Discussion: New Gamestop/Razer Going Rogue Promotion
By
Adeon Hawkwood,
Posted on: 2010-05-27 10:27 in News, Events and Announcement Discussion
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Originally Posted by Canine
I'm somewhat confused by the level of response to this.
(disclaimer, I'm in the EU and so don't even get the option of these shinies, so I may not be running at a full rage/bile quotient) People on these board have been screaming for marketing to do something, anything to promote the game. So Marketing are now doing something to promote the game. Cue board rage. Whuh? |
This is the sort of move from marketing I've been wanting to see. Merchandise more, promote more. It's a shame they are finally picking up their feet 2 months before the release of GR (If the date hasn't changed) atleast this is a step in the right direction.
As for those who prepurchased because they were too impatient to wait for closed beta and are now complaining about the items in the complete edition box....haha, you got baited into an obvious marketing ploy. Couldn't feel sorry for you even if I tried.
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I'm normally one of the people explaining why they can't give precise dates. |
Originally Posted by Arcanaville
Will you defend the red names in the future when the players demand answers and the red names either stay silent or say that they don't know or cannot say?
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I am shocked people are actually surprised and disappointed by this move. NC Soft is here to make a buck...bottom line. It seems many MMOs have used this same type of business model to soak as much cash as they can from you. What shocks me even more is that some people think NC Soft views them as more important than the buck in their pocket. Nope. They don't. They're a business and, sadly, that's how business tends to work. Ethics, morals, scruples and their fellow man mean about as much to them as the gum stuck to the bottom of your shoe. Get it over it, people. If you're really ticked over this then stop giving them money...it's the only way they will hear your voice |
Originally Posted by Tokyo
This is the sort of move from marketing I've been wanting to see. Merchandise more, promote more. It's a shame they are finally picking up their feet 2 months before the release of GR (If the date hasn't changed) atleast this is a step in the right direction.
As for those who prepurchased because they were too impatient to wait for closed beta and are now complaining about the items in the complete edition box....haha, you got baited into an obvious marketing ploy. Couldn't feel sorry for you even if I tried. |
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I consider myself a highly ethical person, and if I was in the room when this offer was proposed I would have voted for it in a second and not lost a moment's sleep over it.|
Originally Posted by TheJazMan
I am shocked people are actually surprised and disappointed by this move. NC Soft is here to make a buck...bottom line. It seems many MMOs have used this same type of business model to soak as much cash as they can from you. What shocks me even more is that some people think NC Soft views them as more important than the buck in their pocket. Nope. They don't. They're a business and, sadly, that's how business tends to work. Ethics, morals, scruples and their fellow man mean about as much to them as the gum stuck to the bottom of your shoe. Get it over it, people. If you're really ticked over this then stop giving them money...it's the only way they will hear your voice
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I would have warned everyone in the room that this sort of backlash was possible and even likely, then voted for it anyway. And not because I would be looking to grab every last dollar of cash I could find, because I don't get a percentage of NCSoft's sales numbers, but because I think it would be best for the game.
Someone is probably thinking "is it best for the game to piss off its players?" Frankly: some of them yes. You can't please everyone: anything you do will piss off someone. So the mere fact that someone somewhere will get mad is an unavoidable fact. I believe the number of people that this angers is more than compensated by the marketing opportunity to build interest in this game. I don't relish the thought of angering existing customers, but I would have still made the same call they did.
Suppose Microsoft came to NCSoft and offered to make a Going Rogue edition of Windows 7 that would come with the game preinstalled and put it in every store that carries Windows on its shelves. But what they wanted in return was to give to their customers a special power that would allow them to kill me in game no matter what account I was on and what character I was playing. The Kill Arcana Special Edition. I would think they were completely retarded if they *didn't* do it. By comparison, giving GameStop customers a few mid-level enhancements is a trivial advantage over my own gameplay.
I just hope BaB makes me some nice death emotes if that ever happens. Which of course everyone else would get to have in the Arcana DeathPack for only $9.95.
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Seriously, as much as I tend to dislike differing options for exclusive items... this one is such a well done one, as it really shouldn't be craved by all of us.
I mean... one could look at this (I hate to say this) as poor marketing on the side of the exclusive bonus items are not good enough!
To me, it's like a bunch of adults feeling left out because their pre-order didn't include those arm flotation devices to help young children float in water.
We don't need them... and it is good for the game and for new players.
I understand that you didn't have all the options presented to you when you made your decisions... Come on... All possibilities can never be known. Make a leap. Live with it. Be happy.
Score for the pragmatists?
@Zethustra
"Now at midnight all the agents and the superhuman crew come out
and round up everyone that knows more than they do"-Dylan
and round up everyone that knows more than they do"-Dylan
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I feel the same way!|
Originally Posted by Arcanaville
I consider myself a highly ethical person, and if I was in the room when this offer was proposed I would have voted for it in a second and not lost a moment's sleep over it.
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Never mind "highly ethical" though... Hey, I pretty much despise all things marketing gimmick, optional exclusive special bonus content, paid for add-ons, blah blah blah... (I'm not saying that I'm right for having these opinions, I'm just making this clear of what my opinions are on such things)... But I would vote in favor of this, no question.
In my opinion, Paragon Studios showed their awesomeness and great care about us in that they managed to come up with a special exclusive bonus that *shouldn't ruffle any feathers.
* shouldn't being the operative word, of course (And just my opinion, of course).
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Originally Posted by Arcanaville
I just hope BaB makes me some nice death emotes if that ever happens. Which of course everyone else would get to have in the Arcana DeathPack for only $9.95.
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And that is 4 cents lower than the suggested retail price!!
@Zethustra
"Now at midnight all the agents and the superhuman crew come out
and round up everyone that knows more than they do"-Dylan
and round up everyone that knows more than they do"-Dylan
Meh they suck anyway. Ill keep using my real dmg procs and purples kthx.
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Yeah, that's the thing that boggles me about this whole ridiculous tempest in a teapot. Once you get past level 20 (which presumably you plan to do at some point) the darn enhancements are WORSE THAN A LEVEL 21 DUAL ASPECT IO IN EVERY WAY. There is literally *NO* long term advantage to having them. What the heck is the point of getting all worked up over it? This is an outstanding example of the dev team doing it *right* in making a bonus which is useful but not too much so.|
Originally Posted by Wuigly Squigly
Meh they suck anyway. Ill keep using my real dmg procs and purples kthx.
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I swear, I'll never understand why some people spend their lives looking for reasons to get offended.
@MuonNeutrino
Student, Gamer, Altaholic, and future Astronomer.
This is what it means to be a tank!
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One problem with this promotion. New players wouldn't have the slightest idea what inspiration's are, what to do with them, or even have the remotest idea of there value. For someone who's not familiar with the game they sound practically worthless.
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Originally Posted by Black Pebble
Today, we announced a new promotion with GameStop and Razer. For those of you who may not have seen this information, customers who place an early reserve for the City of Heroes Going Rogue: Complete Collection at GameStop will receive a Razer Sphex gaming desktop skin with a Going Rogue design, five unique enhancements and a $5 off coupon for use at the Razer store. These benefits are in limited quantities.
I would like to take this time to provide some insight as to how this initiative came about. What is the Goal of this Promotion? As many of you have picked up on, City of Heroes Going Rogue: Complete Collection is really designed to attract new players to the game. One of the greatest challenges new MMO players face is learning how the game works. The enhancements are designed to make the starting experience even more convenient for these new players, but we didnt want them to be game-breaking, or make our veteran players feel like they had to have them as well. This is why these are only provided to new characters and cannot be sold/traded/stacked. First, you cant have enough of them to 6-slot out any power. Secondly, for a L1 character, that 16% damage/recharge boost is nice, but once you hit L20+, IOs start getting a lot more competitive. The proc rate is low to begin with, and at L21 they wont even kick in anymore. A L50 character could use these enhancements if they chose to, of course. We believe this would benefit the new players much more, as our veteran players have a better understanding of the options available to them. Why Now? When we launched the prepurchase program, we did not plan on offering incentives for preordering the Complete Collection. A preorder program is different from a prepurchase, and we did not see a value in offering competing programs. Since we launched our prepurchase program, we have been having discussions with GameStop, Razer and some of our other partners about new ways to promote the launch of Going Rogue. As some of you have mentioned, as a new expansion for a major MMO, Going Rogue deserves a lot of attention. We agree with you, and so did our partners. But evaluating ideas and nailing down the details took a good amount of time, which is why you havent heard about it until now. Why Are We Doing This? As you probably know, GameStop is the top gaming-focused retailer in the US. When they expressed interest in putting together this new program, it felt like a great way to get the word out on Going Rogue and to make sure every GameStop store in the country was promoting our launch. Fine, but what about people who dont have a GameStop nearby, or dont shop there? Thats where Razer comes in. As part of the GR launch, Razer will be launching their own GR site, promoting CoH in all of their forums, newsletters, providing a coupon for GR customers and even designing a brand new mouse pad with our help. So we decided to pool our resources to create one powerful marketing campaign, designed to create an opportunity that seemed so interesting that someone who doesnt yet play CoH would be interested enough to try this game. Our goal is not to force anyones hand, or cause you to feel regrets. This was an amazing opportunity to have two of the strongest names in the gaming industry support the launch of Going Rogue, and we feel confident that it will provide some of the visibility and buzz you have been asking for. One of the biggest features in Going Rogue is that we are redefining the new player experience. Our partners are helping us make that experience even more attractive. Will There be Any Other Preorder Programs? We have no plans at this time to have any other preorder program. What About Prepurchasers? We do understand that some of our prepurchase customers may have decided differently had they known upfront that this preorder program was coming. This is why we tried to make the in-game goodies something that would have a stronger value for new players than for existing veterans. We do hope youve enjoyed these past few months with early access to Dual Pistols and Demon Summoning. Prepurchasing Going Rogue is still the only way to get early access to these two awesome new power sets. If you have any other questions or concerns that were not addressed by me, or in the information released by GameStop or Razer, please let me know in this thread. I want to make sure that you have all of the information available to you, and that details of this promotion are as transparent as possible. |
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You get 'Unique Enhancements' not inspirations.
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Originally Posted by Hydrofoil_Zero
One problem with this promotion. New players wouldn't have the slightest idea what inspiration's are, what to do with them, or even have the remotest idea of there value. For someone who's not familiar with the game they sound practically worthless.
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I mostly just go there because they give me an employee discount because I work at Barnes & Noble. Seems a decent deal to me.
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Originally Posted by BiohazardMan
Don't give your money to Gamestop. Its like giving your money to the devil.
I don't care what they offer you. Don't do it. |
MA Arcs: Yarmouth 1509 and 58812
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I may have missed this. But, what I've been wondering if the above will be in the the Games Stop Edition. I know it says complete edition. But I never assume, and I can't see anything that specifically says the above will also be in there in addition to the Enhancements and the mouse pad.
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Originally Posted by Photonstorm
No. The pack is:
Alpha- and Omega-themed costume sets Alpha- and Omega-themed auras Four stance emotes The Shadowy Presence invisibility power And on the GR site, they said it will be $6.99 |
My postings to this forum are not to be used as data in any research study without my express written consent.
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Originally Posted by Triplash
Plus, let's not forget here... these MOs (Marketing Origin) are damage/recharge, not damage/endurance reduction. You're using your powers more often but not recovering your endurance any quicker. Go into crazypunchstuff mode and you're gonna tire out more easily. That alone balances it for most low-level characters. It is a pleasant bonus, but it's not so phenomenal that a person will hurt for not having it.
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Originally Posted by Stargazer
Increasing Damage also increases DPE - making your attacks more Endurance efficient. Having the equivalent of 2.5 Damage SOs can give a significant DPE boost at lower levels.
Being able to attack "faster" is also a significant benefit, even if it means that you run out of End faster. (there's also a small End efficiency benefit to attacking faster) |
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| From the registration dates I can see, most of the folks doing the complaining here have been leveling up characters for years. I'm sure you'll do just as well with or without these bonuses as you did last week, before you knew they existed. I'm sorry, before you knew they would one day exist. |
So, it seems to me the problem isn't Vets missing out on an uber power that they need (because it's not and they have other compensation), is that they *think* they *need* the enhancements because of a completionist mentality. The same completionist mentality that drives badgers batty when there's a badge gated by grinding or missed opportunity or even having to participate in a type of game play they don't prefer.
If you're a Vet of a year or more, grousing over this needs some honesty here. You're not missing out on anything special; you just feel the need to have *everything*. Be honest about it.
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I'll bite. |
Originally Posted by Zombie Man
If you're a Vet of a year or more, grousing over this needs some honesty here. You're not missing out on anything special; you just feel the need to have *everything*. Be honest about it. |
You're right. I've been around since CoH beta. And I've made sure to have everything so far. I'm all for anything that brings in new customers. Any hobby will die if new people aren't brought in. So I get that. I'm not even really complaining about this (check my posts I haven't).
I will just say for me, yes the issue is that I want this because it is kind of like collecting. I'm can't imagine why that is a bad thing. I enjoy this game, for me it is a hobby. So what is wrong with a person wanting the newest thing that comes out?
I think the problem is crying doom all the time, and casting evil intentions on NCSoft for the slightest thing. Not wanting to have a new thing.
I just want to see something official answering my question above. Since I pre-purchased, will I have to get the Gamestop edition and the $7 pack to get everything? Or, can I just get away with buying the Gamestop version?
My postings to this forum are not to be used as data in any research study without my express written consent.
--------------
Quote:
Originally Posted by Black Pebble View Post
Today, we announced a new promotion with GameStop and Razer. For those of you who may not have seen this information, customers who place an early reserve for the City of Heroes Going Rogue: Complete Collection at GameStop will receive a Razer Sphex gaming desktop skin with a Going Rogue design, five unique enhancements and a $5 off coupon for use at the Razer store. These benefits are in limited quantities.
I would like to take this time to provide some insight as to how this initiative came about.
What is the Goal of this Promotion?
As many of you have picked up on, City of Heroes Going Rogue: Complete Collection is really designed to attract new players to the game. One of the greatest challenges new MMO players face is learning how the game works. The enhancements are designed to make the starting experience even more convenient for these new players, but we didn’t want them to be game-breaking, or make our veteran players feel like they had to have them as well.
This is why these are only provided to new characters and cannot be sold/traded/stacked. First, you can’t have enough of them to 6-slot out any power. Secondly, for a L1 character, that 16% damage/recharge boost is nice, but once you hit L20+, IO’s start getting a lot more competitive. The proc rate is low to begin with, and at L21 they won’t even kick in anymore. A L50 character could use these enhancements if they chose to, of course.
We believe this would benefit the new players much more, as our veteran players have a better understanding of the options available to them.
Why Now?
When we launched the prepurchase program, we did not plan on offering incentives for preordering the Complete Collection. A preorder program is different from a prepurchase, and we did not see a value in offering competing programs.
Since we launched our prepurchase program, we have been having discussions with GameStop, Razer and some of our other partners about new ways to promote the launch of Going Rogue. As some of you have mentioned, as a new expansion for a major MMO, Going Rogue deserves a lot of attention. We agree with you, and so did our partners. But evaluating ideas and nailing down the details took a good amount of time, which is why you haven’t heard about it until now.
Why Are We Doing This?
As you probably know, GameStop is the top gaming-focused retailer in the US. When they expressed interest in putting together this new program, it felt like a great way to get the word out on Going Rogue and to make sure every GameStop store in the country was promoting our launch.
Fine, but what about people who don’t have a GameStop nearby, or don’t shop there? That’s where Razer comes in. As part of the GR launch, Razer will be launching their own GR site, promoting CoH in all of their forums, newsletters, providing a coupon for GR customers and even designing a brand new mouse pad with our help.
So we decided to pool our resources to create one powerful marketing campaign, designed to create an opportunity that seemed so interesting that someone who doesn’t yet play CoH would be interested enough to try this game.
Our goal is not to force anyone’s hand, or cause you to feel regrets. This was an amazing opportunity to have two of the strongest names in the gaming industry support the launch of Going Rogue, and we feel confident that it will provide some of the visibility and buzz you have been asking for. One of the biggest features in Going Rogue is that we are redefining the new player experience. Our partners are helping us make that experience even more attractive.
Will There be Any Other Preorder Programs?
We have no plans at this time to have any other preorder program.
What About Prepurchasers?
We do understand that some of our prepurchase customers may have decided differently had they known upfront that this preorder program was coming. This is why we tried to make the in-game goodies something that would have a stronger value for new players than for existing veterans. We do hope you’ve enjoyed these past few months with early access to Dual Pistols and Demon Summoning. Prepurchasing Going Rogue is still the only way to get early access to these two awesome new power sets.
If you have any other questions or concerns that were not addressed by me, or in the information released by GameStop or Razer, please let me know in this thread. I want to make sure that you have all of the information available to you, and that details of this promotion are as transparent as possible.
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After reading this , it assured me more. But when will the Prepurchasers have option to buy into the Complete Collection and pay that 10.00 that you spoke about when we had option to Prepurchase?? thought there was gonna be more to the Complete Collection then what you showed us in the website from promotion. like I thought i read something about a costume set or something coming with it ?
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Yes, it will.
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Originally Posted by Draugadan
I may have missed this. But, what I've been wondering if the above will be in the the Games Stop Edition. I know it says complete edition. But I never assume, and I can't see anything that specifically says the above will also be in there in addition to the Enhancements and the mouse pad.
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Yeah,
This is astonishingly lame and not worth getting worked up over. 5 enhancements that become useless after 20th level and a mouse pad? ... wooooooo [/sarcasm]
No thanks. The more that marketing tries to push this pre-order crapola, the more I think I'll wait until this Fall when I can pick GR up in the remainder bin at Wal-Mart for about a quarter of its initial price.
Oh wait, it's not a mouse pad, it's a "Razer Sphex Desktop Skin"!!!1!eleventy!
:/
Is crappy marketing better than no marketing?
This makes me long for the days when Cuppa and Cricket were the marketing staff.
Statesmonkey Sez: Lighten up! It's a game, for Lincoln's sake!
Also: Six years of casual play begins to look an awful lot like one year of hardcore play.
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As has been announced previously, the digital-only GR:Item Pack for $7 will be available from the online NCSoft store the moment GR goes Live.
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Originally Posted by Myster_Hero
After reading this , it assured me more. But when will the Prepurchasers have option to buy into the Complete Collection and pay that 10.00 that you spoke about when we had option to Prepurchase?? thought there was gonna be more to the Complete Collection then what you showed us in the website from promotion. like I thought i read something about a costume set or something coming with it ?
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See, your looking at this all wrong. It should be like the Batman issue where people could vote to have Robin die or stay alive. It should come with two powers. The keep Arcana alive, and the kill Arcana powers. Each activation would basically be a vote... And you'd only get your really cool death emote if there were more activations of the kill Arcana than the Save Arcana power. Much more fun that way. |
Originally Posted by Arcanaville
Suppose Microsoft came to NCSoft and offered to make a Going Rogue edition of Windows 7 that would come with the game preinstalled and put it in every store that carries Windows on its shelves. But what they wanted in return was to give to their customers a special power that would allow them to kill me in game no matter what account I was on and what character I was playing. The Kill Arcana Special Edition. I would think they were completely retarded if they *didn't* do it. By comparison, giving GameStop customers a few mid-level enhancements is a trivial advantage over my own gameplay. I just hope BaB makes me some nice death emotes if that ever happens. Which of course everyone else would get to have in the Arcana DeathPack for only $9.95. |
My postings to this forum are not to be used as data in any research study without my express written consent.
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Oh ok I did see where this was but thnx, |
Originally Posted by Zombie Man
As has been announced previously, the digital-only GR:Item Pack for $7 will be available from the online NCSoft store the moment GR goes Live.
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so with that we will get
"The City of Heroes Going Rogue: Complete Collection features include:
* Alpha- and Omega-themed costume sets
* Alpha- and Omega-themed auras
* Four stance emotes
* The Shadowy Presence invisibility power"
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Edit: Misread the question. |
Originally Posted by Draugadan
I will just say for me, yes the issue is that I want this because it is kind of like collecting. I'm can't imagine why that is a bad thing. I enjoy this game, for me it is a hobby. So what is wrong with a person wanting the newest thing that comes out?
I think the problem is crying doom all the time, and casting evil intentions on NCSoft for the slightest thing. Not wanting to have a new thing. I just want to see something official answering my question above. Since I pre-purchased, will I have to get the Gamestop edition and the $7 pack to get everything? Or, can I just get away with buying the Gamestop version? |
Yes, it would be nice to know if the pre-purchase code and the complete edition code are stackable. If they are, pre-purchasers can have it all by also pre-ordering (or picking up the pre-order boxes six months later when they're discounted).
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From what i've been able to find out there is no "preorder box." It's a code printed on a receipt with instructions how to get the items. So, once it's over, no chance to get them again via gobs of boxes left over (I had several from a number of different stores when CoV exited the preorder phase).
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Originally Posted by Zombie Man
Edit: Misread the question.
Yes, it would be nice to know if the pre-purchase code and the complete edition code are stackable. If they are, pre-purchasers can have it all by also pre-ordering (or picking up the pre-order boxes six months later when they're discounted). |
I fail to see what everyone is whining about. If you are reading this and you already preordered, then you are enjoying dual pistols and demon summoning now. This is a much better reward than a lame mouse pad and 5 enhancements for new characters only that will be no good by level 20.
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QFT|
Originally Posted by crazyhorse2
I fail to see what everyone is whining about. If you are reading this and you already preordered, then you are enjoying dual pistols and demon summoning now. This is a much better reward than a lame mouse pad and 5 enhancements for new characters only that will be no good by level 20.
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The over-reaction and hyperbole is getting to be a bit much these days. It's almost like the Negative Nellys think that the Devs are out to target them personally and find the thing that will honk them off the most, and then the Devs watch the anguish unfold while rolling naked in a big pile of money and laughing maniacally.
Newsflash, folks: It's ok if you don't purchase every little booster/upgrade this game has to offer. If you don't like it, it doesn't mean it's evil and no one should have it. THE PLAYER is the biggest advantage in this game, not some silly enhancement or a special costume piece or a temp power. Life will go on without you having to purchase the latest and greatest widgit.
Loose --> not tight.
Lose --> Did not win, misplace, cannot find, subtract.
One extra 'o' makes a big difference.
I preordered Going Rogue, because I thought that was the way to get the most out of my money, get my early access and it showed my LOYALTY to City of Heroes. Now, I have had that loyalty breached by a second preorder promotion offering things, I won't be able to apply to my account, becuase I took the initial internal preorder.
At least make it so if I preorder the box set, I can apply those enhancement goodies to my new toons I am going to be making for Going Rogue, I don't really mind if I have to pay twice, I just want my goodies darn it all.
@Golden Girl
City of Heroes comics and artwork