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Just sit back and imagine right now how many kids got this game on Friday from their local EB or GameStop or (fill in here) and got it home, only to find themselves locked out because they weren't a Super Special member? Think of the customers PlayNC is losing!
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Here's a tissue. Nobody here is "Super Special". Many of us actually bothered to get our pre-order boxes after doing some brief reading on the game months ago.
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I'm gonna take a big risk here and guess you're not in marketing. When you have Blizzard dominating the MMO player base, and you find yourself in a situation where you're losing customers, the correct response is not "Here's a tissue". Its "how can we compansate so our majority of new customers aren't burned".
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Look, I realize that PlayNC may not have wanted the game on the shelves before the 31st (which I still think is the worst possible launch date they could have picked). But they ARE. People are buying it RIGHT NOW, totally unaware that they cannot play it.
Are you guys following me? Even people who didn't reserve it! Guys just looking for a new distraction, who check out the neato box art, read the back and then buy it, are getting burned when they get home. Every person I've spoken to has said that if that happened to them, they would return the game and spend the money elsewhere, with no exceptions.
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Then I'd blame the retailers releasing it to the public before the actual release date, rather then the company running the game. The CompUSA I pre-ordered from won't let me pick mine up until Monday. I'd say it sounds like the retailers breaking the agreement by misleading people if they're selling it to open retail instead of pre-order only before the release date.
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And I'm not absolving the retailers! If the launch day was kept sacred, and it launched on Monday, I'd be a little bugged that it launched on a Monday but it wouldn't bother me any more than that. However, its out. The Launch day has happened. So put yourself in PlayNC's shoes. Do you risk losing all these new customers, or do you do something about it?
What harm is there in rolling back the "Headstart". What, all your customers who pre-ordered online will throw a fit and strike, or something?
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But the game is locked out to EVERYONE who didn't pre-order it. Just sit back and think of how many customers PlayNC is losing.
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Why? I disagree that they are losing them and I don't think it is my job to get emotionally involved with how the game's distribution may hurt some Super Sensitive person's feelings.
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Because there's this industry called the "retail" industry, that allowed me to reserve the game even when it was first announced. I find it convenient to use, because unlike purchasing things online, I get to go out of my apartment and interact with actual human beings, who can answer questions and deal immediatly with any problems or issues that may arise.
So you're saying that its the retail industry's fault that they launched the game early, and not at all playNC's fault for locking the game out for anyone other than pre-order customers. Just sit back and imagine right now how many kids got this game on Friday from their local EB or GameStop or (fill in here) and got it home, only to find themselves locked out because they weren't a Super Special member? Think of the customers PlayNC is losing!
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First, the pre-orders were through the thing you call the "retail industry" and the retailers should have been easily able to tell you the difference between a pre-order and a reserved copy.
Second, the game doesn't "launch" until October 31st. This is what the pre-order people get for ordering it early. Again, it would be your retailer that deceived you
Third, every newsletter (not just the order) I received in the last 3 months expressed the special nature of the pre-ordering, where you can go, and how to insure yours is right.
Fourth, as for "what other game"... let me see. Everquest2, world of warcraft, Star Wars Galaxies, Lineage2, all come to mind for services that used this strategy OVER THE LAST YEAR ALONE.
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I'm sorry you were ill-informed. Complain to your retailer for misguiding you. I know folks at stores with preload packs actively ASK and insure people get what they wanted.
Look, this same retail industry is the same one that will make up their own release dates with no developer input just so their customers can put down money to "reserve a copy" and then claim the game is "delayed" when no public release date was given. I've known gamers who reserved copies of games that were "delayed" a year this way- and it's retail profiting off player ignorance.
Not much a developer can do about this but inform players through the conduits they had available- which is what they did.
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Official launch day is the 31st. If your store broke the date, well...
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they didn't break the date. It doesn't matter when they sell it because you can't get into the game until the Devs let you in. On sale date has been 10/28 for the last coupel of weeks. LAUNCh has been 10/31 for a long time.
Chris
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And to add:
I worked at Gamestop for two years, so I saw my fair share of game launches. Never, not ONCE, was a big game released on a Monday. Why? Because thats marketing SUICIDE.
Nobody wants to buy games on a Monday. Not a soul. Mondays are deadsville. Mondays are school nights and work nights. Go company in its right mind would release an entertainment product on a Monday. But thats niether here nor there.
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You're absolutely and totally right.
Most new games are released on Tuesdays or Wednesdays.
As are DVDs.
And CDs.
And as we all know, compared to Monday, Tues and Weds are non-stop Party Central. No worknights or schoolnights there, right? *Roll eyes*
</sarcasm>
I'm sorry, but it's hard to drum up too much sympathy for you on this. You're blaming NC for a bad "marketing" decision when in the end, all it is is a lack of planning and research on your part.
I'm not trying to be a jerk here, but you're just bitter and you're lashing out and it's not winning anybody over to your argument.
I think working in retail for so long (as well as in a game store currently) has lowered my tolerance for the "I'm entitled" mindset to nil.
Sorry to rant. This just stuck in my craw this morning while I'm waiting for the login server to come back up....
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Because there's this industry called the "retail" industry, that allowed me to reserve the game even when it was first announced. I find it convenient to use, because unlike purchasing things online, I get to go out of my apartment and interact with actual human beings, who can answer questions and deal immediatly with any problems or issues that may arise.
So you're saying that its the retail industry's fault that they launched the game early, and not at all playNC's fault for locking the game out for anyone other than pre-order customers. Just sit back and imagine right now how many kids got this game on Friday from their local EB or GameStop or (fill in here) and got it home, only to find themselves locked out because they weren't a Super Special member? Think of the customers PlayNC is losing!
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You still don't realize what happened here. The headstart is for people that pre-ordered THROUGH NCSOFTs' promotion. EB, Gamestop, etc. are not part of that deal. This is something that was plainly visible on the pre-order section of the official website for CoH.
You either downloaded the beta client and use it with a registration code they either sent you or you got from the SPECIAL, and seperate, pre-order box available in retail stores. Either the pre-order box would have the code or they may have possibly e-mailed you one.
It is not my intent to come off as adversarial or hostile, however, you have no one to blame but yourself and the retailer. The retailer has BROKEN STREET DATE. Your fault for not understanding the pre-order process, thier fault for breaking street date and letting you have the RETAIL version of the game 3 days too early.
Some few stores went ahead of the launch date, even though they wern't suppose to. They wanted cash too badly. Officail relese is, and has been, on the 31st. Not PlayNc's fault. Complain to the store for jumping the gun. All stores around where I live won't sell till the 31st no matter what. Complain to your store, not here or to PlayNC.
Alright?
And besides, it IS just two days.
I Pre-ordered, and my store was smart, so I got a code, but the download says it will take 22 hours. . .so yeah, I'm probably going to have to wait till Monday too, even though I wen through the righ channels. Heh.
Wow, every person I have spoken with knew about the two day head start and pre-ordered the game at the right time to take advantage of it. Everyone who is purchasing it now is being told that they game is not live until the 31st, before they purchase it. I work at EB games, and in my store at least, we never let a gamer make an uniformed decision about the purchase of a game.
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I'm gonna take a big risk here and guess you're not in marketing. When you have Blizzard dominating the MMO player base, and you find yourself in a situation where you're losing customers, the correct response is not "Here's a tissue". Its "how can we compansate so our majority of new customers aren't burned".
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I'm officially bored to tears with people invoking Blizzard or WoW to bolster a shaky assertion.
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Are you not getting the point of this post? The game is available now. retail. The "intended" launch date is no longer viable, because now the launch date is Yesterday. It doesn't matter when you ordered it online, because Little Timmy can waltz into GameStop and buy it as I speak.
But the game is locked out to EVERYONE who didn't pre-order it. Just sit back and think of how many customers PlayNC is losing.
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Are you not getting it? The Launch date is Monday - always has been (at least since they announced a Launch date). The 2-day head start is merely a bonus for those players who pre-ordered the game.
Monday may be an odd day to start a launch, but given that it is also Halloween, a fitting start day considering the subject. I have played a few MMO's where the game was available a day or two before launch, it's really not that big a deal - I'd rather have a game I'm interested in playing a day or two before it can be played, then have to wait a few days after the game goes live because of problems in shipping (either through online order or B&M).
Olympiad1967
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I'm still curious how you figured out the 2-day pre-order headstart date (launch date minus 2) and still claim ignorance of the actual launch date. Boggles my mind.
You should be upset with yourself and no one else.
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Are you not getting the point of this post? The game is available now. retail. The "intended" launch date is no longer viable, because now the launch date is Yesterday. It doesn't matter when you ordered it online, because Little Timmy can waltz into GameStop and buy it as I speak.
But the game is locked out to EVERYONE who didn't pre-order it. Just sit back and think of how many customers PlayNC is losing.
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You're wrong. The LAUNCH date is Oct. 31st, or you'd be able to get in. That's logic. 
The fact that there is a headstart period that you are not a part of is unfortunate, but that doesn't change the actual launch date.
Your beef should be with those alternate channels you reserved a copy through (and/or yourself) for not being informed that a special pre-order box was to be released.
Heck, they sent out multiple emails if you were a pre-existing customer. It sucks, but it's not Cryptic or NCSoft's fault that their publicly promoted plan never made it to your notice.
I'm guessing many of you don't understand that the pre-order crowd is a LOT smaller than the casual retail crowd. As in, we could maybe pack all of you preorder guys on a football field, and fill the stadium with everyone else.
The game is out, but its locked out for anyone who didn't preorder. However, this was posted only on the website of the game... how does this help people walking into GameStop today to buy the game they read somewhere was gonna be cool?
What harm is there in letting them play? Why lock them out? So the Awesome People get to run around and play before the groundlings are let in?
Look, I know its a GOOD marketing decision to let people play ahead of time if they pay a little extra or do a little something extra. Fine, whatever. But ONLY if you're not rubbing it in the face of everyone else who can now buy the game. If the retailers didn't start selling before monday, then everything would be peaches in cream. But its not a perfect world and this didn't happen, so what now?
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If the retailers didn't start selling before monday, then everything would be peaches in cream. But its not a perfect world and this didn't happen, so what now?
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And the retailers selling before they are supposed to is NCSofts fault how?
*rap rap rap* McFly!
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Look, I know its a GOOD marketing decision to let people play ahead of time if they pay a little extra or do a little something extra. Fine, whatever. But ONLY if you're not rubbing it in the face of everyone else who can now buy the game. If the retailers didn't start selling before monday, then everything would be peaches in cream. But its not a perfect world and this didn't happen, so what now?
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What part of "YOUR LOCAL RETAILER F'D UP BY SELLING IT EARLY" aren't you understanding? I called my local stores. None of them are selling it yet. If they were, I would have already gone and picked up my copy that I pre-ordered. You can't seem to wrap your brain around the fact that just because your local retailers broke street date (something that can get them into MASSIVE trouble, but being an ex-Gamestop employee, you'd know that already, right?) doesn't mean the rest of the country did. Sheesh...
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The game is available now. retail.
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So your beef is with retailers who didn't follow the street date. Got ya.
I can't even grab my Collector Edition at my local store yet, but I can play in the headstart. I want my goodies dang it!
I suppose I shouldn't be surprised that the forum community is unable to look at this objectively. I hate the "internet community hive-mind".
Look, think of it this way. If you are reading this, you are in the MINORITY of the Coh/CoV gaming community. the vast majority of every game's playerbase does not bother with the forums. This is what we refer to as the 'casual' gamers. they uninformed, they are flighty, and there are a LOT more of them then there are of you.
In order for a game to succeed, you must appeal and take care of your casual playerbase. the casual playerbase does not care what the 'intended' launch day is. When they see the game on the shelf, its launched. If they buy it and can't play, they return it and move on to something else. Thus, is the CRUX AND ENTIRE POINT of this thread.
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If the retailers didn't start selling before monday, then everything would be peaches in cream. But its not a perfect world and this didn't happen, so what now?
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And the retailers selling before they are supposed to is NCSofts fault how?
*rap rap rap* McFly!
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Good freaking lord, its not PlayNC's FAULT. It is, however, their PROBLEM. If you ran a company, would you risk losing your retail customers in order to continue appealing to your marginally smaller preorder customers?
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I suppose I shouldn't be surprised that the forum community is unable to look at this objectively. I hate the "internet community hive-mind".
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LOL.... too funny.
What now? Hop in your car, drive down to EB or wherever you bought it from, complain to them about it, drive home, try and log on again, see if that helped...
It's NCSoft's decision that the game not go live till Monday, and the STORE's decision to sell it 2 days in advance ya tard, DEAL WITH IT!
And as far as the Pre-Order crowd versus the people who can walk into the store and buy it now, who cares? THEY DIDNT PREORDER THE GAME, therefore they can't play till Monday, the RELEASE DATE! Get a clue, and quit complaining about something that you can do absolutely nothing about
<insert more tissues and manly 3-pat hugs>
My pre-order, the actual game, not just the little preorder box, arrived last Wednesday. Do I blame Crytpic for not letting me play then? Not at all. People are buying the game and are not being able to play, unfortunate but not the fault of NCSoft, really. I did my preorder, put in my little special code and waited a few days to play.
And marketing for Halloween is a good thing, because that is something of a party day to some folks. Never EVER bad to release like that. And whoops, I've actually studied these things a little.
Sorry for the long windedness.
PM
Stop telling me its the retailer's fault! That isn't the point! The point is that its out now, and what is being done about it. The point is that the retailers broke the street date and, as a result, PlayNC may be losing customers who are angry at being locked out of the game they just bought, who may very well go and buy something else instead. Think beyond the means and think of the ends, folks.
Why don't you PM a red name that gives damn. It's their company - let them worry about it, you nervous nelly.
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Look, I realize that PlayNC may not have wanted the game on the shelves before the 31st (which I still think is the worst possible launch date they could have picked). But they ARE. People are buying it RIGHT NOW, totally unaware that they cannot play it.
Are you guys following me? Even people who didn't reserve it! Guys just looking for a new distraction, who check out the neato box art, read the back and then buy it, are getting burned when they get home. Every person I've spoken to has said that if that happened to them, they would return the game and spend the money elsewhere, with no exceptions.
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Then I'd blame the retailers releasing it to the public before the actual release date, rather then the company running the game. The CompUSA I pre-ordered from won't let me pick mine up until Monday. I'd say it sounds like the retailers breaking the agreement by misleading people if they're selling it to open retail instead of pre-order only before the release date.