Now that Comic-Con is over and the big BioWare news has been released, we can now get to the nitty-gritty of things and discuss the most important aspect of any gamer’s life, their wallet.
Like many people, once I heard that the SWTOR pre-order sales went live, I was one of the first to Amazon. Ok, maybe not the first, but definitely up there in the top one million. I was also kind of shocked at myself when I pushed the little button to complete my sale for $150…I’m not sure yet, and only time will tell, I may have had a slight stroke the moment I did it, which of course leads to my question of the day.
How much is too much to pay for a collector’s edition MMORPG?
Past games have capped at roughly $80 (US) and SWTOR is arguably the most expensive of them all. SWTOR hasn’t released yet and history proves that the first few months after going live, there are a numbers of bug fixes and server problems to maintain. Is BioWare risking their customers feeling ripped off?
SWTOR Community Cantina Audio: Q&A Live With Musco, Hickman, And Schubert
The Gentle Giant statue looms large in the pricetag. Nothing GG does is cheap. So it would seem Bioware went for quality, and a well-known Star Wars collectible maker, rather than just getting a few thousand made up in Hong Kong. And I think people who aren’t Star Wars collectors, and who perhaps have never even heard of GG, might not get that.
Ah yes, I forgot to mention that in my post. It is true, Gentle Giant is really high end, so you know you’re going to get a beautiful piece of art for the home. Thank you blur for reminding us of that.
The Gentle Giant statue is what sold me, I looked at it like I was paying 90 bucks for the statue and 60 bucks for the game. Most Gentle Giant statues seem to be about 150 bucks, I think it was a good investment especially considering how the CE is going like hot cakes. This is definitely the most expensive CE I’ve picked up. Hopefully everything goes awesomely at launch =D
I too spent big $$ for the CE. I am OK with it as long as they don’t turn around and jack up the monthly cost! I am OK with $15 per month, but if it goes beyond that then Ill stick with my games that I pay $15 per month for. If anything, I hope they start a new trend and lower the monthly fee to $10 per month..
That’s a pretty good idea. Pay more for the collectors edition but get a lower monthly fee. Maybe give people a choice too. If they just want to buy the regular less expensive version then they have to pay the $15/month, but if they want all the bells and whistles, they pay big in the beginning but have a lowered monthly.
I wanted to get the CE but couldn’t bring myself to drop $150 bucks. So I went with the poor boy CE (Digital deluxe). I felt my personal limit was $80, so that is what I bought. I am a little sad that I won’t be in the Cool Kids Club (VIP Lounge), but over all the VIP room and the other items aren’t worth the other $70.
Overall value is based on what you believe. So if you feel these items and exclusivity of the room is worth it, then you made a valuable purchase. I think that considering you are writing for a fansite that you will most likely be pleased with your purchase.
That is just an assumption though and you know what they say about assuming…
Well, in Norway I just paid the equivalent to 250 american dollars :S is that too much? lol
Price in denmark would have been around that, was to much for me, not paying 60-70 dollars more just for being in a different country, though i have to admit with some of the news coming out of cc, i happy i didnt order a ce.
MMOs are our primary hobby at home, it’s the one thing we spend money on. And TOR is the only game we’ll be getting a Collectors Edition for this year since it’s a game we expect to be playing for many years to come.
Some will argue that we will look the right pair of fools if SW:TOR turns out to be a poorly designed game but in the face of comments like that, My boyfriend and I will look at each other, roll our eyes and go: “It’s BioWare!”.
Call it fanboi-ism or just faith in a company which hasn’t let us down since Baldur’s Gate, we are content with our purchases.
I agree. Honestly not making this up, when I heard about SW:TOR in 2008 and it was Bioware, I knew it was going to be a CE for me. I collect several Star Wars things and yes I have purchased other collector’s editions…Star Wars Galaxies for one. That game is going away but I have my pewter little figurine lol.
I understand with the economy the way it is now that $150 might be more than can someone afford. I don’t think it will matter much a few weeks after launch who had what edition, we all will be playing TOR…this also means I am hoping everyone worldwide will get in soon!
My friend that’s in Beta keeps telling me that I will be happy once it goes live. He will not share any info with me cause of his NDA and I respect it & only push him a little bit on details.. All he Tell’s me is that I will like it
I trust his opinion because we both played WoW together for a very long time. Once he told me that he bought the CE version of the game I knew he truly believed in the game, and that inspired me to do the same.
At a total of $170 USD (shipping included) this is rather cheap for me as an Australian. This is our usual price of collectors editions and could be considered cheap.
I guess I might be the only one, but I was expecting to pay around $150 for a Collectors Edition. Considering recent comparable sets (e.g. Halo: Reach or MK 9) and that the Old Republic has such a strong following, it was inevitable that BioWare would put out a few options for fans to buy. The standard edition sells for $60 and the digital deluxe (which has almost all the digital items from the CE) sells for $80 for those that don’t want too much extra stuff.
For me though, the CE represents not only the next step in one of my all time favorite game series, but also is sort of a testament to years of waiting for TOR and years of waiting for KOTOR 3 before that. I was extremely excited when TOR Was announced, and made up my mind then that I was going to get the “Special Holy Shit Edition” as my friends and I called it at the time. I’ve never bought a CE before, and I probably won’t again (unless they make a PlaneScape: Torment sequel or remake), but I feel comfortable in investing the extra money into TOR, especially since I anticipate playing it for years to come.
I do think $150 is expensive but that is due to the fact that I’m not as passionate about the memorabilia nor in-game items. And I did look over what was offered with the Digital Deluxe but I felt that none of the items were more than “vanity items” and served no practical purposes to me. So I paid $60 for the digital Standard edition which is a very comparable price-point for most other games I have purchased recently. And that amount allows me to start the game earlier which, given we don’t know how much time that head-start is going to be, could be very valuable in itself.
In the end some may suffer from buyer’s remorse but I think more time has to elapse before anyone can determine the true value of the additional items packaged/included with the upper-tier variations.
$150.00, I would of spent $250.00 mybe that makes me a little crazy but look around people… WOW is sinking SWG is done for and well who else sits on these great fansites day after day after day, enjoying any info they can get to a game that isn’t even out yet! ^_^
Besides that I’ve never wanted any game so much in my life and I thought SWG was something back in the day. Look at us now!! lol
It makes me feel like a big KID again!! Jeff knows what I mean!
I got say it was to much, at least for me. We are on a pretty tight budget. Despite the fact I had been socking nickles and dimes away with the intention to buy the CE I didn’t have enough. So I got the DD. Honestly I wish they had not put the figure in the CE and knocked 50 bucks off the price. But if wishes were horses…
Even if I had the money for the CE I wouldn’t had been to thrilled about the Malgus figure…maybe if you had an option like Master Zallow or Malgus I would been more thrilled about it. Everything else in the CE was awesome.
Beyond that I sure hope they will sell the authenticator separately, or offer a application equivalent. If they don’t I think that’s pretty poopy.
Also not real thrilled I will be missing out on the VIP vendor and canta. I am hoping down the line when they sell expansions we will be given a chance to buy CE of the expansion and get access to those features later.
Well the funny thing is that i bought mine on Amazon.com even though I live in germany. So i paid 150$ for the box, 25$ for shipping within 3days and 33$ of import fees … that makes a total of 208$ and guess what?
Its even less expansive then in my local game store (150€ ~ 218$) … so I saved 8 dollars wohooo what a bargain
Well unfortunately this will most probably be a trade of 8 USD for having to wait longer for your CE to be in your hands.
Shipping takes more time and tax authorities can be a pain in the ****.
Keep my fingers crossed for you =)
I ordered it through amazon.de with fast delivery service. Although that is most likely a waste of money as with having access to the game earlier through pre-order my game client will be downloaded anyhow prior to receiving the box…so?! *shrugged*
But it is true the “normal” selling price in Europe is 150 € which equals to roughly 220 USD.
Still I think it will be worth it!
I always think…even with monthly fees of 15 € … I will “save” money because I will not buy other games…..
Have a great day folks!
Kwich
I wanted to go Collectors, but seriously, 150$? Only reason I considered Collectors was for the extra digital in-game items and the map, the rest wasn’t all that thrilling — won’t have time to look at a statue nor to read a journal, cause I’ll be busy playing the game!
I ended up with the Digital Deluxe from Origin, giving me plenty of in-game goodies I can enjoy while I play.
Also bought the Collectors Edition and well it’s a sting but worth of every penny I’m sure. If I hadn’t I would have regretted it at some point.
P.s. I live in Finland and paid 150€ (217,2$) +delivery.
Anyone know what’s the worth of the security authentication key?
Its probably worth about 7 bucks if they keep the price the same as Blizzard for the authenticator, but having an authenticator is just awesome, never got hacked on WoW again once I bought it.
I recall reading somewhere there will be full support for a mobile phone one too, on iPhone/iPad and Android platforms at least… I know I saw it somewhere…
id been saving for months to get the naga elite gaming mouse. then the Pre-order dropped, mind you im getting married next summer and money is a lil tight but SW is my life i had to buy an expansion card for my e-reader when del rey dropped the digital editions of all the books in my shelf fan. i woke my fiancee up from a sound sleep so excited she made me sit down. we talked after i had calmed down and (after a lil begging) i sacrificed my dream mouse for my CE of a game i have (literally) been dreaming of for years, she caved (knowing my love for starwars rivels only my love of her) and she ordered it for me. i even put up a new shelf to showcase my future malgus.
I bought the digital download for my son and the CE for me.
all for a game that might tank.
but if its as good as wow, 5 years for 80% is a good ROI.