test content
Logo
What is the Arc Client?
Install Arc
This is how you handle preorder bonuses
System
Member, NoReporting Posts: 178,019 Arc User
Yes, I know it's been awhile since this happened but I read on Massively this interview about the DCUO game coming out and this quote summed up exactly how I felt the preorder bonuses should have been handled:
Are you considering making the preorder bonus items available to everyone at some point down the line, maybe through an item store?
No. It looks like what we're going to do is make it that if you get it through a preorder, that's the only way you'll ever be able to get it. The big one here is that you can play as Batman -- that's a big deal, so we're trying to make sure that the people who preorder and who are the biggest fans get rewarded with that. People after the fact have lost their chance.
"Biggest fans" really stood out for me. So many people who love Trek were willing to spend hundreds of dollars just to get some exclusive items based on nothing more than a love for the property. It's more then just drumming up business, it's a way to thank people for taking a risk on a new, unproven game.
Again, I get that it happened and it's over and nothing can be done, but hopefully in the future Cryptic will learn from this and not make the same mistakes again. Personally, I'm done with Cryptic studios. I will never buy anything from them ever but not everyone feels the same way. Respect your customers, especially the ones who showed loyalty when none was earned.
And before people start in about having sour grapes, I bought two copies of the game. The second copy I bought months after release when it was on sale at Amazon.
Are you considering making the preorder bonus items available to everyone at some point down the line, maybe through an item store?
No. It looks like what we're going to do is make it that if you get it through a preorder, that's the only way you'll ever be able to get it. The big one here is that you can play as Batman -- that's a big deal, so we're trying to make sure that the people who preorder and who are the biggest fans get rewarded with that. People after the fact have lost their chance.
"Biggest fans" really stood out for me. So many people who love Trek were willing to spend hundreds of dollars just to get some exclusive items based on nothing more than a love for the property. It's more then just drumming up business, it's a way to thank people for taking a risk on a new, unproven game.
Again, I get that it happened and it's over and nothing can be done, but hopefully in the future Cryptic will learn from this and not make the same mistakes again. Personally, I'm done with Cryptic studios. I will never buy anything from them ever but not everyone feels the same way. Respect your customers, especially the ones who showed loyalty when none was earned.
And before people start in about having sour grapes, I bought two copies of the game. The second copy I bought months after release when it was on sale at Amazon.
Post edited by Unknown User on
0
Comments
Well, you know the rest.
But most of the stuff outside of the star ship were minor. added to that Crypic did have a pre order FAQ that did stated that it would be released down the road outside of launch. ( source and they had this released long before the cut off time to cancel the pre-order. ) while down the road means they can release it when ever they feel like it. I do feel that they released it why to early. In fact exclusives should never be offered because it divides the player base.
As for DCUO I would not point the devs to follow them because they are owned by SOE, and most of us remember what they did to MXO, and SWG
edit Oh and four copies on just myself.
if you have pre order stuff fine but have every store have it
Well, I can't say I honestly understand what that particular bonus is as I am not the biggest superhero MMO fan but I do know that they are offering specific ingame items depending on where you preorder. The Batman thing is only from the CE I think, but don't quote me.
I also have to stress that Cryptic was very elusive about their answer in the FAQ. It doesn't come out and give a definite answer one way or the other if they'll be sold at a later time.That's the part that bothers me most; it's nothing but a transparent money grab. They were deliberately vague in order to get people to buy as many copies as they could at launch and THEN sell them later.
And you don't have to tell me about SoE, I was involved with them back during the EQ years, I know exactly how they operate.
But it's SOE. You know they don't respect their customers. Give them time and they'll do something with those items even worse than what Cryptic did. You already know this about them!
It doesn't come out and give you a definite answer because at the time they did not know the answer. ( in other words it was still up in the air ) that is a classic legal tactic, and there is nothing wrong with it. it lets them choose their actions. what that says to me is "it might come out later, but it might not, but buy at your own risk. " I don't see it as a money grab because they did warn us, and it was vague because at the time they did not have the answer. if they said yes or no and someone higher up changes their mind ( like they can legally do ) then you have a problem.
I would not count on that. chances are they will have a online card game, and you will be able to get that stuff later. they did the same thing with the exclusive bunker in SWG. they just painted it white, and sold it in the card game.
in my opinion it was not a grab, but them trying to keep the masses happy, and they made a stupid mistake on releasing it to early.
1) The timing...they put half of the items up for sale only a few months after the game went live. That speaks of either desperation, greed, or both. (My money's on both, btw) They should have waited like a year out or so before doing this. At least it wasn't like we weren't warned ahead of time.
2) What was put up for sale...only about half or so of the pre-order items were put up for sale while the other half is still "exclusive" to their respective promotion. I'd love to see the rest put up for sale just to make everything fair.
3) The pricing...seriously, I keep wondering how they come up with the numbers. I'm still convinced that they randomly throw things at a chart and see what sticks. The numbers don't make much sense to me.
4) The Mirror uniforms...this was the biggest disappointment to me, and as I have stated it should never have been considered for sale outside of the original offer due to what it was tied to.
While I think they could have handled it differently, I just can't get behind any suggestion to keep that uniform exclusive to people who bought a separate game. There's 5 million different ways they could have made it available in this game. But since the uniform is specific to this game and has nothing to do with Champions or super heroes, they did need to somehow, someway, someday, make it available to people who only play star trek.
There's no point to the uniform if the only people who had access to it were champions players, who also happen to play this game. That's like getting special free McDonald's Happy Meal Prizes ... from Wendy's.
I agree that there should have been another way to get the uniform (and I apologize for the mis-communication on that part), but I kept saying that the C-Store wasn't the answer. I pushed for a Veteran reward but got shot down. People just wanted to get it NOW and for CHEAP. Even if the only answer WAS the C-Store, they should've put it up for a lot more than they did. Or give the CO lifers a form of compensation like they did with the people who bought multiple boxes to get the Galaxy-X. They took a bigger leap of faith on this game than anyone else has because they invested in TWO Cryptic games, not just one.