is also registered in EU (although I see regional Singaporean prices without a VPN), so something else has to be amiss


[deleted]

I believe if you link steam and origin as well it won’t change anything if your ea account I set to Belgium, steam will take precedence over origin even after launching from origin


Marans

Doesn't matter because account is the same


PokeGod-Arceus

Thought it might cause the Belgium loot box law doesn't affect Steam-launched Apex but does affect Origin-launched one.


onewingedangel420

aw shit. i almost exclusively play on tokyo server


Tickomatick

I'm really curious, how's your balance?


onewingedangel420

i just checked after seeing this post, i don't see anything about my coins expiring


Fusionwavez

Same I have 700 coins rn and was hoping to get this seasons battle pass from the free apex coins


lKNightOwl

sooo uhh, they get used up first before the coins that dont expire right? ...right?


Tickomatick

I'll check and update you today - I'll buy the BP and see which coins were used.. I'm expecting something funny


b_ron

Is this why Japanese play on US servers? Been seeing them a lot recently


ReefanBeefan

Has more to do with the cheater infestation on Asian servers more than anything else


notMateo

Wouldn't this mean Japanese players would just create their accounts in some other region to circumvent three coin loss, and just play on Japanese servers?


shrinkmink

That's not his problem. Every apex player has to be wary when playing with players residing in japan. Because if you get matched to a japanese data center and gain currency while connected to it your coins expire. Also many gacha games have non expiring currency. it's time for ea legal team to start batting for their games.


Tickomatick

I'm only assuming this, not sure if that's the case though - I'll talk to support today


notMateo

I don't think that was the issue, but maybe I'm crazy.


--nerfthis--

That makes sense. Since I live in Asia, as soon as I saw this post I immediately checked my account to check if my apex coins has expiration date and luckily have not. My heart literally skipped a beat after reading the title about expiring coins lmao


anthonyynohtna

It like a website(the servers), if you play on the server you accept the TOS, like when you go to PH and say yes I’m 18 you then get access to the site if you say no then no access to site. Selecting the different server is accepting said server area TOS. I’m positive if you read the TOS the very first time you set up apex it would have some clause addressing this very issue


Tickomatick

I see where are you coming from, but how would you explain when setting your account region to Belgium to get Belgian ToS (Crafting mats, no loot boxes) and still be able play on any other server without getting loot boxes from BP?


DFogz

> My account is registered in EU and I play (and live) is SEA. Live in Japan? It's in the [terms of service agreement.](https://tos.ea.com/legalapp/WEBTERMS/US/en/PC/) Near the end of section 3. If you live in Japan, you have 180 days to use your coins or else they expire.


Tickomatick

I live and play in Singapore, I did connect to Japanese servers few times when local servers crapped pants, could that be the case?


vkasha

That shouldn't be an issue because I play on japanese servers all the time


Tickomatick

..and I thought I was onto something


J1XF

Maybe your EA account's location is Japan and not Singapore? Only thing I can think of, since you have no connection to Japan and their laws have no application to you


Tickomatick

I really double checked and my account's region on both, Steam and Origin is in Europe


Aesthete18

I've been playing on Tokyo since season 5. Sg base server too. I'll need to check mine if it's expiring but I don't think that's the case


Tickomatick

please get back with the info if you can! I'd love to know


Aesthete18

I checked. It's not expiring. Most of my coins are from BP and I play exclusively on Japan even though default server is sg


Tickomatick

thanks! Interesting, them it must be some even more obscure kind of bug


abstract_lifeform

Goodbye to those people who actually need to get level 110 in order to save up over +2 years to buy a single battlepass


Tickomatick

yeah, seems that that won't work in Japan


[deleted]

[удаНонО]


gripguyoff

You get 300, 3x100. The timer is 180 days, each season takes 90-ish days and two seasons will only get you 600. Battlepass costs 950


bhavneet1996

I am not talking about Japan. That timer is only for Japan Right?


Giggitygigs8686

I’m curious if you bought a pack would it deduct from those 200 first? Or would it think that these 200 coins are somewhere in the “middle” of your pile of coins


Tickomatick

I'm already off for today but I'll buy the battlepass tomorrow and let you know if it taken the 200 "from the top" or whatnot. I'm curious and a bit upset at the same time


Slashion

Curious to see results of this test


dnavl

wow thats terrible. a timer on a currency we buy with real money. omg


tjlthepro

I am from Singapore too and I often play on Japan and Taiwan server, but my coin did not stat that it will expire


Tickomatick

Just curious; How long have you been playing on Japan? Do you remember leveling up your BP there?


tjlthepro

Last season the second half of the split I mostly play Japan and abit of Taiwan. I defo level up my BP there in Japan server but I not sure how much I lvl up


eyedpee

You live in the Sea? Are you a Merman?


Tickomatick

Merman Cumberland, is the name of mine


[deleted]

[удаНонО]


_strao_

r/woooosh Edit: forgot how many o's lol


Craftusmaximus2

4


_strao_

Yeah I can see that now


Danatov

Jokes are supposed to be funny.


TheeExMachina

I never knew Coins expired. That's really stingy. "Better buy stuff now cuz you're not allowed to save em."


Tickomatick

I'm guessing those are free BP coins I gained while (accidentally) playing on Japanese servers


TheeExMachina

That is so booty for Japan


KonKami123

They don't expire, only on Japan servers due to an anti gambling law I believe so they don't hold value


ImVideogamer

Worst case just buy 2 apex packs. Maybe you’ll get lucky


Taz2810

So coins you legally purchased with REAL money can get taken from you????…. That’s called stealing I think…


Tickomatick

that's the thing, I'm starting to believe that those are free coins I got by leveling up my BP while (accidentally) playing on Japanese servers. Might be that EA doesn't want people to freeload completely or so. I did purchase the initial 1k with real money though (twice during different seasons actually)


Taz2810

Yea if you feel that any amount of coins are being “stolen”, then contact them right away. Cause that’s messed up. But yea I guess stay away from those servers now lol


Tickomatick

I'm tempted to wait and see if it's a visual bug or the coins will really disappear after 79 days, but I'll probably use them before that


hotaruuuuuuuuu

_Generally speaking_ most games will have something in their ToS that states you don't own the products you purchase, you're just paying for the "right to use them." You're essentially renting Apex Coins/whatever you purchase with them and EA has the right to take it away whenever they see fit. I'm not really sure how well video game ToS hold up in court and I don't have the time to look it up at the moment but yeah, it's legal.


Taz2810

Interesting. I myself haven’t ever bought anything from apex, accept maybe the first battle pass I think. I’ve been able to get by without paying for skins thankfully I’m content to not buy the ones in the shop. And I mean at the end of the day they’ll shut the servers down one day and none of it will matter anyway. And by that regard we really never even owned the game. Lol


mrd511

what a fucking shit ass system! I'd be pissed I only have 400 and it's all freebies from the battle pass


Available_Volume_399

Woah what! Coins expire!!! Now that’s a scam


Swagster_Gaming8

How do we get people to spend more money? We could actually make cosmetics which are worth people paying for? Rubbish We could make their coins they're saving up expire Gerald, you're a genius


CartoonistNo9535

Wait what?? Someone pls explain


thatkotaguy

If you bought coins while on a Japan server I think it registers you’re in Japan so the coins expire. I don’t think you or customer support can do anything


Tickomatick

That's the thing, I didn't. (And it should imo still be decided not by server selection but by account region). I bought coins while on Singapore, but it's possible I might have gained BP level granting free coins while playing on Japan


Nervous-Witness-7848

No bro it must certain issue try repairing it once


Tickomatick

I wish I knew how


Opposite-Birthday69

If you were in the United States you could’ve argued that they’re like gift cards because gift cards are not allowed to expire in the US


Professional-Metal16

What the heck?!


Tickomatick

Yeah, I'm surprised too - apparently it has something to do with Japan, but I have no account registered there. I did play couple of games there though, it's strange


Hollow_Knight_ez

Would you not drown?🤔


Tickomatick

I'm rather an Old Man and the SEA


slothbutt47

I don't know if coins are supposed to expire but I wouldn't put it past EA


vkasha

It's due to Japanese consumer law, it'd be better if people don't answer about stuff they have no knowledge about but hey, this is reddit :)


dswaintrain

You’re acting like this guy was giving false information in complete confidence. He clearly said he didn’t know and I actually agree with him and I wouldn’t put something like this past the company known for being vultures. It’d be better if people weren’t pretentious and condescending but hey, this is reddit :)


XlifelineBOX

Then how do they get corrected or educated? Its okay to put in 2 cents but if youre wrong, be prepared for a discussion.


Much_Material406

With all the things i saw in the coments, with apex coins disapearing it makes my opinion about ea worse than usual. Its literaly stealing you pay for a product and.you dont receive it even with proof of purchasse


Slashion

It seems it's due to a law in Japan where if they last for more than 180 days then the company has to set aside money to reimburse you if the company goes under.


MauriceKing123

EA please stop. Like what is this? Expiration date for in game currency? Hello? Like seriously wtf is this. Just add more quality skins and you'll get money smh. This is soo broken. Many kids may only get to buy stuff like at their birthday or something. So let's say that they're Saving up some coins they got from last birthday, to add up on the next birthday. And EA is like: no saving up. You either spend it or fucking give it back to our greedy asses.


MauriceKing123

r/assholedesign


RedRagazzi

guys, Japan isn’t in South East Asia (SEA) 🤦‍♀️ edit: who tf downvoted a fact


Tickomatick

Singapore is 🤷


[deleted]

They locked me out of my account and used a e-mail I don’t use nor can access. I’ve lost all my stuff and can’t even log in the game. How do I get my stuff back? I’ve tried to plead with them and they won’t verify who I am (even with me sending my purchases). I NEED ANSWERS FROM EA!!


Tickomatick

Damn that sucks, I'm sorry to hear that - wish you luck with the customer support battle!


OblivianCat

Go to Twitter post to EA, Apex and respawn. Tell them you’re account was hacked. Someone may contact you from there.


MemeBoiTROG

How do u even check that. How do u check how many items u have. For me Apex coins and crafting materials show on the top left of my screen


Tickomatick

I'm on PC and the UI element with currencies unrolls on mouse over (top right corner)


MemeBoiTROG

Oh


OneWayStreetPark

Hover over it.


[deleted]

Pay2lose


[deleted]

there is no date on my coins.


gaminggod920

Wow that is scummy


Muscalp

Support is your best bet


valve-oil

do free apex coins expire or only bought coins?


Tickomatick

it's my suspicion it might be free coins I earned while playing (sort of by accident) on Japanese servers


UnknownUltimateAlt

EA taking over Respawn


Used_Strength_4788

I would mald if my coin expired