"Buddy Keys" or "A final insult"

[rattran]

Buddy Codes are available! You can try to get your friends to pay Funcom too!

Dear Age of Conan gamer

As you may know, every owner of a Collector's Edition may invite five friends to come play free of charge for seven days. At last we are happy to announce that we have enabled this functionality. This means that now is the time to invite your friends to come play Age of Conan and see what all the buzz is about!

The invitation process is easy:
Log-in to your account page, and choose "Buddy program".  Follow the on-screen instructions, and then write a personal message to your friends if you so desire.

We are certain you will make many a friend happy with this token of appreciation, and what is better than chopping of Pict heads together with your best buddies?

We recommend that you lend your install DVDs to your buddy to get him or her ready to play as fast as possible. Alternatively your buddy will be offered a $2.99/€2.99 client download with 3 additional days of playtime to cover the download time.

We still highly recommend the personal touch of going to your friends house with the DVD install though. Not only does this make it completely free for your friend, it also allows you to show them the ropes!

Sincerely,
Funcom

[Nevermore]

You have to pay to download the client for a trial? 

[Evildrider]

Funcom = retarded.

[Mrbloodworth]

This was already posted, and is being discussed in another thread.

Its 3$ if you don't give them your cd's, and the download is 20+ gigs.

[rattran]

This was already posted, and is being discussed in another thread.

Its 3$ if you don't give them your cd's, and the download is 20+ gigs.

I stopped reading the very long threads, and doubt I'm the only one. And $3 for a free trial is too much. Plus this came right after the 'Your Account is now FROZEN' email, which amused me.

[CharlieMopps]

GameDev1: "So, we are losing subscribers, we need to get some new people in-game!"
GameDev2: "Yea... well, we could get the buddy key thing going..."
GameDev1: "But we have to generate buzz! We have to do it in a way that no-one has done it before!"
GameDev2: "Hmmm... I know, lets charge them for it!"
GameDev1: "Charge for a free trial? Brilliant!"
GameDev2: "Brilliant!"

[Sutro]

In fairness, I don't think that $3 to download 20+ gigs is really that bad.

-Sutro

[SnakeCharmer]

I really don't either.  Someone had to be the first to cross that bridge (charging a minimal fee for trying out the game).  Other studios will probably follow suit.

[cevik]

In fairness, I don't think that $3 to download 20+ gigs is really that bad.

Asking me for my credit card info before letting me have a free trial is too much of a barrier to entry for me to ever try your product.

Making me pay 3 dollars before hand is above and beyond that.

It doesn't matter if it's a good value to pay $3 to download 20 gigs, that's not the question.  What matters is that Funcom desperately needs better word of mouth, so for some dumbass reason they decided to make starting a free account just that much harder.  If they had been smart, they would have offered to have someone come over to your house and install the fucking  game for you, asking you to pay $3 to try it is the dumbest move I can think of a company ever making (it surpasses PotBS refusing to give me buddy keys when I asked for them because I downloaded the game, and look where they ended up).

[CharlieMopps]

I really don't either.  Someone had to be the first to cross that bridge (charging a minimal fee for trying out the game).  Other studios will probably follow suit.

Considering it costs them practically nothing for you to download it from them, I'd have to disagree. Bandwidth is cheap.
Anyways, if they really were concerned about trial accounts eating up bandwidth, the solution would be simple: Torrent

[pants]

Theres plenty of countries (like Australia) where downloading 20 gigs is a big deal and a big cost.  So I'd gladly pay $3 to get a DVD for a trial if I was so inclined.  I agree that handing over a CC number is a concern however - I'm paranoid enough to be worried by an 'accidental' charge going through.

And AoC aint the first to do this, I've seen WoW trial disks in EB for $5 for something like that, and I'm sure someone else did that a few years ago.  Or was that pay to get into SWG beta?  Actually, that rings a bell, I seem to remember mocking someone for paying to be in a beta...

[UnSub]

To play the WoW trial, I had to put in credit card details. Ditto for AC.

WoW trial CDs were on sale for $2 at EB in Australia for a while there. They may have gone up.

DL 20GBs is a huge ask - it's my monthly total before I start getting hit with excess charges.

I'm still interested in giving AoC a go, despite all the reasons they give me not to.

[HaemishM]

The $3 charge is not to get a DVD, it's to actually download the client. I'd pay the $3 at the retail counter to have a physical disk(s). I'm not paying $3 to download a "free" trial client for a company that's wanting me to be their regular customer.

[Xuri]

Asking me for my credit card info before letting me have a free trial is too much of a barrier to entry for me to ever try your product.

Is this really so unreasonable? It's supposed to be a game for a mature audience, and currently the "insert credit card number here plx, kthx"-method seems to be the popular (and only?) method of screening the grown-ups (in body/age, if not necessarily in soul/mind) from the kids.

[Falconeer]

It's a wall. It's not even a matter of reasonable or unreasonable: this is advertising, and they are asking you money to "enjoy" their advertising.

Some will pay it, but so many will just think it's not worth the bother. That is the wall they put in, and as an added effect it contributes to build up bad reputation.

It's still a huge shot in the foot to me, unless they somehow gather so many 3$ bills out of it to counter and surpass the subscriptions they'll never collect BECAUSE of those 3$ bills.


P.S: You can do that with a winning game, as every cool kid is doing it and the "3$ wall" can be seen as the price to pay to be cool. Mind works weird (and is a terrible thing to taste) especially coolkidswannabe one. But if your game is in any situation that is not pure win (not to mention pure churn) you shouldn't try to act cool as if your shit was cocoa. People usually don't buy it.

[Xuri]

Oops, I misunderstood. I thought he was talking about having to provide his credit card to setup a trial account, not the client-download part. Sorry.

[CharlieMopps]

Yea, they want $3 to download the trial from their server... this would be ON TOP of any normal bandwidth fees you get from your ISP.

EB games paid downloads are a service they sell. And, in truth, they are just trying to steer you twords their yearly subscription. Something like $20 and you get all the downloads you want with no speed limit. Which is nice if you have a 20MB connection at your house.

This is just a normal ol' dowload, probobly capped at 2MB/sec. You don't get disks, or a key, or even an ingame item. Nothing.

[cevik]

Oops, I misunderstood. I thought he was talking about having to provide his credit card to setup a trial account, not the client-download part. Sorry.

I am talking about the trial account.

When you have a game that is dying because of bad word of mouth, you need to remove all barriers from getting new people into the game as fast and in as large of quantity as possible.  Doing anything that may make the person stop from installing the game is a moronic idea.  If that person has to walk away from their computer to find their wallet so they can enter their CC info then you've created a reason for them to not try your game.

If that person has to not only enter their cc info, but pay to try your game they've heard nothing but bad shit about, then you are one of the dumbest marketing groups on earth.

There are plenty of games I would have never bothered to try, and subsequently never bothered to buy and subscribe to, if I had had to enter my CC info to get into the game.  Both EQ2 and EVE are examples of this, they let me create a trial account with no hoops to jump through and they ended up selling me a copy and a couple of months of subscription.  Had I been required to do ANYTHING other than download and install then they never would have made a dime.

[Mrbloodworth]

The game is rated "M" for mature, your going to have to give them some CC info regardless. Its age verification, or a sort.

[cevik]

The game is rated "M" for mature, your going to have to give them some CC info regardless. Its age verification, or a sort.

The rating system is entirely self regulating, my 5 year old son could walk into a store and buy an M for mature game and there's nothing anyone could do about it.  You'll have to come up with a better excuse than this.

EDIT:  In fact, AoC can use time cards, so I suspect your defense is silly on two fronts, because you can create an account with a credit card, you just can't download the game.  Which means they aren't even remotely using it for age verification.

[schild]

Yea, but your 5 year old son can't deposit money into the computer and buy an M Rated game over the web. The day computers come with a built in cash transmitter thing, we're all screwed.

[Mrbloodworth]

The game is rated "M" for mature, your going to have to give them some CC info regardless. Its age verification, or a sort.

The rating system is entirely self regulating, my 5 year old son could walk into a store and buy an M for mature game and there's nothing anyone could do about it.  You'll have to come up with a better excuse than this.

EDIT:  In fact, AoC can use time cards, so I suspect your defense is silly on two fronts, because you can create an account with a credit card, you just can't download the game.  Which means they aren't even remotely using it for age verification.

Doesn't matter if you agree. Its the legal reason. Its not an excuse, its fact. As for reality, its the stores staff that are required to regulate. And i watched three "kids" buy it inline before me, bot only after the clerk asked for their parent, and explained that the game is rated "M" and contains "blood and gore" to them and "said i can sell this to you, but not him". The third "kid" was denied because he came alone.

It is age verification, you cant have a Credit card in your name till 18, if you use your parents, it is their account, not yours.

Even for a trail, you WILL have to enter your CC info for this game.

[cevik]

Doesn't matter if you agree. Its the legal reason. Its not an excuse, its fact. As for reality, its the stores staff that are required to regulate. And i watched three "kids" buy it inline before me, bot only after the clerk asked for their parent, and explained that the game is rated "M" and contains "blood and gore" to them and "said i can sell this to you, but not him". The third "kid" was denied because he came alone.

It is age verification, you cant have a Credit card in your name till 18, if you use your parents, it is their account, not yours.

Even for a trail, you WILL have to enter your CC info for this game.

No, it's really not the "legal reason".  ESRB is self regulating.  Some stores choose to follow the regulations, however, no one is legally obligated to follow the regulations.

In fact, Funcom does not verify age when you create an account.  Anyone can purchase an account and a time card and sign up for an account without every presenting any kind of age verification to Funcom.  So your entire argument is worthless and silly and you're just trying to, for some stupid reason, justify the fact that Funcom is a bunch of dumbasses.

In fact, I could give my Buddy Key to a friend along with the CDs and he could purchase a time card, regardless of his age, and there wouldn't be a single bit of "Age Verification" to Funcom.  And they don't care, this isn't about age verification at all, you just latched on to some silly excuse and are repeating it ad nauseum with no evidence to back your claim.

You don't know what you are talking about.

[Mrbloodworth]

Funcom IS participating. In the ESRB and the PEGI.

And your bitching about entering CC info and 3$ like its something new.

[SnakeCharmer]

Seems to me, people are just crying about as a means to have something to cry about.  Just another Damn you Funcom for touching me there!!! moment.

3 bucks.  It would most likely cost you more than that to go (heh) buy the trial CDs from your local Best Buy or whatever. 

I do have SOME sympathy for those that have download limits, however. 

[cevik]

Funcom IS participating. In the ESRB and the PEGI.

And your bitching about entering CC info and 3$ like its something new.

I love how you constantly change your story ("IT'S LEGALLRY REQUIRED!1!") and continue to completely gloss over the fact that Funcom doesn't do age verification for an account and the CC info is only required to pay for the download, which turns your original point into a silly farce anyways.

But none the less, according to the ESRB themselves, the only retailers that have offered to enforce the rules are:

ESRB Retail Council Members

    * Best Buy                                              
    * Blockbuster Video                              
    * Circuit City                                          
    * GameStop
    * Movie Gallery/Hollywood Video/GameCrazy
    * Sears/Kmart
    * Target
    * Toys "R" Us
    * Wal-Mart

Notice a distinct lack of Funcom in that list.  Furthermore, Funcom is not obligated nor do they to enforce the ESRB guidelines.

[cevik]

Seems to me, people are just crying about as a means to have something to cry about.  Just another Damn you Funcom for touching me there!!! moment.

This place is fun, if I say something good about Funcom I'm just a "AoC Fanboi ZOMG!"

If I point out that Funcom is making a stupid move here, I'm just a "AoC HATA! ZOMG!"

[SnakeCharmer]

Oh, that wasn't directed at you.  To be honest, I sort of just glanced over what you said.  It was more of a general statement more than anything.  Probably directed more towards the official forums than anyone here.

 

[Mrbloodworth]

I did not say it was legally required, i said it was for legal reasons. In some states, and country's, it is a legal requirement, and enforced. Better to cover your ass then become "unrated" and not sellable at all in those areas. Blanket solutions work best.

I admit, i don't know the ins and outs of the ESRB ETC.. But you just listed a huge amounts of (huge chains) stores that do enforce the policy.

Your quite welcome to your opinion that "this is dumb", but how about letting others also have the opposite opinion?

Its an M rated game, they want your CC info to make an account. Big deal.

[cevik]

I did not say it was legally required, i said it was for legal reasons.

Either statement, parsed in any direction you want to parse it, is false.

SnakeCharmer:  Messing up on buddy keys, something that should be so simple and can be so helpful for your game, is one of my pet peeves.

[cevik]

I did not say it was legally required, i said it was for legal reasons. In some states, and country's, it is a legal requirement, and enforced. Better to cover your ass then become "unrated" and not sellable at all in those areas. Blanket solutions work best.

Okay so you edited on me and I am trying to get a direct answer from you so I'll point out how stupid you are yet again:

If this is about age verification, then why do they NOT REQUIRE a credit card to create the account?  The only requirement here for a credit card is for the download, which you don't have to do if you have the CDs in hand.

[SnakeCharmer]

Naive as it may sound, though I may be right, it could quite possibly be an oversight on Funcom's part (not to require a CC for creating the account).

That said, creating an account does not equal being able to play the game, correct?  You still have to DL the game/trial in which you have to use a credit card to purchase the $3 trial.  Or is there something I'm missing...

Create a Funcom account = no credit card, though you can't download the trial/game.
To download the trial = credit card required.
To buy the game = show ID (if the store is ESRB compliant)
To register the game = enter CC for billing past the first month.

[Mrbloodworth]

I did not say it was legally required, i said it was for legal reasons. In some states, and country's, it is a legal requirement, and enforced. Better to cover your ass then become "unrated" and not sellable at all in those areas. Blanket solutions work best.

Okay so you edited on me and I am trying to get a direct answer from you so I'll point out how stupid you are yet again:

If this is about age verification, then why do they NOT REQUIRE a credit card to create the account?  The only requirement here for a credit card is for the download, which you don't have to do if you have the CDs in hand.

AFAIK, they do require a CC for an account. Buddy keys/Time cards being a possible exception. Depending on the store you get it from, they will card you. To download the game, you need 3$ and a CC, so yet another possible verification. I have no doubt that when a trial is offered, depending on where you are, there will be CC info required, unless they want to go through the process of having diffrent rules for every area or rule set.

Personal attacks are not needed, and only make me leave a conversation.

Your still upset about CC info and 3$ however.

[Dren]

Even with all your arguments back and forth:

I'm not paying them $3 to try their game.

Make it completely free and I might.

[Falconeer]

Seems to me, people are just crying about as a means to have something to cry about.  Just another Damn you Funcom for touching me there!!! moment.

3 bucks.  It would most likely cost you more than that to go (heh) buy the trial CDs from your local Best Buy or whatever. 

Nobody here is crying about anything. Funcom made a move to attract new people and some of us here think that the 3$ part makes it an extremely goofy move, while some other think it's a standard executed move.

Nobody here is crying, nobody here would have a problem paying the 3 bucks (neither they will) and nobody gives a shit about AoC trial I guess. While I think slapping Funcom is the FOTM (not mine, I am still playing and loving it), this is a situation where in my opinion they deserve their faces melted by evil punches.