EverQuest II’s Sixth Expansion, Sentinel’s Fate, Pre-order Starts Today!

[Detor]

[email protected] Bayle wrote:

Xalmat wrote:

[email protected] Bayle wrote:

So is SoE going to pay the 14.99 extra to ship this to canada? Because I certainly shouldnt have to pay $15 extra just to have the privallege of getting a retail box. if not we're getting shafted so is anyone who has to pay to get a retail copy shipped.

If I were you I'd move to the US so as to avoid those fees.

Unless i was given an obscene amount of money there is no way I'd EVER move to the US, kthxbai.

So you already have it better, or so you believe, than people in the US so why not let the poor US people get something special to cheer them up? 

[Josgar]

[Kiara]

AnjelikaR wrote:

Was curious as to the run speed of the mount that comes with the collector's edition and if it's one per account or per character?

Don't have stat info on the mount or any of the in-game items yet.  Nor screenshots.

I'll make sure that we post it when we do have it

I would surmise that it will be one per character as other items have been, but I will make sure that I include that information when we post the other information.

[Rheem]

The sad part is, we wouldn't need greater shelf presence if you simply included the same features in the downloadable versions. If you want greater shelf space, ADVERTISE. And don't say "We're going to launch a major ad campain in the spring" because thats too late. Advertise now so people know the game exists in 3 months when the expansion comes out.

[Korven]

AnjelikaR wrote:

Was curious as to the run speed of the mount that comes with the collector's edition and if it's one per account or per character?

The e-mail indicated that the mount and armor piece would be one per character, probably won't find out any stats until much closer to the release.

[Mentho]

[email protected] wrote:

The sad part is, we wouldn't need greater shelf presence if you simply included the same features in the downloadable versions. If you want greater shelf space, ADVERTISE. And don't say "We're going to launch a major ad campain in the spring" because thats too late. Advertise now so people know the game exists in 3 months when the expansion comes out.

Well said, Rheem. I have never seen any type of eq2 advertisement on websites, TV, billboards anywhere.

[Luminata]

I believe one of the more recent to launch mmo's had distributors emailed head-start keys out, perhaps SoE could look into doing this too therefore anyone who may not have the box in their hand on the day of release for whatever reason (darn postmentypes probably still be striking in Feb here in the uk anyways) can enter the activation key and get going. The money can be taken thus preventing people signing up for a retail preorder and then cancelling before paying. Anyways there are a few month's yet and I am sure it will be sorted.

It is good to see that a push is being made to get EQ2 some shelf space. It is a shame that a deal could not have been done with all the Amazon sites - do they not all have a parent company? - or as a previous poster said GAME which is the largest retailer in the UK, but I am hoping that if this goes well in the US that they will look into getting international shelf space for the expansion afterwards.

What I would like to know now is where can I sign up for beta

[Dollin]

Ok so whats the incentive for the big "Wall Space" if you're telling everybody to preorder and have it shiped? Wouldn't that just be again bypassing the need for putting it on the store shelf? The majority of the ppl that are buying it are going to have it shiped or used the digital download. So again, putting it on the shelf its really going to have a limited impact. And i'm sure the majority of the stores like normal will only get in a handfull of copies and all of this will backfire.

But i guess it should be anticipated. SOE tends to push promo's and other things like this primarilly for the US market while failing to ensure that a large amount of thier player base is taken care of. As you pointed out you can't compete with Blizzard but maybe you should look at some of the things they do to ensure you satisfy your entire playbase and not just 1 portion of it.

[Elwin]

Yipppeeee log in this morning before work to see the news of the pre-release of the next expansion. How exciting! NOT!Not only does the Collectors Edition come with goodies it comes with a 7 day head start!

What a [Removed for Content] shame I live in Australia and have about as much chance of getting one as I have of riding to the moon on horse back! NONE of the sites listed by you will ship to Australia.

Seriously /boggle!After the mount drama last expansion now this? Are you seriously waiting for all your non US customers to /rage quit? 

Way to drive people away SoE. 

[Kiara]

[email protected] wrote:

What I would like to know now is where can I sign up for beta

Info coming soon

[Luminata]

[email protected] wrote:

Ok so whats the incentive for the big "Wall Space" if you're telling everybody to preorder and have it shiped? Wouldn't that just be again bypassing the need for putting it on the store shelf? The majority of the ppl that are buying it are going to have it shiped or used the digital download. So again, putting it on the shelf its really going to have a limited impact. And i'm sure the majority of the stores like normal will only get in a handfull of copies and all of this will backfire.

But i guess it should be anticipated. SOE tends to push promo's and other things like this primarilly for the US market while failing to ensure that a large amount of thier player base is taken care of. As you pointed out you can't compete with Blizzard but maybe you should look at some of the things they do to ensure you satisfy your entire playbase and not just 1 portion of it.

A lot of people are influenced by bestseller charts, if you ask people to download things directly there is no register of the sale. Anyone that has worked in retail can tell you the power of product placement when it comes to impulse buying, "eyeline is buyline" as an area manager I used to know irritatingly said quite a lot, he was right though :p

[Nindor2]

[email protected] wrote:

Anyways there are a few month's yet and I am sure it will be sorted.

Given the sales pitch Kiara gives us, this is highly doubtful. We might be able to order internationally at Amazon US, but its highly unlikely it will go any further. So we are stuck with a $30 penalty and no certainity it will gain us anything if the packets get stuck in customs. Kiara consistently refuses to comment any of the many questions about what SOE thinks about the shipping costs, so it is rather clear SOE has marked that as the price the Overseas community has to pay for the ad campain.

SOE calculates most of us are too addicted, so that even majorly [Removed for Content] off maybe 30% or whatever of the player base will end in less cancellations than the additional shelf space will gain them in new subscriptions. I guess in the end they will probably be correct. Honest dealing has no place in todays economy.

[acctlc]

[email protected] Bayle wrote:

Xalmat wrote:

[email protected] Bayle wrote:

So is SoE going to pay the 14.99 extra to ship this to canada? Because I certainly shouldnt have to pay $15 extra just to have the privallege of getting a retail box. if not we're getting shafted so is anyone who has to pay to get a retail copy shipped.

If I were you I'd move to the US so as to avoid those fees.

Unless i was given an obscene amount of money there is no way I'd EVER move to the US, kthxbai.

/snicker...pwned!

[acctlc]

Regarding the mount:

At nearly double the price, the only thing I see when comparing the regular retail box to the collector's box that most will really *care* about (no offense but a figurine and documentary available online for free just won't do it for a lot of us) is the mount.   A 30 dollar mount better be something to behold otherwise its a regular box for me.  Definitely not going to gamble on the fact it will be good either, I expect a full description of the thing including a screenie and stat rundown if I'm going to blow that much on it, also details on whether it is one per character or one per box.

[CorpseGoddess]

Nindor2 wrote:

[email protected] wrote:

Anyways there are a few month's yet and I am sure it will be sorted.

Given the sales pitch Kiara gives us, this is highly doubtful. We might be able to order internationally at Amazon US, but its highly unlikely it will go any further. So we are stuck with a $30 penalty and no certainity it will gain us anything if the packets get stuck in customs. Kiara consistently refuses to comment any of the many questions about what SOE thinks about the shipping costs, so it is rather clear SOE has marked that as the price the Overseas community has to pay for the ad campain.

SOE calculates most of us are too addicted, so that even majorly [Removed for Content] off maybe 30% or whatever of the player base will end in less cancellations than the additional shelf space will gain them in new subscriptions. I guess in the end they will probably be correct. Honest dealing has no place in todays economy.

Just to play devil's advocate for a minute here...

No one is "forcing" people to pay anything extra.  If you are satisfied waiting for the digital download without the head start, then you get that.  If you want the head start with the extra goodies, then you pre-order and pay the attendant costs for that as well.  As this is a US-based game, anything outside of the states is going to cost extra (as it is with any other country and product.  If I want something from the UK and decide to buy it, I'm going to have to decide to accept any extra cost surrounding my decision).

Personally, I'm in Canada and have decided to preorder the collector's edition box this time (I usually go digital download, but the extra goodies persuaded me).  Will I have to pay extra?  Yes, of course, because I'm not in the US.  Do I feel forced to do so?  Not in the least.  I've made my decision based on what I want and accept the costs that go along with it.

Whether or not SOE does enough marketing for EQ2 at other times of the year isn't really relevant to this issue.  Age of Conan, Warhammer and Aion all did huge marketing pushes for their product and I still had to decide to pay extra to get the game sooner and with extra goodies.  This isn't about marketing EQ2 as a whole (which, don't get me wrong, I think SOE really needs to improve on), it's about marketing this particular expansion.  And offering the box with substantial rewards over the digital download is just smart marketing.

[KohlDL]

Kiara wrote:

[email protected] wrote:

last time i ordered an item from the US it took 3 days to arrive.  would it be possible PLEASE to get some kind of guarantee/assurances from your suppliers who are shipping overseas that the product will be shipped in plenty of time to allow us to enjoy the full 7 day headstart.  maybe kiara you(or whomever is contact with them directly) could even ask amazon if they plan to release the game from there uk site .. amazon.co.uk, to me that would make sense but who knows really.  alternatively the largest game retailer in the UK is called GAME, maybe you chaps should get in touch with them about some shelf space, although you are most likely to get the response i ahve always had which is "Everwhat?" never heard of it mate we have World of Warcraft is that summit similar?

The agreement is that they will ship early enough (and we are providing the product early to enable this) that it will be in your hands on the day of release.  I don't know if Amazon is guaranteeing this, and I will check, however I do know that GameStop will guarantee it.

I just want to understand this before I decide which version I'll buy.  If I pre-order from a brick and mortar it will arrive at my house at least 7 days prior to launch date so that I get the 7 day head start right?  Otherwise, what's the point of the headstart if I don't get a product key until launch day?  Please correct me if I'm not understanding it.

Thank you.

[Kiara]

GameStop guarantees that you will receive it by 2.16 which is the date that retail boxes will have access.

We're double checking as to whether or not Amazon is guaranteeing this as well.

[Spyrit]

Kiara wrote:

GameStop guarantees that you will receive it by 2.16 which is the date that retail boxes will have access.

We're double checking as to whether or not Amazon is guaranteeing this as well.

Does this include International customers?

[Kiara]

[email protected] wrote:

Kiara wrote:

GameStop guarantees that you will receive it by 2.16 which is the date that retail boxes will have access.

We're double checking as to whether or not Amazon is guaranteeing this as well.

Does this include International customers?

I've stated this several times.  We are shipping to them early so that they can ship early.  Our agreements say yes.  I cannot, however, guarantee something which is not under my control.  It would be far better to get the guarantee from GameStop or Amazon.

[lemey]

"As this is a US-based game, anything outside of the states is going to cost extra (as it is with any other country and product)" hate to burst your bubble but the server i play on is i belive still pysically located in amsterdam, the version i play is ment to be localised for the eu (english speaking) i pay my subscription in £ not $, while the COMPANY may be american the game by definiton is international while we appreciate the us is eq2's biggest demographic they have none us customers and we expect the same level of service.

[CorpseGoddess]

[email protected] wrote:

"As this is a US-based game, anything outside of the states is going to cost extra (as it is with any other country and product)" hate to burst your bubble but the server i play on is i belive still pysically located in amsterdam, the version i play is ment to be localised for the eu (english speaking) i pay my subscription in £ not $, while the COMPANY may be american the game by definiton is international while we appreciate the us is eq2's biggest demographic they have none us customers and we expect the same level of service.

I should clarify.  SOE the company is based in the US, although they may have servers and whatnot in other regions of the world.  So technically the product (the game itself) comes from the US.

I don't see this as not providing service to people.  I shouldn't expect a UK-based company to open a store here in Canada or waive my shipping and tax charges if I want to buy something they provide.

[bodomite]

screw you, SOE, for screwing us europeans over again.

[Elwin]

More than obviously SoE is not concerned with their paying non USA customers as the last expansion and the differences between retail box and digital download had us crying for months. 

Even if we could order it from one of your listed sites we would still be behind unless we ordered the digital download also, numerous people did that last expansion to get the hell ugly mount and have the game upon release.

We then had the big update which the EU servers had to wait weeks after the US to get. I still don't understand that one tbh. And what was our special event to make that up? Can anyone actually remember? Wow just wow.

Now we have months to find another game and move on.

I can go without a mount, hell we did that last expansion. I can go without some lame figurine. Can I or do I want to be ONE WEEK behind the 'lucky' customers that have access to the retail box. In short NO!

Yes this is a negative post but I can't see any positives in the way this release has been presented. Again you fail at keeping your non USA customers happy.

[bodomite]

and [Removed for Content] people, we shouldnt be ACCEPTING this bull. forcing people to buy retail box for the same price as digital download (more for international since theres additional shipping costs) to get a [Removed for Content] headstart is not fair play.

[feldon30]

I have no problem with the Retail box set. But, I won't believe SoE is serious about the International community until EQ2 is available for order from: http://www.amazon.co.uk/ http://www.bestbuy.ca/ http://www.ebgames.com.au/ Over $120 for the Collector's Edition when you include VAT export duty, and exchange rate, shipping is beyond absurd.

[Leko]

[email protected] Bayle wrote:

Wow that's awesome, Digital download is totall utter crap compared to the boxed version? Nice of SoE to consider all the players who CANT get retail copies..

If you can get the digital copy then you can get to Amazon.com. 

[Nindor2]

Leko wrote:

[email protected] Bayle wrote:

Wow that's awesome, Digital download is totall utter crap compared to the boxed version? Nice of SoE to consider all the players who CANT get retail copies..

If you can get the digital copy then you can get to Amazon.com. 

But you can't necessarily get Amazon to ship anything to you.

[Detor]

Nindor2 wrote:

Leko wrote:

[email protected] Bayle wrote:

Wow that's awesome, Digital download is totall utter crap compared to the boxed version? Nice of SoE to consider all the players who CANT get retail copies..

If you can get the digital copy then you can get to Amazon.com. 

But you can't necessarily get Amazon to ship anything to you.

But they're already said that's a mistake and that Amazon is suppose to be allowing international shipments of this product.

Edit: And if Amazon doesn't fix that Gamestop also offers international shipping.  Canada and the UK are $14.99 shipping. For comparison shipping to the US is $5-10. (with most people probably at the $10 end of the scale)  Shipping time to Canada or the UK is 3 days according to them.  If they ship it only 1 day early that still means you get it just 2 days later.  If they ship it even earlier than that you might even have it internationally on release day from them.

[Elwin]

[email protected] wrote:

[email protected] wrote:

"As this is a US-based game, anything outside of the states is going to cost extra (as it is with any other country and product)" hate to burst your bubble but the server i play on is i belive still pysically located in amsterdam, the version i play is ment to be localised for the eu (english speaking) i pay my subscription in £ not $, while the COMPANY may be american the game by definiton is international while we appreciate the us is eq2's biggest demographic they have none us customers and we expect the same level of service.

I should clarify.  SOE the company is based in the US, although they may have servers and whatnot in other regions of the world.  So technically the product (the game itself) comes from the US.

I don't see this as not providing service to people.  I shouldn't expect a UK-based company to open a store here in Canada or waive my shipping and tax charges if I want to buy something they provide.

Well you see it's like this. You go into a game store in Austalia and ask "can I please pre-order the next EQ2 expansion?"

The response bounces between a blank look, sorry EQ what? or have you seen the latest Blizzard games?

SoE have an international Customer base, but sadly the game is not available internationally ANY MORE. Hardly rocket science now is it?

[CorpseGoddess]

[email protected] wrote:

[email protected] wrote:

[email protected] wrote:

"As this is a US-based game, anything outside of the states is going to cost extra (as it is with any other country and product)" hate to burst your bubble but the server i play on is i belive still pysically located in amsterdam, the version i play is ment to be localised for the eu (english speaking) i pay my subscription in £ not $, while the COMPANY may be american the game by definiton is international while we appreciate the us is eq2's biggest demographic they have none us customers and we expect the same level of service.

I should clarify.  SOE the company is based in the US, although they may have servers and whatnot in other regions of the world.  So technically the product (the game itself) comes from the US.

I don't see this as not providing service to people.  I shouldn't expect a UK-based company to open a store here in Canada or waive my shipping and tax charges if I want to buy something they provide.

Well you see it's like this. You go into a game store in Austalia and ask "can I please pre-order the next EQ2 expansion?"

The response bounces between a blank look, sorry EQ what? or have you seen the latest Blizzard games?

SoE have an international Customer base, but sadly the game is not available internationally ANY MORE. Hardly rocket science now is it?

No, but what might be rocket science (or at least prohibitively expensive) is to have physical product available in every single country where a player *might* want to purchase it.  I don't know, I'm not in the marketing or finance wings of SOE, but that's what I would assume as a layman.