Purchasing video games used to be easy. You could go down to the retailer that was closest to you and pick it up the Tuesday it came out. There was no hassle and, more importantly, there was no worrying about whether or not you got the best deal. Now, marketing departments have implemented two key elements to their campaigns: in-game perks based on retailer and game edition. Both can have a direct impact on how games are played and how the company is viewed by fans clamoring for the greatest gaming experience available. There are a lot of opinions on the forums about the level of impact these should have and we are going to highlight some of them in this edition of Community Pulse.
To start, let's take a look at a brief history of Star Wars MMO in-game perks:
Star Wars: Galaxies - Collector's Edition
- Three types of eyewear. These will help identify the in-game character as being one of the first in the game.
Star Wars: Jump to Lightspeed - Pre-order
- Flash Speeder
Star Wars: Trials of Obi-Wan - Pre-order
- Early Access (1 week)
- 8-player Transport Skiff
Images from Star Wars Galaxies Wiki
Now lets take a quick look at what is coming with Star Wars: The Old Republic versions:
All Pre-orders
- Early Game access
- Color Stone
Digital Deluxe & Collector's Edition
- Flare Gun
- Training Droid
- HoloDancer
- HoloCam
- STAP
Collector's Edition
- Exclusive Mouse Droid
- Exclusive Collector's Edition Store
Most of these items are pretty self-explanatory (HoloDancer, anyone?), but there is one item that seems to interest people the most. "I really do hope the items you can buy from that Exclusive' store isn't something game breaking, Soulpiercer says in the Darth Hater forums. "It's quite fine to give Collectors Editions cosmetic items, mounts and all that stuff, but should you really be able to get an in-game advantage?"
Others on the forum agree, but most don't think this will be a problem. Korren notes, "TOR won't be the first MMO to have special, edition-only items and the items are never game breaking...I expect the items to be cosmetic gear pieces, one use particle effect items, or some other bind-on-pickup fluff item that CE owners can use to differentiate themselves in game."
Statements from James Ohlen and Stephen Reid at San Diego Comic-Con back up these opinions. They stated that while there will be weapons and armor available in the store, there are also items of equal power available to everyone outside of the store. RogueJedi86 points out that this could cause an issue for players if the items have no real value. If that is the case, people who spent the extra money on the Collector's Edition might be upset that they spent the money on items that don't benefit them. At the same time, he also points out that "if the gear is good, people without the CE can/will balk."
"This will end up being just like the SWG Special Edition Goggle fiasco," states Korren. "They were such worthless items, but there's always gonna be that group of people that screams, Not fair!' because they can't have them."
To that point, Gothfather brings up a valid point by defining the Collector's Edition as being just that: an edition for collectors. "They called the CE a collector's edition for a reason it has collectables [sic] in it and plenty of people collect both in game and out of game items. Seems perfectly REASONABLE to include both in a COLLECTOR'S edition of the game." It may not always be the value of an item that is important to a player; it might be the item itself.
Remlish points out that "the latest trend has been to offer a small selection of cosmetic items to collectors for free,' then after release most of those items are avalible [sic] to regular players in the form of a Micro Transaction." Since there have been no announcements about micro transactions in the game, it is impossible to know if this will be the case. However Raithnor puts forward another option: "Give it about six months and they'll turn it into a perk for subscribing to the game for six months." This would be a suitable option for archerazor, who requests, "Please make it available to everyone in some way. It's the little things that can make people happy."
Another angle to look at is the one offered by EnexEra, who points out that "everyone who pre-orders is already at an in-game' advantage in a sense, because we get to start early." Is this the same as getting the ability to purchase certain items at the start of the game while other players may not be able to until they are several hours into the game? Getting a head start on leveling a character could definitely be seen as an advantage when going toe-to-toe in PvP.
I remember the snazzy eyewear that came with my Collector's Edition of Star Wars: Galaxies. I wore those gaudy red things proudly as I ran around the first week. After that, I never wore them again. This is the way of most in-game perks that I've encountered. They separate you from the rest of the crowd for little while, but in the long run, have no real bearing on the game itself. Don't get me wrong; I ordered the Collector's Edition of SWTOR and I will definitely be checking out the store come launch. However, I highly doubt that I will buy anything that is merely cosmetic. My credits will be limited at the beginning and I like to save up for the really good stuff.
I buy collector's editions because I am a collector in the physical world. I like the way they look on the shelf and I just couldn't turn down a Darth Malgus maquette to stand beside the Shae Vizla one on my desk. BioWare has put a lot of time and experience into creating this game. It would be a complete shock to me if something is given to those of us who pre-order that makes us over powered.
That said, I'm also definitely going to be pulling out that mouse droid every time I come across a wookiee in binders.
Sources
http://darthhater.com/forum/topic/1451
http://www.swtor.com/preorder
http://swg.wikia.com/wiki/Vehicle
http://www.mmoginfo.com/pc/StarWars_Galaxies/mmorpgnews_322.html
http://starwarsgalaxies.station.sony.com
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Posted 9/7/2011 7:56:01 PMThat last part is the key. I wasn't sure if I wanted the CE, because I have no idea if I'll like the way these items look. But I later decided I wanted to take that chance... And I weaseled a friend into buying me a copy of the CE. (Note: I had previously pre-ordered the Digital Deluxe version from Origin. And if I cancel that I'm afraid they won't let me in "as early". So I'm stuck with both!)
The Rub is that if they make these items "available" via MT, I'm still going to "feel like" driving my car through their front door... As in I will be absolutely Enraged.
Then again, I have an intense distaste for MT on principle. If EA wants MTs in SWTOR then that's how the game should be paid for... But not while they expect players to pay a subscription concurrently. All that does is divide the community between the "haves" and the "have nots". They should pick a payment strategy and stick with it, end of story.
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Posted 9/7/2011 12:37:39 PM- View User Profile
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Posted 9/7/2011 9:56:39 AMThe colour stone is included in ALL pre-orders.
I'm of the opinion that as long as the exclusive items remain that way for at least a very long time, (ideally forever) that if you want the items you pay the price of CE or DD. That way there can be no bitching about it, the choice is there from the very start.
Don't think that I have bought the CE though and don't want anyone else to have the exclusive store or the items included in the DD, I ordered the standard edition. I just couldn't justify the price of the CE, and an extra 20 for some digital items didn't really encourage me to buy the DD either. The only digital item I was remotely interested in was the speeder, but for the extra money it just wasn't worth it to me.
There should be no reason for any of the digital perks from pre-orders to be made available at any time after launch. They are the hooks to get you to spend more money on the same game that everyone else will be playing (and you don't even get a box with DD!). The only way that I see it could work is to purchase them via MT, but only be able to buy the whole digital package as one, and at a relevant cost higher than those who pre-ordered. This however is screwing those people, the fairest way for all is to not make them available other than pre-order. That way as I said before, if you want the goods you pay the price.
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Posted 9/7/2011 7:14:10 AMBut that exclusive deals with certain sellers are very very bad. Just compare it to some other medium... film maybe.
Just imagine - there would be three big companies. Sony, Pioneer and Toshiba.
Sony would be the only producer of BluRay, and would relase all "Sony Pictures" and "Sony Pictures Classics" movies as Blu-Ray exclusives.
Pioneer would be the sole manufacturer for HD-DVD, and would have deals with Universal Studios, Warner Brothers and Paramount, releasing all their films solely on their own format.
Toshiba would produce an "HD-Laserdisc", and have deals with Dreamworks and Walt Disney - realsing their movies as HD-LD exclusives.
And of course they all use different cables, remotes would be all incompatible, maybe they'd even only work with certain models of TV's, unless you buy some over-priced converter, or something like that.
Would that be cool? You needed to buy three different players, if you wanted to be able to watch any movie. You also only be able to get certain movies only for a certain platform. Plus, DVD's would be more expensive, since the manufacturers would want to get a royalty. Players would be cheaper though - since manufacturers would sell them at a loss, to bind more customers to them.
That would suck. Pretty hard.
But that's exactly what's happening with games. All consoles do exclusives. Steam sells games that are only compatible with addons/DLC bought from Steam - and nowhere else.
Now add on top of that vendor exclusives. Like EA does with Origin, and like all those exclusive perks and exclusive DLCs you can only get at a very certain retailer...
Now you not only would have to have 3 players, and buy movies in 3 different formats - you would also have to so at three different stores.
How much more convoluted could that get?
It's all about binding the customer - about reducing competition.
Once you are "locked in" on one single console/format/retailer/etc. they don't have to worry about competition from another console/format/retailer/etc.
Unless you own both consoles, you are only going to buy games for your console. Same thing is true for peripherals - xbox controllers don't have to compete with ps3 controllers.
I dream of a world where any game may be available for any platform. Where any peripheral works with any system. Where any game is released in any format - just like movies are released on all kinds of discs, playable in all brands of players. And all stores carry identical versions of all those things, so you can choose where to buy it.
That's maximum competition. That's the only way you can get the best stuff at the best price. Anything else just stops you from having it your way.
That's why all exclusive stuff must go.
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Posted 9/7/2011 1:24:35 PMThe two (films and games) are not analogous.
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Posted 9/7/2011 4:30:38 PMBut that's besides the point - manufacturer, publishers, resellers it doesn't matter who does it, and why it's done.
The main point is, that you can buy any movie in any format from any store to play it on any player that works with any remote - and it's great.
But with games certain games are only available on certain platforms, that are only compatible with certain peripherals, certain versions of the game only available in certain stores, etc.
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Posted 9/7/2011 11:32:51 PMThat being said, there have been "Blu-ray" special editions that are not available on DVD.
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Posted 9/8/2011 5:38:52 PMThe main problem here are are libraries. The most well-known and obvious one would be DirectX. Porting a game from DirectX to OpenGL or the other way round, is a lot of work. But you know why that problem exists? Only because DirectX is a Windows and Xbox EXCLUSIVE. If Microsoft would allow DirectX to be portet to other platforms, then porting games would be ridiculously easy.
Now OpenGL works on any Platform - except Xbox (where it would work, if Microsoft allowed installing it) - but doesn't have marketing anywhere as good as DirectX has.
But that again is not what I am talking about.
I don't mean that Developers should be forced to make multiplatform games. It should be their free choice, if they want to do so. If it seems to much work for them, or they don't have the resources to do it - that's fine with me.
What I am against are those exlusive deals. Those deals, where a game that is based on a multiplatform engine (like Crytek, Unreal, etc. - most big graphics engines are fully multiplatform, and any game made with them would run on any platform) are forbidden to be released on another platform by the publisher - because of marketing reasons.
Sony and Microsoft are actively paying money for a game NOT to be released on another platform. That's what an exclusive deal is all about. Normally anyone would want to release their games on as many platforms as possible - the bigger the audience, the bigger the sales.
But in order to harm the competition (and to give ammunition to the fanboys) manufacturers actually pay large sums (or in case of studios owned by themselves, they forfeit the winnings they could make on other platforms) in order to forbid the release of the game on any other platform.
That's how exclusive deals work.
And I'm opposed to that.
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Posted 9/7/2011 2:59:40 AM1) Everyone did have an advantage to get the Collector's Edition. Many people chose not to. That was their choice, and they can live with it. No whining that CE's get something they don't, they chose not to get it.
2) Pre-Order's may have an advantage of starting early, but once again, this was a choice. Those who choose not to do so only have themselves to blame. No whining allowed.
3) If the others want the items they chose not to get with the CE, then make them pay for it with a game store. CE's paid for it, that's for sure.
4) Want to talk about an in-game advantage, what about those Beta testers who have had months of experience, if not even longer. Now that's an advantage, and it's random? Want to talk about not fair, that's it right there.
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Posted 9/7/2011 8:26:41 PMWhat method could anyone possibly use that is more fair than random lottery?
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Posted 9/7/2011 4:26:29 AM- View User Profile
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Posted 9/7/2011 1:18:14 AM- View User Profile
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Posted 9/7/2011 1:17:47 AMAlso, has anyone thought about why include a store on top of the other virtual items? Perhaps because Bioware wanted to include some higher level items as opposed to just "fluff" like a mouse droid. A store seems like a good way of "trickling" the exclusive content without just giving high level items from the start.
I think there's a good possibility that Bioware will be updating the store too, from time to time. Maybe add a few items with each major expansion?
And where is this store located anyway? From the looks of the picture, my guess is on your ship; which would not only make sense, but be pretty bad ass too!
Thoughts?
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Posted 9/7/2011 1:00:30 PMWound in the Force::GoHann (lvl 35 Maurader)
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Posted 9/6/2011 10:21:05 PMOn the note of the Collectors edition, I do not want any game breaking items in there. But, I forked out $150 like many others have, so I will be pretty peeved if they add this stuff for everybody else later. Then again, I will probably be too busy having fun to care, so who knows.