Official Thread: Good Vs. Evil Edition
By
Abysmalyxia,
Posted on: 2006-09-18 10:27 in CoH and CoV General Discussions
Hahaha - I just looked into ordering it via Wal-Mart online. I can:
A) Send it to a Wal-Mart in my area. Will arrive sometime between Oct 6th to Oct-11th.
B) Send it to my house. Not a bad deal, except that unless I want to pay an extra 9 bucks or 16 bucks, it won't arrive until Oct. 5th, and that's at the earliest.
If they wanted to have it Wal-Mart exclusive for a week, honestly they're doing a really poor job of getting my business. Very poor execution I must say. I know things happen like this in the business world all the time. Just regrettable that it has happened in this case.
Also, what is this I keep hearing about PlayNC no longer accepting Mastercard? I had asked before but never received clarification.
o.o look at it this way TT, you can get it shipped to the store near you for FREE, it'll just take 7-10 buisness days..
an exert from the walmart page on GvE:
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Customers of select stores in Texas, NW Arkansas, the Mississippi Gulf Coast and Northern California may choose our Free Shipping
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>< why is it only to these locations???
o.o btw, where is this "exclusive for a week" thing coming from? I have read ppl refering to it in a couple threads but.. I havne't seen it anywhere.. does this mean I can just wait till next week and get it at target and not have to walk back into that creepy walmart again?
I am Sleepy! Hear me Yawn!!
Veni, Vidi, Dormivi!
-Alpha Kitty of the Guardian chapter of the Legion of Catgirls
Never forget--Sleepy could conquer the world, if she could just stay awake long enough. =) -Llanwe
Thanks Kitty - just saw that. Of course, if it's true that they won't take Mastercard, I'll have to have it shipped to a store here. That is the only credit card I have, and the only reason I even have that one is for my CoX subscription. Credit cards and I as a general rule do not get along. I apologize for being such a grump, just wish we could get some redname clarification. I don't mind the wait, and I'm glad we're getting some new content.
As far as the exclusive for a week thing Kitty, believe that stems from the fact that it's available at Wal-Mart.com today, but not from PlayNC until next week. Originally they were supposed to hit at the same time.
I think that's what that meant. Sometimes businesses will work out deals to carry a new product before anyone else so they get the rush of people who want to buy it as soon as it comes out. After that initial period everyone else gets to carry it. It happens a lot in the video game business; developers will get gaming magazines to give their games good reviews in exchange for exclusive information and screen shots, or a publisher will make sure it comes out on XBox for a while before releasing it on PS, etc. It's all about profit, but in this case it looks like something didn't go exactly as planned... either Walmart is SOL, or the other retailers are getting shafted as well and won't get the GvE edition until even later. That's just my guess though.
Just called 4 Walmarts in my area, none of them had it, nor did they have a clue about it. They had all just finished putting out all the new stock they had gotten in today, too.
This whole thing is nothing short of a debacle. If WalMart insists on having it exclusively, they really should abide by the agreed-upon release date. And since they're most likely the ones that forced the delay of the in-game items online purchase so they could sell boxes, they're doubly responsible for getting this thing on shelves today. I was annoyed by not being able to buy the in-game items today, but moved on and decided to just buy the box and spend a few bucks more. Now I'm just pissed. I'm going to agree with the Never Do Exclusives With WalMart Again idea. I hope the devs will see how absurd this situation has become and just enable the online purchase anyway, screw WalMart.
Is there somebody we can email to voice our displeasure at this?
>< oy. Hopefully thats the case and a store that actually caries PC games will get it, we have 1 supercenter in louisville city limits, and its PC section is two shelves, the target next door has an entire isle, and the EBgames next to that... Walmart is the last place I'd go for a game (I'm wrong, it would be KBtoys, but only because they charge $5 more than anyone else).. I have to wonder just what caused them to make a deal with them..
o.o maybe something like what DrZues just posted in another thread..
I am Sleepy! Hear me Yawn!!
Veni, Vidi, Dormivi!
-Alpha Kitty of the Guardian chapter of the Legion of Catgirls
Never forget--Sleepy could conquer the world, if she could just stay awake long enough. =) -Llanwe
I'd be very surprised if we were able to contact anyone at Wal-Mart high enough up the food chain fast enough to do anything about it. You can always try to contact their corporate customer service. I don't know the number, but they do have a 1-800 complaint line. Sending them an email is likely to have no effect. ONLY my opinion there based on past experience. You can usually get the 1-800 number from a local store.
Beyond that, I (and I'm sure others) have sent a PM to Cricket asking at the very least for clarification. Perhaps she can at the least shed some light on the issue.
<.< I sent one too..
and the online help at walmart.com.. err.. I emailed them and the responce I got back wasn't very useful.. and likely wrong too.
I am Sleepy! Hear me Yawn!!
Veni, Vidi, Dormivi!
-Alpha Kitty of the Guardian chapter of the Legion of Catgirls
Never forget--Sleepy could conquer the world, if she could just stay awake long enough. =) -Llanwe
Thank you for your order!
Your order number is XXXXXXXXXXXXX.
Here's what happens next:
You will receive an order confirmation email.
We will process your order as soon as your payment method is approved.
Check the status of your order anytime in "Track Your Orders." (Not available for items being shipped to store.)
Keep your order number handy and print this page for future reference.
Order Summary
Subtotal: $59.64
Shipping: $10.94
Tax: $4.94
Order Total:
$75.52
Billing Information
Payment Method:
XXX: XXX-XXX-XXX-XXX
Exp: XX/XXXX
Billing Address:
XXX XXX
XXX XXX
XXX XXX XXX
Shipping Information
Ship To: XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX
XXX XXX
XXX XXX
XXX XXX XXX
Shipping Method:
2- to 3-Day Shipping
(plus processing time)
Items Qty Price Gifting Options
City of Heroes: Good vs Evil Edition PC
Will arrive between Wednesday, 10/04/06, and Friday, 10/06/06
2 $29.82
Not in stores today? Too bad. Like a few other folks, I would have bought the DVD if I could have had it today or even this weekend.
Since I work Monday-Friday and don't get as much time to play on those days, if I have to wait until Monday, I might as well wait until Friday and buy the online version.
I have not checked with Wal-Mart in my area, but it doesn't look like I have to, based on what others are reporting.
Visited one store in my area, and called 7 in the Chicago area.
To say that the service via phone and in-person, I can understand why the City of Chicago wanted to ban big-box stores.
1. In store visit: PC Software area smaller than my desk. Stockboy looked at shelf when I caught up with him and inquired about the 'Edition'. I asked him if he could check is computer listing for stock information. "I don't know how to do that, but we are getting a shipment now which is to be on the shelves by 6:00 PM. You could come back then."
2. Called a Wal-Mart: Phone didn't ring as it cut right into a person on the phone. Called again after they hung up on me. Asked to do a stock lookup for a piece of PC Software and was tranferred to Automotive. 30 minutes later after being shuffled back-and-forth, was finally told that they don't have it and don't receive software shipments on Friday only Tuesday.
3. Called another store, and after finally getting transfered to Electronics, asked about the availability of "Good versus Evil Edition" and was told they do not carry religous items.
4. Called another store......and another......and another......and another.....
Wal Mart Stores are not software vendors, do not have good customer skills and are basically a waste of space.
A cemetary would be a better use of their land.
Sometimes, I impress my boss. Sometimes, I impress myself. The rest of the time, I scare people. I can live with that.
Called around the Irving/ Dallas Texas area and no Wal Mart has it currently on the shelves or has an idea what I am talking about.
Is this only a Wal-Mart.com exclusive?
-ashe-
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I know things happen like this in the business world all the time.
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Yeah, jeez, if I had a job where my deadlines were completely negotiable and only had to be met with "as good as I could do", I'd be set for life. Where do I sign up?
Also, when I pay for "1-day shipping" on the 29th I expect my package to arrive on either the 30th or the 1st, depending on what time of day I ordered it, not the 3rd or 4th. If they can't even mail it until two days from now at the earliest, they should be listing it as "3-day shipping". Call me old-fashioned, but I just bought a pair of shoes in the morning last wednesday from Montana and had them on my feet thursday afternoon. THAT'S 1-day shipping.
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3. Called another store, and after finally getting transfered to Electronics, asked about the availability of "Good versus Evil Edition" and was told they do not carry religous items.
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Heheh, that's priceless! Especially considering the fact that I saw religious items for sale at the WalMart I visited just before work. So they were wrong about what you were asking for, and they were wrong about the reason they don't have it.
I think what I'll do is stop at a couple WalMarts on my way home from work and hope that whatever ineptitude that caused this delay has been rectified. It boggles my mind that WalMart has all of us desperate to throw our hard-earned money in their direction, and they don't seem to care. *crosses fingers for NCSoft to put the online purchase up early*
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I know things happen like this in the business world all the time.
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Yeah, jeez, if I had a job where my deadlines were completely negotiable and only had to be met with "as good as I could do", I'd be set for life. Where do I sign up?
Also, when I pay for "1-day shipping" on the 29th I expect my package to arrive on either the 30th or the 1st, depending on what time of day I ordered it, not the 3rd or 4th. If they can't even mail it until two days from now at the earliest, they should be listing it as "3-day shipping". Call me old-fashioned, but I just bought a pair of shoes in the morning last wednesday from Montana and had them on my feet thursday afternoon. THAT'S 1-day shipping.
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Be Wal-Mart, were currently you [censored] is so big that you don't have to worry about offending people or miss sales.
Orc&Pie No.53230 There is an orc, and somehow, he got a pie. And you are hungry.
www.repeat-offenders.net
Negaduck: I see you found the crumb. I knew you'd never notice the huge flag.
I didn't notice....has there been any clarification on the VIP room/gold card that comes with the GvE edition?
Will there be a way to earn a "gold card" without buying the GvE edition (or digital package)?
If not, why create a whole new part of Pocket D just to teleport people to? Why not a just have a "teleport to pocket D" power?
I'm just not getting the purpose, or the coolness, of the Tiki Lounge from the feature description. Maybe it's because of all the speculation on the test boards when it first showed....
So, does anyone know what we receive by buying the code to update our game? Badge names? Description of costumes? ???
Visited 2 Walmarts in the St Kitts region of Ontario... same deal. They didn't have it and had no clue what it was. One of them actually started looking for it in the DVD movie section after being told it was a computer game.
They were presently renovating the electronics sections of both Walmarts as well, so they were almost entirely in shambles.
I think we can sum up our collective feelings and frustrations in two words: "this sucks"
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So, does anyone know what we receive by buying the code to update our game? Badge names? Description of costumes? ???
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The full description (with pictures) is here, but the text is:
Jump Jet Prestige Power -- High velocity jump jet launches Heroes and Villains to great heights and complements all other travel powers.
Pocket D VIP Card Teleport Power -- The Pocket D night club provides a central location where Heroes and Villains can co-exist in peace and join in celebration. This exclusive VIP card allows Heroes and Villains to teleport into the newly constructed Gold Club VIP section of Pocket D from anywhere in Paragon City or the Rogue Isles.
The exclusive Heroic-themed Justice costume pieces, and the Villainous-themed Sinister costume pieces provide even more options for player customization and role playing.
"But in our enthusiasm, we could not resist a radical overhaul of the system, in which all of its major weaknesses have been exposed, analyzed, and replaced with new weaknesses."
-- Bruce Leverett, Register Allocation in Optimizing Compilers
Prestige Jump Jets..?? So basically I start with Super Jump on all my toons? If thats true, why get travel powers? I'm sure its not as good as SJ, but Innertial Reduction is the same way.
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*sigh* Called about 15 Wal-Marts here in the Dallas/Fort Worth area to check. Couple of them here actually knew about it, but none of them had seen it yet. Really disappointing. Kind of like being told your getting a Red Ryder bb-gun for Christmas, only to open the last box and find a pair of sox and a note for an IOU.
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Err, I guess the metaphor works if you already have a Red Ryder bb-gun with a slightly different trim. There isn't that much in the GvE edition.
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Visited one store in my area, and called 7 in the Chicago area.
To say that the service via phone and in-person, I can understand why the City of Chicago wanted to ban big-box stores.
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Being the optimist that I am, I re-visited the one store and dropped in on the store that does not sell "religous items" in electronics.
They had shelves of "*NEW*" PC software...but looking through the tags on the shelves there was nothing for NCSoft/Cryptic.
Asking the stock clerks at both stores to look up the information concerning the GvE edition resulted in two amazing things:
1. At the store where they said to check back after 6:00 PM, when the clerk did the look up, it caused a buffer overflow in the register.
2. At the "religous store", it returned no information for anything relating to NCSoft/Cryptic. No stock on hand, no SKU, nothing.
Point 2 surprised me, as I had seen a CoV DVD box on the shelf. So I thanked the clerk and went back to the shelves. Finding the CoV DVD box, I waited until another clerk was at the computer and asked her to do a price look up of the box I had in my hand.
$19.99
So I asked if there was any other software by this company in their system, and it's availability.
Nothing.
Thanking the clerk, I went and put it back on the shelf, and found a CoH Game Card box.
Again, waiting for a different clerk to be at the computer, I asked the same question about price and if there was anything else by the company on the shelves or due soon.
Nothing.
I figured it out.
Wal Mart is the CoT of the merchandise area.
Items go in, and become possessed by another item and are sold as Nancy Drew Mystery software (which both stores had an over abundance of).
I think the marketing genius at NCSoft that handled this "exclusive" deal with Wal Mart needs to become the rep for a new villain group in CoH.
It would be more popular than the 5th Column.
Sometimes, I impress my boss. Sometimes, I impress myself. The rest of the time, I scare people. I can live with that.
obviously the vast majority of players in the north american area will not be able to purchase this item per the release date of Sept 29th (today). originally release date was set here for not only the boxed set but also the the ability to purchase in-game content only.
alas, things have happened and first the InGame Codes were pushed back due to some...error/glitch/screwup/whathaveyou. oookay, I can understand things like this can occur. perhaps though...just perhaps....we may want to consider putting out an more official notice on the actual website versus just placing the notice in the forums.
next up actual release date...and the exclusive store, for the most part, does not have the item in stock and not to be expected for another week. again, I can understand things happen...
what I find odd, and I believe has many others put off, is the fact that these two instances both happened...and effectively happened at the same time. sure it could be a big coinkydink...but one does have to wonder.
as a side note...someone mentioned that ncsoft and cryptic have no control. actually they do as they are ultimately responsible in getting their product out to the masses.
anyways...just a small rant and a lil dissappointed is all. given the current situation I am still surprised that nothing has been officially posted by either Cryptic or NC regarding this situation...not even an apology....which I could accept....its the silence that kills me...
blah blah blah...I know. just thought I would say something myself and add another small voice to the choir of unhappy voices....~
...the sword is truth...
~whiteperegrine~
I'm disappointed that the online release was pushed back a week, but really, I think I'll live. Just means I can spend the ten bucks on food instead of a code.
Mmmmm food.