While there may have been other players who have experienced what your friend is going through, the bottom line is. Your friend is going to need to contact NCSoft support to have the issue resolved. Nobody else will be able to help him fix anything that is related to his account. They may need to confirm the activation code he entered in. Also, did he receive an email stating his game account is activated?
The following is copy and pasted from NCSoft's help support page...
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To activate your trial account, log into NCsoft Account Management and follow the instructions below.
If you have purchased a retail copy of the game from a retailer, use the following instructions.
1. Click the Game Accounts link.
2. Click your trial game account in the Game Accounts section.
3. Click the Reactivate Account link in the Actions section.
4. Enter the 20-digit serial code from your retail game and click the Continue button.
5. Select your billing option and click the SUBMIT button.
6. Provide the requested information to complete the activation.
If you have purchased a serial code through your NCsoft master account, use the following instructions.
1. Click the Use a Serial Code link.
2. Select the serial code you wish to use in the Unused Serial Codes section and click the Continue button.
3. Locate the trial account you wish to activate and click the Reactivate Account button.
4. Select your billing option and click the SUBMIT button.
5. Provide the requested information to complete the activation.
After completing the billing activation process, you will be sent an e-mail stating your account has been activated. Once you receive that e-mail, your account will be successfully upgraded to retail status.
PLEASE NOTE: We strongly recommend you save the "Game Account Activated!" e-mail sent to you after the initial activation of your game account. That e-mail contains a very important piece of information that we use to verify account ownership. You may need it if you need help with your account later. That specific piece of information is only provided in the e-mail sent after the original activation of your game account. It cannot be resent.
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You can contact them by email or by phone:
1-512-225-6359
Mon-Fri
12-5pm (Central time)
Hope this helps.
The Mentor Project - Because we were all new to the game at one time...
http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showthread.php?t=212083
My friend recently started playing, he was on trial, and then yesterday, he bought the game and upgraded is account.
His account says normal and what not, but when he plays the game it still says hes on trial.
Any ideas whats going on?