Everyone needs to chill out. The game is coming out in 6 days. It will not kill you to wait 6 days.
"It's the principle of the matter" ....heard that before somewhere.
Funcom shafted their customers and their retailers! Bad business from a shady company.
I hope they go down in flames for shafting me and others for AO, and for those who got scammed for AoC.
So much hate. I don't understand how some people live with so much hate and anger in their lives. I guess maybe not fullfilled or something... maybe you should find a new path that will give you peace.
I feel sorry for everyone that didn't get in, but that is why I stayed on top of who I pre-ordered from and as soon as the keys were in I got mine and registered.
I don't think Funcom intentionally scammed anyone now or back when AO was released. Companies are run by people, and people make mistakes. I see that Funcom has really tried to learn from the mistakes they made during the release of AO in AoC. I also don't see a problem with all the complaints (or kudos) that they are getting. Im sure they are listening and will make corrections accordingly. MMORPGS are not the kind of business that companies strive to cheat their customers. They rely upon active subscriptions/advertising/item malls to make ends meet. 'Harping' on their mistakes on the other hand is not healthy for these forums or for the person making them. Funcom has a quality product on their hands and have received more interest in their early access program than they anticipated. IMO that is a good sign for the longevity of the product. I didn't get access to the early access program due to being out of town due to work. Am I a little disappointed? Yes. Do I blame Funcom due to the overwelming numbers of people and hence the lack of room for me? No.
MMO Vet since AOL Neverwinter Nights circa 1992. My MMO beat up your MMO. =S
Oh come the F on! Don't pretend to not know what's going on guys. Most of the headlines I saw for this promotion said:
"Pre-order Age of Conan, get early access"!!!
This headline was spammed all over the place including third-party review and fan sites. Do you really think most excited players are going to read the fine print instead of just taking their word for it? They're using unfriendly marketing instead of being matter-of-fact and delivering. Now they have their money and don't care. Neither do you for some reason.
Limiting the early access is a bad idea in funcom's side. Now they have a lot of angry customers and the game havent started to run yet. Oooh! nice move!.
OFC there should be no limit on how many will get early access. All players that had pre-ordered should have same chance of early access since you have to pay for it extra anway.
The big if is ofc - Should early access be allowed in MMOS at all ? Shouldn't we all start with the same blank page at the same time ?
This was done to boost pre-order sales. And ofc the limit part was written in small letters on the bottom of the page. Thats just buisness for you. And AOC is just buisness. Has very little to do with gaming.
Ok many people don't seem to get what happened here.
From what I can see they made all the boxes and pre-order cards up long before launch, when they initially started selling pre-orders their numbers were matching with what they predicted and they probably had enough EA spots available for all pre-orders. Then as they started to recieve more attention from media their pre-orders spiked and the number of pre-orders went far above what they could allow in early access. There was no way they could have predicted that outcome. Remember AoC is a mature MMO and people were expecting it to have around 250-350 subs.
With over 1 million pre-orders the launch is currently looking to dwarf WoW's so people who didn't get into the EA, it sucks but it's only 3 days and it will not make much difference in the end.
Same thing with amazon. Though if I get the art book at least I will be pleased about the preorder. I dont care about early access and probably start playing on the 22nd, hopefully some of the newbie zones will be not as busy by then.
Ok many people don't seem to get what happened here. From what I can see they made all the boxes and pre-order cards up long before launch, when they initially started selling pre-orders their numbers were matching with what they predicted and they probably had enough EA spots available for all pre-orders. Then as they started to recieve more attention from media their pre-orders spiked and the number of pre-orders went far above what they could allow in early access. There was no way they could have predicted that outcome. Remember AoC is a mature MMO and people were expecting it to have around 250-350 subs. With over 1 million pre-orders the launch is currently looking to dwarf WoW's so people who didn't get into the EA, it sucks but it's only 3 days and it will not make much difference in the end.
This is funcoms fault for just simply mismanaging this whole prelaunch badly. The whole point of early access is so that 250k people are not all starting at once so it makes sense to limit it. It also makes sense to tell people that and not play all this fine print misleading word game shit on your customers. This game seems like it is really trying hard to piss people off and I don't get it. They must have dumbest most incompetent PR people ever. Just tell people straight up what is going on and quit playing the surpise information game.
This is funcoms fault for just simply mismanaging this whole prelaunch badly. The whole point of early access is so that 250k people are not all starting at once so it makes sense to limit it. It also makes sense to tell people that and not play all this fine print misleading word game shit on your customers. This game seems like it is really trying hard to piss people off and I don't get it. They must have dumbest most incompetent PR people ever. Just tell people straight up what is going on and quit playing the surpise information game.
Its like the siege battles
Funcom PR guy: There will be MASSIVE amount of early access keys available.
Custimor: Wohoooo
Funcom PR guy: /whisper yess !! We fooled them again !
I am one of the people who didnt register soon enough. Honestly, while the information was available that keys were 'limited' expecting people to read the fine print is bs. Why bs? Why in hell would early access be limited if you have to PAY to enter it? Also considering they are dependent on lousy stores like gamestop to distrubte the keys, many people got shafted.
To those folks who say its only 3 days, deal with it.... I can think of two practical circumstances why this small delay stresses some folks
First, I once was told by a person who loved to not only craft, but dominate in crafting. He said it was very important to get started early in every game as those who lead the way got to sell their newly crafted wares at the highest premiums since few could do it. He would have been very upset to find out he was losing 3 days to anyone else.
Second, from a FFA PVP environment, when you have a level based game, until everyone gets to 80, he who has the most levels, ganks. So the best defense is to make sure you are on level with others, to give yourself a fighting chance. Giving up even 3 days could find a new player emerging from the tutorial levels and into a world of level 30's circling the city looking to make their lives miserable.
In my own case, I have no problem dealing with it, probably won't even start playing for a few weeks to let all the excitement die down.
Just trying to live long enough to play a new, released MMORPG, playing New Worlds atm
Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV
Don't just play games, inhabit virtual worlds™
"This is the most intelligent, well qualified and articulate response to a post I have ever seen on these forums. It's a shame most people here won't have the attention span to read past the second line." - Anon
I am one of the people who didnt register soon enough. Honestly, while the information was available that keys were 'limited' expecting people to read the fine print is bs.
I'm trying to find the article I read about the pre-orders but I've read so much about AoC in the last few days I can't remember where I saw it, but it was said somewhere at the launch that they had set up for 600,000 early access spots and those are sold out. I'll keep trying to find the article I read.
so they planned for 500-600 thousand at launch which jives with them making 600,000 EA spots available and with the boost in interest they quickly went over it.
One more cancelled preorder here. For me, the deciding factor was Funcom's attitude that it was Amazon's fault I didn't get into early access, even though an Amazon CSR told me that their direction from Funcom was not to send out the codes until the 17th. The publisher has control over the release date of their product, not the retailer.
This may not surpass the NGE as "Dumbest Move in MMO History", but I bet it comes close.
Please let these stupid threads die out! I'll be glad if we have 1 less complainer to hear about after chopping his head off. We arn't going to miss you or anyone else that didn't get EA, and you are still going to play it I imagine.
I am one of the people who didnt register soon enough. Honestly, while the information was available that keys were 'limited' expecting people to read the fine print is bs.
And you blame Funcom for you own short comings?
And I suppose Funcom should be applauded for profiting off those shortcomings.
"Pre-order Age of Conan, get early access"!!!
"Pre-order Age of Conan, get early access"!!!
"Pre-order Age of Conan, get early access"!!!
Yes, shame on all you people for thinking Funcom wouldn't use marketing gimmicks and for not digging and making sure they really meant what they said. If they wanted to do it right they would have said, "Pre-order AoC, get A CHANCE at early access". But they didn't do that because it would have meant less preorders wouldn't it?
Another cancelled pre-order here too.... not just because of the early access fiasco, but more because of the way FunCom is handling it by blaming the retailers. Who ever heard of a company that will restrict pre-order customers three days before launch?
Certainly doesn't sound good and definitely not a company I want to spend money on.
_________________________________ JonMichael
Currently: AION, an MMO Beta under NDA Played: WAR, LOTRO, Hellgate: London, CoX, GW, SotNW, DAOC, EQ2, SWG, WoW, AO, Horizons, Second Life, There, TSO Beta'd: There, Second Life, EQ2, DAOC:LotM, LOTRO, Tabula Rasa, Gods and Heroes, Hellgate: London, Requiem:Bloodymare, AoC, WAR, DDO, Fallen Earth
Another cancelled pre-order here too.... not just because of the early access fiasco, but more because of the way FunCom is handling it by blaming the retailers. Who ever heard of a company that will restrict pre-order customers three days before launch? Certainly doesn't sound good and definitely not a company I want to spend money on.
They are not "restricting pre-order customers" they had a limited number of early access spots, for whatever reason. You can pre-order and get the pre-order items.
I am one of the people who didnt register soon enough. Honestly, while the information was available that keys were 'limited' expecting people to read the fine print is bs.
And you blame Funcom for you own short comings?
And I suppose Funcom should be applauded for profiting off those shortcomings.
"Pre-order Age of Conan, get early access"!!!
"Pre-order Age of Conan, get early access"!!!
"Pre-order Age of Conan, get early access"!!!
Yes, shame on all you people for thinking Funcom wouldn't use marketing gimmicks and for not digging and making sure they really meant what they said. If they wanted to do it right they would have said, "Pre-order AoC, get A CHANCE at early access". But they didn't do that because it would have meant less preorders wouldn't it?
No but I applaud you on your blatant ignorance:
"Registration now opened and new Early Access date for the EU servers
Posted: - 05.05.2008
Registration for customers with pre-order keys has now opened.
Registration for customers with pre-order keys has now opened on http://register.ageofconan.com. Registering with a valid pre-order key (such as the Rhino or Mammoth key) is the unique way to be eligible to purchase Early Access for 5€/5$. This fee includes 10 days of game-time as well as the digital download of the client. Hurry though, because the Early Access is only available while supply lasts!"
Another cancelled pre-order here too.... not just because of the early access fiasco, but more because of the way FunCom is handling it by blaming the retailers. Who ever heard of a company that will restrict pre-order customers three days before launch? Certainly doesn't sound good and definitely not a company I want to spend money on.
They are not "restricting pre-order customers" they had a limited number of early access spots, for whatever reason. You can pre-order and get the pre-order items.
When the pre-order box from Best Buy CLEARLY states that you get the war rhino AND early access with no mention of a limitation until you read the code card inside that says "some restrictions may apply".... that's restrictive and clearly a scam.
_________________________________ JonMichael
Currently: AION, an MMO Beta under NDA Played: WAR, LOTRO, Hellgate: London, CoX, GW, SotNW, DAOC, EQ2, SWG, WoW, AO, Horizons, Second Life, There, TSO Beta'd: There, Second Life, EQ2, DAOC:LotM, LOTRO, Tabula Rasa, Gods and Heroes, Hellgate: London, Requiem:Bloodymare, AoC, WAR, DDO, Fallen Earth
Comments
Funcom shafted their customers and their retailers! Bad business from a shady company.
I hope they go down in flames for shafting me and others for AO, and for those who got scammed for AoC.
So much hate. I don't understand how some people live with so much hate and anger in their lives. I guess maybe not fullfilled or something... maybe you should find a new path that will give you peace.
I feel sorry for everyone that didn't get in, but that is why I stayed on top of who I pre-ordered from and as soon as the keys were in I got mine and registered.
I don't think Funcom intentionally scammed anyone now or back when AO was released. Companies are run by people, and people make mistakes. I see that Funcom has really tried to learn from the mistakes they made during the release of AO in AoC. I also don't see a problem with all the complaints (or kudos) that they are getting. Im sure they are listening and will make corrections accordingly. MMORPGS are not the kind of business that companies strive to cheat their customers. They rely upon active subscriptions/advertising/item malls to make ends meet. 'Harping' on their mistakes on the other hand is not healthy for these forums or for the person making them. Funcom has a quality product on their hands and have received more interest in their early access program than they anticipated. IMO that is a good sign for the longevity of the product. I didn't get access to the early access program due to being out of town due to work. Am I a little disappointed? Yes. Do I blame Funcom due to the overwelming numbers of people and hence the lack of room for me? No.
MMO Vet since AOL Neverwinter Nights circa 1992. My MMO beat up your MMO. =S
Oh come the F on! Don't pretend to not know what's going on guys. Most of the headlines I saw for this promotion said:"Pre-order Age of Conan, get early access"!!!
This headline was spammed all over the place including third-party review and fan sites. Do you really think most excited players are going to read the fine print instead of just taking their word for it? They're using unfriendly marketing instead of being matter-of-fact and delivering. Now they have their money and don't care. Neither do you for some reason.
Limiting the early access is a bad idea in funcom's side. Now they have a lot of angry customers and the game havent started to run yet. Oooh! nice move!.
Its a big mistake ofc
OFC there should be no limit on how many will get early access. All players that had pre-ordered should have same chance of early access since you have to pay for it extra anway.
The big if is ofc - Should early access be allowed in MMOS at all ? Shouldn't we all start with the same blank page at the same time ?
This was done to boost pre-order sales. And ofc the limit part was written in small letters on the bottom of the page. Thats just buisness for you. And AOC is just buisness. Has very little to do with gaming.
Ok many people don't seem to get what happened here.
From what I can see they made all the boxes and pre-order cards up long before launch, when they initially started selling pre-orders their numbers were matching with what they predicted and they probably had enough EA spots available for all pre-orders. Then as they started to recieve more attention from media their pre-orders spiked and the number of pre-orders went far above what they could allow in early access. There was no way they could have predicted that outcome. Remember AoC is a mature MMO and people were expecting it to have around 250-350 subs.
With over 1 million pre-orders the launch is currently looking to dwarf WoW's so people who didn't get into the EA, it sucks but it's only 3 days and it will not make much difference in the end.
Same thing with amazon. Though if I get the art book at least I will be pleased about the preorder. I dont care about early access and probably start playing on the 22nd, hopefully some of the newbie zones will be not as busy by then.
where does it say there were 1million preorders?
This is funcoms fault for just simply mismanaging this whole prelaunch badly. The whole point of early access is so that 250k people are not all starting at once so it makes sense to limit it. It also makes sense to tell people that and not play all this fine print misleading word game shit on your customers. This game seems like it is really trying hard to piss people off and I don't get it. They must have dumbest most incompetent PR people ever. Just tell people straight up what is going on and quit playing the surpise information game.
Funcom PR guy: There will be MASSIVE amount of early access keys available.
Custimor: Wohoooo
Funcom PR guy: /whisper yess !! We fooled them again !
I am one of the people who didnt register soon enough. Honestly, while the information was available that keys were 'limited' expecting people to read the fine print is bs. Why bs? Why in hell would early access be limited if you have to PAY to enter it? Also considering they are dependent on lousy stores like gamestop to distrubte the keys, many people got shafted.
You know, with all the funcom-hate posts, the only thing they really are accomplishing is giving funcom free marketing... >.>
Contrary to public belief not all publicity is good publicity. Case in point SoE.
To those folks who say its only 3 days, deal with it.... I can think of two practical circumstances why this small delay stresses some folks
First, I once was told by a person who loved to not only craft, but dominate in crafting. He said it was very important to get started early in every game as those who lead the way got to sell their newly crafted wares at the highest premiums since few could do it. He would have been very upset to find out he was losing 3 days to anyone else.
Second, from a FFA PVP environment, when you have a level based game, until everyone gets to 80, he who has the most levels, ganks. So the best defense is to make sure you are on level with others, to give yourself a fighting chance. Giving up even 3 days could find a new player emerging from the tutorial levels and into a world of level 30's circling the city looking to make their lives miserable.
In my own case, I have no problem dealing with it, probably won't even start playing for a few weeks to let all the excitement die down.
"True friends stab you in the front." | Oscar Wilde
"I need to finish" - Christian Wolff: The Accountant
Just trying to live long enough to play a new, released MMORPG, playing New Worlds atm
Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV
Don't just play games, inhabit virtual worlds™
"This is the most intelligent, well qualified and articulate response to a post I have ever seen on these forums. It's a shame most people here won't have the attention span to read past the second line." - Anon
And you blame Funcom for you own short comings?
I'm trying to find the article I read about the pre-orders but I've read so much about AoC in the last few days I can't remember where I saw it, but it was said somewhere at the launch that they had set up for 600,000 early access spots and those are sold out. I'll keep trying to find the article I read.
quick google search got me this: http://crimsonknights-sc.com/forum/index.php?s=a5ed051a77e66f19d63be60bac0f78ae&showtopic=12752&pid=97602&st=0&#entry97602
so they planned for 500-600 thousand at launch which jives with them making 600,000 EA spots available and with the boost in interest they quickly went over it.
I'll continue looking
One more cancelled preorder here. For me, the deciding factor was Funcom's attitude that it was Amazon's fault I didn't get into early access, even though an Amazon CSR told me that their direction from Funcom was not to send out the codes until the 17th. The publisher has control over the release date of their product, not the retailer.
This may not surpass the NGE as "Dumbest Move in MMO History", but I bet it comes close.
Guildleader, Mithril Council, Chaos
Please let these stupid threads die out! I'll be glad if we have 1 less complainer to hear about after chopping his head off. We arn't going to miss you or anyone else that didn't get EA, and you are still going to play it I imagine.
And you blame Funcom for you own short comings?
And I suppose Funcom should be applauded for profiting off those shortcomings.
"Pre-order Age of Conan, get early access"!!!
"Pre-order Age of Conan, get early access"!!!
"Pre-order Age of Conan, get early access"!!!
Yes, shame on all you people for thinking Funcom wouldn't use marketing gimmicks and for not digging and making sure they really meant what they said. If they wanted to do it right they would have said, "Pre-order AoC, get A CHANCE at early access". But they didn't do that because it would have meant less preorders wouldn't it?
Another cancelled pre-order here too.... not just because of the early access fiasco, but more because of the way FunCom is handling it by blaming the retailers. Who ever heard of a company that will restrict pre-order customers three days before launch?
Certainly doesn't sound good and definitely not a company I want to spend money on.
_________________________________
JonMichael
Currently: AION, an MMO Beta under NDA
Played: WAR, LOTRO, Hellgate: London, CoX, GW, SotNW, DAOC, EQ2, SWG, WoW, AO, Horizons, Second Life, There, TSO
Beta'd: There, Second Life, EQ2, DAOC:LotM, LOTRO, Tabula Rasa, Gods and Heroes, Hellgate: London, Requiem:Bloodymare, AoC, WAR, DDO, Fallen Earth
bahahahaha...................
no, really i find this quite funny. and to think i was giving second thoughts to waiting. those are now gone.
i can just see the funcom meetings and the finger pointing..................ahhh, chuckle.
can you smell that?!!...............there is nothing quite like it.....................the smell of troll in the morning............i love that smell.
And you blame Funcom for you own short comings?
And I suppose Funcom should be applauded for profiting off those shortcomings.
"Pre-order Age of Conan, get early access"!!!
"Pre-order Age of Conan, get early access"!!!
"Pre-order Age of Conan, get early access"!!!
Yes, shame on all you people for thinking Funcom wouldn't use marketing gimmicks and for not digging and making sure they really meant what they said. If they wanted to do it right they would have said, "Pre-order AoC, get A CHANCE at early access". But they didn't do that because it would have meant less preorders wouldn't it?
No but I applaud you on your blatant ignorance:
"Registration now opened and new Early Access date for the EU servers
Posted: - 05.05.2008
Registration for customers with pre-order keys has now opened.
Registration for customers with pre-order keys has now opened on http://register.ageofconan.com. Registering with a valid pre-order key (such as the Rhino or Mammoth key) is the unique way to be eligible to purchase Early Access for 5€/5$. This fee includes 10 days of game-time as well as the digital download of the client. Hurry though, because the Early Access is only available while supply lasts!"
http://community.ageofconan.com/wsp/conan/frontend.cgi?func=publish.show&template=content&func_id=2433&table=CONTENT
When the pre-order box from Best Buy CLEARLY states that you get the war rhino AND early access with no mention of a limitation until you read the code card inside that says "some restrictions may apply".... that's restrictive and clearly a scam.
_________________________________
JonMichael
Currently: AION, an MMO Beta under NDA
Played: WAR, LOTRO, Hellgate: London, CoX, GW, SotNW, DAOC, EQ2, SWG, WoW, AO, Horizons, Second Life, There, TSO
Beta'd: There, Second Life, EQ2, DAOC:LotM, LOTRO, Tabula Rasa, Gods and Heroes, Hellgate: London, Requiem:Bloodymare, AoC, WAR, DDO, Fallen Earth