Complaint about being Electronic Artsed over $2 in pre-ordering
SieurdeLaCornbread
Member Posts: 21
I strongly support this project, as Baldur's Gate and the other infinity engine games are my favorite games of all time. It is a shame that this branch of RPG development was stunted in favor of unsightly 3D action genre nonsense without gripping storylines masquerading as RPGS.
That being said, here is my complaint.
Y'all raised the pre-order price from $18 to $20. I was planning to pre-order because the price was better. I assumed the prices would remain constant as they were announced. $18 to pre-order, $20 after launch. I figured I would wait a little longer to pre-order since the release date got pushed back.
But suddenly the pre-order price has changed. So why pre-order? Why not just download the game for free out of spite? I'm still going to buy the game, just like I did every other infinity engine game. And Baldur's gate II EE. And whatever else is churned out by this team. I support the cause.
I do ask that you the developers act with honor and treat me the fan/customer with respect. I put on pants in the morning. I stand up when I go to the bathroom. I don't take a long time in the shower. I keep my cars and guns oiled. I eat vegetables.
Don't electronic arts me over $2. This is not a case of "too bad" and "tough luck" and "stop complaining about nothing." Does this portend more Maddenesque behavior by Beamdog, or can we reach an accord of future upright conduct?
Sieur de La Cornbread
That being said, here is my complaint.
Y'all raised the pre-order price from $18 to $20. I was planning to pre-order because the price was better. I assumed the prices would remain constant as they were announced. $18 to pre-order, $20 after launch. I figured I would wait a little longer to pre-order since the release date got pushed back.
But suddenly the pre-order price has changed. So why pre-order? Why not just download the game for free out of spite? I'm still going to buy the game, just like I did every other infinity engine game. And Baldur's gate II EE. And whatever else is churned out by this team. I support the cause.
I do ask that you the developers act with honor and treat me the fan/customer with respect. I put on pants in the morning. I stand up when I go to the bathroom. I don't take a long time in the shower. I keep my cars and guns oiled. I eat vegetables.
Don't electronic arts me over $2. This is not a case of "too bad" and "tough luck" and "stop complaining about nothing." Does this portend more Maddenesque behavior by Beamdog, or can we reach an accord of future upright conduct?
Sieur de La Cornbread
1
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Comments
sarcasm aside, discount was for people that preordered before original intended ship date. sounds like you took your sweet time, and got less appealing deal because the discount ended. sounds like a standard business practice to me.
Le Sigh
If you do not think it is beneficial to preorder now that the price has risen by the cost of a cup of coffee (at places other than Starbucks) then don't preorder and purchase after the release. Hell, wait a few months and you can probably get it cheaper than the rest of us chumps and start laughing then.
And how may I ask have you STRONGLY supported the project if you haven't preordered and this is your first post?
It's a bit rich to call out the developer on respect as well. What respect have you shown to them by 1) not pre-ordering earlier and 2) making an off hand comment about pirating the game?
And anyway, it's $2. You probably earn that in the time it takes to turn up to work and take your coat off. So don't make a big deal out of it.
To quote Imoen, 'I care not'.
I ask for pricing consistency for the general public. The fanboy knowledge obtained from faithful forum adherency is irrelevant to me. A sudden pre-order price change is unfair to people like me who planned to pre-order but postponed the pre-order after the release date was postponed. Potentially it increases profits at the expense of alienating people like me. That's why this is an electronic artsing.
It's not about the money of course, but principle. I would buy the game whether it was $18 or $50. The problem is the act of profit-motivated price increases. This is not a surcharge to offset rising corn prices to feed the Beamdog hogs. Bioware was not perfect, and neither is Beamdog. Beamdog carries a mandate from the fans, but that mandate can be lost. I'm asking for future virtuous behavior.
I will swat the sycophantic forum gnats if time permits. The video is wonderful. I'm more interested in a response from the developers though. Are you going to Electronic Arts us a second time?
Sieur de La Cornbread
The game is being enhanced by a new studio, and if the enhanced editions make enough money, they might make a BG3. If thats not a good enough reason for you to pay an extra $2 then simply don't buy the game.
Nothing further.
Instead, they said pre-orders $18, $20 after release. That's an honest handshake. $18 until we magically raise the price to $20 one day while still in the pre-order period, negating the most obvious reason to pre-order? That's not logically sound nor transparent to a consumer. It may or may not be good business on Beamdog/Overhaul's end. It does hurt their image and reputation in my eyes.
I'm going to buy the game. I do not mean to say that Trent Oster has lost his halo. I just want to be clear that I expect the developer to be fair and stick to their word without Electronic Artsing me again.
If you didn't know about the game, or didn't pre order it before the original release date, that's no one else fault that you missed out on the offer. The reduced price was available for as long as it was originally planned.
They said they would grant a $2.00 discount to people who pre-ordered the game before 18th September 2012. They did not say "before the game is released"; they explicitly said "before 18th September 2012."
When the game was delayed, they did not say the special pre-order price would extend to match the new release date. Instead, they said they would keep it up only a little while longer (I can't honestly remember if they provided an actual date). That was to give the opportunity to people like you, who did not pre-order earlier, to still get the special price.
Like all good things, the discount also got the an end. Not that it $2.00 would be an overly big deal, anyway. The game now costs $19.99, which has always been the game's advertised full price. There will not be further increases—in fact, there was never any increase: just a discount that has naturally expired.
Could they have kept the special pre-order price until 28th November? Yes, and I do not deny that it would have been nice, but they chose not to and they openly made their intentions known to the public.
As has been mentioned, the pre-order discount was only in effect until the original release date (some time in September). Once the game got delayed, the deadline of the pre-order offer remained the same and wasn't extended.
Unless you pressed a button that said you were paying 17.99$ and got charged for 19.99$ (in which case you should contact Beamdog if you want a refund), you don't really have anything to complain about.
My point here is ethical. I am not an unhappy customer demanding my money back. I am criticizing the decision itself to rescind the $18 pre-order price before the pre-ordering period ended. I do not care that the company covered itself legally, and I do not need to hear this repeated in the Webmasterese tongue, Tanthalas. In the future, I don't want to be Electronic Artsed by Overhaul/Beamdog again.
Sieur de La Cornbread
Being snippy with me isn't really helping your point, I'm just stating things as they are.
The pre-order discount offer was only in effect until September after which it no longer was on offer. There was no "being Electronic Artsed" or any other derrogatory term you want to use.
You simply shouldn't have waited so long to pre-order. There's nothing else to say about this.
Brace yourself, In the future, you will see the same again. Pre-orders with a deadline is not "electronic artsing".