This is a public relations nightmare for Cryptic...they've had take down their forums due to all the upset players. The folks over at NCSoft must be thrilled about this. They are going to get a lot of new subscribers now that Cryptic has shown its true colors when it comes to customer service.
I'm sorry. This is unfair. Forums went down so they can make changes for release. Has happened to a couple MMO's pre-release.
This is a public relations nightmare for Cryptic...they've had take down their forums due to all the upset players. The folks over at NCSoft must be thrilled about this. They are going to get a lot of new subscribers now that Cryptic has shown its true colors when it comes to customer service.
I'm sorry. This is unfair. Forums went down so they can make changes for release. Has happened to a couple MMO's pre-release.
Ehmm... I think Groucho has a point, as the Forums were suddenly down before the Open Beta was even finished. The server was still running.
So it was sertainly *interesting* that the forums were down so sudden in the middle of the uproar, while the Beta server was still up and running.
Since i've been continuously receiving their emails, i decided to go back and take a look at a couple. I'd have to agree, they certainly didn't go out of their way to advertise either the Sept 1 deadline or the limited number of slots... Maybe they were somewhere else, but they definitely weren't in their mass emailing campaign --------------------- We at Cryptic Studios and Atari are excited to announce our Champions Online six-month and lifetime subscription plans. Players who sign up for our long-term subscriptions will receive special perks, including eight additional character slots, special costume sets and guaranteed access to the Star Trek Online closed beta! "Beyond the deep discount on the subscription rates, we wanted to come up with added incentives and exclusives that, as gamers, we could get excited about," said Jack Emmert, Cryptic Studios' Chief Operating Officer. "With an early commitment to Champions Online, granting guaranteed early access to our next big game, Star Trek Online, seemed like a great way to engage Cryptic’s biggest fans in other projects at the studio.” Here are the great features our loyal customers will receive. Discounted Lifetime Subscription * Guaranteed Star Trek Online Closed Beta Access
* Eight Additional Character Slots
* Foxbat Vanity Pet
* Art Deco Costume Set
* Retro Future Costume Set
* STO Mirror Universe Costume Set Discounted Six-month Subscription * Guaranteed Star Trek Online closed beta access
* Retro Future Costume Set Don’t miss out on these great deals! You can purchase your subscriptions now! Discounted Lifetime Subscription
€44.99 EUR W/OUT VAT ------------------------------ That said, I'll give them something for a formal apology. Not much, but it's better than you'll get from some MMOs.
Not sure about your email but the top of mine said:
SUBSCRIPTION DEALS
LimitedChampions Subscription Deals!
August 5, 2009
"We at Cryptic Studios and Atari are excited to announce our Champions Online six-month and lifetime subscription plans. Players who sign up for our long-term subscriptions will receive special perks, including eight additional character slots, special costume sets and guaranteed access to the Star Trek Online closed beta! "
"Beyond the deep discount on the subscription rates, we wanted to come up with added incentives and exclusives that, as gamers, we could get excited about," said Jack Emmert, Cryptic Studios' Chief Operating Officer. "With an early commitment to Champions Online, granting guaranteed early access to our next big game, Star Trek Online, seemed like a great way to engage Cryptic’s biggest fans in other projects at the studio.”
See yellow highlighted word above....
That said, this was a big mistake on their part for not keeping their customers up to date. They really should have put a counter up on their ads and on the home page and order page as well. I also agree if they stated the offer ends on Sept 1. then it should have ended on that date or they should have given 24-48 hours notice that they were reaching their cap and would be ending that offer early. They also could and should have sent out e-mails letting potential buyers know what was going on. All in all very poor communication with their potential customers and current ones. They get an F- on this one.
The following may or may not pertain to the above poster ....Viewer Discretion is Advised....
I also checked my emails a didn't see a single 1 that said Sept 1. was the cut off date. I think it was more an assumption. I may be incorrect it does happen. If i am I would love for someone to provide me a link from cryptic.
To those who really wanted the lifetime either you guys are:
1. Really UN-LUCKY (I mean Final Destination unlucky ... watch out for that car engine ouch ....).
2. Some seriously 1st class Procrastinators (been going on since at least Aug 5.)
3. Have real life issues that trump a game which prevented an earlier sub order ( then why complain online ).
- I it is a shame that you missed it ... ( no i didn't buy either Lifetime or 6 month as number 3 was my personal issue).
This is a public relations nightmare for Cryptic...they've had take down their forums due to all the upset players. The folks over at NCSoft must be thrilled about this. They are going to get a lot of new subscribers now that Cryptic has shown its true colors when it comes to customer service.
I'm sorry. This is unfair. Forums went down so they can make changes for release. Has happened to a couple MMO's pre-release.
Ehmm... I think Groucho has a point, as the Forums were suddenly down before the Open Beta was even finished. The server was still running.
So it was sertainly *interesting* that the forums were down so sudden in the middle of the uproar, while the Beta server was still up and running.
Are you suggesting that the forums and the game are running on the same server? Cause I very highly doubt that.
I don''t really know when Humankind will die out but i''m guessing about 6 years before WOW. -BarCrow
This is a public relations nightmare for Cryptic...they've had take down their forums due to all the upset players. The folks over at NCSoft must be thrilled about this. They are going to get a lot of new subscribers now that Cryptic has shown its true colors when it comes to customer service.
I'm sorry. This is unfair. Forums went down so they can make changes for release. Has happened to a couple MMO's pre-release.
Ehmm... I think Groucho has a point, as the Forums were suddenly down before the Open Beta was even finished. The server was still running.
So it was sertainly *interesting* that the forums were down so sudden in the middle of the uproar, while the Beta server was still up and running.
Are you suggesting that the forums and the game are running on the same server? Cause I very highly doubt that.
I am not suggesting anything.
You never take a whole website and it's forums down for maintainance in preparation for launch, while the Open Beta wasn't even finished yet and the server still up and running.
That was what I was implying and thats why Groucho has a point that this is indeed a PR nightmare for Cryptic.
And seeing how it almost litterly exploded on the forums with all the outrage, I wouldn't be suprised that was the reason they took it all down so suddenly!
Why would anyone pay for a lifetime sub , for a game that has anything to do with bill roper , I give it a few months before it goes free to play with RMT.
First off, to the author of the article. You sir, are not a biased writter and should be removed from writting further articles, reason? The word "blunder" is an automatic troll attracter that lends itself for people have a 7 page bash fest on a simple and honest outcome of a special offer. People knew this offer was limited to September 1st, the people who understood this took advantage of the offeer making it unavailable for those who where simply thinking about the offer. Early bird always gets the woorm and people only have themselves to blame for not taking advantage of a great package. 3rd, for mmorpg.com to support this style of writting is appalling, it is is truely shaking the one part of the website that was some what biased and uneffected to opionion. 4th, to this websites community, congradulations, you just made this website into one of the most ridiculous places to try and hold a conversation. Congradulations.
LOL! It is a blunder. No matter how you put and what spinn you give to it!
The limited offer was till 1st of September! As IN TIME! NOT in AMOUNT! Completely different.
Simply because you cannot run out of virtual goods like subscription. That's just utter bull.
I don't see anything wrong with the article. And MMORPG.com has all the right to write what they want.
It's a privately owned site! So get off your high horse.
Not sure about your email but the top of mine said: SUBSCRIPTION DEALS
LimitedChampions Subscription Deals!
August 5, 2009
I have receive the same e-mail but i don't understand you point with the limited in yellow. First of all, limited doesn't means it is limited in amount, it can be limited in time (which they meant. Second of all, when you received that e-mail, you had to clic on the link and it brought you to the page site offer where it said, limited time and not amount.
So exactly what happen at Cryptic, because what they said was not really an explanation, we all understood they ran out of subs. How many of these they had to sell, because if you realize one day you have a 1000 left, I see it as bad management. But it depends, if you sell 1000 a day for 3 weeks, there is something wrong in their offices if they tell us when they are down to 1000. But if they had 2000 to sell and see that 1 week before launch they still have 1000, they figure, we will never sell a 1000 in 1 week, we sold that amount in 3 weeks. They would look bad if they reopen it after saying it was limited. I can not wait to see the offer comes back after launch at 299$, I will sure dig up those post they made about limited supplies.
Get a life you freaking Gamer.....no no, you don't understand, I'm a Gamer, I have many lives!!
At the least I give them credit for doing something which hasnt been done (+1 in run out of subscriptions)...
I'd be more interested to see if it was truely a business decision or beta related, but either way...it was a very unecessary blunder by Cryptic. GG to mmos which have to start out in odd or blunderous ways...one day they will launch without a hitch
Not sure about your email but the top of mine said: SUBSCRIPTION DEALS
LimitedChampions Subscription Deals!
August 5, 2009
I have receive the same e-mail but i don't understand you point with the limited in yellow. First of all, limited doesn't means it is limited in amount, it can be limited in time (which they meant. Second of all, when you received that e-mail, you had to clic on the link and it brought you to the page site offer where it said, limited time and not amount.
So exactly what happen at Cryptic, because what they said was not really an explanation, we all understood they ran out of subs. How many of these they had to sell, because if you realize one day you have a 1000 left, I see it as bad management. But it depends, if you sell 1000 a day for 3 weeks, there is something wrong in their offices if they tell us when they are down to 1000. But if they had 2000 to sell and see that 1 week before launch they still have 1000, they figure, we will never sell a 1000 in 1 week, we sold that amount in 3 weeks. They would look bad if they reopen it after saying it was limited. I can not wait to see the offer comes back after launch at 299$, I will sure dig up those post they made about limited supplies.
IMO limited means limited it can be time or amount (I think in this case it was both Time and Amount ). I think they thought the lifetime subs idea wouldn't fly but threw it out there. It seems to have worked way better than they expected so they had to end it early.
I think it was a major screw up on their part as i stated in my earlier post. But only time will tell. They really dropped the ball on the customer relations side of things. That said they should have explained in greater detail what Limited Subscription Deals meant. Even though to me it just simply meant get it asap or it will be gone... whatever the reason ( time or amount ). They didn't as far as I know make any guarantees as to how long they would offer but they didn't say first come first served although it was implied. It seems they implied the date as before launch but they didn't say how long before, early start or end of open beta, open beta event.
If you can find any more collaborating or contradictory info i will be happy to add this to any future posts.
First, I am one of those who cancelled my pre-order over this. Yes, I know, "If the game is good why are you cancelling over something like this. You were gonna pay because you loved the game, why would you cancel? I call shennagians!"
Its not just the game it's the COMPANY. If the company is willing to do something like this, I wont be supporting them. Just because a kennel offers a great dog at a great price doesnt mean I'm gonna buy from them if the OTHER dogs they have they train for dogfighting. Its called having principals. Sure, good dog, good price, but the owners of the kennel are slimeballs! I'm not supporting that. I have principals and morals. If Cryptic will treat its customers like that, I wont support them. yes, its still a good game, but I'm not giving them my money after pulling a slimeball move like that.
Second, yes, apparently in the original forum post, they said limited number. But *I* learned of this offer through the two emails I got, then further read up on it from the website front page posting. And none of those mentioned limited number. I shouldnt have to dig through the forums to find a footnote. If Best Buy is offering a 50" Plasma TV for $99 in their weekly ad, and you go in to buy it, and they ring you up at $1099, you ask WTF? And they tell you on the bestbuy.com website, in the forum section, on page 4, there was a post that said it's only $99 if you buy it between the hours of 10 and 11am, not only would you flip, you'd be legally entitled to it for the advertised $99 price. I'm not saying Cryptic broke the law, but they sure pulled a slimeball move.
And as for 'If you didnt buy it, you wouldnt have anyway' thats a crock. It took me days to get the open beta working correctly, and I wanted to try it for a few days before pulling the lifetime sub trigger. I had til 8/31 afterall! I went to lunch yesterday thinking, ok, when I get back, I'll get the sub... I rememered to bring my credit card to work today, lets order it. I'm looking at the forums on my iphone wile eating and I see Sold Out. What the hell?
They told me I had til 8/31. I made a financial decision based on that. They lied, changed the rules after the fact, and I have problems with companies that do that crap. So, pre-order cancelled, and I wont be playing. I've had two monthly subs for DDO for 3.5 years. Turbine has made over $1000 off of me. I'd have bought lifetimes if they offered it. Glad its going F2P now I can save some money. I'd have gladly paid for CO. But not after being jerked around like that.
If they bring back the lifetime subs, AND they are no more expensive than they were, I'll buy one. If they are more expensive then thats just PR/Marketing BS and thats even worse than pulling them in the first place.
Unless they come back at $199.99 - I'm out, and just sticking with DDO.
EDIT: And yes, if the original emails/website front page said "Limited number available - get em while they are hot! Once they are gone, they are gone!" I WOULD have acted faster. And if I did miss it, I'd have only myself to blame. I'd be disapointed, but, my fault, and I'd pony up the $15 a month. But thats not what they told thousands of us. Early bird gets the worm, but if the bird knows the worm's going to be there at 11am because its a virtual worm and its impossible to run out of them, the bird might just sleep in a little that day.
Earlier today we were tipped off by a user to the uproar currently taking place on the Champions Online official forums. The boards are ablaze with discontent from users who were blindsided by the news that the lifetime subscription option is no longer available. After all, Cryptic did state the offer would be good until September 1st, but it is only August 25th, so what's the deal? We hit up Cryptic Studios for a comment on the situation and this is what they had to say:
We'd like to take a moment and hopefully clear up any confusion regarding our discounted Champions Online lifetime and six-month subscription offers... First, we do sincerely apologize for the rather abrupt end to the promotional offers. It was never our intention to spring that news on our fans or anyone else. In short, we had an allotment of special subscription packages to sell over a fixed time (ending September 1). When we began approaching the offer cap before the date cap, we had to message. Frankly, we never suspected our special offers to be so popular. While we did mention that supplies were limited in an announcement post, we definitely should have emphasized our limits more explicitly in all our messaging. Again, we just never expected supply to be any kind of an issue. The community response to our offers has been... amazing. It’s hard for all of us here at Cryptic to see outcry in our communities. We work day and night to create the best gaming experiences we can and any missteps – big or small – on the long, winding, and sometimes treacherous path of development are always regrettable. We do apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused you and we do sincerely hope you understand and come play Champions Online with us this September.
The Champions Online special offers site can be found here.
Is this PR blunder affecting your purchase decision on Champions Online? Were you able to snag a lifetime subscription before they sold out? Let us know in the comments!
In other words, you didn't get a real response. You got a form letter like everyone else. Also the vast majority of the people going after the offer never saw the forum ad. Most people only hit the forums when there is something wrong. What they saw is this http://www.champions-online.com/node/112696 In this version of the ad, which was on their front page. There is no mention of supplies or quantity. Further, many people received the offer in their email, also not stating any sort of supply or quantity limits.
In their first warning http://www.champions-online.com/node/172998 , there was again no mention of quantity or supplies being a factor in the limit. So everyone assumed they mean literally time was running out. AKA it was getting close to the end of the month.
In their August 24th warning, which was less than 12 hours before they "ran out" was their first mention on the front page of any sort of quantity limits. http://www.champions-online.com/node/286510 . With this the unrest began, people who normally never touch the forums began flooding it.
When the last lifetime was sold was when thew feces really hit the fan. Overnight over 1000 posts hit the no more lifetime subscriptions thread, egged on by trolls who we must thank for helping us get the point across that the community is very upset at this change in gears.
Rumor has it, that some of the people who actually had their order confirmed, are now finding they are having their lifetime subscriptions taken back, but i can not confirm that.
Several persons on the forum, have found written law on California government websites, which Cryptic is regulated by. And also regulations by the FTC (Federal Trade Commission). Which strongly suggest that they may be in violation of the law, specifically false advertising. If this is actually true, then Cryptic will have no choice but to reinstate the lifetime subscription offer (make money), or pay fines (lose money) an possibly some jail time for one or more of the Executives.
Speculation has also been that the reason for this limit may either be their publisher Atari, or the Star Trek Online Close Beta access. Neither of which Cryptic has commented on at this time. What is known, is that the vast majority don't care of they don't get the STO beta as long as they get their lifetime accounts(with the other advertised bonuses sans STO) for $200 as all the advertisements they saw stated.
Many people have threatened or actually did cancel their preorder. Personally i believe this to be a bit excessive as they wanted to play the game anyway, but it will help get the message across to Cryptic that they need to make this right instead of just apologizing. Honestly, I considered canceling my preorder as well, but logically i could find no reason to justify such action. Yes this has shaken Cryptics credibility on my eyes, but not do to malice.
Crypic Studio has never had to handle subscriptions directly before, they are after all a bunch of coders. When they made City of Heroes , their publisher NCSoft took care of subscriptions. Now with Champions Online, their publisher Atari is sitting on the sidelines letting Cryptic handle subscriptions. This is new area for Cryptic, and we should all give them leeway to stumble. But Cryptic also needs to learn from their mistake and set it right in the eyes of the people as quickly as possible to protect their business. And while stopping lifetime subscription offers prematurely may seems like the right move, if it angers your customer base it is potentially far more dangerous.
Now not all of the people arguing against the people wanting the offer reinstated on Cryptics forums are trolls, some have some very convincing arguments. However those arguments are flawed.
The first of these arguments is that if Cryptic were to honor their advertisement, after 13 months they would no longer be making any money. This is absolutely not true.It is very typical, after one year, the the numbers of preorder/open-beta customers account for less than one half of the player base. These late comers would not have the lifetime option, as the ads very specifically stated before September 1st. This argument is further invalidated by the act that Champions online has a hybrid financial model, both the subscription fees of western style MMOs and the microtransactions of eastern style MMOs. Thus providing another source of income.
There are those that argue against the lifetime offer being reinstated because they believe microtransactions will ruin the game. They ignore the fact however that microtransactions are in the game whether the lifetime offer is reinstated or not. The only difference will be whether people will be how much money people will be spending on the microtransactions, if they have to pay a monthly fee too. Lifetime subscribers are more likely to spend money on microtransactions, simply because they have more money available to spend. Eastern stle MMO's are very often free relying on micropayments to make thier money, and in most cases making far more money than they would have with a subscription based service.
It wasn't much warning. However, Cryptic did have the following message posted on the Champions Online home page yesterday Aug. 24th :
Discount Subs Almost Gone!
Posted by Daeke
Due to high demand, we’ve only got 1000 Lifetime subscriptions and 500 discounted 6 Month subscriptions left, so make sure you grab them before it’s too late! You can check out our current offers at our exclusive specials page. Once we’ve run out of 6 Month subscriptions, you’ll still be able to purchase them, but at their standard price of $77.94 (that’s a savings of $12 from the normal month to month rate). There are no current plans to offer another Lifetime subscription plan, so if you’ve been on the fence about it, now’s the time to buy it!
How long did the fence sitters think that 1,500 accounts would last?
On a much more serious note. A word to the wise, do not sit on the fence about getting a triditional flu shot and if any h1n1 vaccine becomes avalible in your area (don't sit on the fence), stop what you are doing, school, work, etc. and get that shot.
There are over 300 million people just in the USA. In the USA, its anticipated that only 30 - 40 million doses will be avalible initally.
The h1n1 virus is targetting pregnant women, children and young adults from their 20's up too adults 49 years old. Over 40% of confirmed cases did not have any prior health issues.
Don't sit on the fence with h1n1 like some did with the lifetime subs, because you can potentially get teabagged by h1n1 and there may not be a chance to rez.
"Don't corpse-camp that idea. Its never gonna rez" Bladezz (The Guild)
That warning was less then 12 hours before the last was sold. Many never saw it until they were gone completely. You'll see i did actually post a link to it in my post.
As for swine flu vaccines, not going to get one, never do. vaccines are for people with weakened immune systems. Said weakened immune systems are quite often caused by over sanitizing. If you use antimicrobial soap instead of moisturizing soap, Go get your flu shot. I've already been around people who had it, all i got was sniffles and a sour throat for a few hours, and then i was better.
Comments
This is an Atari decision, I'm only going to play Champions if I can have a lifetime, pay-per-month is a complete rip off for an MMO.
WTF were you waiting for?? I made a decision to buy or not buy upon reading the offer. Is it just me who is this another useless thread
I'm sorry. This is unfair. Forums went down so they can make changes for release. Has happened to a couple MMO's pre-release.
I'm sorry. This is unfair. Forums went down so they can make changes for release. Has happened to a couple MMO's pre-release.
Ehmm... I think Groucho has a point, as the Forums were suddenly down before the Open Beta was even finished. The server was still running.
So it was sertainly *interesting* that the forums were down so sudden in the middle of the uproar, while the Beta server was still up and running.
Not sure about your email but the top of mine said:
SUBSCRIPTION DEALS
Limited Champions Subscription Deals!
August 5, 2009
"We at Cryptic Studios and Atari are excited to announce our Champions Online six-month and lifetime subscription plans. Players who sign up for our long-term subscriptions will receive special perks, including eight additional character slots, special costume sets and guaranteed access to the Star Trek Online closed beta! "
"Beyond the deep discount on the subscription rates, we wanted to come up with added incentives and exclusives that, as gamers, we could get excited about," said Jack Emmert, Cryptic Studios' Chief Operating Officer. "With an early commitment to Champions Online, granting guaranteed early access to our next big game, Star Trek Online, seemed like a great way to engage Cryptic’s biggest fans in other projects at the studio.”
See yellow highlighted word above....
That said, this was a big mistake on their part for not keeping their customers up to date. They really should have put a counter up on their ads and on the home page and order page as well. I also agree if they stated the offer ends on Sept 1. then it should have ended on that date or they should have given 24-48 hours notice that they were reaching their cap and would be ending that offer early. They also could and should have sent out e-mails letting potential buyers know what was going on. All in all very poor communication with their potential customers and current ones. They get an F- on this one.
The following may or may not pertain to the above poster ....Viewer Discretion is Advised....
I also checked my emails a didn't see a single 1 that said Sept 1. was the cut off date. I think it was more an assumption. I may be incorrect it does happen. If i am I would love for someone to provide me a link from cryptic.
To those who really wanted the lifetime either you guys are:
1. Really UN-LUCKY (I mean Final Destination unlucky ... watch out for that car engine ouch
....).
2. Some seriously 1st class Procrastinators
(been going on since at least Aug 5.)
3. Have real life issues that trump a game which prevented an earlier sub order
( then why complain online ).
- I it is a shame that you missed it ... ( no i didn't buy either Lifetime or 6 month as number 3 was my personal issue).
note : edited for colors.
/carry on
There is a lot of money at stake, and companies lie all the time.
"" Voice acting isn't an RPG element....it's just a production value." - grumpymel2
damnit..i had no money until today...argh i wanted to buy it today..that really sucks...so that means for me im not gonna play this game =( crap
I'm sorry. This is unfair. Forums went down so they can make changes for release. Has happened to a couple MMO's pre-release.
Ehmm... I think Groucho has a point, as the Forums were suddenly down before the Open Beta was even finished. The server was still running.
So it was sertainly *interesting* that the forums were down so sudden in the middle of the uproar, while the Beta server was still up and running.
Are you suggesting that the forums and the game are running on the same server? Cause I very highly doubt that.
I don''t really know when Humankind will die out but i''m guessing about 6 years before WOW.
-BarCrow
I'm sorry. This is unfair. Forums went down so they can make changes for release. Has happened to a couple MMO's pre-release.
Ehmm... I think Groucho has a point, as the Forums were suddenly down before the Open Beta was even finished. The server was still running.
So it was sertainly *interesting* that the forums were down so sudden in the middle of the uproar, while the Beta server was still up and running.
Are you suggesting that the forums and the game are running on the same server? Cause I very highly doubt that.
I am not suggesting anything.
You never take a whole website and it's forums down for maintainance in preparation for launch, while the Open Beta wasn't even finished yet and the server still up and running.
That was what I was implying and thats why Groucho has a point that this is indeed a PR nightmare for Cryptic.
And seeing how it almost litterly exploded on the forums with all the outrage, I wouldn't be suprised that was the reason they took it all down so suddenly!
"Freedom is just another name for nothing left to lose" - Janis Joplin
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Why would anyone pay for a lifetime sub , for a game that has anything to do with bill roper , I give it a few months before it goes free to play with RMT.
LOL! It is a blunder. No matter how you put and what spinn you give to it!
The limited offer was till 1st of September! As IN TIME! NOT in AMOUNT! Completely different.
Simply because you cannot run out of virtual goods like subscription. That's just utter bull.
I don't see anything wrong with the article. And MMORPG.com has all the right to write what they want.
It's a privately owned site! So get off your high horse.
"Freedom is just another name for nothing left to lose" - Janis Joplin
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The more I read about CO the more I am glad I stayed away.
Bill Roper + Any MMO = Lawlfail.
Did they warn the public about lifetime being "limited supply"?
If the answer to that is no. Then that is the worst type of shady backend marketing I have ever seen.
Lawlfail.
Bottom of the Barrel, welcome to MMORPG.com
I have receive the same e-mail but i don't understand you point with the limited in yellow. First of all, limited doesn't means it is limited in amount, it can be limited in time (which they meant. Second of all, when you received that e-mail, you had to clic on the link and it brought you to the page site offer where it said, limited time and not amount.
So exactly what happen at Cryptic, because what they said was not really an explanation, we all understood they ran out of subs. How many of these they had to sell, because if you realize one day you have a 1000 left, I see it as bad management. But it depends, if you sell 1000 a day for 3 weeks, there is something wrong in their offices if they tell us when they are down to 1000. But if they had 2000 to sell and see that 1 week before launch they still have 1000, they figure, we will never sell a 1000 in 1 week, we sold that amount in 3 weeks. They would look bad if they reopen it after saying it was limited. I can not wait to see the offer comes back after launch at 299$, I will sure dig up those post they made about limited supplies.
Get a life you freaking Gamer.....no no, you don't understand, I'm a Gamer, I have many lives!!
The way I look at it:
* Do I like CoH/V overall? Yes.
* Do I like making unique builds (like DDO)? Yes.
* Do I keep coming back to CoH/V over the years and paying 3/6/year subs? Yes.
* Has the Player Content system in CoH/V ruined/destroyed the "game"? Yes.
* Do I really want to pay $15/month everytime I feel like being a "Super"? No.
* Do I want variety of gameplay than just the standard Fantasy MMOs? Yes.
I beta'd it. I liked it... overall. Needs polish. Still decent for any Launch.
I picked up the Lifetime. Hopefully it wont die for 1 year or so - which recovers the investment.
Now I have LOTRo Lifetime, CO Lifetime, GW and DDO(EU) to play whenever I choose to.
No costs - all fun - all the time. 
You make some good points.
I'm not sure the game WILL last the equivalent amount of time that the sub cost you.
My concerns are the RMT angle and the shady practices. How will you feel if the game offers new areas in the cash shop?
"" Voice acting isn't an RPG element....it's just a production value." - grumpymel2
I can safely say this "blunder" in no way affects my decision regarding purchasing CO.
At the least I give them credit for doing something which hasnt been done (+1 in run out of subscriptions)...
I'd be more interested to see if it was truely a business decision or beta related, but either way...it was a very unecessary blunder by Cryptic. GG to mmos which have to start out in odd or blunderous ways...one day they will launch without a hitch
I have receive the same e-mail but i don't understand you point with the limited in yellow. First of all, limited doesn't means it is limited in amount, it can be limited in time (which they meant. Second of all, when you received that e-mail, you had to clic on the link and it brought you to the page site offer where it said, limited time and not amount.
So exactly what happen at Cryptic, because what they said was not really an explanation, we all understood they ran out of subs. How many of these they had to sell, because if you realize one day you have a 1000 left, I see it as bad management. But it depends, if you sell 1000 a day for 3 weeks, there is something wrong in their offices if they tell us when they are down to 1000. But if they had 2000 to sell and see that 1 week before launch they still have 1000, they figure, we will never sell a 1000 in 1 week, we sold that amount in 3 weeks. They would look bad if they reopen it after saying it was limited. I can not wait to see the offer comes back after launch at 299$, I will sure dig up those post they made about limited supplies.
IMO limited means limited it can be time or amount (I think in this case it was both Time and Amount ). I think they thought the lifetime subs idea wouldn't fly but threw it out there. It seems to have worked way better than they expected so they had to end it early.
I think it was a major screw up on their part as i stated in my earlier post. But only time will tell. They really dropped the ball on the customer relations side of things. That said they should have explained in greater detail what Limited Subscription Deals meant. Even though to me it just simply meant get it asap or it will be gone... whatever the reason ( time or amount ). They didn't as far as I know make any guarantees as to how long they would offer but they didn't say first come first served although it was implied. It seems they implied the date as before launch but they didn't say how long before, early start or end of open beta, open beta event.
If you can find any more collaborating or contradictory info i will be happy to add this to any future posts.
Have a few things to reply to.
First, I am one of those who cancelled my pre-order over this. Yes, I know, "If the game is good why are you cancelling over something like this. You were gonna pay because you loved the game, why would you cancel? I call shennagians!"
Its not just the game it's the COMPANY. If the company is willing to do something like this, I wont be supporting them. Just because a kennel offers a great dog at a great price doesnt mean I'm gonna buy from them if the OTHER dogs they have they train for dogfighting. Its called having principals. Sure, good dog, good price, but the owners of the kennel are slimeballs! I'm not supporting that. I have principals and morals. If Cryptic will treat its customers like that, I wont support them. yes, its still a good game, but I'm not giving them my money after pulling a slimeball move like that.
Second, yes, apparently in the original forum post, they said limited number. But *I* learned of this offer through the two emails I got, then further read up on it from the website front page posting. And none of those mentioned limited number. I shouldnt have to dig through the forums to find a footnote. If Best Buy is offering a 50" Plasma TV for $99 in their weekly ad, and you go in to buy it, and they ring you up at $1099, you ask WTF? And they tell you on the bestbuy.com website, in the forum section, on page 4, there was a post that said it's only $99 if you buy it between the hours of 10 and 11am, not only would you flip, you'd be legally entitled to it for the advertised $99 price. I'm not saying Cryptic broke the law, but they sure pulled a slimeball move.
And as for 'If you didnt buy it, you wouldnt have anyway' thats a crock. It took me days to get the open beta working correctly, and I wanted to try it for a few days before pulling the lifetime sub trigger. I had til 8/31 afterall! I went to lunch yesterday thinking, ok, when I get back, I'll get the sub... I rememered to bring my credit card to work today, lets order it. I'm looking at the forums on my iphone wile eating and I see Sold Out. What the hell?
They told me I had til 8/31. I made a financial decision based on that. They lied, changed the rules after the fact, and I have problems with companies that do that crap. So, pre-order cancelled, and I wont be playing. I've had two monthly subs for DDO for 3.5 years. Turbine has made over $1000 off of me. I'd have bought lifetimes if they offered it. Glad its going F2P now I can save some money. I'd have gladly paid for CO. But not after being jerked around like that.
If they bring back the lifetime subs, AND they are no more expensive than they were, I'll buy one. If they are more expensive then thats just PR/Marketing BS and thats even worse than pulling them in the first place.
Unless they come back at $199.99 - I'm out, and just sticking with DDO.
EDIT: And yes, if the original emails/website front page said "Limited number available - get em while they are hot! Once they are gone, they are gone!" I WOULD have acted faster. And if I did miss it, I'd have only myself to blame. I'd be disapointed, but, my fault, and I'd pony up the $15 a month. But thats not what they told thousands of us. Early bird gets the worm, but if the bird knows the worm's going to be there at 11am because its a virtual worm and its impossible to run out of them, the bird might just sleep in a little that day.
The Champions Online special offers site can be found here.
Is this PR blunder affecting your purchase decision on Champions Online? Were you able to snag a lifetime subscription before they sold out? Let us know in the comments!
In other words, you didn't get a real response. You got a form letter like everyone else. Also the vast majority of the people going after the offer never saw the forum ad. Most people only hit the forums when there is something wrong. What they saw is this http://www.champions-online.com/node/112696 In this version of the ad, which was on their front page. There is no mention of supplies or quantity. Further, many people received the offer in their email, also not stating any sort of supply or quantity limits.
In their first warning http://www.champions-online.com/node/172998 , there was again no mention of quantity or supplies being a factor in the limit. So everyone assumed they mean literally time was running out. AKA it was getting close to the end of the month.
In their August 24th warning, which was less than 12 hours before they "ran out" was their first mention on the front page of any sort of quantity limits. http://www.champions-online.com/node/286510 . With this the unrest began, people who normally never touch the forums began flooding it.
When the last lifetime was sold was when thew feces really hit the fan. Overnight over 1000 posts hit the no more lifetime subscriptions thread, egged on by trolls who we must thank for helping us get the point across that the community is very upset at this change in gears.
Rumor has it, that some of the people who actually had their order confirmed, are now finding they are having their lifetime subscriptions taken back, but i can not confirm that.
Several persons on the forum, have found written law on California government websites, which Cryptic is regulated by. And also regulations by the FTC (Federal Trade Commission). Which strongly suggest that they may be in violation of the law, specifically false advertising. If this is actually true, then Cryptic will have no choice but to reinstate the lifetime subscription offer (make money), or pay fines (lose money) an possibly some jail time for one or more of the Executives.
Speculation has also been that the reason for this limit may either be their publisher Atari, or the Star Trek Online Close Beta access. Neither of which Cryptic has commented on at this time. What is known, is that the vast majority don't care of they don't get the STO beta as long as they get their lifetime accounts(with the other advertised bonuses sans STO) for $200 as all the advertisements they saw stated.
Many people have threatened or actually did cancel their preorder. Personally i believe this to be a bit excessive as they wanted to play the game anyway, but it will help get the message across to Cryptic that they need to make this right instead of just apologizing. Honestly, I considered canceling my preorder as well, but logically i could find no reason to justify such action. Yes this has shaken Cryptics credibility on my eyes, but not do to malice.
Crypic Studio has never had to handle subscriptions directly before, they are after all a bunch of coders. When they made City of Heroes , their publisher NCSoft took care of subscriptions. Now with Champions Online, their publisher Atari is sitting on the sidelines letting Cryptic handle subscriptions. This is new area for Cryptic, and we should all give them leeway to stumble. But Cryptic also needs to learn from their mistake and set it right in the eyes of the people as quickly as possible to protect their business. And while stopping lifetime subscription offers prematurely may seems like the right move, if it angers your customer base it is potentially far more dangerous.
Now not all of the people arguing against the people wanting the offer reinstated on Cryptics forums are trolls, some have some very convincing arguments. However those arguments are flawed.
The first of these arguments is that if Cryptic were to honor their advertisement, after 13 months they would no longer be making any money. This is absolutely not true.It is very typical, after one year, the the numbers of preorder/open-beta customers account for less than one half of the player base. These late comers would not have the lifetime option, as the ads very specifically stated before September 1st. This argument is further invalidated by the act that Champions online has a hybrid financial model, both the subscription fees of western style MMOs and the microtransactions of eastern style MMOs. Thus providing another source of income.
There are those that argue against the lifetime offer being reinstated because they believe microtransactions will ruin the game. They ignore the fact however that microtransactions are in the game whether the lifetime offer is reinstated or not. The only difference will be whether people will be how much money people will be spending on the microtransactions, if they have to pay a monthly fee too. Lifetime subscribers are more likely to spend money on microtransactions, simply because they have more money available to spend. Eastern stle MMO's are very often free relying on micropayments to make thier money, and in most cases making far more money than they would have with a subscription based service.
It wasn't much warning. However, Cryptic did have the following message posted on the Champions Online home page yesterday Aug. 24th :
Discount Subs Almost Gone!
Posted by Daeke
Due to high demand, we’ve only got 1000 Lifetime subscriptions and 500 discounted 6 Month subscriptions left, so make sure you grab them before it’s too late! You can check out our current offers at our exclusive specials page. Once we’ve run out of 6 Month subscriptions, you’ll still be able to purchase them, but at their standard price of $77.94 (that’s a savings of $12 from the normal month to month rate). There are no current plans to offer another Lifetime subscription plan, so if you’ve been on the fence about it, now’s the time to buy it!
How long did the fence sitters think that 1,500 accounts would last?
On a much more serious note. A word to the wise, do not sit on the fence about getting a triditional flu shot and if any h1n1 vaccine becomes avalible in your area (don't sit on the fence), stop what you are doing, school, work, etc. and get that shot.
There are over 300 million people just in the USA. In the USA, its anticipated that only 30 - 40 million doses will be avalible initally.
The h1n1 virus is targetting pregnant women, children and young adults from their 20's up too adults 49 years old. Over 40% of confirmed cases did not have any prior health issues.
Don't sit on the fence with h1n1 like some did with the lifetime subs, because you can potentially get teabagged by h1n1 and there may not be a chance to rez.
"Don't corpse-camp that idea. Its never gonna rez"
Bladezz (The Guild)
That warning was less then 12 hours before the last was sold. Many never saw it until they were gone completely. You'll see i did actually post a link to it in my post.
As for swine flu vaccines, not going to get one, never do. vaccines are for people with weakened immune systems. Said weakened immune systems are quite often caused by over sanitizing. If you use antimicrobial soap instead of moisturizing soap, Go get your flu shot. I've already been around people who had it, all i got was sniffles and a sour throat for a few hours, and then i was better.