Limit on digital pre-orders? silly, they only told us that to force people to pre-order.
Fun fact? they havent reached 500k pre-orders yet. Otherwise they would be braggin that all over the interwebz.
Not really. You have to keep in mind the planned server capacity, which would mean there is a limit on the number of players they can service.
Think of it like selling physical tickets to a Movie and digital tickets. Sure technically there could be an unlimited number of digital tickets, but they still limit the sales to ensure they go over capacity.
Limit on digital pre-orders? silly, they only told us that to force people to pre-order.
Fun fact? they havent reached 500k pre-orders yet. Otherwise they would be braggin that all over the interwebz.
Not really. You have to keep in mind the planned server capacity, which would mean there is a limit on the number of players they can service.
Think of it like selling physical tickets to a Movie and digital tickets. Sure technically there could be an unlimited number of digital tickets, but they still limit the sales to ensure they go over capacity.
Server technology is not an excuse in almost 2012.
while i did preorder swtor i must say i've always been a bit leary of the whole preorder thing since the swg trails of obi-wan bait and switch several years ago.
I can completely understand that feeling, but in this case you are talking a copmany NOT known for releasing quality products (SOE) versus a company that IS known for releasing quality products (BioWare). Heck, even Dragon Age 2 was a good game (just not as good as Dragon Age: Origins) and that is considered by many to be their greatest flop. It that is the worst, then I am in good hands.
"If half of what you tell me is a lie, how can I believe any of it?"
Limit on digital pre-orders? silly, they only told us that to force people to pre-order.
Fun fact? they havent reached 500k pre-orders yet. Otherwise they would be braggin that all over the interwebz.
Not really. You have to keep in mind the planned server capacity, which would mean there is a limit on the number of players they can service.
Think of it like selling physical tickets to a Movie and digital tickets. Sure technically there could be an unlimited number of digital tickets, but they still limit the sales to ensure they go over capacity.
Server technology is not an excuse in almost 2012.
Actually, yes it is. There are work arounds to it, such as extra servers, but there is still a limit to how much each server can accomplish at an optimal level, which is exactly what BioWare has stated they are aiming for. Keep in mind to that extra servers means extra cash, extra techs, extra heartburn when they don't need them anymore, etc...
"If half of what you tell me is a lie, how can I believe any of it?"
I haven't seen a UFO, but people told me they exist.
They are either lying or mistaken about what they saw, right?
This makes no sense whatsoever.
Precisely! /clap x 3
UFOs could exist but just because I haven't the vision to see beyond two self-imposed limited variables, the conclusion is faulty. And so is the OP premise that only two answers are possible in this situation, period.
Thank you for responding so I could tell you that personally.
Maybe you could suggest other variables and start adding to the discussion in a meaningful sense?
Because, right now, I am seeing no value to your flawed observations here at all.
Who said in first place, the only options are "lying" or "low demand"?
*edited due to excessive trolling*
Then give us another.
Calmly, clearly, and without personal attacks, if you can.
Originally posted by GMan3 "As for your problem with pre-orders fledur, you seems to think that digital pre-orders can not be limited. The limit is nothing more than what the company plans on selling..."
Of course they CAN be limited. But they are obviously NOT limited. Its foolish to think that an EA company would say no to peoples money. Wake up, they are not in a crusade for customer service excelence in detriment of $. Believe me, digital pre-orders are not limited (of course not talking about boxes or collection edition). You can come back to me later when the head starts begins and see if at any point they stopped selling digital pre-orders.
There isnt a planned number on pre-orders. Like "we are going to have X servers on launch, so the max number of player is Y" thing. No. We are talking about EA here, get your feet back on earth. If more servers are needed to acomodate more players, they will make it happen.
About pre-order numbers, it is clear to me that no major selling milestone has been accomplished yet. They are not bragging, they are not using that number on any marketing stuff so far. So, yea, common sense says no major pre-order milestone.
I haven't seen a UFO, but people told me they exist.
They are either lying or mistaken about what they saw, right?
This makes no sense whatsoever.
Precisely! /clap x 3
UFOs could exist but just because I haven't the vision to see beyond two self-imposed limited variables, the conclusion is faulty. And so is the OP premise that only two answers are possible in this situation, period.
Thank you for responding so I could tell you that personally.
Maybe you could suggest other variables and start adding to the discussion in a meaningful sense?
Because, right now, I am seeing no value to your flawed observations here at all.
Who said in first place, the only options are "lying" or "low demand"?
*edited due to excessive trolling*
Then give us another.
Calmly, clearly, and without personal attacks, if you can.
Why should he or anyone else for that matter? You have obviously taken a dislke to the game and now assume that anything said is either wrong or niave or some such. Your position is the most unreasonable one on this entire thread, but due to your dislike, you are blinded to it.
Now it's your turn, take a step back and answer honestly, if this was a game that you were looking forward to . . . would you actually be acting in the manner you are or would you be more tempered or even defensive towards "your" game?
Something tells me you will ignore this question AGAIN since to answer it honestly is to risk admitting being wrong.
"If half of what you tell me is a lie, how can I believe any of it?"
Originally posted by GMan3 "As for your problem with pre-orders fledur, you seems to think that digital pre-orders can not be limited. The limit is nothing more than what the company plans on selling..."
Of course they CAN be limited. But they are obviously NOT limited. Its foolish to think that an EA company would say no to peoples money. Wake up, they are not in a crusade for customer service excelence in detriment of $. Believe me, digital pre-orders are not limited (of course not talking about boxes or collection edition). You can come back to me later when the head starts begins and see if at any point they stopped selling digital pre-orders.
There isnt a planned number on pre-orders. Like "we are going to have X servers on launch, so the max number of player is Y" thing. No. We are talking about EA here, get your feet back on earth. If more servers are needed to acomodate more players, they will make it happen.
About pre-order numbers, it is clear to me that no major selling milestone has been accomplished yet. They are not bragging, they are not using that number on any marketing stuff so far. So, yea, common sense says no major pre-order milestone.
Your argument has merit, now PROVE it. E-mails, internal documents, interviews, etc . . . ANY valid source will be accepted. I am not denying that making the "limited pre-order" announcement was not a part of a marketing ploy, but I do deny that it was ONLY a ploy. Until someone can prove otherwise I can only believe that people who adamantly foster this point of view have some sort of ulterior motive. Which is a lot more likely than a company like EA risking being taken to court for false advertising, which would only take one disgruntled employee to prove.
As for the pre-orders again, it should be clear to you by now that a "selling milestone" has been accomplished. EA and BioWare have already stated that SWTOR has broken all previous EA pre-order records to date, and since they actually know what ALL the pre-order numbers are, I find that a lot more impressive than a website that only tracks pre-orders of box sales.
By the way, my feet ARE firmly planted on the ground. I am simply refusing to buy into conspiracy theories that actually have no valid FACTS behind then other than what "is clear to me ".
"If half of what you tell me is a lie, how can I believe any of it?"
I am pretty sure if they had sold 250 million copies in one week they would have screamed "We need a new server bunker.. we need.. Canada!: Stop the sales!!!" So then it would be limited.... Technically. So not a lie.
"This is not a game to be tossed aside lightly. It should be thrown with great force"
Calmly, clearly, and without personal attacks, if you can.
I'll say it again, who's to say there isn't a limit on non pre-order sales, when the product actually launches? To think they'd set a limit on just pre-orders alone is somewhat silly. They'll want launch day sales as well. Which could be done in a phased approach. (Let 20k in tues, another 20k friday so on so forth.)
Since we can't prove this one way or another (until after launch), what more is there to say?
For every minute you are angry , you lose 60 seconds of happiness."-Emerson
A digital download can be limited in supply? That's fricken hilarious. What, do they run low on "digital" and have to wait until a new shipment comes in? We obviously need more spin.
And yet again someone can't see past his own initial reactions. "Limited" digital copies are of course a falsehood, but "limited" sales of digital copies prior to the launch date of the game is NOT. If you open your eyes, look past your self induced blinders, you will see the "spin" falls away pretty quick.
"If half of what you tell me is a lie, how can I believe any of it?"
A digital download can be limited in supply? That's fricken hilarious. What, do they run low on "digital" and have to wait until a new shipment comes in? We obviously need more spin.
Digital can be done in a limited fashion, it's really not hard to figure out how....
For every minute you are angry , you lose 60 seconds of happiness."-Emerson
EA is using shady vulgar marketing tactics to drive more sales. Buy the game and enjoy it but don't give EA a pass either.
There are various reasons why I dislike or am wary regarding EA, Activision and SOE, some things that should deserve serious, real concern.
However, this one, the whole storm-in-a-teacup kind of overreacting by EA/BW/SWTOR critics regarding their use of the term 'limited' isn't one of them. In fact, reading the whole argumentation while at the same time seeing the same people ignoring any sensible explanation for it, once again doesn't fail to leave me with a feeling of dumbfounded hilarity.
Arguments and explanations have been given what 'limited' can mean besides EA/BW being borderline criminal liars, besides that it's argumenting about something so small that it becomes trivial, the only real question seems to become 'do you believe EA/BW is a shady, dirty business of which every activity borders on illegaility or not?'
The only conclusion that I can draw from this is that some people must really, really dislike or despise EA/BW/SWTOR.
Thank you for your clear and sensible elaboration upon your viewpoint though, although I think it seriously ignores some more sensible explanations in favor of the most negative one, I can appreciate how you tried to provide details and arguments in this last post of yours.
The ease with which predictions are made on these forums: Fratman: "I'm saying Spring 2012 at the earliest [for TOR release]. Anyone still clinging to 2011 is deluding themself at this point."
Your entire point is based on 'they said it so it must be true', despite evidence to the contrary?
BTW, they have obviously lied about having limited stocks of the product in an effort to make the gullible panic buy, so yes the part in red makes utter sense.
Aren't you doing the same if not more? You apparently hate/dislike EA/BW and SWTOR, therefore you automatically dismiss any sensible argument that could be made for them, arguments that you'd be willing to accept when it wouldn't be about EA/BW or SWTOR, and instead you automatically seem to conclude the most negative scenario possible
IIRC I think that's what 'cognitive dissonance' is about.
I don't really like EA, but I don't hate them. They have run shoddy over the whole industry for a really long time now and I buy from them because developers I like publish with them, but I certainly don't have any sort of fond feelings or customer loyalty. That's true with a few publishers though, not just EA.
However, I am really tired of publishers and some dev studios marketing half-truths while using smoke and mirrors. EA certainly isn't alone in this. I've played Turbine games for several years now and I always have to pay attention to what they don't say as much as I need to watch what they say. Still that doesn't let EA off the shady marketing hook for me any more than it does SoE or Turbine.
Maybe it's time we stopped using pretzel logic to try and let devs and publishers off the hook. We can still like the games they deliver without giving them the "rose colored glasss - good guy pass". I still like LotRO, but sometimes I think Paiz/Campbell make Smedley look like a paladin. It's good to know when the publisher thinks they can pull market speak on their players. It helps to remind us to keep a sharper eye on their communication.
EA is using shady vulgar marketing tactics to drive more sales. Buy the game and enjoy it but don't give EA a pass either.
Who is giving EA a pass? You seem to be trying to crucify them, but I am not giving them a pass. You also seem to be assuming that everyone who pre-ordered bought into the hype which isn't true either. I just recognize the truth and intelligence of their marketing. Telling someone that you will be limiting pre-order sales in order to make for a smoother launch is NOT shady. It's honest. If some people go nuts over that then those people made the mistake of assuming that pre-order number would be extremely small. I pre-ordered and never made that connection. I simply had the money on hand, pre-ordered and set the money asside for when the actual sale goes through. My son did the same, since he had actually worked a summer job to save up the money to buy this game for himself. He wanted to make sure that he would have the money still when it came time, so he pre-ordered as well and set the rest of the money aside.
I would say the only vulgar tactics I see are people making the "Liar" claim towards EA with no PROOF.
"If half of what you tell me is a lie, how can I believe any of it?"
BioWare has always had a history of delivering high quality experiences for our customers and we are dedicated to making sure that track record continues with Star Wars: The Old Republic. Our focus is on not only delivering a high quality game, but also in developing a thriving online environment. In order to ensure a great user experience we have decided to limit initial launch supply. Further supplies will be released post-launch.
It's creating a fake shortage, to drive sales...It's fine and all, and they will also give early access, based on the order of you putting your pre-order code into their database...So they are creating a shortage, and then to top it off, creating another factor to drive earlier sales.
They have every right to do so, but I call BS, like I said on you not being able to buy a pre-order on say 12/19/2011...We will see....I have a feeling, I will not have to say, hey, I was wrong!
I have been following this game for going on 5 years now and have seen all the developers interviews. In every case over the last year or so Bioware when asked has said that they will limit the sales. You frankly have no idea what you are talking about this isn't a stand alone video game it's an mmo and therefore it's about subscriptions not box sales. Bioware knows that if they can deliver a OMFG this game is great experience on the first days and weeks of release the numbers will flood in. If on the other hand it's this sucks the lag is really bad and the queues are 2 hours players will leave.
Your entire point is based on 'they said it so it must be true', despite evidence to the contrary?
BTW, they have obviously lied about having limited stocks of the product in an effort to make the gullible panic buy, so yes the part in red makes utter sense.
Aren't you doing the same if not more? You apparently hate/dislike EA/BW and SWTOR, therefore you automatically dismiss any sensible argument that could be made for them, arguments that you'd be willing to accept when it wouldn't be about EA/BW or SWTOR, and instead you automatically seem to conclude the most negative scenario possible
IIRC I think that's what 'cognitive dissonance' is about.
I don't really like EA, but I don't hate them. They have run shoddy over the whole industry for a really long time now and I buy from them because developers I like publish with them, but I certainly don't have any sort of fond feelings or customer loyalty. That's true with a few publishers though, not just EA.
However, I am really tired of publishers and some dev studios marketing half-truths while using smoke and mirrors. EA certainly isn't alone in this. I've played Turbine games for several years now and I always have to pay attention to what they don't say as much as I need to watch what they say. Still that doesn't let EA off the shady marketing hook for me any more than it does SoE or Turbine.
Maybe it's time we stopped using pretzel logic to try and let devs and publishers off the hook. We can still like the games they deliver without giving them the "rose colored glasss - good guy pass". I still like LotRO, but sometimes I think Paiz/Campbell make Smedley look like a paladin. It's good to know when the publisher thinks they can pull market speak on their players. It helps to remind us to keep a sharper eye on their communication.
EA is using shady vulgar marketing tactics to drive more sales. Buy the game and enjoy it but don't give EA a pass either.
Dude, I hate to tell you this but if you're buying their product you ARE giving them a pass, grumbling and complaining about it doesn't change the fact. If you really feel so strongly about it, then don't buy from them, period. Personally I couldn't care less if this is pure marketing BS or if their really are limits. If it IS marketing I don't really see it as anything outside the norm, and if there really are limits then I would think that people would appreciate the heads up. Of course if it turns out that some people won't get the game immediately when they want it they'll still complain, even if they really have no grounds to.
If a person isn't interested in the game what do they care what they say in their marketing? Seriously, if people were going to get upset about a marketing campaign with the phrase 'buy now while supplies last', then they shouldn't have been buying those products in the past 100 years or so. The very idea of someone getting upset over that now strikes me as disingenous at the very least.
Limit on digital pre-orders? silly, they only told us that to force people to pre-order.
Fun fact? they havent reached 500k pre-orders yet. Otherwise they would be braggin that all over the interwebz.
Not really. You have to keep in mind the planned server capacity, which would mean there is a limit on the number of players they can service.
Think of it like selling physical tickets to a Movie and digital tickets. Sure technically there could be an unlimited number of digital tickets, but they still limit the sales to ensure they go over capacity.
Server technology is not an excuse in almost 2012.
No company is gonna buy more hardware/server then they plan to use. So this is still very much a excuse in 2012. Obviously those that say EA/Bioware can buy/set up unlimited servers to handle a unknown player load day one would not do very well in real world economics.
The trollers really need to try harder they really aren't doing much more then showing their hate at this time
I going to chime in on this because there seems to be something fishy here.
Why is this pre-order all hyped to hell get this now before supplies are gone and yet no one can get any information at all because the game is still NDA?
Many of the gamers are still a bit jaded by AoC and all the hype you know. Remember Dark and Light? Many pre orders were sold and then several month later server switch goes off without so much as a warning. I personally will not under any circumstances order anything unless I can get a PoV from someone that is testing and someone that can give information about what the game is ‘really’ like.
Why was there a statement made by BW in regards to another beta weekend with a new build and then a sudden release date? You see this and wonder isf this is another one of the for mentioned ploys to bilk the public. Not saying BW would do this but it really don’t set with me and some others well at all.
Originally posted by GMan3 "As for your problem with pre-orders fledur, you seems to think that digital pre-orders can not be limited. The limit is nothing more than what the company plans on selling..."
Of course they CAN be limited. But they are obviously NOT limited. Its foolish to think that an EA company would say no to peoples money. Wake up, they are not in a crusade for customer service excelence in detriment of $. Believe me, digital pre-orders are not limited (of course not talking about boxes or collection edition). You can come back to me later when the head starts begins and see if at any point they stopped selling digital pre-orders.
There isnt a planned number on pre-orders. Like "we are going to have X servers on launch, so the max number of player is Y" thing. No. We are talking about EA here, get your feet back on earth. If more servers are needed to acomodate more players, they will make it happen.
About pre-order numbers, it is clear to me that no major selling milestone has been accomplished yet. They are not bragging, they are not using that number on any marketing stuff so far. So, yea, common sense says no major pre-order milestone.
setting up servers/hardware takes time and we don't mean just overnight time. if 500k players decide to go out and buy a copy of the game 12/19 and play and EA/bioware hasn't planned on it there could be trouble. Thus limiting supplies especially when it comes to the actual release date when the Company can't just instantly order/recieve/and throw up serveral dozen servers is understandable. Argueing that EA/Bioware should already have several dozen servers set up and ready to run that they don't expect to need but might, is just poor business practice considering the cost of hardware and tech. (Kinda like argueing you should go out and buy 2 more cars. Sure you don't need them but you might if the first one breaks down and the second proves to be defective.)
Several things are clear to you, because you choose to believe them to be true not because you have any real facts. (numbers etc) and in fact more that you refuse to see or acknowledge anything that doesn't fit your view/arguement instead implying that EA can just buy/recieve/and set up unlimited numbers of servers on the spot
Originally posted by GMan3 "As for your problem with pre-orders fledur, you seems to think that digital pre-orders can not be limited. The limit is nothing more than what the company plans on selling..."
Of course they CAN be limited. But they are obviously NOT limited. Its foolish to think that an EA company would say no to peoples money. Wake up, they are not in a crusade for customer service excelence in detriment of $. Believe me, digital pre-orders are not limited (of course not talking about boxes or collection edition). You can come back to me later when the head starts begins and see if at any point they stopped selling digital pre-orders.
There isnt a planned number on pre-orders. Like "we are going to have X servers on launch, so the max number of player is Y" thing. No. We are talking about EA here, get your feet back on earth. If more servers are needed to acomodate more players, they will make it happen.
About pre-order numbers, it is clear to me that no major selling milestone has been accomplished yet. They are not bragging, they are not using that number on any marketing stuff so far. So, yea, common sense says no major pre-order milestone.
setting up servers/hardware takes time and we don't mean just overnight time. if 500k players decide to go out and buy a copy of the game 12/19 and play and EA/bioware hasn't planned on it there could be trouble. Thus limiting supplies especially when it comes to the actual release date when the Company can't just instantly order/recieve/and throw up serveral dozen servers is understandable. Argueing that EA/Bioware should already have several dozen servers set up and ready to run that they don't expect to need but might, is just poor business practice considering the cost of hardware and tech. (Kinda like argueing you should go out and buy 2 more cars. Sure you don't need them but you might if the first one breaks down and the second proves to be defective.)
Several things are clear to you, because you choose to believe them to be true not because you have any real facts. (numbers etc) and in fact more that you refuse to see or acknowledge anything that doesn't fit your view/arguement instead implying that EA can just buy/recieve/and set up unlimited numbers of servers on the spot
Winter you do have a very good grasp of the business realties of a subscription based MMO. One area where countless games have failed is greed as in taking on more than they can handle. For this reason I would bet once we get to within a few weeks of early release the game will sell out. This will be for the reasons you have outlined at the end of the day sub based MMO's do not make money on box sales it's on the subs getting people to pay month after month. Limiting sales could help them create more buzz and excitement those on the inside saying what a great game it is on sites just like this one and driving up demand among those that are not able to get in.
Comments
Not really. You have to keep in mind the planned server capacity, which would mean there is a limit on the number of players they can service.
Think of it like selling physical tickets to a Movie and digital tickets. Sure technically there could be an unlimited number of digital tickets, but they still limit the sales to ensure they go over capacity.
Server technology is not an excuse in almost 2012.
I can completely understand that feeling, but in this case you are talking a copmany NOT known for releasing quality products (SOE) versus a company that IS known for releasing quality products (BioWare). Heck, even Dragon Age 2 was a good game (just not as good as Dragon Age: Origins) and that is considered by many to be their greatest flop. It that is the worst, then I am in good hands.
"If half of what you tell me is a lie, how can I believe any of it?"
Actually, yes it is. There are work arounds to it, such as extra servers, but there is still a limit to how much each server can accomplish at an optimal level, which is exactly what BioWare has stated they are aiming for. Keep in mind to that extra servers means extra cash, extra techs, extra heartburn when they don't need them anymore, etc...
"If half of what you tell me is a lie, how can I believe any of it?"
Then give us another.
Calmly, clearly, and without personal attacks, if you can.
You call others idiots and then miss the point entirely.
Your point has been covered previously in the thread.
Of course they CAN be limited. But they are obviously NOT limited. Its foolish to think that an EA company would say no to peoples money. Wake up, they are not in a crusade for customer service excelence in detriment of $. Believe me, digital pre-orders are not limited (of course not talking about boxes or collection edition). You can come back to me later when the head starts begins and see if at any point they stopped selling digital pre-orders.
There isnt a planned number on pre-orders. Like "we are going to have X servers on launch, so the max number of player is Y" thing. No. We are talking about EA here, get your feet back on earth. If more servers are needed to acomodate more players, they will make it happen.
About pre-order numbers, it is clear to me that no major selling milestone has been accomplished yet. They are not bragging, they are not using that number on any marketing stuff so far. So, yea, common sense says no major pre-order milestone.
Why should he or anyone else for that matter? You have obviously taken a dislke to the game and now assume that anything said is either wrong or niave or some such. Your position is the most unreasonable one on this entire thread, but due to your dislike, you are blinded to it.
Now it's your turn, take a step back and answer honestly, if this was a game that you were looking forward to . . . would you actually be acting in the manner you are or would you be more tempered or even defensive towards "your" game?
Something tells me you will ignore this question AGAIN since to answer it honestly is to risk admitting being wrong.
"If half of what you tell me is a lie, how can I believe any of it?"
Your argument has merit, now PROVE it. E-mails, internal documents, interviews, etc . . . ANY valid source will be accepted. I am not denying that making the "limited pre-order" announcement was not a part of a marketing ploy, but I do deny that it was ONLY a ploy. Until someone can prove otherwise I can only believe that people who adamantly foster this point of view have some sort of ulterior motive. Which is a lot more likely than a company like EA risking being taken to court for false advertising, which would only take one disgruntled employee to prove.
As for the pre-orders again, it should be clear to you by now that a "selling milestone" has been accomplished. EA and BioWare have already stated that SWTOR has broken all previous EA pre-order records to date, and since they actually know what ALL the pre-order numbers are, I find that a lot more impressive than a website that only tracks pre-orders of box sales.
By the way, my feet ARE firmly planted on the ground. I am simply refusing to buy into conspiracy theories that actually have no valid FACTS behind then other than what "is clear to me ".
"If half of what you tell me is a lie, how can I believe any of it?"
All, please cut off the personal attacks. Share your opinion in a respectful way, otherwise the thread may need to be locked.
To have a digital download marked as "limited" is just hilarious. No matter if it is CE or not, its just a way for them to make more money.
Cool, opinion noted, now PROVE IT.
"If half of what you tell me is a lie, how can I believe any of it?"
I am pretty sure if they had sold 250 million copies in one week they would have screamed "We need a new server bunker.. we need.. Canada!: Stop the sales!!!" So then it would be limited.... Technically. So not a lie.
"This is not a game to be tossed aside lightly.
It should be thrown with great force"
I'll say it again, who's to say there isn't a limit on non pre-order sales, when the product actually launches? To think they'd set a limit on just pre-orders alone is somewhat silly. They'll want launch day sales as well. Which could be done in a phased approach. (Let 20k in tues, another 20k friday so on so forth.)
Since we can't prove this one way or another (until after launch), what more is there to say?
For every minute you are angry , you lose 60 seconds of happiness."-Emerson
And yet again someone can't see past his own initial reactions. "Limited" digital copies are of course a falsehood, but "limited" sales of digital copies prior to the launch date of the game is NOT. If you open your eyes, look past your self induced blinders, you will see the "spin" falls away pretty quick.
"If half of what you tell me is a lie, how can I believe any of it?"
Digital can be done in a limited fashion, it's really not hard to figure out how....
For every minute you are angry , you lose 60 seconds of happiness."-Emerson
There are various reasons why I dislike or am wary regarding EA, Activision and SOE, some things that should deserve serious, real concern.
However, this one, the whole storm-in-a-teacup kind of overreacting by EA/BW/SWTOR critics regarding their use of the term 'limited' isn't one of them. In fact, reading the whole argumentation while at the same time seeing the same people ignoring any sensible explanation for it, once again doesn't fail to leave me with a feeling of dumbfounded hilarity.
Arguments and explanations have been given what 'limited' can mean besides EA/BW being borderline criminal liars, besides that it's argumenting about something so small that it becomes trivial, the only real question seems to become 'do you believe EA/BW is a shady, dirty business of which every activity borders on illegaility or not?'
The only conclusion that I can draw from this is that some people must really, really dislike or despise EA/BW/SWTOR.
Thank you for your clear and sensible elaboration upon your viewpoint though, although I think it seriously ignores some more sensible explanations in favor of the most negative one, I can appreciate how you tried to provide details and arguments in this last post of yours.
The ACTUAL size of MMORPG worlds: a comparison list between MMO's
The ease with which predictions are made on these forums:
Fratman: "I'm saying Spring 2012 at the earliest [for TOR release]. Anyone still clinging to 2011 is deluding themself at this point."
Who is giving EA a pass? You seem to be trying to crucify them, but I am not giving them a pass. You also seem to be assuming that everyone who pre-ordered bought into the hype which isn't true either. I just recognize the truth and intelligence of their marketing. Telling someone that you will be limiting pre-order sales in order to make for a smoother launch is NOT shady. It's honest. If some people go nuts over that then those people made the mistake of assuming that pre-order number would be extremely small. I pre-ordered and never made that connection. I simply had the money on hand, pre-ordered and set the money asside for when the actual sale goes through. My son did the same, since he had actually worked a summer job to save up the money to buy this game for himself. He wanted to make sure that he would have the money still when it came time, so he pre-ordered as well and set the rest of the money aside.
I would say the only vulgar tactics I see are people making the "Liar" claim towards EA with no PROOF.
"If half of what you tell me is a lie, how can I believe any of it?"
I have been following this game for going on 5 years now and have seen all the developers interviews. In every case over the last year or so Bioware when asked has said that they will limit the sales. You frankly have no idea what you are talking about this isn't a stand alone video game it's an mmo and therefore it's about subscriptions not box sales. Bioware knows that if they can deliver a OMFG this game is great experience on the first days and weeks of release the numbers will flood in. If on the other hand it's this sucks the lag is really bad and the queues are 2 hours players will leave.
Dude, I hate to tell you this but if you're buying their product you ARE giving them a pass, grumbling and complaining about it doesn't change the fact. If you really feel so strongly about it, then don't buy from them, period. Personally I couldn't care less if this is pure marketing BS or if their really are limits. If it IS marketing I don't really see it as anything outside the norm, and if there really are limits then I would think that people would appreciate the heads up. Of course if it turns out that some people won't get the game immediately when they want it they'll still complain, even if they really have no grounds to.
If a person isn't interested in the game what do they care what they say in their marketing? Seriously, if people were going to get upset about a marketing campaign with the phrase 'buy now while supplies last', then they shouldn't have been buying those products in the past 100 years or so. The very idea of someone getting upset over that now strikes me as disingenous at the very least.
No company is gonna buy more hardware/server then they plan to use. So this is still very much a excuse in 2012. Obviously those that say EA/Bioware can buy/set up unlimited servers to handle a unknown player load day one would not do very well in real world economics.
The trollers really need to try harder they really aren't doing much more then showing their hate at this time
I going to chime in on this because there seems to be something fishy here.
Why is this pre-order all hyped to hell get this now before supplies are gone and yet no one can get any information at all because the game is still NDA?
Many of the gamers are still a bit jaded by AoC and all the hype you know. Remember Dark and Light? Many pre orders were sold and then several month later server switch goes off without so much as a warning. I personally will not under any circumstances order anything unless I can get a PoV from someone that is testing and someone that can give information about what the game is ‘really’ like.
Why was there a statement made by BW in regards to another beta weekend with a new build and then a sudden release date? You see this and wonder isf this is another one of the for mentioned ploys to bilk the public. Not saying BW would do this but it really don’t set with me and some others well at all.
If you are interested in making a MMO maybe visit my page to get a free open source engine.
setting up servers/hardware takes time and we don't mean just overnight time. if 500k players decide to go out and buy a copy of the game 12/19 and play and EA/bioware hasn't planned on it there could be trouble. Thus limiting supplies especially when it comes to the actual release date when the Company can't just instantly order/recieve/and throw up serveral dozen servers is understandable. Argueing that EA/Bioware should already have several dozen servers set up and ready to run that they don't expect to need but might, is just poor business practice considering the cost of hardware and tech. (Kinda like argueing you should go out and buy 2 more cars. Sure you don't need them but you might if the first one breaks down and the second proves to be defective.)
Several things are clear to you, because you choose to believe them to be true not because you have any real facts. (numbers etc) and in fact more that you refuse to see or acknowledge anything that doesn't fit your view/arguement instead implying that EA can just buy/recieve/and set up unlimited numbers of servers on the spot
Winter you do have a very good grasp of the business realties of a subscription based MMO. One area where countless games have failed is greed as in taking on more than they can handle. For this reason I would bet once we get to within a few weeks of early release the game will sell out. This will be for the reasons you have outlined at the end of the day sub based MMO's do not make money on box sales it's on the subs getting people to pay month after month. Limiting sales could help them create more buzz and excitement those on the inside saying what a great game it is on sites just like this one and driving up demand among those that are not able to get in.
Neither , there is always a limit it just may be a lot highr than you thought.....
Awww you worried demand is low bless you.....
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Sorcery must persist, the future is the Citadel