The Old Republic Collectors' Edition Might Cost You $210

[John Funk]

The Old Republic Collectors' Edition Might Cost You $210

According to supposedly leaked information, BioWare thinks its The Old Republic collectors' edition is worth a very hefty price tag.

Polish retailer Empik.com may have let the cat out of the bag [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/111758-Oops-The-Old-Republic-Info-Leaked-By-Careless-Retailer] when it came to Star Wars: The Old Republic announcements that EA and BioWare were saving for this weekend's San Diego Comic-Con. In addition to information about the game's preorder benefits and box art, however, Empik also revealed the many, many goodies that are included in the (inevitable) Collectors' Edition of the game.

According to the image you see here, people who shell out for the limited edition will get the following items for their mundane meatspace lives:

[blockquote]*Exclusive Gentle Giant Darth Malgus statue
*Star Wars: The Old Republic game discs in collectible metal case
*The Journal of Master Gnost-Dural annotated by Satele Shan
*Old Republic galaxy map
*Custom Security Authentication Key (a la the Battle.net Authenticator, presumably)
*Exclusive Music of Star Wars: The Old Republic CD
*High-Quality Collector's Edition Box[/blockquote]

In case you're running out of room for your giant game-based statues, though, BioWare is also throwing in some digital goodies for your in-game avatar:

[blockquote]*Flare Gun: Fire flares into the air
*Training Droid: Hovers at your side for combat assistance
*HoloDancer: Project your own holographic dancer
*HoloCam: Keep visual records of in-game adventures
*STAP: Sleek and unique in-game vehicle
*Exclusive Mouse Droid: Spun-ky droid to join your adventures
*Exclusive Collector's Edition Store: Unique in-game vendor with a dynamic assortment of items[/blockquote]

According to Empik.com, the Collectors' Edition clocked in at €150 - about $212 at current exchange rates. That's extremely expensive for a limited edition, above even the (then-lampooned) $150 for Modern Warfare 2's Prestige Edition. On the other hand, of course, it seems like the EU always gets screwed in the price point, so who knows what the US retail price will be?

Price point aside, it seems like a fairly standard MMO limited edition, though some of the digital goodies worry me as a long-time MMO player. I'm going to assume that the Training Droid won't be a crucial addition to combat, and presumably there will be equivalents to the HoloCam (even if it's just using an external program like Fraps) - but the idea of a "unique in-game vendor" sounds a bit troublesome.

As always, none of this information is confirmed, no matter how official the image here might look. One way or another, we'll likely get the official word this weekend at Comic-Con.

(G4TV [http://www.g4tv.com/thefeed/blog/post/714659/star-wars-the-old-republic-box-art-and-collectors-edition-leaked/])

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[Harbinger_]

Definitely won't cost me $210 dollars because I'm steering away from MMOs. Looks like pretty stuff though.

 

[KeyMaster45]

...Despite every fiber of my being say what a waste of money that would be, after watching my friend play the beta and getting to take it for a spin myself, I would shell out that cash in an instant.

 

[Polaris19]

A part of me wants to buy this just to have all that stuff.

Another part of me knows paying that much for an mmo before even paying subscription fees is ridiculous.

 

[Rad Party God]

Looks pretty sweet, although a bit too pricey, even for a Collector's edition. Heck, The Witcher 2 had a much better Collector's edition for even less than that. And that's not considering it will have monthly fees.

 

[Ohlookit'sMatty]

Not a chance! After looking at what they're putting in the CE I'm not seeing anything that is worth that price // Statuate, art book, these are all standard now a days // Sure the CE of Boishock 2 came with a vinyl record of the soundtrack& I only paid ?50

For shame on them

-M

 

[Amalith]

Lifetime subscriptions on the games that offer them cost that much. If that was part of the deal, it'd be worth it. As it is, I see nothing in there making it worth half that price.

 

[commodore96]

They better throw in a couple months free or else that is the biggest rip off for a collectors edition ever.

 

[Rednog]

Lifetime subscriptions on the games that offer them cost that much. If that was part of the deal, it'd be worth it. As it is, I see nothing in there making it worth half that price.

Pretty much what I was thinking, but I guess that they're looking at WoW and are like yea, if we offer life time subscriptions we would never get WoW's money.

 

[MASTACHIEFPWN]

Mah pockets, they are empty.
And mah shelf where I keep all of my nerdy statues and models and such, it is running out of space.

I skip this opportunity.

 

[Fappy]

Hopefully the exclusive vendor just offers items that will make leveling at low levels more convenient. Don't sell us power! D:

 

[sindremaster]

it seems like the EU always gets screwed in the price point, so who knows what the US retail price will be?

Pretty much this. I pay almost $120 for just a normal game that cost $60 in America. $210 is just a little bit more than I pay'd for my CE of AC Brotherhood, and almost the same as the CE for The Witcher 2.

 

[XT inc]

I hate metal tins they always are made like crap, don't fit anywhere or look good sideways, and usually scratch up the disc on shipment.

out of all the soundtracks for games I have gotten I've listened to not a one outside of in game. Nothing's better than instrumental filler music.

what is this in game merchant selling, decorative stuff or game changers, who knows.

 

[solidstatemind]

If the in-game items confer PvP advantages not available to people who buy the regular addition, then my involvement in SWtOR will end before it even began-- it would mean that BioWare is already sliding down the slope towards "he or she who is willing to spend the most is going to win."

That said, BioWare can't be that dumb, can they? I mean, slag on WoW all you want, but it's ultra-successful and it demonstrated that you can get plenty of money out of people just for vanity items.

What would be smart? It includes the first 3 months (or however long) of gametime- It's too easy for someone to lose interest quickly (usually because of the launch bugs) and cancel their subscriptions after only a month: and that is how most MMOs fizzle out. (I did just that with WAR- Bought it, goofed around in it for about 3 weeks, then cancelled.) This would give the players more reason to give it a good 3 month go.

I'll wait to see the details however. I'm thinking the this is going to be exposed as wild speculation on the part of the retailer as to what the pricepoint is, because they had to put something up there and they can always refund the difference later.