So we got Roman Pack this week and some new sets in the market

Not that I want to become one of "those people," but I'm starting to think task exclusivity and super packs are both strategies that include a contingency plan: they sell what they can this way, and when people complain (like they have to know they will), they wait a few months and then release another pack under the guise of "giving the people what they've been asking for."

"Hey, remember a few months back when we released the Roman costume pack and everybody was all upset it didn't include the weapons? Well, we heard you loud and clear, and now, for only five additional dollars...."

Strangely enough, I've been aware of this fact for something like 40 years.

Did you read the post I was responding to? In the context he wrote, it seemed he was wondering why it was FOR SALE for a limited time. My response was in regards to such a question. I'm sorry if this confused you. In my origional post, simply replace my use of the phrase "limited time" with "for sale for a limited time" if it is unclear to you.

Maybe if their food weren't so damn good and they weren't crammed with customers they'd think of changing their policies. Money talks.


I know another mom and pop place that only sells homemade potato pancakes and homemade pierogies. They make the same amount each day and shut the doors in customers faces as soon as it's sold out. If the customers don't like it they should have got there earlier.

The always have people lined up outside the store an hour before they open.

I don't have a problem with it. Would I complain if they threw everything in a pack? Probably not. But I see the value in not doing so. YMMV.

Okay. There was a simple misunderstanding. No harm, no foul.

In that case, at least, they have a legitimate exclusivity to fall back on: paying customers were promised back when the Collector's Edition was released that Prestige Power Slide would never be available by other means; it was part of how they justified the added cost of that edition versus the normal one. However (and I've mentioned these before):

• I don't claim to speak for everybody, but as one of the people they made that promise to, I'd personally have ZERO problem with them going back on it.
• If they don't want to do that, there's nothing stopping them from releasing a (non-prestige) Power Slide with a different (or completely absent, which might work better with current path auras anyway) glow effect. It's really just Sprint with a different animation, after all. That would be a proper compromise, I think. People who want to pay money to slide can do that, people who want something to lord over other people still have their "prestigious" purple foot glow.

We're not talking about giving it away as a vet reward/paragon reward. We're talking about buying the Collector's Edition Hero Gear Kits which the company has already offered for sale in 2008 and again in 2009 several years after they stopped making the Collector's Edition DvD .

Typically, people who DON'T have a problem with something don't flock to the boards to post about it.
Just, you know... by the way - *I* think it's a fine decision too.


And you're welcome to do so. While others are welcome to take the position of "Shut up and take my money." Isn't this great? It works for everyone. If you're happy, spend money. If you're unhappy, don't spend money.


This statement, by itself, is quite true.
But just because YOU don't like this particular marketing decision doesn't mean that it's a BAD decision, much less one that will hurt or erode their image.

Right, gotcha. The Hero Gear Kit was essentially an upgrade to the Collector's Edition after the fact because some people were upset that they, the early adopters who had already bought the game, hadn't had the opportunity to get all the shinies that came with the CE (which was released a few months later). Again, just like with the CE of CoV, certain items were promised to be truly "exclusive" to the CE, as opposed to, say, the Arachnos helmets which were CoV pre-order bennies and not "you'll never be able to get these another way" specialties, which is why they were released as vet rewards later on.

As I said, I bought the CE, I have the slide power, the special cape, et cetera, and I'm fine with those items being released for everyone to purchase on the market, but I understand why they'd hesitate after making an outright promise that those things would never be available by other means. However, that doesn't mean "remarkably similar" items couldn't be released. In fact, it was already done once with the vet rewards program -- the CoV CE Arachnos chest emblem (an exclusive like power slide) is different from the vet reward Arachnos chest emblem.

Oh goody. A pedantic wall of text. I can do those too, being (I presume, based on your most-precise punctuation) similarly over-educated. It's kinda like the "upset" thing, though. Not much ROI.

When you refer to two positions as "main" you (explicitly or implicitly) diminish in importance all other opinions on the matter. I object to any classification system that does this. There are legitimate options other than "upset" to this decision. The people who will be loudest will be those who are upset, but that's just reality. The people who are satisfied with and support decisions don't tend to say so unless someone basically calls them out.

You called, I support. Feel free to add me to the, "The strategy makes sense to me" tally.

Yeah, only the first paragraph was specifically in response to your... well, let's call it an insult. An indirect one, but still. Plus, only that same first paragraph could even remotely be called "pedantic." And no, I'm not over-educated. (Believe it or not, I'm not even a real doctor!) I just learned proper punctuation, spelling and syntax when they taught them to me in grade school (public, no less!) and still exercise those skills to this day for clarity's sake. Seriously, you're dismissing me because I didn't make enough errors for you? Should I try to screw up a little on purpose so you'll know I'm f'realz?

The rest of that "wall of text" (three paragraphs is a "wall?" Where'd you get your over-education?) was just me expanding and providing my thoughts on an ongoing topic of discussion. As you didn't choose to respond to those points but rather dismissed them out of hand based on their length, I'll assume you didn't even bother to read them.

tl;dr: I'm not going to apologize for having taken basic English classes as a kid.

@Oathbound & @Oathbound Too

Roman weapons have nothing to do with the ITF.

A very good point. So let's see where this leads us:

Roman swords
Unlocked by: earning the Centurion badge
NOT included in Roman costume pack "to maintain some exclusivity to the Imperious Task Force" (which isn't required to unlock them).

Roman axes
Unlocked by: earning the Centurion badge
NOT included in Roman costume pack "to maintain some exclusivity to the Imperious Task Force" (which isn't required to unlock them).

Romulus/Nictus sword
Unlocked by: completing the Imperious Task Force
NOT included in Roman costume pack "to maintain some exclusivity to the Imperious Task Force."

Roman shields
Unlocked by: earning the Centurion badge
Included in Roman costume pack

Romulus/Nictus shield
Unlocked by: completing the Imperious Task Force
Included in Roman costume pack despite stated goal "to maintain some exclusivity to the Imperious Task Force."

Oh, yeah... this makes sense. Well, the parts about Romulus swords and non-Romulus shields do, anyway. The rest, not so much.

+1 Thank you for laying it this way. I hope a red name sees this.

Originally Posted by Arcanaville Samuel_Tow is the only poster that makes me want to punch him in the head more often when I'm agreeing with him than when I'm disagreeing with him.

This decision just makes me loop into running DERPAHERP.exe over and over and over...

Originally Posted by Zwillinger GG, I would tell you that "I am killing you with my mind", but I couldn't find an emoticon to properly express my sentiment.

Originally Posted by Captain_Photon NOTE: The Incarnate System is basically farming for IOs on a larger scale, and with more obtrusive lore.

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SUPPORT - IT'S NOT JUST A GROUPING OF ATs
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More Than a Game
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Really? Do you know what goes into conducting a standard scientific survey? The type demographics used? What the number of respondents required representing a cross section of the targeted group? It is immense. I can assure you that a message board community, much like this one, does not represent the entire general population of this game’s fan base or any other game.

What the message board's membership represents is a finite percentage of participants who integrate the game into their lives. Your average gamer/player do not spend on a message board or interacting in a like medium. Most of those fans that do come to an official board observe only. Right now, there are 4119 people on this board, 3438 are guests, and 681 are members. Members make up 16%, guests 83%. Of the 175,472 members, less than 1% (.00388) is active at this moment. That may represent an active message board; however, it does not represent game’s fan population as a whole.

Conversely, this does not tell a complete story. Of those members, how many actually participate? Of the guests, who are members who no longer participate only lurk? There are a immense number of factors involved in a scientific survey/poll for researching and analyzing empirical data in order to formulate and make quantified statement or make an informed decision.

Even scientific surveys by their nature exclude the segment of the population who doesn't like to respond to surveys...

Doesn't mean much- only those that object to the strategy have any reason to post anything. FWIW, I don't see any issue with this whatsoever. Seems to be a good way to strike a balance between the two interest groups.

Someone wants to make a Roman Centuion-themed character.
You go to the character creator and...there are no Roman parts. You have to get your Roman Centurion to level 35 and run the ITF to unlock them. So for the first 35 levels your 'Roman' is walking around with...medieval or Samurai armor.

Now do you get the logic?


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Given his earlier +1 to Doctor Roswell's post, I assumed that particular reply was in response to/agreeing with Zortel and Techbot.