Community Opinion? Should Promotional Items be made available in other ways?

phantasmagorgon · February 2014

I made it to the game late, and found that I enjoy collecting companions. Some like mounts, some other things, whatever.

Anyway, I discovered that there are several companions that were released as Promotional Items. Several of them months ago, and so I have no ability to get them. <kicks the broken time travel machine sold to him by ACME>

So, I ask Customer Support if there is ANY way to get them. Not only would they not answer the question, they referred me here.

Finally, then my question to you is this:

Despite the fact that we may or may not have missed the special window of opportunity for a great deal, and/or not met the rather arbitrary conditions to qualify for a promo item (like the Ioun Stone of Radiance, which apparently is only for people who have in the last week or two purchased Zen for the very first time) should we or should we not have some way of acquiring these items by other available means? IE Earnable in-game or purchasable on the Zen market.

I'm certainly not saying that we should get the same deal that others got, but shouldn't there be other options for the rest of us?

Apparently only community clamor for this will change things, so sing it if you feel the same way.

Thanks.

dardove · February 2014

I'm fine with limited time offers as long as everyone has a fair chance at them.

It should be noted am I am a collector of companions and have nabbed every promo companion I could.

baronvonboom · February 2014

While I would love to get my hands on items that ive missed I cant say that gaining a way to now get them is something I want.

We all have to live with consequence & if ive been too slow/busy or just didnt care at the time then fair play to the people who got said items as the rarity of them makes it all the more special.

Let those who managed to sneak a code be the one of the few riding a horse from a Polish game magazine for example, without the ability to have any form of unique/rare items your character can be kinda dull.

So in short, yeah I wish I had that time machine as well and had not of missed certain things but let those who didnt miss them be all the richer for it;)

imsmithy · February 2014

No I think that items that were limited to a specific event or promotion should remain out of reach to players who didn't take part, the whole point of these items that are linked to certain events or promotions is to reward the players who actually participated , making them available to everybody would totally devalue the items , for example I love my Cape of Catastrophe because it is unique and it shows I was playing at a particular time , same with my Blueribbon pig and Shadow wolf mounts , the items add nothing stat wise to my character but they give me the ability to have a somewhat unique look due to how long I have played.

bioshrike · February 2014

Let's also not forget that some items are associated with a particular 3rd party promotion - if it was agreed upon that company A would get item B as an exclusive, then the devs simply cannot offer it elsewhere.

That being said, I see no reason why we couldn't or wouldn't reach a point where certain events were rotated back in, and people gained another chance to get the related items...

melodywhr · February 2014

some promotional items are re-issued or re-offered in later promos. so if you stick around long enough, some of those items you missed may be offered again at a later date.

phantasmagorgon · February 2014

Some clarification, I guess. I am not talking about event items at all. Nor am I speaking of unique things that should be special, like any rewards that may be available only to alpha/beta testers or any such thing like that.

As for promo's that are exclusively given to other companies not so much as a Neverwinter promo, but as a promo for that company with a Neverwinter hook, I understand that there are likely legal limitations on those. Though a Mercenary companion would be nice to have, it is unlikely that I will ever even see a Polish magazine, not to mention the one issue of the specific Polish magazine that offered that companion (and knowing my luck even if I did, the CD would be missing or the key already used). I don't expect that Neverwinter, Cryptic, or PerfectWorld can change any of that. And I do hope that it is offered elsewhere in the future. I know I did manage to get some of the promo companions that way.

However, the company sponsored promo's that are aimed at boosting Zen sales? Why can those rewards not be offered in other ways? This month I don't have the money so I miss the good deal via promo, but next month I do have the money so I get the same thing at a cost via the Zen Market? I don't see why being able to just transfer 6000 Zen to your account in a certain time frame should count as some extraordinary feat that warrants excluding anyone that could later actually spend some amount of Zen to acquire that same reward. There are numerous other ways besides (or in addition to) Zen as well, limited only by what is willing to be programmed.

Seriously, you can still buy the starter packs with all their perks intact. I didn't play when they released and they certainly were special when they came out and are not so much now, but I still have them. I just think that could as easily apply to the other promo's intended to boost sales. It has the same effect both ways, and the person who got the deal, didn't loose anything by it except bragging rights. Oh wait, they got it free (or a lot less). That's bragging rights, too.

As for being re-offered later, I understand that is possible, and again I do hope. But from what I've seen, for the most part they come up with new "rewards" rather than re-hash old ones, so waiting on that could take a very great while.

/shrug

chaoscourtesan · February 2014

Considering that I have 3 of them (account bound, so on each character,) I have to say yes. But I think they should recycle them so people can get a shot at them later, if they take the same deal. I'd love to have had a crack at some of the things the people who got in before Open Beta had a shot at, but I didn't get picked. And although some of the packs are maybe still available, I might have bought a founder's pack if I hadn't been a little light in the wallet in those days. But I don't collect things. I use pets and such for the active bonus, I don't really care about them beyond that. I use the R3 horse for the speed. It could be a broom stick pony for all I care, I just love my time-saver.

You could also ask the same question for titles and costumes and such. If you missed 'Caturday' should they stage another mass issue like that and roll back another 6 hours just so people who recently started can get the survivor title? Some people collect titles as avidly as others collect pets.

I think your question is valid, and my answer is only my own opinion.

Edit: Dur... I typed this having read the abbreviated post title as the question. It was cut short to: "Community Opinion? Should Promotional Items be made" My yes was to that question, yes I think they should be made... haha.. But no, I have no problem with them being made available again.. But only a repeat of the same exact offer, not by other means.

bioshrike · February 2014

Wait, are you talking about things like the charge reward companions? If so, they kinda need to keep those exclusive - if they didn't, then why would anyone take advantage of the charge rewards, (for the companion), if they knew that they could just buy it directly later?

chaoscourtesan · February 2014

As to why they offer them like they do.. it's marketing, but I'd bet it's also game management. People buy a lot of zen, they sell some for AD. I don't know economics, but I can sort of imagine how they could use this to stimulate (or stifle) certain trends in the game. And of course one of the most common marketing ploys is to convince people that they must act now or they will miss out.

For people with a lot of freedom to spend on the game, by whatever situation, these are sure sells. Bill was gonna buy come payday, but here's this special deal.. so Bill buys now. And maybe he buys come payday, too.

Then of course when you tell people they must act now, or never get product X.. you can't make it available soon after, otherwise no one will ever feel the urgency to 'act now.'

phantasmagorgon · February 2014

bioshrike wrote: »

Wait, are you talking about things like the charge reward companions? If so, they kinda need to keep those exclusive - if they didn't, then why would anyone take advantage of the charge rewards, (for the companion), if they knew that they could just buy it directly later?

Primarily, that is exactly what I'm talking about. Those offers were several months ago now. While that is not a great deal of time in RL, in a game's life expectancy (except in rare cases) that is no small amount of time.

In terms of what it cost people then to get those rewards. Well, if you are the type to never buy Zen, then yes it was an expense. From the perspective of one who has no problem buying Zen, that is no expense at all, whereas forcing me to actually spend the Zen on it would be. I would have taken advantage of it then, because I would know that not spending Zen for something is still cheaper than spending Zen for the same thing later. And the Zen I paid for to get the freebie could be used on Coal Wards or Pres Wards or Keys or whatever instead when I needed/wanted them down the road.

Edit: Oh, and here's this, too. When was anything you buy on Zen Market account bound? That would be strictly a per character purchase. Not the case with the promo, at least so far as I've seen.

bioshrike · February 2014

phantasmagorgon wrote: »

Primarily, that is exactly what I'm talking about. Those offers were several months ago now. While that is not a great deal of time in RL, in a game's life expectancy (except in rare cases) that is no small amount of time.

In terms of what it cost people then to get those rewards. Well, if you are the type to never buy Zen, then yes it was an expense. From the perspective of one who has no problem buying Zen, that is no expense at all, whereas forcing me to actually spend the Zen on it would be. I would have taken advantage of it then, because I would know that not spending Zen for something is still cheaper than spending Zen for the same thing later. And the Zen I paid for to get the freebie could be used on Coal Wards or Pres Wards or Keys or whatever instead when I needed/wanted them down the road.

OK, I can kind of see what you're getting at. I suppose one way they could alleviate this is by making the Zen store version apply to a specific character only. They could also offer slightly different versions of the same base item. For instance, IGN had a promotion that gives you an account-wide cleric companion. She has the exact same powers as the regular one you can get for 2G from the Emporium, except she's of green quality, and is a Tiefling in red robes/armor. They could, for instance, offer the female Elf archer only with a slightly different appearance or somesuch...

angrysprite · February 2014

melodywhr wrote: »

some promotional items are re-issued or re-offered in later promos. so if you stick around long enough, some of those items you missed may be offered again at a later date.

This. It also never hurts to keep checking the Auction House. For example - I have a truckload of previous promo companions I plan to sell, but only after a few months have gone past the end of the promo/event date (if they are transferable, not all of them are).

Some promo stuff can only be obtained through the promo (like Zen Transfer Promotion where the companions are account-bound and cannot be transferred). However, lockbox and newer event companions are transferrable and were available for a limited time. Right now the Fawn and Mimic from the Winter event floods the AH, but in June or July that might be another story.

In short: review all your recourses and take a large swig of patience.

melodywhr · February 2014

also there is no promise or indication from the company that credit/zen promo items won't be offered up again at a later date. some of the items offered in credit/zen promos had already been offered and some of us already had acquired them from other promos. how the company offers promos and when they offer them is at their discretion. they sure are nice to have, though.

beckylunatic · February 2014

My guess is that they'll eventually start recycling the charge reward companions. A repeat offer won't entice someone who took advantage of it the first time, but it will appeal to anyone who missed out and wanted it.

I don't think there's been any phrasing that they would never, ever bring back the Quickling and that was the only chance to get it, ever, so yeah.

chemboy613 · February 2014

I'd like to get a shot at some things i missed - but some of the events were just too amazingly boring to get the companions (masquerade anyone?)

What saddens me is I no longer have my cape of catastrophe, and I wish i could reclaim. That would make sense to me - rather than have it lost for good T_T

vaerth · February 2014

I started this game and found that I wanted the Shadow Wolf mount for my main character. Problem is, the event was long done since I started playing. Not really fair in my eyes. Why not put that model to use and sell it on the zen market? Does Cryptic not want to make more money offering more options? Makes no sense to design a mount model for a short time. Why not use that same model and add it to the zen store? If you missed the promo, tough luck, you have to buy it with zen. Win Win for everyone.

phantasmagorgon · February 2014

Rewards for event participation are not promo rewards, imo. No matter what they may call them. Also, many event rewards are trade-able, thus by definition available to those that did not participate for whatever reason, if they can find someone willing to part with it. For those that are not trade-able, well it was actually a participation reward, what do you expect? I didn't get a celestial cloak, and that really stinks, because I did participate on 2 characters. Luck of the draw, I had my shot, oh well. Maybe next time, if there is a next time.

This is not at all what I started this poll to debate. My intent was to encourage the availability of items that appear sporadically with no other purpose than to directly generate income for the company that owns the game, and then seem to disappear. They are not trade-able in any way, and often are account bound so every character on that account is entitled to them.

Kudos to those who fall into the moment of opportunity. For those who don't, why should they not also be available on a per character basis in some other way that is not so fortuitous or inexpensive? Would everyone be willing to get them, heck no. But some will and probably more than enough to cover the expense of actually coding in the availability. Smells like profit to me. But, then again I think a lot of things that aren't well informed enough.

Ah well.

hustin1 · March 2014

I'd love a crack at the Quickling companion, even if it was just via another rotation of a Charge Reward promo. The point of the Charge Reward is to offer something not available by any other means. I never read it to mean that it will be a one-time bragging-rights opportunity, just a limited-time opportunity to snag something cool that you otherwise can't get in-game.

Now if they offered a little psychopathic redcap minion...er, companion, that would be great as well

But I still want a Quickling. Two minions (gah! I mean companions) are always better than one.

"Your minions are hungry. Enlarge your hatchery."

maxilockheart · March 2014

having them available in other ways would reduce their value... promotional items are meant to be rare and only available to limited amount of people and it should stay the same... their value isnt in big numbers or something like that, its their rarity, why should someone care about promotions if their reward isnt anything special? it would lose its point

rfaul · March 2014

dardove wrote: »

I'm fine with limited time offers as long as everyone has a fair chance at them.

It should be noted am I am a collector of companions and have nabbed every promo companion I could.

The problem is... new players who join the game later feels less appeal into becoming a collector of companions, because no matter what they wouldn't be able to get the previous ones. So, barred from becoming a full collectors of companions they would feel less likely to purchase new ones from the store.

rfaul · March 2014

Well for charge rewards it's simple. Charge once get the current promotional companion. Charge twice select a companion from previous charge rewards promotions.

angrysprite · March 2014

rfaul wrote: »

The problem is... new players who join the game later feels less appeal into becoming a collector of companions, because no matter what they wouldn't be able to get the previous ones. So, barred from becoming a full collectors of companions they would feel less likely to purchase new ones from the store.

I always understood that the promotional (once-off) companions are *not* part of the collections library (though they could have changed this policy and I'd not noticed). Only those that are more easily obtainable, including the event versions (such as the Fawn and Mimic) as those can be 'round-robin' in terms of availability (Fawn being every Winter event or something).

As for the "round-robin" of Zen Promo companions: I don't have a clue, though I suppose it's possible, but I hope not and I wouldn't hold my breath for it. Part of the appeal of the Quickling and Wild Storm Rider, for example, is that they also "date" your character - this being a "status" symbol. For instance, one of the deciding factors of purchasing the Hero of the North package (in terms of *when* I purchased it) was the exclusive "Founder" in-game title. I wear that title on every single one of my characters and will put it on my new Warlock and Druid whenever they arrive.

There is a "status" value to these promo companions in terms age as well; the longer on in time we go the fewer of those players play with those companions, the rarer it becomes.

Case-in-point: On February Eighth, 2013 *every* mount was a Heavy Armored Spider (Hero of the North). Now I almost never see them at all. Hence, when I do I *know* that's a Hero of the North buyer, and it becomes more interesting to see it. That spider is now a "status symbol" as far as mounts go. The same with all versions of the Nightmare, etc.

Hence, my vote is "no" - Zen Promo companions should nay ever be available unless through the promo and only once, ever, full stop. This is what makes them so special, even though they are the lowest Green quality (as white is considered more or less "throw-away" quality). Also, if another promo comes along and they offer the same companion, I wouldn't participate because I already have that companion.

If that companion becomes available in another way, then I know I don't have to participate in the promo - I'll just "wait for the DVD rather than going to the cinema". This is why I believe every Zen-promo Companion will only ever be available once and for a very limited time and I'm happy about that.

I don't have the Quickling, I do have the Wild Storm Rider (by accident) and Stone of Radiance (I actively chose to participate) - part of it is also whether the Companion offered appeals to me and my decision is a permanent one. This is how it should be. As for people coming to the game late, welcome! Now look forward to the future of your time here, not the past that has nothing to do with you.

dionchi · March 2014

Being upset at missing a promo companion is understandable... but good things should come to those who wait.

I would suggest recycling previously offered companions in future promotional events.

If someone missed their chance to get a 'vicious dire wolf' companion during the most recent Call to Arms orc attack promo - perhaps the developers could offer the same or a similar 'vicious dire wolf' companion with a future promotional offering.

Of course mix them in with new, improved and different items/companions specific to the new promotional offerings, but recycling is good - or so everyone says.

phylok1 · May 2014

I'd like to see the Shadow Wolf Mount come back. I saw someone with one of those they other day, they look nice.

pantheist84 · May 2014

Gimme shadow wolf

doriangreigh · May 2014

phantasmagorgon wrote: »

I made it to the game late, and found that I enjoy collecting companions. Some like mounts, some other things, whatever.

Anyway, I discovered that there are several companions that were released as Promotional Items. Several of them months ago, and so I have no ability to get them. <kicks the broken time travel machine sold to him by ACME>

So, I ask Customer Support if there is ANY way to get them. Not only would they not answer the question, they referred me here.

Finally, then my question to you is this:

Despite the fact that we may or may not have missed the special window of opportunity for a great deal, and/or not met the rather arbitrary conditions to qualify for a promo item (like the Ioun Stone of Radiance, which apparently is only for people who have in the last week or two purchased Zen for the very first time) should we or should we not have some way of acquiring these items by other available means? IE Earnable in-game or purchasable on the Zen market.

I'm certainly not saying that we should get the same deal that others got, but shouldn't there be other options for the rest of us?

Apparently only community clamor for this will change things, so sing it if you feel the same way.

Thanks.

I sympathize with your plight but some of these should be considered status symbols of players who have been playing for awhile, like the angel you get from praying every day for a year (hopefully by this coming christmas/winter festival i'll have several one for a main character and some to hopefully sell for outrageous AD). Limited time promos are just that limited to a certain time frame and if you missed it then hopefully you will get a shot at the next one as they do these pretty often just with different rewards. Some better than others, so keep playing and hang around for the next promo.

I dislike making things available after the fact because of the status it can give to show player dedication to the game but also when they do seem to add things in game after promos they go in stuff like the tarmalune trade bar vendor which sucks because trade bars require lots of real money spending or a HAMSTER ton of AD farming to buy keys to open lock boxes. I had 30 keys and noticed that several lock boxes dropped either no trade bars at all or only 1, seriously just 1??? the minimum should be 10 because apparently the max is supposedly 100 or 200 i forget but regardless many items in the trade vendor are several hundred if not thousands of trade bars.

At the current zen exchange i'd rather just buy 1000 zen and sell it for 495 - 500 AD per zen, since that is more profitable than buying a key for lock boxes.

If anything I wish there were more viable in game promotions like the CTA and other Events. On a side note I wish out of game promos like those from facebook and magazines actaully gave you at the minimum blue companions or mounts and preferably purple ones. This game is not player/time friendly and upgrading a companion so that it is even marginally useful at high level play is just not worth while for most of us (yes the elites are out there but they spend massive money or have NO jobs and can play all day and night).

doriangreigh · May 2014

phylok1 wrote: »

I'd like to see the Shadow Wolf Mount come back. I saw someone with one of those they other day, they look nice.

And you will pay through the nose to upgrade it because it is not a purple mount as I recall. I could be wrong but I think it was blue. In any event I wish special promos were purple items not green or blue.

Community Opinion? Should Promotional Items be made available in other ways?

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