Is it currently possible to renew subscription early?

Talking long-term subscriptions mainly, the 6 month and yearly ones. Let's say one's annual sub is scheduled to re-up in August. On some date in August, the credit card will be charged for another year's worth of play.

Is it currently possible to contact them and say "charge me again now for another year" (without 'losing' the time between now and August, of course)? Would that be too much trouble for them to bother with (since the scheduled payment doesn't require human intervention)?

Yes, I'm "going somewhere" with this, but felt that asking this question first would be a good idea.

If I'm remembering correctly, no. You can CHANGE the payment info (six months, etc.) early, but it gets charged on the same date. You end up cancelling the sub and renewing it (and no, if you have time going, it doesn't count as "non subbed" time, since your sub is still going strong.)

You MIGHT be able to do it via paypal - I actually don't recall if that's taken out right away or not. But not via the credit card option. And of course game time cards get applied right away (well, appended to the subscription.)

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Would it be advantageous to NC Soft (getting the money earlier, so they'd have the cash reserve)?

Money's money. *shrug* I'll let someone who has dug through business (or more specifically gaming type) finance go through which is "better."

Only real discussion I've seen on that is in the "Offer a lifetime sub!" threads, where it's generally not seen as a good idea past launch (and it's a bit of a bet *at* launch, too.)

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Well, I was debating starting a suggestion thread that they allow people to re-up now -- which wouldn't do jack for US, but would help NC Soft's quarter -- specifically as a way we could show tangible support for their generous donation to disaster relief in Japan (see front page). I admit it's kind of a weird idea. If people think it's worth pursuing, I will try to draft a suggestion thread.

It's a nice sentiment, but I doubt NCSoft is doing it without the means to. They'd probably rather you just donate money directly to a relief fund than try to help them get by. Continuing your subscription at the normal pace is support enough for them, or maybe buying a booster pack or two that you don't have, if you really want to throw some extra money at them. Then you get something out of it as well.

When you pay via PayPal, you can set up a recurring payment, which functions just like recurring credit card payments, or a one-time billing. The one-time billing charges you immediately, and adds whatever you paid for to the end of your current time.

You can also buy game time cards and apply their codes to your account early; they will each stack 30 or 60 days on your sub.

If you don't mind losing the savings from the long-term subscription rates, just buy a pile of game time cards and activate them. They should tack the extra time onto your existing time.