run_hello Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 ... IT'S A TRAP! http://store.origin.com/store/ea/html/pbPage.SWTOR_NA?sourceID=Origin_SOC_OI14 $10 off the standard edition for a limited time. Not unusual to reduce the price as a way to entice folks, but it feels like it might be a little early in the game for that. If eleventy billion people are already playing, they're foolish to reduce the price. They say when a person drowns, they surface 3 times before it's all over. Perhaps this is gasp for air #1. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PostalTwinkie Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 I wouldn't expect a sale on this game so quickly....not a good sign. Maybe their numbers aren't quite what they projected to the investors? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
notebene Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 ... IT'S A TRAP! http://store.origin.com/store/ea/html/pbPage.SWTOR_NA?sourceID=Origin_SOC_OI14 $10 off the standard edition for a limited time. Not unusual to reduce the price as a way to entice folks, but it feels like it might be a little early in the game for that. If eleventy billion people are already playing, they're foolish to reduce the price. They say when a person drowns, they surface 3 times before it's all over. Perhaps this is gasp for air #1. Back in the old days (mid to late 90s, ok, so relatively speaking), they used to lower the price of games within the first 30 days. I remember we'd keep our receipts and then a few weeks later take it back and get $10 back from Best Buy because they had (have?) that "if we reduce the price in 30 days" thing. So never none, no wonder, mind bridge, water, a few birds and a half dozen stones...I guess? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tombius Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 Interesting... wonder why thats been done? I disagree with the last part though as im a diver. If any of my lot drown they dont get up in time for air!! if they do then theyre pretty knacked anyhoo as dcs will get them Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PostalTwinkie Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 Back in the old days (mid to late 90s, ok, so relatively speaking), they used to lower the price of games within the first 30 days. I remember we'd keep our receipts and then a few weeks later take it back and get $10 back from Best Buy because they had (have?) that "if we reduce the price in 30 days" thing. So never none, no wonder, mind bridge, water, a few birds and a half dozen stones...I guess? I have been gaming since the 80's, and I don't ever recall this ever happening. Then again I never walked into a Best Buy until about a decade or so ago. Maybe this was specific to them? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickM Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 They are just trying to add more incentive for new players to play, especially those that have been on the fence about it. Remember, this is one of the few MMO games that don't give free trials and no buddy cards were included with any copy of the game. Given that the above is true, I see a 10 dollar discount as pretty normal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JumperPenn Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 I got the standard DVD for $44 a month ago. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Explosive_Lasers Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 (edited) Rift had at least five sales in the first six months. Rift had the second largest subscriber base. Your worries are unfounded. Edited February 17, 2012 by Zilrota removed inappropriate content Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
notebene Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 I have been gaming since the 80's, and I don't ever recall this ever happening. Then again I never walked into a Best Buy until about a decade or so ago. Maybe this was specific to them? It was a sweet deal, to the point where we just thought of new games as being $30. $40 initially, and then the $10 rebate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drewser Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 ... IT'S A TRAP! http://store.origin.com/store/ea/html/pbPage.SWTOR_NA?sourceID=Origin_SOC_OI14 $10 off the standard edition for a limited time. Not unusual to reduce the price as a way to entice folks, but it feels like it might be a little early in the game for that. If eleventy billion people are already playing, they're foolish to reduce the price. They say when a person drowns, they surface 3 times before it's all over. Perhaps this is gasp for air #1. Huh? The real money in MMOs is the monthly's. Plus they keep everything from a sale on Origin so $10 discount there still earns them more than a full price sale at say Best Buy this week. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dnomz Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 I wouldn't expect a sale on this game so quickly....not a good sign. Maybe their numbers aren't quite what they projected to the investors? Dropping the price shows that it's not going well with the game. Duke Nukem Forever did the same and look where it is now. If I didn't just mention the game, you all wouldn't even remember anymore that it exists. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pandabutt Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 Breaking the 1 million subscriptions mark in the first few weeks and maintaining a steady growth since... yes this to so totally a cry for rescue >.> In case you didn't get the sarcasm... The game is not in danger and it's not a cry for help. SWtOR has been very successful thus far, this is most likly a "We've made a good starting profit already, we can risk a small sale this early on maybe draw in the future subscribers that are waiting for the later price drop" situation. It's not unheard of or uncommon even. When a company has a large success early on with a new product they will typically do a sale on that product because it won't hurt their profit margin any, they are ahead of their quota already and are seeking to spike an increase in sales through a discount. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickM Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 (edited) Rift had at least five sales in the first six months. Rift had the second largest subscriber base. Your worries are unfounded. Funny because it is true. I ended up with 3 free copies of Rift from GenCon that they were just handing out for people to take. Edited February 17, 2012 by Zilrota edited quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ebbikenezer Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 A lot of games go on sale shortly after release, now if it is still that $10 off in a month... yeah probably looks bad. But if only for a week? Meh. I see that all the time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dnomz Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 Breaking the 1 million subscriptions mark in the first few weeks and maintaining a steady growth since... yes this to so totally a cry for rescue >.> Its funny how this keeps being brought up. TOR was hyped so incredibly much, which is one of the reasons many people bought it. Another reason is the death of SWG; Star Wars fans moved over to this game. And finally the huge KotOR base. Hitting 1 million subscribers was really no surprise at all. Keeping them is what this game will fail at. I hope EA/Bioware has the balls to publish the numbers around April, cause that's when the people who were stupid enough (like myself) to extend their playtime with a GC are gone too. Game already has 1.7 million subscribers with 2 million sales. Go figure where those 300k players are after their first free month. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kubernetic Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 (edited) I wouldn't worry about it. This kind of thing does happen quite often, and happened back when I worked video game retail for about 6 years in the 90s. $59.99 was a little high to begin with. There are only so many that will buy at that price point. There are a lot more who'll buy at 49.99. And there are more after that who will buy at 39.99, etc. Their main revenue comes from subscriptions anyway. And those coming into the game now are probably going to enjoy it much more (since they aren't the hardcore first adopters). Game already has 1.7 million subscribers with 2 million sales. Go figure where those 300k players are after their first free month. That's a pretty good retention rate so far. Edited February 17, 2012 by Kubernetic Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pandabutt Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 Dropping the price shows that it's not going well with the game. Duke Nukem Forever did the same and look where it is now. If I didn't just mention the game, you all wouldn't even remember anymore that it exists. There is a difference between a $10 off sale and a price drop due to failing. When a game starts to fail and the price gets dropped the drop is significant, and rapid. DNF dropped all the way down to $9.99 in no time flat, and the first price cut was more than $10 off, it was a $20 cut. What is going on though Origin is just a sale. Seeing as how the $10 off is only through Origin as well, reguardless of how long it lasts, it is not a cry for help. All sales through Origin are direct payment to EA, no retailer markups or retailer profit cuts, so it may just be an incentive to purchase digital over physical. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
schnopsnosn Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 If at all this is only to push Origin I guess... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Restepor Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 Being only a 10$ sale and it only being for a week, I'm not thinking anything of it. A lot of games, even good games, go on sale only a couple of weeks after it comes out. If I remember right Batman: Arkham City went from 60-44 Dollars on one sale. Look at that, it sold 3 Million copies before hand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pandabutt Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 Its funny how this keeps being brought up. TOR was hyped so incredibly much, which is one of the reasons many people bought it. Another reason is the death of SWG; Star Wars fans moved over to this game. And finally the huge KotOR base. Hitting 1 million subscribers was really no surprise at all. Keeping them is what this game will fail at. I hope EA/Bioware has the balls to publish the numbers around April, cause that's when the people who were stupid enough (like myself) to extend their playtime with a GC are gone too. Game already has 1.7 million subscribers with 2 million sales. Go figure where those 300k players are after their first free month. losing 300K after having 2million sales is really not an issue at all. Thats about the standard ratio. losing a mere 6% of the consumers doesn't create a failing game. Most MMOs lose more than 6% of their subscribers in the first few months. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Qoojo Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 (edited) Pretty much every game does this on the pc side. Blizzard games are about the only ones that don't have sales until a long time past release. I've seen mmo prices tank below 50% a month after release. Edited February 17, 2012 by Qoojo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PostalTwinkie Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 It was a sweet deal, to the point where we just thought of new games as being $30. $40 initially, and then the $10 rebate. Toys R Us and Kay-Bee Toys had my town by the balls for decades! Those price fixing SOB! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wewter Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 lol hard to recognize trash game as trash game? well put ackbar/op Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elytharra Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 Its funny how this keeps being brought up. TOR was hyped so incredibly much, which is one of the reasons many people bought it. Another reason is the death of SWG; Star Wars fans moved over to this game. And finally the huge KotOR base. Hitting 1 million subscribers was really no surprise at all. Keeping them is what this game will fail at. I hope EA/Bioware has the balls to publish the numbers around April, cause that's when the people who were stupid enough (like myself) to extend their playtime with a GC are gone too. Game already has 1.7 million subscribers with 2 million sales. Go figure where those 300k players are after their first free month. They lost 300,000 in the first month. In the second month, my server's population is down a good 25-33%. This is also about the same percentage of guildmates who no longer log on since the end of month one. They lost at least another 300,000 in month two by my estimate. At this rate, they'll be down to a reasonably stable 500,000 with huge player turnover within a couple more months. Good job, EA. Forcing BioWare to release this game a good six months before it was truly out of beta phase cost you hundreds of millions of dollars. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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