SWTOR

[Tyrnan]

I have abandoned the TOR forums, except the dev tracker, til the game launches and it becomes a sub only forum.

That doesn't seem to have improved the Rift forums any. Just resubbed at the weekend and decided to head to the class forums (yeah I know ) to see what had changed. The amount of crying and bitching is truly staggering.

[Paelos]

Ah it WAS Yogscast I was thinking of. They make me laugh.

[Sky]

I always loved the official forums for EQ2. Especially the class whining subforums.

[Evildrider]

I have abandoned the TOR forums, except the dev tracker, til the game launches and it becomes a sub only forum.

That doesn't seem to have improved the Rift forums any. Just resubbed at the weekend and decided to head to the class forums (yeah I know ) to see what had changed. The amount of crying and bitching is truly staggering.

There are always gonna be a high amount of retards on game forums.  It's mainly the GW2 people and the ones that don't even plan on playing the game that bother the shit out of me right now.

[Sky]

Companies should data mine for players who have subbed for a year of their game without ever posting on the forums. And then get feedback from them, because they're the happy ones not grandstanding or drama whoring. And your game would probably be a lot better for it.

[Numtini]

Companies should data mine for players who have subbed for a year of their game without ever posting on the forums. And then get feedback from them, because they're the happy ones not grandstanding or drama whoring. And your game would probably be a lot better for it.

Or possibly they'd not respond since they forgot they were subscribed 

For feedback, I think most people with a bit of sanity can tell whether or not something is real or just whinging. It seems so easy to me. Yes, the official forums are there, but check the unofficial ones. Blogs. And all the rest. It's not rocket science and with the incomes generated by major games today, there's no excuse not to pay someone with a brain to do it.

[Murgos]

For feedback, I think most people with a bit of sanity can tell whether or not something is real or just whinging. It seems so easy to me. Yes, the official forums are there, but check the unofficial ones. Blogs. And all the rest. It's not rocket science and with the incomes generated by major games today, there's no excuse not to pay someone with a brain to do it.

I'm of the opinion that most negative feedback on the internet borders on worthless, particularly consumer reviews.  Who's most likely to write a review, someone who understood the realistic limits and achievable results of a product before they bought it or someone who didn't?  So, almost by definition reviews are written by people who did not understand the product they were purchasing.  If you knew what you were buying and got what you expected you don't usually write a review of it.

So, a positive review tells me that the reviewer, no matter how far down the bell curve, had set expectations and had them exceeded.  Good, whatever their expectations were the product is better than that.

A bad review just tells me that the reviewer had set their expectations too high and now I have to decide if the reviewers expectations were reasonable.  Usually reviews don't have that kind of detail.  

If a products reviews are ALL bad then, yeah, it's probably crap.  If the reviews are even a little mixed though?  It gets tough.

Look at the New York Times App reviews on iTunes for an example.  Lots of 5 star and lots of 1 star reviews giving it an average 2.5 stars.  I mean, it's the NYT articles on your phone what could possibly be so bad about it that it gets 1 star?  Just at a glance, that it's part of the 'Newsstand' app tray (oh my clicky finger!), that to subscribe costs too much (less than buying the NYT though, and you get all the front page news free without a subscription) and that it gives you breaking news notifications you may not be interested in (someone bitched that it told them who won the world series, sure you're not a sports fan but 1 star because of that?).

Yet, the five star reviews all say how great it is for reading NYT articles on your phone.

So, yeah, if I want to read NYT articles from my phone do those 1 star reviews mean anything?  Not really.

[Sand]

Best Buy has the CE back up on its website as available. I think last week when I checked them they showed it as out of stock. Wife ordered it for me as my Christmas present from either them or Target or both.

[Evildrider]

Best Buy has been giving out used pre-order codes, so I'd make sure to check that asap if possible.  Looks like they've been overselling their stock.

[Merusk]

Best Buy has been giving out used pre-order codes, so I'd make sure to check that asap if possible.  Looks like they've been overselling their stock.

They do, in anticipation that not everyone ordering will actually purchase.  What also happens is some folks don't keep enough in their debit acct (bank or credit) for the "hold" to be applied. Every. single. week.  They may not be able to charge for the purchase but they're going to make sure that money is unavailable to you to spend.   

They renew the hold every week, dropping it for only a day and a half-ish.  If the money isn't there the preorder is voided by BB and they put the item up for sale.  The preorder hold has shifted from Friday to Tuesday on my account, so that could be why there's a bunch up today. 

[Paelos]

Can you simplify that a bit for me Merusk, I'm not quite sure what you mean?

Who is they? BB or the buyer?

[luckton]

I preordered the regular no-frills edition from my local Best Buy.  I'm hoping that they'll play the same card they tried on me last time with Deus Ex: HR, which played out like this:

- Local BB is 2 miles away.  I pre-ordered Deus Ex there.
- Went to local BB on release day, was informed that the downtown BB was the only store in the region that was going to carry the PC version.
- Downtown BB is 20 miles away.
- I called corporate office and demanded compensation for having to drive all the way downtown to get a product that they clearly could have sold everywhere (it's not like it's a 200 lbs TV)
- Profit!!1! Corporate credited me a $50 gift card, so basically, free game!

[Merusk]

Can you simplify that a bit for me Merusk, I'm not quite sure what you mean?

Who is they? BB or the buyer?

BB = Best Buy.

I'll try to bullet list it.

* Best Buy can not charge your account (Credit Card/ Bank Card/ Whatever) until the item ships.  This is law.

* What they CAN do is put a temporary hold on your account for the full purchase amount, which they do.  So while you still have the money, it's flagged as a pending transaction and your bank won't let you use it. (Like gas stations do when you pre-pay with a Credit Card.)

* That hold is only temporary, falling off after 3-4 days since the bank didn't receive a fully-processed transaction.

* They reapply the hold a day or so after it falls off. 

* If the funds are not available when they try to reapply the hold, Best Buy will cancel your order.

* The day of this hold had been Friday for the last 2-3 months - at least on my own account.  A week or two ago it changed to being applied on a Tuesday

Pt 2: Why are there editions with already-used preorder codes up for sale?

* I suspect this change happened to other people as well.  Most folks being unawares of this process AND how their own bank accounts work, they most likely spent that money over the weekend.  (The ATM said I had money, so I must have money!)

* Come Tuesday, funds are no longer there so the order is cancelled.

* SKU system now shows availability due to auto-cancelled orders.  Puts them as available on the website for others to purchase

* Best Buy sends out preorder code attached to the purchase to the new buyer.  Being an automated system it is unaware of this being a used code that is no longer valid.

[MuffinMan]

I'm glad I don't ever pre-order games. That sounds messy.

[Numtini]

Is there some reason not to just get the digital for the standard edition?

[Rasix]

Is there anyway to update the credit card you preordered with?  I'm pretty sure they're going to try and charge and come to the realization that my CC # has changed.

edit: Google says I'm boned.  Great.

[luckton]

Is there some reason not to just get the digital for the standard edition?

Origin makes baby Jesus cry.

[Paelos]

That makes it clearer, Merusk, thanks.

That being said, the policy seems ridiculous. If you want me to put down a deposit, fine. If you want me to wait and pay later, fine. But having to keep $50 at will in an account just so I can hold a game for sale? I'd rather either pay you nothing or everything and be done with it.

[Evildrider]

Is there anyway to update the credit card you preordered with?  I'm pretty sure they're going to try and charge and come to the realization that my CC # has changed.

edit: Google says I'm boned.  Great.

Do you mean on Origin?  If so you have to go through Customer Support.  You can't just change it.

[Evildrider]

Is there some reason not to just get the digital for the standard edition?

Nope, unless you are one of those Origin is the devil people.  I got the DDE myself through Origin.

[luckton]

Nope, unless you are one of those Origin is the devil people.  I got the DDE myself through Origin.

You just wait until some huge calamity occurs with Origin, as it did with Sony.   

[Evildrider]

Nope, unless you are one of those Origin is the devil people.  I got the DDE myself through Origin.

You just wait until some huge calamity occurs with Origin, as it did with Sony.   

As it did with Steam...   

[luckton]

There's a moral difference here.  I'll explain it simply by saying EA and Sony are the 1%, and Steam + the Indy community is the 99%.  The 1% is here just for the money and slush-funding their publicly traded assets.  Steam and the indies are pretty much the only people keeping PC gaming alive now.

I'll also remind you that should Origin frack you over with mismanaging your private info, you can't sue them for any damages incurred.

[Draegan]

I'm heading to Bioware Austin for the Fansite Summit next week.  Should be  

[Evildrider]

I'm heading to Bioware Austin for the Fansite Summit next week.  Should be  

Urge to kill rising.... 

[Paelos]

I'm heading to Bioware Austin for the Fansite Summit next week.  Should be  

Please wear a redshirt Star Trek uniform and ask a question about phasing.

[luckton]

I'm heading to Bioware Austin for the Fansite Summit next week.  Should be  

Find out the latest stance on dual-specing and what-not.  They seem to change stances week to week.  

[Evildrider]

There's a moral difference here.  I'll explain it simply by saying EA and Sony are the 1%, and Steam + the Indy community is the 99%.  The 1% is here just for the money and slush-funding their publicly traded assets.  Steam and the indies are pretty much the only people keeping PC gaming alive now.

I'll also remind you that should Origin frack you over with mismanaging your private info, you can't sue them for any damages incurred.

And yet none of that bothers me.  

[Evildrider]

I'm heading to Bioware Austin for the Fansite Summit next week.  Should be  

Find out the latest stance on dual-specing and what-not.  They seem to change stances week to week.  

Also make sure they know that AC switching should not be allowed more than once or twice.  I'd prefer not more than once past level 20ish.

[luckton]

There's a moral difference here.  I'll explain it simply by saying EA and Sony are the 1%, and Steam + the Indy community is the 99%.  The 1% is here just for the money and slush-funding their publicly traded assets.  Steam and the indies are pretty much the only people keeping PC gaming alive now.

I'll also remind you that should Origin frack you over with mismanaging your private info, you can't sue them for any damages incurred.

And yet none of that bothers me.  

Of course not, at least not until it actually affects you.  Much like how nobody gives a shit about drunk driving until a drunk driver dispatches someone/thing you cherish. 

[Ingmar]

Starting to sound a little Sinij-y there, Luckton.

I'm heading to Bioware Austin for the Fansite Summit next week.  Should be 

Find out the latest stance on dual-specing and what-not.  They seem to change stances week to week. 

Also make sure they know that AC switching should not be allowed more than once or twice.  I'd prefer not more than once past level 20ish.

What, why?

[Evildrider]

Starting to sound a little Sinij-y there, Luckton.

I'm heading to Bioware Austin for the Fansite Summit next week.  Should be 

Find out the latest stance on dual-specing and what-not.  They seem to change stances week to week. 

Also make sure they know that AC switching should not be allowed more than once or twice.  I'd prefer not more than once past level 20ish.

What, why?

Because I don't think people should be able to switch classes like they do specs? 

[Paelos]

If there's anything that the MMOG world has taught us, it's that giving your customers more flexibility has never proved unpopular or a bad business decision.

[luckton]

Starting to sound a little Sinij-y there, Luckton.

Mea culpa.  I stand-down from the argument.

[luckton]

If there's anything that the MMOG world has taught us, it's that giving your customers more flexibility has never proved unpopular or a bad business decision.

Flexibility is one thing, but Evildrider is right.  Respec your class's traits and skills all you want, but to change your class?  Go reroll, fool.