Final Fantasy Vana'Diel Collection 3! (Now with Epic Items~)

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Originally Posted by Chiibi

*Headesk!*
This is really silly. So much crying over silliness. So this is the state of our playerbase? Whiny kids who feel like they're entitled to everything just because they're paying for a service they've already been getting.

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Whining about whining

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Originally Posted by Chiibi

*Headesk!*
This is really silly. So much crying over silliness. So this is the state of our playerbase? Whiny kids who feel like they're entitled to everything just because they're paying for a service they've already been getting.

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I don't feel entitled to it, and I think most people here don't, I don't know why people keep saying that. This is simply about fairness, loyalty not being rewarded, but the opposite, being punished for it and a central aspect of the game SE is messing with here.

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Originally Posted by Chiibi

*Headesk!*
This is really silly. So much crying over silliness. So this is the state of our playerbase? Whiny kids who feel like they're entitled to everything just because they're paying for a service they've already been getting.

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This is where I think the point is missed on some people posting here. I don't disagree with the entitlement. The reality is the majority of players feel entitled. Because, quite frankly, the only thing S/E really has to provide is service to fix any bugs in the content. They don't have to add updates. They aren't required to create add-on's. Really, once you buy the original content, they could be finished with you. So, I agree with you on that point.

The difference is how some people interact with S/E. Not everyone looks at it as pure business. A lot of people believe they have a relationship with S/E. They feel they've been there through the bad times and did not waiver in their support. I still remember calling GM's on obvious RMT in the game and S/E's script was "We understand that making claims on NM's is difficult." Thus, saying it was all in your head. It took them years to admit the problem. And only after the great inflation caused by the purchase of gil was affecting their business. There were quite a few people who quit during that period. There are a lot of other things that S/E has corrected since Abyssea and most the long-time players have been saying there was a problem all along. Personally, I donated to the Japanese relief effort through S/E not for the item but because I felt I had a relationship with S/E and thus a Japanese company. I went and saw that horrible Final Fantasy movie. Not because I wanted to see the movie but because it was something S/E put out. If I didn't care about S/E, there is no way I would have paid money to see that movie. Again, it was horrible.

So, yes, it probably is a sense of entitlement. What a lot of the posters are saying is that it is not a sense of entitlement based on purely paying a monthly fee as well as having bought the content at full price. It's the sense, albeit a false one as this move reinforces, that there is a relationship between S/E and long-time players which is not purely business. Again, not a realistic belief, since on the cognitive level, we all know businesses care about nothing but profit. But, people still want to believe that if they've been a long-time customer, that a company is appreciative of that fact.

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Originally Posted by Runespider

It's a collectors edition item made specially for this bundle, you really expect to get it free?

If they didn't bother to make the bundle the item would of never been made anyway and if people complain too much over such a silly item they probably won't bother to make anymore.

It's no different than buying all the star wars DVD's singularly and them making a bundle package a few years later giving some special item with it, it's a collectors edition bonus item. They are trying to make the game more pleasing for people coming back or trying it out.

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You know, I might actually buy this thing. I've bought every expansion on this game within a week of its release over the years meaning I have multiple discs and a HUGE update download everytime my computer has a fail and I have to reinstall, about every 18 months. Getting a more current version that won't require me to take essentially 1 full day RL to put the game back in might just be worth it; especially with no plans on the horizon for new expansions.

And I could care less about the hat.

The issue here is much broader than this one item that people think is cute, or wanting the nice bonuses on it.

There are two converging trends that have met at this point.
1) This is a subscription based game. We expect content in the game to be within reach of everyone paying said subscription. Expansions are the only fair and acceptable money-based gateways in such a payment system.

There are free to play games that cost no monthly subscription or box price to install the game. These games make all their money based on fashion items, consumables to enhance gameplay, and gear that offers benefits other players do not have access to unless they buy them.

When a subscription based game tries to mix these business models, it becomes a sort of "double-dip" profiteering scheme that makes people rightfully angry, especially since FFXI has been so against RMT type activities, only to engage in something similar to it themselves (allowing money to give players an advantage within the game; be it teleports or fashion items, or boosts to low levels - in a game where everybody can level every job, and remains in those "low levels" once for each job).

2) The second issue is a horrible trend in the view of customer loyalty. Releasing episodic content patches in tiny chunks and that cost more separate than they do in a bundle when the "set" is completed, and on top of that, after reducing the price, bundling it with all previous content, AND giving people who buy this compilation a bonus item... all for less money... and then expect long time players who own the "sold item" already (bundled content) to buy the bonus item to justify the cost of producing the compilation.



I like having all the installation disks compacted and up to date with patches, that's fine. The price point may also be where SE wants it to attract new players... that's fine. I get it; SE wants the barrier to entry lowered so people pick up the game and continue their subscriptions. It's a solid business strategy.

The point here is then to give the bonus item to the people who ALREADY PAID MORE for the existing content as it was released in smaller bits over time.


In the future, I am going to be much less likely to purchase these "epsidodic content patches" (I refuse to call them expansions at this point), until each set is completed, reduced in price, bundled with previous updates and expansions, and given a nice bonus item. -- Is this what SE wants? -- No, I don't think so. If they don't, they had better think harder about these marketing decisions.

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Originally Posted by Fincat

I'm curious if people would be as outraged if SE just offered the in-game item for $20, with no attachment to anything else. I think they would make a mint on cool in-game items to buy for RL money and never understood why they don't do it more often. /shrug

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When the three first add-ons came out, poeple felt that they finished them too fast and that they "payed" for the augment item. SE stated that this was never theyr intention. They dont want people to pay for ingame items. The only exception to this was the chip some of us bought to improve the security of the game. A bonus for this was the Mog Satchel.

So after this statement SE made, I am disapointed with them that they say now "You can get the item by buying the Abyssea add-on series again...."


I'll try and find a link in the intervju they said this. Hate when people make statements and dont back theyr stories up^_-

I don't understand why people think SE is doing this to fund FFXIV. First of all, do you think SE is so poor they cant support FXIV till they get the bugs worked out? I highly doubt they are trying to nickle and dime their XI users to pay for XIV.

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Originally Posted by Kaych

When the three first add-ons came out, poeple felt that they finished them too fast and that they "payed" for the augment item. SE stated that this was never theyr intention. They dont want people to pay for ingame items. The only exception to this was the chip some of us bought to improve the security of the game. A bonus for this was the Mog Satchel.

So after this statement SE made, I am disapointed with them that they say now "You can get the item by buying the Abyssea add-on series again...."


I'll try and find a link in the intervju they said this. Hate when people make statements and dont back theyr stories up^_-

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Back my "story" up with what? What story?

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Originally Posted by Kimble

I don't understand why people think SE is doing this to fund FFXIV. First of all, do you think SE is so poor they cant support FXIV till they get the bugs worked out? I highly doubt they are trying to nickle and dime their XI users to pay for XIV.

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http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/charts/charts.asp?ticker=9684:JP
I'm no finance specialist. But, it doesn't seem like a positive ledger to me. I'm sure someone with knowledge of these things could certainly interpret it better.

+1 voice feeling existing players should be given the hat.

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Originally Posted by Fincat

Back my "story" up with what? What story?

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If someone says "Its cos of PS2 limitations!" or "We cant get this because SE dont like it", then its nice to have a link to what SE actually said so we know that the person isnt making it up.

Thats why when I made a statement that SE said that they dont want people to feel like they are "buying" an ingame item with real money, I wanted to add a link to prove my story ^_-

Ah, I see. I thought you were referring to my post, thanks for clarifying.

Honestly I don't feel strongly eather way. "It's a new hat! Yey I'm a Chocobo now! Aww everyone else is a chocobo too... -1 Item space. /toss. But I also agree with the hole loyalty issue. Truth be told I fell away from FFXI for a bit due to /kaiichi get marred. /kaiichi has kids. /kaiichi's children need food. HOWEVER! I can see where you all are comming from. But here's an Idea, can SE have a place on it's sight for all past and present special downloads that we can get by paying a small fee for? I mean i didn't even know about the twitter thing till it was like a mounth over and i can barly get my kids to magic mountion let alone japan for a fan fest.

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Originally Posted by Kimble

I don't understand why people think SE is doing this to fund FFXIV. First of all, do you think SE is so poor they cant support FXIV till they get the bugs worked out? I highly doubt they are trying to nickle and dime their XI users to pay for XIV.

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First of all, yes I do. Second of all, why did you say first of all when there was no second of all?

Of course, I don't think they are *really* poor, but I can see that they don't have unlimited resources with the development of FF14 taking an enormous amount of time and money, and at the same time, some games of theirs have not sold quite as well as expected.

I also think you are underestimating the amount of resources needed to get FF14 as huge as SE had envisioned. I seriously believe that FF14 could end up being shut down permanently within a year or two, which would definitely make a very solid dent in SE's economy.

Another reason why at least I think FF11's subscription incomes are partially tunnelled to the development FF14 is that while FF11 isn't free to maintain, the game did pay itself off many years ago and has been a continuous cash cow ever since. assuming 100k paying subscribers(i think we're still around that), FF11 should generate a yearly revenue of at least 15 million dollars. I don't know how much maintaining FF11 costs, but I think it's far from that much.

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Originally Posted by Mirage

First of all, yes I do. Second of all, why did you say first of all when there was no second of all?

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Lol, awsome XD

Ok, not counting the monthly fees, if we bought all the expansions individually, say at $30 each for the first four (so $120 total there), plus another $60 for the add-ons (up to $180 now), plus $60 for the core game, we've spent $240 or so on the game software registration codes to unlock the content. Now they want $20 more to give us the same thing, plus a bonus item, which someone just joining the game gets for $20 total instead of $260 total.

Yes, some of the monthly fees and game sales go to paying for support for this game, but some of it also goes to profit. We've been giving them steady profit for years, we've been loyal to them. People don't want to purchase from a company or work for a company that isn't loyal to them in return. A money grab like this isn't viewed as a return of loyalty.

People tend to forget XI had a lot of the same problems that XIV had when it came out and took a while for it to finally be up in running in the way it is. NA players arent aware of it because it came out in JP for around a year before it came over seas. There was a while when it was believed XI would be shut down before it ever made it to the USA.

http://www.jpbutton.com/?cat=20

FFXI came out May 16th 2002 in Japan, and sometime in late October 2003 in North America. That link has translations of the update notes from before the American release. NMs weren't even implemented at launch. They also had such server instability that they gave the first 2 months free for a long time.

Yes, it was feared the game would shut down because SquareSoft wanted the PS2 version to be the first release in all countries, since the main novelty of FFXI was that is was the first true MMO on a console, but SCEA wouldn't release the required hardware. Financial pressure finally made them release the PC version first. The Japanese player base alone wasn't quite enough, even with importers, to fund the entire costs of the game, a foreign release was needed.

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Originally Posted by Camate

I'd like to clarify some of your concerns regarding the special items.

The Destrier Beret which is included when you purchase FINAL FANTASY XI ULTIMATE COLLECTION ABYSSEA EDITION is in fact a separate registration code, so even current players who already have these expansions/add-ons can obtain it by purchasing the new collection.

Players that do not already own a Nexus Cape will also receive this when they purchase the new collection.

Every player that currently owns all three Abyssea add-ons or purchases them in the future (whether buy this new collection or separately) will be eligible to receive the Prishe statue.

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This is making us look like a fooool... Not only that the price dropped for all three expansion and the gift is not for those who paid full price...

UGH! I bought the last Abyssea expansion for my new alt a week ago. I wish I'd have known this was coming.
The only upside to this is the fact that I can buy it and save 10 dollars on those failed-ass mini-expansions in case I decide to level BST on my alt.

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Originally Posted by Randwolf

Curious if anyone who can read Japanese has looked in their forums to see what kind of reaction, if any, they have had. They are a good gauge as to the direction this will go.

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http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxi/th...3%A7%E3%83%B33

That seems to be the thread mentioning it. Haven't had a chance to try going after it with Rikaichan yet.

Well, I can see that SE wants to make money, but it's pretty stupid to just over-look everyone who bought expansions as they came out by giving those who haven't a reward. This was the same trend for those who bought the mini-expansions. If this continues, why should anyone buy any of the future expansions when they come out? It's obvious that we'll be rewarded better by not purchasing content as it comes out.

The very least they could do is sell the extra items for like $3~$5 each. All it takes is a registration code right? You could just sell the code, players input it, and get the item without having to buy the expansions again.

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People tend to forget XI had a lot of the same problems that XIV had when it came out and took a while for it to finally be up in running in the way it is. NA players arent aware of it because it came out in JP for around a year before it came over seas. There was a while when it was believed XI would be shut down before it ever made it to the USA.

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Aside from the fact that the situation XIV is in is nothing at all like what XI started out with at all (XI had server issues which lead to 2 months free, XIV has been going 6-7 months free now and certainly not due to technical issues..it's just sucks), that was a totally different time anyway. This argument although well overused to try make the situation with XIV less deathly has no relevance on what will or won't happen with 14, it was a totally different time with a playerbase far less demanding and as such stuff that would fly then will not fly now.

A game that launches with no competition for it's audience can get away with a huge amount more and go on to succeed, a game that fails to astronomical levels while surrounded by other MMO's at the top of their game and with many upcoming exciting games looming...not so much. The only hope XIV has is to become a JP PS3 success, and that is all it has because the compeition there is almost non-existent, as such it will be lucky to come close to the player numbers XI has right now and as such will probably never pay for itself.

If you think they won't syphon as much money from XI players to feed into paying for a failed game that costs huge amounts of money to keep running for free and that has cost the company 50+ million to create your crazy.

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Originally Posted by bungiefan

http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxi/th...3%A7%E3%83%B33

That seems to be the thread mentioning it. Haven't had a chance to try going after it with Rikaichan yet.

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Not being able to read Japanese and translators do a poor job, it is hard to say what is the main thrust of each post. At the point where the Community Rep explains that it is a code to get the item, there are multiple posts following that seem to talk about the fact that the people who bought all the additions when they came out are being mistreated. The translator I used had one poster calling S/E greedy. Some posts are happy just to get it. At least one post seems to say they don't care because all jobs are above 30. It seems a couple people don't care about the stats but want the item for collection purposes. The last part of the thread then shifts to PS2 and PS3. The first one complaining about how this is PC exclusive. Then complaints about Sony and S/E and no PS3 edition. There even appears to be some posts about how people need to move to PC from PS2 because of limitations.

But, someone who speaks the language would really need to translate. Because, it was obvious that the computer translator definitely misinterpreted what was posted.

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Originally Posted by Birdkiller

Well, I can see that SE wants to make money, but it's pretty stupid to just over-look everyone who bought expansions as they came out by giving those who haven't a reward.

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It's also pretty stupid to overlook the fact that you got what you paid for at the time with no expectation of anything else, yet now expect something in return.

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Originally Posted by Vivik

It's also pretty stupid to overlook the fact that you got what you paid for at the time with no expectation of anything else, yet now expect something in return.

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Some might say it's pretty stupid to reiterate things people have already explained several times over to be wrong. No one is expecting anything. The argument is about what's fair, and this move isn't.

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Originally Posted by Arcon

Some might say it's pretty stupid to reiterate things people have already explained several times over to be wrong. No one is expecting anything. The argument is about what's fair, and this move isn't.

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About what's fair? Sounds like my 15 year old son talking. So what you're saying is complaining about something not being fair is not an expectation of getting something out of it? Why complain with no expectation?

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It's also pretty stupid to overlook the fact that you got what you paid for at the time with no expectation of anything else, yet now expect something in return.

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this^
I know its look bad specially for those who just bought these addons days before the announcement, but those who will buy the collection wont have years+ of abbysea other addons experience and the game itself. oh and the monthly fee is to have access to the game servers, nothing more nothing less (this issue about monthly fee always arise in other MMOs when something outside the game being offered).

This will teach SE not to make awesome collection items anymore lol.

Theres also probably a good share of people who just came back to the game, or started a new character, who could use this hat, but bought the last Vana-collection + Abyssea already.

Their numbers are few, But probably just as few as genuinely new players >___>.

Either way, On the note of "Complaining without expectations". Some people just need to vent, rather their venting gets results generally doesn't matter, just having their opinions heard is enough. you may not agree, but do not rob a man of his right to opinion, even if you disagree :)

that goes for both sides of the argument.

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Originally Posted by Vivik

About what's fair? Sounds like my 15 year old son talking. So what you're saying is complaining about something not being fair is not an expectation of getting something out of it? Why complain with no expectation?

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Perhaps if he were raised better, he wouldn't do that...j/k. But, most kids complain about everything even though they are pretty much just little homeless people that camp-out in your house, eat your food, and beg for money. The people on this forum are paying, some of them long-term, customers.

Anyway, as had been stated, but people continue to miss the point, the people who are complaining are not doing so because they believe that they are owed something for nothing. The issue is they feel they have done everything these new people will be doing, buying FFXI and all the expansions. But, they did so when they came out, at full price. Also, S/E is not just breaking even on your monthly fees. As a monthly subscriber, you have been helping S/E make profits. Happily playing the game while doing so. But, still contributing to their bottom line.

I truly think there would have been less complaints if S/E simply offered the item to everyone, including the newbies, for $20. Or, attached it to an item like that ridiculous necklace. Again, I agree with the sense of entitlement statement. But, what the point is, is that many of the posters believe that it is a sense of entitlement with justification.

It's also a little annoying that it is only available for PC. After the download fiasco, I need to purchase it again for my 360.

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Originally Posted by Misi

Prishe statue : She better be drop-kicking something.

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Like maybe those 3 little monsters off the side of the airship?

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Originally Posted by Camate

I'd like to clarify some of your concerns regarding the special items.

The Destrier Beret which is included when you purchase FINAL FANTASY XI ULTIMATE COLLECTION ABYSSEA EDITION is in fact a separate registration code, so even current players who already have these expansions/add-ons can obtain it by purchasing the new collection.

Players that do not already own a Nexus Cape will also receive this when they purchase the new collection.

Every player that currently owns all three Abyssea add-ons or purchases them in the future (whether buy this new collection or separately) will be eligible to receive the Prishe statue.

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Does that mean even though a lot of us who have already bought the Abyssea expansions, will have to out and buy the collection just to get the hat?

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Originally Posted by erevan

Does that mean even though a lot of us who have already bought the Abyssea expansions, will have to out and buy the collection just to get the hat?

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Lol, you're a little late to the conversation. This has pretty much been the debate for the past umpteen pages.

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Originally Posted by Karbuncle

Theres also probably a good share of people who just came back to the game, or started a new character, who could use this hat, but bought the last Vana-collection + Abyssea already.

Their numbers are few, But probably just as few as genuinely new players >___>.

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I'm in the same boat as this, and I just honestly don't care. It's a collectors edition, the item is a bonus. I literally bought Heroes (the last add-on) a week or two ago, and already started on my new character and made a good bit of headway already. I intend to buy the collectors edition for the hat to help give me a headstart on my advanced jobs, and that's that.

It's the same as anything else in life. You buy a new piece of hardware or a new game or whatever, and a week later it goes on sale for half the price or less. You weren't cheated, you simply didn't know you'd be able to buy it for less - no one did. No one knew this item was coming, no one is entitled to it honestly, it's not worth getting so upset over a video game item anyway..

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Originally Posted by Camate

The Destrier Beret which is included when you purchase FINAL FANTASY XI ULTIMATE COLLECTION ABYSSEA EDITION is in fact a separate registration code, so even current players who already have these expansions/add-ons can obtain it by purchasing the new collection.

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And SE has already proven, Tidal Talisman, that people will pay upwards of $50 for ingame items.

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Originally Posted by Camate

will be eligible to receive the Prishe statue.

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Is it life size? >.>

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Originally Posted by Krisan

I'm in the same boat as this, and I just honestly don't care. It's a collectors edition, the item is a bonus. I literally bought Heroes (the last add-on) a week or two ago, and already started on my new character and made a good bit of headway already. I intend to buy the collectors edition for the hat to help give me a headstart on my advanced jobs, and that's that.

It's the same as anything else in life. You buy a new piece of hardware or a new game or whatever, and a week later it goes on sale for half the price or less. You weren't cheated, you simply didn't know you'd be able to buy it for less - no one did. No one knew this item was coming, no one is entitled to it honestly, it's not worth getting so upset over a video game item anyway..

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I See where you're coming from, but i think I'll try to explain this better. I suck with words so bare with me. FFXI isn't an IPOD. The difference between (Using your example) Buying something, and then it going on sale later... Its not a big deal.

However, If that said something went on sale for 5x Cheaper, then suddenly came with a 1-of-a-kind-Exclusive Iphone Ap or something that was the best AP to use for your Iphone, there would be hell and riot. Its kinda how When the Iphone was first released, a bunch of people bought it, the like, 2weeks later it went on sale for like 100$ less, and then a Shit storm, Apple gave people who bought Iphone a gift card or something.

If this was just a "Hey, Everything is cheaper" Sale no one would care, like the other 80 Vana'Collections. But this one comes now with an in-Game item that is the sole greatest item available for 1-30. So its kinda like, Yah... we definitely aren't entitled to it, But it just seems kinda like a kick in the nuts.

To try and make a better Example, Imagine a new game is released, You buy it for 60$, You enjoy the game, a Few Weeks later it goes on sale for 20$, and now it comes with a 1-of-a-kind In-game Weapon/item/armor that you can only get through buying it again. You'd probably think "Well fuck"

I'm sure it'd be less complaining, Or you probably wouldn't care, but as a general practice it'd feel like a kick in the nuts to people who just bought the game.

I Can't really find a way to word my thoughts adequately, :| I hope you don't take this as an attack on you, I'm just trying to show you where these people are coming from. I certainly don't feel entitled to anything, but I feel for the people who are on the side of the argument that want the item.

That item is of pretty limited use to long time players. It stops working after level 30, so as amazing as it is, it has no effect on endgame which is what really matters. This is simply a "catch up" item for any new player who comes into the game. Please, stop the crying.

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Originally Posted by Krisan

It's the same as anything else in life. You buy a new piece of hardware or a new game or whatever, and a week later it goes on sale for half the price or less. You weren't cheated, you simply didn't know you'd be able to buy it for less - no one did. No one knew this item was coming, no one is entitled to it honestly, it's not worth getting so upset over a video game item anyway..

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Except with that example, many retail stores have a return/exchange window. Many stores I shop at have protection against that, where if it goes on sale within 14 days of your purchase, you can exchange the item for itself and they refund you the difference in price.

This, they're telling us, thanks for buying the game at full price, now we're going to give our new customers something extra plus the game at a discount, and you have to pay a total of even more if you want that bonus. They're punishing us for buying the full product early.

First off, I don't really care about the item and think the whole situation is being blown out of proportion. I don't think there's anything unethical about what SE is doing though a side of it is probably greed on their part. But at the same time, the so-called "principle" of the matter is also a matter of greed on the consumer's part thinking they're "entitled" to items outside promotional time. Still, in an attempt at mediation, I think there are a few things that should be mentioned. There were two examples I liked that were mentioned earlier in the thread that I'd like to discuss, the grocery store and the cable promotion (I remember the second being shot down but I'll give you an inside look on how broadband companies actually act).

The grocery store where people obtain some sort of rewards program was well thought out and SE could probably learn from this. Still, the fact remains that we pay for a service they provide. I'll leave updates out of this since most updates have in the past been content expected that should have been part of a recently released expansion anyways save for a few fixes here and there. However, let's look at content. If we think of the game's bonus content as SE's version of the rewards program, then perhaps we can see how they think. One of the things SE has provided for us are player events. Sure, very few people nowadays go out hunting Genji Armor, trade treats to the costumed NPCs, or even hunt Eggs, but that was our bonus content. Still, the argument could be made that many other MMORPG models use real-life holidays as times to release event-themed content. I'll grant you that. So let's continue on to stuff that newer players will never see.

Who here remembers the dungeon runs where you get the portrait of your partner as a key item? I believe it was called Azimoth's Compass or something similar. I remember I still have one of those key items and since the event was never repeated it still sits in my key items. Another was chasing those treants to unlock the outpost warps. A third was the chocobo goblin riders which I'm glad made a comeback recently as I hadn't seen them in a while. But for the former two events, new players will probably never see these things as SE has replaced the events where they took place with events that can easily be repeated yearly. I feel that's one of my built up rewards in the way of memories of doing those events with old friends who are no longer around.

Still, people are probably focusing on the physical aspect of the content that is being denied them. I like items; I'm a pack rat that never dropped any of his AF1 weapons and tries to collect anything an everything without real value. Who remembers where the Engineer Gloves came from? Well, SE has had a sorta reward system in place for a few years now, the Adventurer's Appreciation Campaign. New players are not going to get the items handed out over the previous Appreciation Campaigns in retrospect. But chances are that they will get it the next AC that comes around. Yes, they'll probably get their first Anniversary Ring whereas I'll be on my 4th... or is it 3rd or 5th, I forget. Sure, it's not the super-awesome hat that the new players will be getting, but it's not about the stats right? It's about the "principle".

Alright, that was a hefty explanation for the first concept but on to concept 2, the cable company promotions. Cable and phone companies have three types of promotions. The first are seasonal type promotions. These are the most similar to what SE is offering in this case where they are dangling some bait in order to lure new customers to their product. The bait might be so alluring though, that even existing customers actually get aggravated that they're not getting it. This brings the second type of promotional item, the existing customer promotion. These are promotions that we offer existing customer so that they don't tear our heads off when we tell them "No, you can't have $150 cash back or 6 months free DVR, but you can have 3 months of free HBO instead. Oh, and don't forget to call us back before those three months are up or else we'll start charging after the promotion is over you until you cancel." This is where the Prishe statue lies, oh, and the free HBO is also available to th new customers. However, the cable company does provide an exception to existing customers looking for the first promotion. "Renew your 1 or 2 year contract with us and we'll provide you with the promotion, maybe". It actually depends on the promotion whether renewal will actually work with this. So while promotion A might be offered on a renewal basis, Promotion B will be too good to actually offer it and thus you're offered the second group. Oh, but here comes my favorite, the retentional promotions. These are offered only to the people who say "Oh, if you don't give me the promotion, I'm going to quit!" Thus you get passed on to a new department who has another bag of goody promotions that will hopefully sate you while you may be told that you're being transferred to the disconnection department. Chances are, this department may have specials that are neither offered to new customers or existing customers unless they say they're unhappy with the service and want to quit. I don't really think SE sees a need for this kind of promotions nor do I see the need to make one for a game.

Summing up the previous paragraph, hat is new player promotion. It's available to existing players if they buy the collection instead of a renewal method that the cable company may provide. Existing customers receive a Prishe statue, something new players I believe are also eligible for and similar to our free HBO scenario. There's nothing unethical going on here, it's a business model. Perhaps if you haven't worked in a cable company you don't see the parallels, but I certainly do. Still, I do like the rewards plan idea but I think the Adventure Appreciation Campaign does this to some extent, but perhaps to an extent we're that we're not satisfied. This may be justified or it may just be greed on our part. I've said my part though and hope I've shed some light on some ideas even if I didn't change anyone's minds. Just keep in mind everyone may have differing opinions. Oh, and as a bonus tip, companies hate when you tell them you won't hang up since some may not be able to hang up on customers.

Heck, if they added the item to Gold World Passes, without it taking a full year to redeem it, it might be acceptable. It would get us to recruit more players. The hats that system gives now have been obsoleted by Level Sync.