Square-Enix canceles "Augment your pre-order" program

[Adam Jensen_v1legacy]

http://kotaku.com/square-enix-cancels-horrible-deus-ex-pre-order-program-1733983894

I keep telling you people. All we have to do to fix the gaming industry is stand up to terrible anti-consumer ideas and practices. Every time we do it we win. This is a small victory, but a victory nonetheless. Maybe one of these days gamers will learn not to give in to hype and to stop pre-ordering games. Or at the very least stop pre-ordering from the same companies that burned them in the past. One can only hope.

 

[Bobular]

So everyone gets everything?

If so its good that they've done it that way, but really this should have been what happened from the start. The idea of different pre-orders giving different rewards for the same price is wrong.

 

[Lufia Erim]

So everyone gets everything?

If so its good that they've done it that way, but really this should have been what happened from the start. The idea of different pre-orders giving different rewards for the same price is wrong.

The way they did it is wrong but i disagree with your last sentence.

I personally would like a " customise your pre-order bonus" type of thing. Sometimes some bonuses don't interest me and some do. It would be cool if they give a list of bonuses and lwt the buyer choose what he wants. Same for collectors editions. Kind of like a Pick 10 from a list of 20 items or something like that. It would allow players to choose what they want so everyone is happy.

 

[Paragon Fury]

This should've happened from the start, but at least they saw the error and fixed it.

 

[remnant_phoenix]

I remember years back there was a Jimquisition about this...something along the lines of "sometimes you have to just complain in a really loud annoying way, basically throw a childish tantrum about it, to get anti-consumer crap to go away."

Thank God for him.

EDIT: I'm NOT saying that everyone who voiced their complaints to Squeenix did so in the form of a childish tantrum.

I'm also NOT saying that this sort of outcry is a good idea EVERY TIME something you don't like is happening in any area of society; all the stuff surrounding the gender theory personality who shall not be named and the hashtag that shall not be named has showed that that isn't a way to accomplish anything useful.

Like Jim said in that video, in the specific instance that a business is doing something that their consumer base does not like, throwing a great big hissy-fit is a great way to get their attention and make them realize that it would be a huge blow to their PR and, in turn, their future sales to continue their current course of action.

Whew... Dodged some bullets there. Hopefully.

 

[Ricardo Lima]

Great news and good of them listening to its fans.

 

[aegix drakan_v1legacy]

Wow. They actually listened and...Did the right thing by making all of it available to everyone who preorders (or gets it on the first day)?!

Where is that endless applause.gif? This is fantastic news.

I'm still going to wait until the reviews drop (hopefully before the game launches so I can get the preorder stuff via day 1 purchase) because I want to be sure the game is what I hope it is (Human revolution, but more stuff and hopefully a little bit better too) before I buy it. But I'm now a lot more open to preordering it or getting it ASAP.

 

[K12]

HOORAY FOR WHINGING!

Seriously though this shows why it's important to complain about shit things companies do. Their marketing departments do pay attention some times.

 

[Morgoth780]

So everyone gets everything?

If so its good that they've done it that way, but really this should have been what happened from the start. The idea of different pre-orders giving different rewards for the same price is wrong.

The way they did it is wrong but i disagree with your last sentence.

I personally would like a " customise your pre-order bonus" type of thing. Sometimes some bonuses don't interest me and some do. It would be cool if they give a list of bonuses and lwt the buyer choose what he wants. Same for collectors editions. Kind of like a Pick 10 from a list of 20 items or something like that. It would allow players to choose what they want so everyone is happy.

Why not let everyone have all of them?

What happens if somebody really wants 11 of the 20 but can't because they're limited to 10?

 

[Azure-Supernova]

"When it was first conceived, we wanted the program to give you more choice about what you received in terms of pre-order incentives - because we've seen in the past that when we choose those packages ourselves, and split them across regions, it has caused frustration. We quickly noticed that this approach created even more frustration than before, resulting in a resounding amount of negative feedback."

Wait a second Square... you're telling me that because you saw that people were frustrated with pre-order content being divided across regions and franchises, your marketing team thought that chopping it up further and turning it into a gross psuedo-pyramid scheme was better? The upshot is that Square realised how much that sucked and are now offering all of the content in one big dose to people who pre-order. Well hallelujah vox populi, we were heard!

Now maybe if we keep it up we can stop publishers splitting pre-order content across retail franchises. Hey I know this is just a drop in the ocean, but at least it shows we're heard.

 

[DrownedAmmet]

I don't know, as much as Jim Sterling drives a good point I can't help but think it could have been a good idea and a nice way to generate some anticipation and interest and was ruined by people caring too much about superficial DLC, AKA Dude it's just a game, relax.

Samesies, I didn't mind the choices, but doing the kickstarter unlock more shit the more money they get just didn't sit well with me.

I mean, it's cute when a kid in kindergarten puts up a lemonade stand in their front yard, but if I saw a 45-year-old business man in a suit do the same thing just because he saw someone else make money off it, I'm not buying it

 

[Trunipbob]

Well that sucks. I was enjoying the hype it was generating. I guess people just have to complain and ruin everyone else's fun because they don't like something. Why can't people just not participate if they don't like something instead of pissing and moaning about it?

 

[JohnnyDelRay]

Well that sucks. I was enjoying the hype it was generating. I guess people just have to complain and ruin everyone else's fun because they don't like something. Why can't people just not participate if they don't like something instead of pissing and moaning about it?

The only "hype" it was generating was the "can you believe what these assholes are doing?!" kind of hype. Sorry if you got caught up in the whole thing, but in any case it's all rectified now isn't it?

Everyone gets everything, to me that would create more positive hype than anything else, hell I've only ever pre-ordered one thing in my entire life and I'm tempted to put down money just to show my appreciation in a big company listening to the customers for once.

 

[CrimsonBlaze]

Spoiler: Really this is the only appropriate response from all gamers who wanted to do away with the Augment Your Pre-Order program

 

[Dalsyne]

If I know one thing, it's that people don't like giving facebook likes in exchange for prizes.

This was made obvious quite a few years ago. Even TotalBiscuit stopped doing it after fan backlash somewhere around 2013.

This was basically just them testing the waters to see if people are still intolerant of shit like that. And wouldn't you know it, they are.

No big loss. They'll try again in a few years.

 

[sanquin]

This isn't about to go away. Always online is also still popping up every now and then, and people are more accepting of it now for some reason. The same thing might happen to 'augmented DLC'...

 

[Thyunda]

I don't know, as much as Jim Sterling drives a good point I can't help but think it could have been a good idea and a nice way to generate some anticipation and interest and was ruined by people caring too much about superficial DLC, AKA Dude it's just a game, relax.

Samesies, I didn't mind the choices, but doing the kickstarter unlock more shit the more money they get just didn't sit well with me.

I mean, it's cute when a kid in kindergarten puts up a lemonade stand in their front yard, but if I saw a 45-year-old business man in a suit do the same thing just because he saw someone else make money off it, I'm not buying it

That's the thing, why do we think of it as some sort of shady marketing scheme rather than some guy in marketing had fun in a kickstarter and thought it will be fun doing the same, we immediately view everything as a way to hurt us and I wonder if that's the correct approach we should continue in.

Because it was a shady marketing scheme. There's nothing benevolent about pre-order bonuses in the first place, and to start threatening your pre-ordering customers with being locked out of pre-order bonuses because they didn't tell their mates to pre-order it fast enough is nothing short of ridiculous. Pre-order 'incentives' should be in the game anyhow, because you should be relying on your advertising, and if you're Square-fucking-Enix you've even got an established name and seal of quality going with it.
Besides, post-launch-day sales still count, whatever the publishers insist. Make a good game, and it will sell.

 

[Azure-Supernova]

That's the thing, why do we think of it as some sort of shady marketing scheme rather than some guy in marketing had fun in a kickstarter and thought it will be fun doing the same, we immediately view everything as a way to hurt us and I wonder if that's the correct approach we should continue in.

Mostly because it was a shady marketing scheme. Publishers already chop up content and sell it to us piecemeal through "Day One Editions" and pre-order schemes, only then to go and further divide it across retail branches for exclusivity. The "Augment your pre-order" idea might sound good on paper, but you're still locked into the same bullshit in a shinier package. Call me cynical, but this kind of pre-order system is two steps from a pyramid scheme.