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Just thought I'd let you players/former players of WAR to check your bank accounts/credit card bills. Mythic had some sort of error that caused lots of people to be billed for huge sums of money, even if their accounts were inactive, like mine. I got charged $16.23... a total of 14 times. This was a surprise, as my account has been inactive for several months.

So please, take a look for yourself. You'll need to get in contact with your bank if they have fethed up.

And that's why I use pre-paid cards instead of credit cards.

And that's why I don't have a credit card

Soladrin wrote:And that's why I don't have a credit card

Which isn't necessarily a good thing, mind you. A clean line of credit is a really handy thing to have to your name. Cards are only bad if you're one of those people that can't seem to restrain yourself when faced with the idea of free* money.

Like Brook said, better to buy time cards and pay that way rather than use your card though.

metallifan wrote:

Soladrin wrote:And that's why I don't have a credit card

Which isn't necessarily a good thing, mind you. A clean line of credit is a really handy thing to have to your name. Cards are only bad if you're one of those people that can't seem to restrain yourself when faced with the idea of free* money.

Like Brook said, better to buy time cards and pay that way rather than use your card though.

Credit cards are a horrendously dumb idea......

metallifan wrote:

Soladrin wrote:And that's why I don't have a credit card

Which isn't necessarily a good thing, mind you. A clean line of credit is a really handy thing to have to your name. Cards are only bad if you're one of those people that can't seem to restrain yourself when faced with the idea of free* money.

Like Brook said, better to buy time cards and pay that way rather than use your card though.

Mind you, around here we have something better than the credit card: PIN.

My Credit card has a PIN on it. Good old (Or... new... whatever) Chipped Plastic. Much safer than your run-of-the-mill card.


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BOSS_PIMPALOTZ wrote:

metallifan wrote:

Soladrin wrote:And that's why I don't have a credit card

Which isn't necessarily a good thing, mind you. A clean line of credit is a really handy thing to have to your name. Cards are only bad if you're one of those people that can't seem to restrain yourself when faced with the idea of free* money.

Like Brook said, better to buy time cards and pay that way rather than use your card though.

Credit cards are a horrendously dumb idea......

Try saying that when you need a mortgage or a loan for something and have no line of credit for them to go off of. Whoops, not that dumb anymore.

Life is much easier when people know you're dependable with payments. That doesn't make credit cards a -good- idea, but they're not the devil incarnate. The card isn't dumb, it's the person using it without regard for their ability to pay it off every month.

metallifan wrote:Try saying that when you need a mortgage or a loan for something and have no line of credit for them to go off of. Whoops, not that dumb anymore.

So if somebody never needed a credit card they would never get a mortgage?

"Hi, i'm good with my money and have never needed to dip into funds that I don't have to pay for things that I can't immediately afford"

"Sorry sir you shant have a mortgage, we need people that overspend initially then pay back in installments later"

Surely the very fact you don't have a credit card shows you are responsible with money. (Not if you have been declined, just you have chosen never to use one)

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If you have a credit card then a credit provider can easily access how you manage debts, which is what the are primarily interested in after whether you have sufficient cashflow or assests. They use this info to create your credit score.

A credit score is needed to get a mortgage so if you don't have one they will have to make one up and if you are a low earner then this will reduce your chance of securing credit.

Credit providers also don't like people with un-used credit as they never make any money off of them, this can also effect your credit score.


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I myself use credit cards for the cashback I get (1%) on everything plus the insurance aspect.

I also have more than one card so that if I have any debit it will always be on a 0% interest card. As the 0% period ends then I will get a new one and cancel the old one. Simples.

Colossal Donkey wrote:

metallifan wrote:Try saying that when you need a mortgage or a loan for something and have no line of credit for them to go off of. Whoops, not that dumb anymore.

So if somebody never needed a credit card they would never get a mortgage?

"Hi, i'm good with my money and have never needed to dip into funds that I don't have to pay for things that I can't immediately afford"

"Sorry sir you shant have a mortgage, we need people that overspend initially then pay back in installments later"

Surely the very fact you don't have a credit card shows you are responsible with money. (Not if you have been declined, just you have chosen never to use one)

I get the assumption you're not at an age to properly understand the value of credit. I'll try and explain it better, but I'm no banker. So try and bear with me

The problem with that is that the bank doesn't know -you-, and thus they don't care how efficient you are with your money, they need -proof-. Credit with a bank is just collateral. That's it. It's not that all people with credit cards are needing to "dip into funds that they don't have". If you've got the money to pay it off at the end of the month, then you -do- have the money, you're just spending it with a credit card instead of your debit card or cash. To basically simplify it, there's a difference between -having- a $10,000 limit on your credit card and -spending- your $10,000 limit when you don't have the $10,000 in your bank to pay it off.

For example, my account is sitting at around $5500 give or take. My card has a $6000 limit. My largest monthly credit card bill to date was $100, which was two stops at the gas pump. That's $100 I -could- have put on debit and -not- earned credit, and -not- earned even a quarter as many Travel Points, but I chose to put both on my card instead for said reasons. It's not dipping into cash I don't have, because I paid it off the same day I got my bill. And my credit score stayed strong thanks to that.

Credit with the bank is like evidence in court. You need a Credit score to get a mortgage the same way you'd need evidence to prove your case. And because you're often hopping between banks trying to get the best mortgage rate you can, you'll need a line of credit so that banks you aren't a member of can check on your ability to pay things off. To simplify...

You're a member of Bank A. You need a mortgage because you're looking at buying a house. You've been a member for a long time, but have no credit score. Bank A will not give you a mortgage. So you go a couple blocks to Bank B, which you are not a member of. You have no credit history. Bank B does not trust you, and will not give you a mortgage. You go back to bank A, but they still cannot legally give you a mortgage until you have a strong credit score. You have no mortgage, and thus, no house of your own.

From the bank's persective however, this is entirely fair. If someone you only vaguely knew came up to you and asked you for $1000, said they were good at paying things back, and promised they would get you $1000 by the end of the month, would you still trust them? Would you gladly hand over 4+ digits to them, just because they told you that they were good with money? That's the bank (and the law's) concern, and hence why credit exists.

They aren't trying to rob you out of house and home. When a bank issues a credit card, they make it very clear that it's your responsibility to manage your spending, not theirs. If you're constantly spending more than you can pay back (which -then- is dipping into funds you don't have), then that's your own fault and it's up to you to either control your spending or decide not to renew your card after it expires.


To sum it all up, having a card will give you the hard proof that will allow you to change card brands (Let's say you want to switch from Visa to Mastercard - you'll need a good credit score), it'll allow you to get large loans like a mortgage or a loan for a new car from any bank regardless of membership, it'll give you pro-travel bonuses depending on what level of card you set up. For example, Mine is $24.00/yr and I get 2 travel points/air miles/whatever on every dollar I spend. My debit also earns 1 point per purchase so it's good for anything $5 and under. As I've been saying, the only time a card is a bad thing is if you're one of those folks that, when applying for one, you hear "You have a limit of $XX,XXX.00" as "You can safely spend $XX,XXX.00". Just because I have a $6000 limit doesn't mean I'm going to spend $6000. Your spending with a card is your responsibility to keep in check. If a person lacks that responsibility, they'll learn the hard way.

Credit cards are a good thing. You should get one and use it responsibly.

I love our credit card, without it I could never share with the world the love-hate relationship I have with Forge World.

Metallifan pretty much has the right of it.

Colossal Donkey, the fact is that Credit scores are how they check how good you are with loans. If you truly believe that Credit cards are all about "overspend initially then pay back in installments later", you are either grossly mis-informed, or only know people with bad spending habits that overstretch themselves and what they make currently. Don't mean to insult anyone you know(if the second one), but those are generally the people with credit problems(with exceptions, such as ID theft and suddenly loss of job).

That said, there ARE ways to build credit without a credit card. Some Credit Unions have checking accounts that generate credit for you and any actual loans you take out and pay off go toward your score.

One way to build some credit without a credit card(I got this from one of my Finance/Accounting professors)? Find a store that Finances purchases over a certain amount(say $250 for an example). Find something you would be willing to buy or want anyway. Save up the amount of money you would require for said item. SET THAT MONEY ASIDE(either in your bank or elsewhere that you know you won't touch it but know where it is, but this is an important part). Buy it on the store's financing/credit. Pay it off the next month. You'll gain some credit, and in some cases won't even gain interest on it.

Platuan4th wrote:
That said, there ARE ways to build credit without a credit card. Some Credit Unions have checking accounts that generate credit for you and any actual loans you take out and pay off go toward your score.

Exactly how I built mine up pre-card. I took out a paltry $3000 loan that was automatically deducted off each paycheque, so I don't have to worry about missing a payment. I had the cash, but the loan was handy just so I didn't have to spend all the money in my account on the vehicle. The loan allowed me to keep the remaining $3000 after purchase in my bank, but still afford the car. And I can say that I hardly feel any damage on the deduction every 2 weeks to pay it off. My account and credit score are constantly improving while my loan shrinks. It's a win/win for me.

Man, I never thought I'd see the day I went off-topic because I got interested in discussing credit. You know you're an old man when...

So glad I quit WAR and am not going back.... game was way to broken to the RDPS anyway.

When a ranged damage dealer can do MORE damage to MULTIPLE targets than a CC damage dealer can do to one, something is seriously fethed up with your balancing....