Originally posted by UnleadedRev NOW look at all those headlines of EA announcing that they broke ALL RECORDS of pre-order sales! THAT makes me SO ANGRY!
EA breaking preorder sales on a Bioware game makes you angry? Bioware is one of the best game developers out there. I din't think hype has driven this one, it's Bioware's reputation.
I knew I was getting this game the second I heard about it. As soon as I heard preorders were open , after work, I got my DDE.
Yes its worth 20 bucks to me for a mount, a droid and a color stone. NP.
The best part is I'll have it payed for before launch ! I can put aside 20 -30 a month til launch and then just pay the bill.And I won't even have to drive to the store to get it.
So if you see, what some people don't like , some of us see as a bonus.
Have a sense of humor, no need to get ALL MODDY ! A Simpson's quote shouldn't be worth a warning. You are lucky anyone is bothering to read this rag.
I preordered. 5 copies. For my Wife, 3 teenagers, and myself. I preordered (regular editions) at gamestop and put 5 dollars a copy down and got my order code for the web site. I'll pay the balance when they have a release date.
I dont care for silly items I just want a solid game. I think the preorder "rush" was to create a buy now feeling but it also my have given them a chance to see how many might be sold digitially thus saving printing costs. Just a thought.
...and now back to reading about how "WoW with lightsabres is goona fail so hard lolololol, GW2 is awesome posts"
EA breaking preorder sales on a Bioware game makes you angry? Bioware is one of the best game developers out there. I din't think hype has driven this one, it's Bioware's reputation.
No doubt. That is the only reason I spent about $200 (international shipping) on the title.
I usually get the CE edition, because I'm an addict for in game goodies for their flavor, usefulness and making the early part of the game less painful (usually in the form of an early mount). Whether I get a CE, Digital Download or Regular Box, the pre-order price is no more than the release day price, so why not do the pre-order if I know I'm going to play the game and it gives me beta / early access, depending on the game of course. I did it with City of Heroes, Star Trek, Champions Online, Aion and now SWTOR. I have no regrets so far and as long as a game has many of the features I like in an MMO, then no amount of negativity from reviewer / haters is going to dissuade me from trying it anyway. I've seen too many movies and played too many games that I liked and that were given crappy reviews.
...and now back to reading about how "WoW with lightsabres is goona fail so hard lolololol, GW2 is awesome posts"
I'm pretty sure it's the exact same posters who write 'GW2 has public quests like WAR, gonna fail so hard lololololol, Bioware + Starwars is awesome', just they're using alts.
Yes, that's right, the SW:ToR AND the GW2 communities are being trolled by people who actually don't have an interest in either game.
It's as if there were two peacefully coexisting gangs, and some evil third gang moves in and infiltrates both, and starts up a big rivalry so they can take over later.
Look EA is a publisher, it's not a developer, they dont spend thier time planning a plethora of game features, animiations art work, quest etc etc that go into making what your actually going to buy, thats the job of the developer in this case Bioware.
EA's publishing team will spend in terms of $ as much if not more than Bioware on the actual development of the game, to develop and implement thier publishing plan, in order to get as much money as posible (this is thier job). So EA spend all thier time designing thier sales pitches to match the specific pyscological weaknesses of thier potential customer base. Timing thier ADs to be everywhere at the right point in time,
Whereas a developer of a game would plan how create immersion and atmosphere, EA's Team of developers will be planning exactly which marketing ploys will be most effective, using existing MMO data sets, tracing back to bartle gamers types, offering oppertunity and denial of advancement based on group testing. All to deliver thier mass market sales pitch. So when EA's team pulls of sales records because of thier hardwork, to them its like developer getting 90 metascore on thier game.
So your not a fool, these companies exhuast so much effort to maximise revenues its insane (which is why its not usualy openly discussed) But even Blizzard boast how in total they have only spent like $100mil on WoW total while they have got billions from customer, the latest COD game activision spent like 5 times as much on adverts than they did developing the game (yay sales record smashed gj ). The gaming industry is bigger than music and movies, the large companies like EA/Activision have thier sh1t together and know how to milk thier billion customers. In the end it's all about advertising, why do think this website exists?
...and now back to reading about how "WoW with lightsabres is goona fail so hard lolololol, GW2 is awesome posts"
I'm pretty sure it's the exact same posters who write 'GW2 has public quests like WAR, gonna fail so hard lololololol, Bioware + Starwars is awesome', just they're using alts.
Yes, that's right, the SW:ToR AND the GW2 communities are being trolled by people who actually don't have an interest in either game.
It's as if there were two peacefully coexisting gangs, and some evil third gang moves in and infiltrates both, and starts up a big rivalry so they can take over later.
Personally, I suspect the Farmville crowd.
Nah its the Secret World people. Its all one gigantic chthonian conspiracy nightmare.
"Gypsies, tramps, and thieves, we were called by the Admin of the site . . . "
Well if it makes you feel better, BioWare has already said that they are going to limit supply at launch.
So even though you may feel "duped", I suspect the folks who don't bother to pre-order, and wind up missing out and can't play the game when it launches, will feel even more the fool...
Personally, I'm glad I got the CE, and glad I'll be guaranteed to be there on day 1 (or before).
In addition to the movies and the music that made Star Wars so fantastic to us, Star Wars is a toy license. Their game marketing is just following their experience in toys. They figured out that if they released limited numbers of an action figure at first to make people rush to buy it. They say things like 1/80 is the figure you want. So they put out all these crappy chuncks of plastic of ugly characters no one wants in droves to make the one you actually want look more limited. But they could have just made your good figure 50% of the box. This has the added bonus of making the item feel more special though. So instead of just sales, the "rareness" of the item enhanced the relative value to the owner. They feel special having it.
DeBeers does this with diamonds. There are bajillions of diamonds stored up, but they hide them so that people pay inflated prices. It's fabricated scarcity.
Used car salesmen always say something to build urgency too,"That couple over there. They test drove this car yesterday, and it looks like they are back. I have to sell it to them unless you sign now."
NOW look at all those headlines of EA announcing that they broke ALL RECORDS of pre-order sales! THAT makes me SO ANGRY!
EA breaking preorder sales on a Bioware game makes you angry? Bioware is one of the best game developers out there. I din't think hype has driven this one, it's Bioware's reputation.
ok, I confess...I am excited about SWTOR. But not before EA launched its massive campaign of making us feel like if we didnt pre-order we would not get a head start, but moreover, if I didnt do it NOW, I would be at the end of the line, since EA is using the order in which you buy the game as the order you get early access.
I initially scorned the CE, but then paranoia set in and I felt that if I didnt blow my hard earned money on the CE I would lose out on the "exclusive store" items that have yet to be revealed, and would regret it later.
Then I flip flopped back and forth between the CE and the Digital Edition, because I really dont want a box, and the CE was a waste of money, as i dont care about the statue it has.
In the end, I bought the CE because there were so many unanswered questions, that I felt I was playing it safe pre-ordering ANY VERSION of the game, and the CE was more of a safety net.
MAN....did I fall for EA's marketing HYPE....NOW look at all those headlines of EA announcing that they broke ALL RECORDS of pre-order sales! THAT makes me SO ANGRY!
EA didnt get those sales because we were all so overwhelmed by the majesty of the gameplay footage, or a demo, of that we were all 100% commited to pre-ordering....NO we mostly gave EA their breaking sales record via a GIMMICK, falling for the panic EA caused making is all feel like we would miss out if we didnt.
Just look at some of the other headlines on gaming sites such as "EA makes gamers HURRY UP AND WAIT".
I dont know about you, but I feel like we were all suckers and fell right into EA's long thought out plan to break sales records via a gimmick. Breaking a sales record and being PROUD of such a feat because we players were very very impressed by gameplay footage or after playing a demo would be realistic, or even under NORMAL circumstances where the pre-order was put out there and the laws of nature where players pre-ordered on REAL INTEREST and NOT PANIC resulted in record breaking sales. THAT WOULD BE SOMETHING TO BE PROUD OF AND BRAG ABOUT....NOT WHAT EA IS BRAGGING ABOUT NOW.
I feel most MMO players are SMART....including myself...but now I cannot help but feel angry and embarrassed that EA is just exploiting the gimmick they used to break such records.
My apologies for the RANT, but this is how I feel.
No, EA got those sales coz they know the old saying still holds true ...
I think calling people (Or insinuating) stupid for pre-ordering and or getting the CE is not only arrogant but basically transferring your feelings on another person who may have a complected different situation or mindset.
I did buy the CE and I did pre-order.. Why because I wanted what they offered and I have no problem paying for it.. No one forced me or coned me into it. MMO's are my hobbies and I spend money on it just as if I were buying DvD's I would only watch once and have them sit on a dusty shelf or warhammer figures that would sit and never get painted..
Now if the OP bought out of fear of some imaginary pressure EA was putting on him.. Well perhaps he should sit and think before spending his money.. But dont lump every person in the same category because you think somehow you got a raw deal. And if you really do feel that way cancel your order.. You can do that you know..
Personally I have no regrets and if the game sucks.. Which of course could happen.. Well then it sucks and I quit.. Not going to break my heart or my pocket book.
Don't buy collectors editions, don't see the sense in preordering a video game. Do not care about a head start. So sorry mate I don't have much sympathy for those who let their obsessive compulsive urges defeat their common financial sense and now feel bad about it. No one conned you into anything except your own damn self.
I have to agree with the above, maybe I just don't understand people sometimes. I definitely don't understand the urgency anyone may have felt to go pick it up asap. Especially when talking about digital packages.
Then again I don't buy CE's or pre-order either, nothing made me feel as though I had to this time.
For every minute you are angry , you lose 60 seconds of happiness."-Emerson
I think calling people (Or insinuating) stupid for pre-ordering and or getting the CE is not only arrogant but basically transferring your feelings on another person who may have a complected different situation or mindset.
I did buy the CE and I did pre-order.. Why because I wanted what they offered and I have no problem paying for it.. No one forced me or coned me into it. MMO's are my hobbies and I spend money on it just as if I were buying DvD's I would only watch once and have them sit on a dusty shelf or warhammer figures that would sit and never get painted..
Now if the OP bought out of fear of some imaginary pressure EA was putting on him.. Well perhaps he should sit and think before spending his money.. But dont lump every person in the same category because you think somehow you got a raw deal. And if you really do feel that way cancel your order.. You can do that you know..
Personally I have no regrets and if the game sucks.. Which of course could happen.. Well then it sucks and I quit.. Not going to break my heart or my pocket book.
I think calling people (Or insinuating) stupid for pre-ordering and or getting the CE is not only arrogant but basically transferring your feelings on another person who may have a complected different situation or mindset.
I did buy the CE and I did pre-order.. Why because I wanted what they offered and I have no problem paying for it.. No one forced me or coned me into it. MMO's are my hobbies and I spend money on it just as if I were buying DvD's I would only watch once and have them sit on a dusty shelf or warhammer figures that would sit and never get painted..
Now if the OP bought out of fear of some imaginary pressure EA was putting on him.. Well perhaps he should sit and think before spending his money.. But dont lump every person in the same category because you think somehow you got a raw deal. And if you really do feel that way cancel your order.. You can do that you know..
Personally I have no regrets and if the game sucks.. Which of course could happen.. Well then it sucks and I quit.. Not going to break my heart or my pocket book.
I have no issue with people who shelled out the dosh for the CE or a preorder and are happy with their purchase. I do however take issue with people such as the OP who first let their compulsions rule them and then aren't man enough to point the finger of blame inwards when they decide the purchase was a bad idea.
"Gypsies, tramps, and thieves, we were called by the Admin of the site . . . "
ok, I confess...I am excited about SWTOR. But not before EA launched its massive campaign of making us feel like if we didnt pre-order we would not get a head start, but moreover, if I didnt do it NOW, I would be at the end of the line, since EA is using the order in which you buy the game as the order you get early access.
I initially scorned the CE, but then paranoia set in and I felt that if I didnt blow my hard earned money on the CE I would lose out on the "exclusive store" items that have yet to be revealed, and would regret it later.
Then I flip flopped back and forth between the CE and the Digital Edition, because I really dont want a box, and the CE was a waste of money, as i dont care about the statue it has.
In the end, I bought the CE because there were so many unanswered questions, that I felt I was playing it safe pre-ordering ANY VERSION of the game, and the CE was more of a safety net.
MAN....did I fall for EA's marketing HYPE....NOW look at all those headlines of EA announcing that they broke ALL RECORDS of pre-order sales! THAT makes me SO ANGRY!
EA didnt get those sales because we were all so overwhelmed by the majesty of the gameplay footage, or a demo, of that we were all 100% commited to pre-ordering....NO we mostly gave EA their breaking sales record via a GIMMICK, falling for the panic EA caused making is all feel like we would miss out if we didnt.
Just look at some of the other headlines on gaming sites such as "EA makes gamers HURRY UP AND WAIT".
I dont know about you, but I feel like we were all suckers and fell right into EA's long thought out plan to break sales records via a gimmick. Breaking a sales record and being PROUD of such a feat because we players were very very impressed by gameplay footage or after playing a demo would be realistic, or even under NORMAL circumstances where the pre-order was put out there and the laws of nature where players pre-ordered on REAL INTEREST and NOT PANIC resulted in record breaking sales. THAT WOULD BE SOMETHING TO BE PROUD OF AND BRAG ABOUT....NOT WHAT EA IS BRAGGING ABOUT NOW.
I feel most MMO players are SMART....including myself...but now I cannot help but feel angry and embarrassed that EA is just exploiting the gimmick they used to break such records.
My apologies for the RANT, but this is how I feel.
What gimmick? They advertised it on their website and some others, the supply is going to be limited according to Reid.
Don't kick yourself too hard. At least you fell prey to this sort of gimmeck over something stupid and not very important in the long run. $150 lesson is pretty cheap...and hopefully it's one that will serve you in future. Some poor folks fall for high pressure sales tactics over things that are REALLY important like Houses or Stock Portfolios... be glad you don't have to worry about buyers remorse over something that your going to be working to pay off for the next 30 years.
What you experienced is a pretty common sales tactic that alot of sales and marketing types try to push. Building a false sense of anxiety in the buyer and a sense of urgency.... so the buyer feels they just HAVE to make the purchase NOW or something really bad is going to happen. It's a cheap psych trick...and personaly I think it's pretty sleazy... but it's also pretty common.
Sales guys are always worried that something will happen to make the buyer rethink thier purchase decision, so they want to close the deal as soon after the buyer has made some sort of purchase decision as possible. It's an example of short term thinking about maximizing immediate proffits. However, IMO, it actualy hurts many companies in the long term. If the buyer feels uncomfortable about thier purchase experience they are going to be less likely to do repeat business with that company in the long term.
The companies and sales guys I always respected were the ones that went out of thier way to make sure the customer was completely comfortable with thier purchase decision, new exactly what they were getting ahead of time and were making the purchase because they felt what they were getting offered good value...not out of a sense of false anxiety/urgency. They might miss out on some sales in the short term....but in the long term they are more likely to build a sense of loyalty in thier customer base.
In order to do that, the company has to offer a solid quality product at a good value, it has to be thinking about long term proffits not short term ones.....and it has to have sales/marketing guys with a particular mindset and confidence. Note, I'm not trying to make the cleam that TOR might not be a great product or even that the CE isn't a solid deal for those that are into that sort of thing. I've seen companies that offer great products at great value that STILL tried to push the high pressure sales routiene gimmecks...even though there was no reason to do so. It seems to be something ingrained in alot of sales/marketing peoples mindset...and it can be tough to get them to think differently....even in situations where they really don't need to pull those sort of tricks.
...and now back to reading about how "WoW with lightsabres is goona fail so hard lolololol, GW2 is awesome posts"
I'm pretty sure it's the exact same posters who write 'GW2 has public quests like WAR, gonna fail so hard lololololol, Bioware + Starwars is awesome', just they're using alts.
Yes, that's right, the SW:ToR AND the GW2 communities are being trolled by people who actually don't have an interest in either game.
It's as if there were two peacefully coexisting gangs, and some evil third gang moves in and infiltrates both, and starts up a big rivalry so they can take over later.
Personally, I suspect the Farmville crowd.
Who needs MMOs when you can read stuff like this for free? 3 faction forum PvP FTW~
Vault-Tec analysts have concluded that the odds of worldwide nuclear armaggeddon this decade are 17,143,762... to 1.
Honestly, who cares? EA is a company just like any other out to churn a profit. If they come up with a way to break some records or make some money, good for them. And even if you don't pre-order, its not like you will never get to play the game. We've all waited years for this game, whats a couple extra days/weeks if you don't get in right away?
Pesonally, I pre-ordered the CE, but $150 to me is not going to break the bank, so I guess it just depends on your financial situation.
Comments
Yeah I agree with the above poster.
I knew I was getting this game the second I heard about it. As soon as I heard preorders were open , after work, I got my DDE.
Yes its worth 20 bucks to me for a mount, a droid and a color stone. NP.
The best part is I'll have it payed for before launch ! I can put aside 20 -30 a month til launch and then just pay the bill.And I won't even have to drive to the store to get it.
So if you see, what some people don't like , some of us see as a bonus.
Have a sense of humor, no need to get ALL MODDY !
A Simpson's quote shouldn't be worth a warning. You are lucky anyone is bothering to read this rag.
I preordered. 5 copies. For my Wife, 3 teenagers, and myself. I preordered (regular editions) at gamestop and put 5 dollars a copy down and got my order code for the web site. I'll pay the balance when they have a release date.
I dont care for silly items I just want a solid game. I think the preorder "rush" was to create a buy now feeling but it also my have given them a chance to see how many might be sold digitially thus saving printing costs. Just a thought.
...and now back to reading about how "WoW with lightsabres is goona fail so hard lolololol, GW2 is awesome posts"
Well this exact same post was put up in the general forum on the official TOR forums... I gave a normal response there.
Here I guess I would more wonder exactly how many forums are you posting this on?
Not that it matters really I am just curious... pretty much.
No doubt. That is the only reason I spent about $200 (international shipping) on the title.
I usually get the CE edition, because I'm an addict for in game goodies for their flavor, usefulness and making the early part of the game less painful (usually in the form of an early mount). Whether I get a CE, Digital Download or Regular Box, the pre-order price is no more than the release day price, so why not do the pre-order if I know I'm going to play the game and it gives me beta / early access, depending on the game of course. I did it with City of Heroes, Star Trek, Champions Online, Aion and now SWTOR. I have no regrets so far and as long as a game has many of the features I like in an MMO, then no amount of negativity from reviewer / haters is going to dissuade me from trying it anyway. I've seen too many movies and played too many games that I liked and that were given crappy reviews.
I'm pretty sure it's the exact same posters who write 'GW2 has public quests like WAR, gonna fail so hard lololololol, Bioware + Starwars is awesome', just they're using alts.
Yes, that's right, the SW:ToR AND the GW2 communities are being trolled by people who actually don't have an interest in either game.
It's as if there were two peacefully coexisting gangs, and some evil third gang moves in and infiltrates both, and starts up a big rivalry so they can take over later.
Personally, I suspect the Farmville crowd.
Look EA is a publisher, it's not a developer, they dont spend thier time planning a plethora of game features, animiations art work, quest etc etc that go into making what your actually going to buy, thats the job of the developer in this case Bioware.
EA's publishing team will spend in terms of $ as much if not more than Bioware on the actual development of the game, to develop and implement thier publishing plan, in order to get as much money as posible (this is thier job). So EA spend all thier time designing thier sales pitches to match the specific pyscological weaknesses of thier potential customer base. Timing thier ADs to be everywhere at the right point in time,
Whereas a developer of a game would plan how create immersion and atmosphere, EA's Team of developers will be planning exactly which marketing ploys will be most effective, using existing MMO data sets, tracing back to bartle gamers types, offering oppertunity and denial of advancement based on group testing. All to deliver thier mass market sales pitch. So when EA's team pulls of sales records because of thier hardwork, to them its like developer getting 90 metascore on thier game.
So your not a fool, these companies exhuast so much effort to maximise revenues its insane (which is why its not usualy openly discussed) But even Blizzard boast how in total they have only spent like $100mil on WoW total while they have got billions from customer, the latest COD game activision spent like 5 times as much on adverts than they did developing the game (yay sales record smashed gj ). The gaming industry is bigger than music and movies, the large companies like EA/Activision have thier sh1t together and know how to milk thier billion customers. In the end it's all about advertising, why do think this website exists?
Do what I did. I cancelled my CE pre-order and bought the digital. No Fuss... No Muss
I self identify as a monkey.
So you felt the need to post this on multiple sites? I think you are just trying to get some attention.
"If you're going to act like a noob, I'll treat you like one." -Caskio
Adventurers wear fancy pants!!!
Nah its the Secret World people. Its all one gigantic chthonian conspiracy nightmare.
"Gypsies, tramps, and thieves, we were called by the Admin of the site . . . "
Well if it makes you feel better, BioWare has already said that they are going to limit supply at launch.
So even though you may feel "duped", I suspect the folks who don't bother to pre-order, and wind up missing out and can't play the game when it launches, will feel even more the fool...
Personally, I'm glad I got the CE, and glad I'll be guaranteed to be there on day 1 (or before).
This is an old sales tactic, and it works.
In addition to the movies and the music that made Star Wars so fantastic to us, Star Wars is a toy license. Their game marketing is just following their experience in toys. They figured out that if they released limited numbers of an action figure at first to make people rush to buy it. They say things like 1/80 is the figure you want. So they put out all these crappy chuncks of plastic of ugly characters no one wants in droves to make the one you actually want look more limited. But they could have just made your good figure 50% of the box. This has the added bonus of making the item feel more special though. So instead of just sales, the "rareness" of the item enhanced the relative value to the owner. They feel special having it.
DeBeers does this with diamonds. There are bajillions of diamonds stored up, but they hide them so that people pay inflated prices. It's fabricated scarcity.
Used car salesmen always say something to build urgency too,"That couple over there. They test drove this car yesterday, and it looks like they are back. I have to sell it to them unless you sign now."
Someone please make a good MMO.
I think this is the truth of it.
No, EA got those sales coz they know the old saying still holds true ...
There's a sucker born every minute ...
I think calling people (Or insinuating) stupid for pre-ordering and or getting the CE is not only arrogant but basically transferring your feelings on another person who may have a complected different situation or mindset.
I did buy the CE and I did pre-order.. Why because I wanted what they offered and I have no problem paying for it.. No one forced me or coned me into it. MMO's are my hobbies and I spend money on it just as if I were buying DvD's I would only watch once and have them sit on a dusty shelf or warhammer figures that would sit and never get painted..
Now if the OP bought out of fear of some imaginary pressure EA was putting on him.. Well perhaps he should sit and think before spending his money.. But dont lump every person in the same category because you think somehow you got a raw deal. And if you really do feel that way cancel your order.. You can do that you know..
Personally I have no regrets and if the game sucks.. Which of course could happen.. Well then it sucks and I quit.. Not going to break my heart or my pocket book.
I have to agree with the above, maybe I just don't understand people sometimes. I definitely don't understand the urgency anyone may have felt to go pick it up asap. Especially when talking about digital packages.
Then again I don't buy CE's or pre-order either, nothing made me feel as though I had to this time.
For every minute you are angry , you lose 60 seconds of happiness."-Emerson
"Who's the more foolish? The fool or the fool who follows him?" Sorry couldn't resist that one.
Waiting for a TOR trial account here. I can wait. GW2 though, I wish they would grant pre-orders and a release date for that.
If people are THAT bothered by an extra 1 week of headstart play from Pre-ordering then they would have pre-ordered ANYWAY.
So your point has no logical foundation, and seems just another ill thought out rant at EA/Bioware.
+1
I have no issue with people who shelled out the dosh for the CE or a preorder and are happy with their purchase. I do however take issue with people such as the OP who first let their compulsions rule them and then aren't man enough to point the finger of blame inwards when they decide the purchase was a bad idea.
"Gypsies, tramps, and thieves, we were called by the Admin of the site . . . "
What gimmick? They advertised it on their website and some others, the supply is going to be limited according to Reid.
In Bioware we trust!
Don't kick yourself too hard. At least you fell prey to this sort of gimmeck over something stupid and not very important in the long run. $150 lesson is pretty cheap...and hopefully it's one that will serve you in future. Some poor folks fall for high pressure sales tactics over things that are REALLY important like Houses or Stock Portfolios... be glad you don't have to worry about buyers remorse over something that your going to be working to pay off for the next 30 years.
What you experienced is a pretty common sales tactic that alot of sales and marketing types try to push. Building a false sense of anxiety in the buyer and a sense of urgency.... so the buyer feels they just HAVE to make the purchase NOW or something really bad is going to happen. It's a cheap psych trick...and personaly I think it's pretty sleazy... but it's also pretty common.
Sales guys are always worried that something will happen to make the buyer rethink thier purchase decision, so they want to close the deal as soon after the buyer has made some sort of purchase decision as possible. It's an example of short term thinking about maximizing immediate proffits. However, IMO, it actualy hurts many companies in the long term. If the buyer feels uncomfortable about thier purchase experience they are going to be less likely to do repeat business with that company in the long term.
The companies and sales guys I always respected were the ones that went out of thier way to make sure the customer was completely comfortable with thier purchase decision, new exactly what they were getting ahead of time and were making the purchase because they felt what they were getting offered good value...not out of a sense of false anxiety/urgency. They might miss out on some sales in the short term....but in the long term they are more likely to build a sense of loyalty in thier customer base.
In order to do that, the company has to offer a solid quality product at a good value, it has to be thinking about long term proffits not short term ones.....and it has to have sales/marketing guys with a particular mindset and confidence. Note, I'm not trying to make the cleam that TOR might not be a great product or even that the CE isn't a solid deal for those that are into that sort of thing. I've seen companies that offer great products at great value that STILL tried to push the high pressure sales routiene gimmecks...even though there was no reason to do so. It seems to be something ingrained in alot of sales/marketing peoples mindset...and it can be tough to get them to think differently....even in situations where they really don't need to pull those sort of tricks.
Who needs MMOs when you can read stuff like this for free? 3 faction forum PvP FTW~
Vault-Tec analysts have concluded that the odds of worldwide nuclear armaggeddon this decade are 17,143,762... to 1.
Honestly, who cares? EA is a company just like any other out to churn a profit. If they come up with a way to break some records or make some money, good for them. And even if you don't pre-order, its not like you will never get to play the game. We've all waited years for this game, whats a couple extra days/weeks if you don't get in right away?
Pesonally, I pre-ordered the CE, but $150 to me is not going to break the bank, so I guess it just depends on your financial situation.