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Role Playing (Games) PC Games (Games)

Vivendi Jilts WoW CE Pre-order Customers 70

Posted by Zonk from the how-to-make-friends-and-influence-people dept.
Draconix writes "Having pre-ordered the World of Warcraft Collector's Edition over a month in advance, I eagerly checked my email on November 22nd, expecting confirmation of shipment. Instead, I received a notice from Inside Mac Games, explaining that their order for the WoW Collector's Edition would not be filled. It seems, at the last minute, Vivendi Universal decided to ship a limited number of copies, and only to major players, such as Amazon.com. Doubtless, IMG is one of many stores who have had to inform their unsuspecting customers of this development. Of course, it is now too late to obtain it from one of the distributors that did receive it, so thousands of expectant gamers will come up empty-handed--denied what many had ordered months in advance. With Vivendi Universal already at odds with one of their developers, is more trouble on the way?"
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Vivendi Jilts WoW CE Pre-order Customers More

Vivendi Jilts WoW CE Pre-order Customers

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  • Ongoing wagers (Score:5, Funny)

    by JFitzsimmons ( 764599 ) <justin@fitzsimmons.ca> on Tuesday November 23, 2004 @09:29AM (#10897709)
    There must be an ongoing wager as to who can get the most bad PR for Vivendi. "Hmm... I see your HL2/Steam and raise you a WoW ripoff."
  • A copy of the notice sent to customers would be nice. As of right now all we have is this guy's word that VU is screwing retailers/gamers. Not that I don't beleive it's possible, but the substance in this story is sorely lacking.

  • Or maybe ... (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 23, 2004 @09:35AM (#10897768)
    This could well be IMG starting to sell pre-order versions without having any gurantee of delivery and now trying to paint Vivendi as the bad guy for their cock up.

  • Backhanders? (Score:3, Interesting)

    by tod_miller ( 792541 ) on Tuesday November 23, 2004 @09:41AM (#10897825) Journal
    In this world of buy-anything from anywhere, any advantage such as semi-exclusivity on the sale is a bonus.

    I am wondering how much Amazon paid for this... or if the publisher just screwed up?

    • Re:Backhanders? (Score:2, Interesting)

      by happyemoticon ( 543015 )

      Vivendi is desparately trying to hold onto the SKU business - that is, selling games as if they were actual, physical products. Throw steam into the mix, and guess what? Nobody needs publishers anymore. Keep in mind that Valve and Blizzard are probably their most popular pc developers, probably the most successful in the world.

      Now, the fact that HL Silver has more games than CE for cheaper pisses them off to no end. And it's hard to move CE's in retail, therefore EB says, "Well, we're only going to buy th

      • When you get the HL:Silver package, you get a lot of old stuff that you probably already have. The original Half Life was in the stores for years and years, in a number of different iterations. I got the silver package for the convenience, but I already have two or three copies of the original HL (from graphics cards, bundles, etc). I also have Opposing Force, Blue Shift (which is not included), and all that other stuff.

        The only value that the Silver package added for me was the little platform shooter

      • Yes, I saw the SE on steam, and I wanted to buy it bad, replay HL1 with source engine - awesome, and HL2, and loads of stuff, plus the modding community i sreally firing up and the source tools look awesome.

        Hurrah for steam.
  • That individual stores are getting very, very limited quantities of these delivered. Given the numbers I have been hearing from folks who picked theirs up yesterday, many retailers are getting 2-3 copies of the CE per store, irrelevant of their pre-orders, or the size of the store. So it seems likely that we won't be seeing them on the shelves and that some pre-orders won't be filled today. I pre-ordered the standard version, and according to my store, they have standard versions exceeding their pre-orde
  • If this is true, is there a list out there of who *does* have CEs? I preordered mine from GameStop and I was really looking forward to Blizzard's standard CE pack-ins.

    Are those that ordered CEs going to get a Standard Edition and a partial refund? Or what?

    I hope these two screwups somehow drive Vivendi down the road to ruin.
    • I pre-ordered mine from Buy.com and it's no longer available. My order went from "sent to warehouse" to "on order".

      No notification was sent (that I know of).

      Great, now my withdrawal symptoms will get worse.
    • Preordered my CE from EBWorld (retail) in the mall. Went and picked it up this morning when they opened, I wasn't leaving anything to chance. A coworker also got a copy, and one more went to a guy in front of us in line, so that particular store had at least three copies.
      • One thing that has interested me is the hardcover book of art that comes in the CE, and the 10 day trial you can give to a friend. Is the CE art book worth while do you know?
        • I got the CE at my local EB at midnight this morning. The art book is really cool. The entire package is very fancy, and the art book is particularly nifty (Yes,.. cool, fancy and nifty).

          It's making me consider going shopping for a coffee table for my couch, so that I can put the art book on it. I should probably have one anyway for when I invite the chaps over for tea, no?
    • I ordered my CE a week ago from a local EBGames. I picked it up at lunch. Now if I could just catch ebola or a cold or something so I could go home and play the damn thing...

  • I pre-ordered CE (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Chase ( 8036 ) on Tuesday November 23, 2004 @09:48AM (#10897907) Homepage
    I guess I'll find out if the local EB I purchased it from got enough/any copies.

    Amazon lists it as:

    "Availability: This item is not stocked or has been discontinued."

    I wanted to give Vivendi more of my money but they decided to leave it on the table.

    I'll downgrade to standard edition instead of waiting a month for them to get their act together.
  • If I can't get the CE I preordered, I'll get a normal copy. If I can't get either, I'll be pissed...
  • vivendi are arsewipes. every time someone deals with them they get burnt. Every. Single. Time.
  • I pre-ordered from EBGames.com, and my order shipped early yesterday.

    It sounds to me like VU doesn't like making money.

  • wtf (Score:1)

    by sweede ( 563231 )
    Anyone that played the beta and read the WoW forums (the posts during beta where wiped) probably has read the blizzard release announcement stating that there will be a limited number of copies avialable for release LONG BEFORE the actual release.

    I preordered one, but wouldnt wait till 10 when ebgames open, so i bought one at walmart
  • Even at Amazon, the CE is out. It seems Vivendi wanted to see their product on eBay, and nothing more. Not only is this bad business, it sounds like a scam, if you ask me.
  • There has to be more to the story than is being told. There is no reason for VU to cancel orders of the CE (which presumably costs much more) unless they have a lower margin of profit on the CE (doubtful). I mean essentially people are saying that VU decided to ship fewer copies of the more expensive version of the game in order to sell more copies of the standard version? There really must be something we are missing here.

  • Line at Frys was INSANE (Score:4, Interesting)

    by Timber_Z ( 777048 ) on Tuesday November 23, 2004 @10:54AM (#10898647)
    Showed up about 11:00pm last night, figured that the line might be half way around the building, Turns out the line went around the building twice, took up most of the parking lot, and then for good measure it went down the street a couple hundred yards.

    Talking to the Fry's Employee, he said that they had 2 or 3 truck loads of games on the way, but doubted thier would be enough for everyone.

    The poor guy seemed rather alarmed and stressed seeing several thousand gamers surrounding the store.

    According to him, the line started forming around 1pm.

    Although everyone seemed to be in a good mood, I didn't stick around.
  • there has been tons of 'collector's limited' editions of warcraft3 dying slow deaths in retail along with 'collector's editions' of star wars galaxies, neverwinter nights etc. the hardboxed ones will dry up soon, but i'm sure there will be tons of slightly less limited collector's edition.
  • I was talking to my friends at the local EB Games on Thursday about the WoW collector's edition. While they did show it off to me (yes, they've had it in the stockroom for almost a week), they told me I wouldn't be getting one unless someone cancelled their preorder - the Collector's Edition has been sold out Canada-wide since (I believe) the 2nd of November.

    Those of us who didn't hop on the bandwidth missed a big opportunity too - the collector's edition sells for $79.99 in Canada, while in the US it sell

  • How does a consumer revolt against a publisher? (Score:5, Interesting)

    by realdpk ( 116490 ) on Tuesday November 23, 2004 @11:31AM (#10899154) Homepage Journal
    I'm curious, how would I, as a consumer, revolt against a publisher without simultaneously revolting against the developers? Vivendi is making some very anti-consumer moves here, which ought not be tolerated.
  • t's a little off topic, but does anyone know if you require a CC for the 30 day trial that comes in with the game? I'm still waiting for my CC, but I would like to play while I wait ...
    • Not as far as I'm aware. If you get the prepaid play cards ($30 for 2 months) from EB or wherever, you shouldn't need a credit card at all. But you may need to find some way of providing an address or something.
    • Official word is that you need a creditcard or a pre-paid gamecard to activate your account. Here in Australia, no one has found a source of gamecards, so unless you can find a friend or family member willing to "lend" you their creditcard number, you can't play no matter whether your long-standing pre-order arrived or not.
  • EB Games had my preorder at 10 am this morning. No line, no hassle.

  • Wow, I'm glad I... (Score:3, Interesting)

    by DarkRyder ( 103165 ) * on Tuesday November 23, 2004 @01:00PM (#10900310)
    ...preordered my CE through GameStop. I know some of the guys who work at the local one (that happens when you're their best customer...) and they say they've already received all their copies, but that they were only give exactly enough CEs to cover the preorders; they'll have none to put on the shelves. I hear the regional manager is livid about it, too, so Vivendi isn't making friends anywhere!
  • I picked up a copy at the Best Buy here in DC, which had a pile of them heaped on a table.
  • I really don't want to add to any speculation, but I found this rather interesting.

    BTW, I tried to pre-order the CE at my preferred Gamestop back in late September yet was denied as they sold out already. Huh? I never heard of a CE game actually being limited in production, at least upon the initial release. I mean I can STILL buy Quake 3 in the tin from some stores!

    Just during lunch I went to go pick up my reversed copy. I over-heard and was later told some interesting things. The manager was talking t

    • Personally, I just can't believe this to be true, if for no other reason that if it is, Blizzard is going to sue Vivendi (yes, it's possible for the owned to sue the owners for mismanagement) because it would be absolutely crippling to an MMO's business model.

      Wow, I can't believe I fit that all into one sentence!
  • If my experience is any indication, you should be fine if your preorder was through EB (in the US, anyway).

    I pre-ordered one CE and three SEs just 10 days ago through the EB website, for pickup at my local store on launch day. (Discover Mills EB in Lawrenceville, GA - suburb of ATL.)

    They called this morning to let me know all my stuff was awaiting pickup and I snagged it during lunch. Got the CE with no problem. It did sound like you were SOL if you didn't pre-order, though. Demand was extremely high.
  • You think you've got it bad?! The clowns at Vivendi only distributed 200 - for our entire COUNTRY.

    EB Games got 40 units for its complete shipment nationwide. I ordered a month in advance, two copies, from a major online retailer here - who received only 60 copies, and couldn't fulfil either of those orders.

    I posted about this [worldofwarcraft.com] [worldofwarcraft.com] on their forums, but got no reply, when I found out before launch day.

    It really blows! I really wanted the art book. And what with the region locking of ac
  • I went to my local hastings (not sure if thats a store thats just around the northwest or all over) about a week after I heard that EB had sold out of all their pre-orders of the collectors edition.

    I asked them if I could pre-order it, and they said no, but I could special order it. They told me that they were getting about 70 copies of the collectors edition in, and I just had them hold one of them for me when it came in.

    This morning at about 10:30 I got a call from them and it was in, and I went and pi
  • According to VU/blizzard they made 75,000 copies of the CE. Now considering they have an indication on how many they would sell based on pre-orders how many think that VU went and said "We could sell 100,000 copies but lets limit it to 75,000"?
    BTW check out ebay, people are selling the CE in the $200+ range.
  • I'm not looking to buy this particaulr game.

    I've noticed a trend that hold true here as is does in other hobbies. When a new and/or limited item first comes out, their are people who'll sell the item on eBay, often for great sums of money. After fir first "few" (relatively speaking) auctions end, people realize that the item isn't really worth the insane amount first being paid and prices drop to a more reasonable amount for several months after the release.

    Then, when the exceitment cools to a more mana

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