Results tagged “Collector's Edition” from From the Abbey to Outlands

First up, this is not a rumor or even stated as possible by Blizzard. I do want to suggest this, though. The Collector's Edition of the game and expansions have not been cheap, ranging from $80 to $150 dependent on where and when you ordered it and the willingness of the vendor to gouge their customers. While you do get a fair bit, without a doubt, there is more Blizzard could do to reward players for their continuing loyalty, and their patronage in the face of the often high prices of the boxes. Some of the things Blizz could offer for loyal CE buyers are clips from Blizzcon, exclusive wallpaper, or ongoing flavor items in game. I will be talking more about this on today's AzPodMo, so do watch out for that episode!

I have mentioned excitedly before what my plans were for the Wrath Launch events, which was to go to the local EB Games and wait eagerly for my Collector's Edition which I had paid for, $10 more than what I was told at pre order, the Saturday before. The 5 hours at work that night were agonizing, as I could mentally count down the hours in my head. At precisely 9 pm I left work, though I spent a bit of time recruiting a new player to WoW, and headed out. I stopped at home, trying to get my podcast and blog up, and then headed out to walk the 4 blocks to the store.

When I walked up, there was 2 empty fold up chairs, and two guys sitting in their van out front of the store. I proceeded to move to the far side of them from the door, and the wait began. The minutes ticked by, and the line began to grow. By ones and twos the line eventually grew into 50 or more people, all enjoying the weather to get Wrath of the Lich King. Ner'zhul, Malygos, Draenor, Exodar; all these realms were mentioned for those in line close to me. Staff began to show up, and the numbers inside the store increased slowly.

As midnight grew closer we watched as they rolled up posters(giveaways) and chatted comfortably behind the glass. When midnight rolled around we all waited eagerly. As 12:05 came and went, we all grew impatient. 12:10 and people were getting mad since the 'staff' inside were clearly just chatting and stuff, not doing actual work. These folks stood around in a nice warm store and we shivered in the winter weather. Finally at 12:15 a staff member came and opened the door, advising us they couldn't start taking orders yet, cause their system wouldn't let them, but we could at least get in. We rushed in, the first 5 or 6 people, and were told to stay back from the registers.

Then aggravation turned to anger. The 'staff', or at least 5 of them, stepped up to the counter to pay for their own copies of the Wrath Collector's Edition. I watched, surprise on my face, as the realization that these were not staff, but friends of the staff, who got to bypass the line and get up first, and get out first, with their Collector's Editions. It made me wonder if these folks had to do anything by the 'rules' at that store. Once they were done, I stepped up and presented my receipt, knowing I would just sign a paper and walk out. The first sign of trouble was 'ok, so I am sorry to say but...'

That ended with the fact that, after raising the price on my 1 week before, they had raised it again. 'We only found it out a few seconds ago when our machines started taking orders' the staff member who originally took my $5 pre order back in September and who lamented then that the $70 price tag was pretty high. Interesting, I thought, that the registers were not live when we got in, and they didn't need to tell their friends that when they paid for their copies. What do I think? I think they knew, and tried to do a slow progression rise of the price, but I paid mine out too soon to launch, and that made me notice more.

I got mad, and asked them what they were doing, and after a few minutes the guy who took my 'final' payment a few days before looked at me and said, essentially, that's the price, if you don't like it, leave. I looked at him with anger, and told them that I would not be canceling my preorder yet. I stepped out of line, trying to think of who I could call at 12:20 AM to bring me $12, finding no one who was up, when one of those close to me in line, a guy by the name of Brian(server currently unknown) came back into the store and offered to use the last few bucks he had on his debit card to help me pay off my Collector's Edition.

I got my game, then I got his name and number, and have now made arrangements to pay him back. I came home, and recorded the Unboxing video you have likely seen if you read my blog, and began to install my game. The reactions and thoughts to my podcast rant have been overwhelmingly on my side. I thank everyone for their words of support. So where do I go from here? Well, once this is up, I will spend Monday ensuring that EB Games know of this bad PR, and that I will never be shopping at their places again. I have a new place to buy my Game Cards, and will happily give a more honest, upfront, less greedy, and more professional company. I hope that some, if not many of you all do the same. If this company is willing to screw people, then get mad when they react badly, being rude and unprofessional, well, then they don't deserve the business of any gamers who value these things. What do you all think?

This is a link to my Wrath CE unboxing. It's my first try at this king of video, hell any kind of video, so be kind!

I know, I know, I promised that tonight there would be a live All Things Azeroth recording, and while it likely won't go out as a podcast item, there will be an event tonight on Stickam. I will be doing unboxing, first showing you all my original Collector's Edition for the game's launch, then my Wrath Collector's Edition. These will likely go live about 12:30 or so CST, and last about 15-20 minutes. If I can do it, I will put the video out on YouTube or something, so that you who cannot make it due to purchase lines and stuff can still see the glory of the CE. Graece may be there as a watcher, though her eagerness to get into the game will be hard to beat. So come on, join me tonight, and we'll all revel in the CE together!

Yesterday I talked a little about when to buy WoW's next expansion, Wrath of the Lich King, and went over some memories of two years ago, as well as the logic of those who will buy it now, soon, and later. Today I ask you where you plan to buy it. Do you have a Preorder? Will you go to a store and hope for the best? Will the freebies decide your loyalty, or will it be the place you get all your games from? Are you one of those who ordered online, and who awaits, eagerly, the knock from the UPS or FedEx guy with your peanut filled package of evil?

WoW Insider had been keeping their reader's eyes out for specials and freebies for Wrath's launch, which were very prevalent for Burning Crusade, but seems to come up sadly short. We have Best Buy, Future Shop, as well as a few foreign sellers with deals that have a mix of value, from the barely a deal, to a complete steal. Word has come that Amazon is selling the Collector's Edition again, this time at the harsh price of almost double the original price. I guess we can only be thankful that they are doing the gouging now, instead of in six months like they did for the original Collector's Edition. So, my beloved readers, where will you be going to buy Wrath from, and when?

I have talked to a lot of folks, guild members, bloggers, fans of the podcast and blog, and I have gotten a variety of answers to this question, and to be honest it surprised me. Perhaps it was my inexperience shining through, but when Burning Crusade his, 22 months ago, it felt like the collective of WoW players were bristling with excitement over the expansion. People eagerly warmed the gate area, slaughtering demons en masse, and waiting anxiously for the portal to be accessible, waiting to pass through it's swirl into the world many of us has seen only in screen shots and YouTube leaks.

I was there, on that dais, 22 months ago, when the first Netherwhelp appeared alongside it's proud new owner. A guildmate had gotten his Collector's Edition, so many of us int he Shadow Walkers, occupying a reserved corner of the platform, sat and watched, admiring the sweet looking pet. Then, his excitement getting the better of him, the netherwhelp departed, following it's owner, as he ventured to the portal and through it. "HOLY SHIT!" were the next words he uttered in guild chat, as he eyed the world on the other side. All of us, each just as envious as the next, sat there for the next hour as first one by one, then ten by ten, and then in waves the players of Argent Dawn US passed through the Dark Portal.

If I were to compare the excitement, the eagerness, and the atmosphere of that launch, on that cold, snowy night in January, to the times now, as we approach the launch of Wrath of the Lich King, I can only call this muted. Yes, there are midnight launches. Yes, there are parties planned the world over. But somehow, this time, it all seems less of a fervor. The bloggers are excited, but even a few of them have said they aren't getting Wrath on the 13th. Some will go on the weekend, some in a week, and yet others say they are going to be buying it in weeks or months.

Will every one of those people hold off? No, of course not. They will see their friends, and their guildmates going on those boats and those zepplins to Northrend. They will see the loot from Utgarde, and Nexus, and drool. They will use the dressing room to see how uber that Death Knight gear would look on them. But some will resist. Some will continue their resolve to hold back. I know I won't, and don't plan to. I intend to leave work at 9 pm, and take the next bus to the EB Games, preorder receipt in hand. I intend to hustle my ass along the no doubt ice filled sidewalks those 4 blocks to my home. I will turn the camera on, and begin to record the unboxing of my Collector's Edition. How about you?

For the last several months, pretty much since we had confirmation of what the Wrath Collector's Edition pet would be, and therefore receiving confirmation there would be a Collector's Edition, I have been calling my local(4 blocks away) EB Games to see if they have the Collector's Edition in their pre order system yet. Well, they hadn't. Until last Tuesday, the 16th. On Monday Blizzard announced that the expansion, Wrath of the Lich King, will be released on November 13th, and they also formally announced the Collector's Edition.

A lot of my friends, both the cynical Europeans and the frugal Americans, seem to think I am nuts. I may just be. I did, though, wanted to give my reasons why I changed my preorder from the normal Wrath to the Collector's edition. Let's go with the feature list up first:

• DVD of the expansion - I cannot count the number of times I have cursed loosing my original game DVD as I have reinstalled from the 4 disc set, then patched it all the way to current.
• The art book and behind the scenes DVD - Often, when I feel the old game creep in and slowly sadden me, I take out the art book and DVD, then revel in the creative process that went into making this a game I have played for 4 years now.
• The Official Soundtrack - Because I will buy this off iTunes if I don't get it here. I love the music in the beta already!
• Two March of the Legion TCG Starter Decks - Rocket Chicken, Paper Flying Machine Kit, and the Dragon Kite. 'Nough said.
• Map of Northrend Mouse Pad - I might use this for a bit if it's not the hard plastic kind that seems to curl at the sides and becomes unplayable.
• Lastly... Frosty the baby frost wyrm! Yeah, I am a sucker for the pet, and really regretted not getting the TBC CE for the Netherwhelp. I <3 my Panda's, Diablo's, and Zergling's from the original CE, and wish they would bring the three in one back!
  

In the end, I found the original Collector's Edition more than worth the effort to get it, and knew that this year's would be blockbuster. I really look forward to opening my box at 12:01 or 12:30 AM on the 13th and sliding the DVD in, beginning the install of the expansion, and hitting play on the behind the scenes DVD as I hunt the starter decks for a loot card. See you in line!

The Tentative release date leaked by WoW Head and Thottbot was confirmed this morning when Blizzard Entertainment announced the release date for the upcoming expansion, Wrath of the Lich King, which will hit stores on November 13, 2008, just 10 days shy of the 4th birthday of World of Warcraft. Blizzard also released information on the Collector's Edition of the expansion, which will include:

• World of Warcraft: The Wrath of the Lich King on DVD-ROM. 
• The 208-page book featuring never-before-seen images from the game.
• An exclusive in-game pet: Frosty, the baby frost wyrm.
• A behind-the-scenes DVD * The official soundtrack CD
• A mouse pad featuring a map of the newly opened continent of Northrend.
• Two World of Warcraft Trading Card Game March of the Legion™ starter decks, along with two exclusive cards available only in the Collector's Edition.

While we now have a date, we also know how long we have to prepare. You can make a lot of gold in 2 months. You can also now preorder your copy and soon a Collector's Edition at many retailers. Enjoy!