Originally posted by cichy1012

Is the stress test client or open beta client the same thing as the retail. May want to try to download it and use a friends account on the other side of the US :)

I believe it is-  But if I am mistaken I'm sure someone will correct me.

I (for one) will be trying out this game once a free trial is availible but am so tired of paying full price for a DD version of a game so I can Beta test (Darkfall, Vanguard, etc.)

I have spent close to $300 in the last couple years to be a beta tester for broken games (something people used to get PAID to do) and it's not going to happen to me anymore. I will wait till I can try before I buy (and if that option isnt there- Oh well, lots of games offer trials)

Originally posted by bluegrazz

Originally posted by nickelpat

 I think it's the picky gamers who are damaging themselves. I love having my boxes too, but I really don't care that much. I buy a ton of stuff off STEAM because it's cheap and quick. That's where I had to buy FE because my local GameStop didn't have it.

In the end, you have to stop being "I have to have the box or I'm not getting it". When you do this you're only hurting yourself. As you said "By the time it gets here I won't be interested" and you'll miss out on an amazing game. I would recommend you bite the digital download bullet, go to Direct 2 Drive, Fallen Earth's site, or STEAM and download it. Or order it from GameStop, Amazon, Fallen Earth's Site, probably GoGamer too.

No, I don't think many loose customers, because big name games are usually available quite readily at GameStop or WalMart or offered through services like STEAM and D2D where many buy them.

 

I feel a bit ripped off by not being able to buy the box and being forced to go the Digital Download route... Buying the Box means I am helping to pay the salary of my Neighbors, the printers, the binders, the Truckers, etc.... Buying DD means I am paying the same amount and not helping to employ anyone but the corperation- I dont get a price break, they just get more profit.

I will buy DD (because I HAVE to) but it makes me wonder why I pay the same for them to merely use the electricity to process my credit card and send me an electronic copy of the game- No printing cost, no transport cost, no shelf space- AND (being an old timer) I have witnessed that Boxed copies of ALL games are growing smaller and smaller as DD takes hold (Yet prices are not coming down)

Steam is the biggest rip off in the world (I will never buy from Steam) but when I have to I will go the DD route (but as these corperations are become greedier and greedier I am close to giving up Online Gaming and just Torrenting the single player games- seriously) because very few people are benefiting off of DD, only profit margins AND I remember the 1980s when a PC store carried everything, niche and mainstream- Now they cant anymore? Why? Oh because it nets them more profit going DD.

I do somewhat agree with you. I do believe DD games should be a minimum 10 dollars cheaper. Me and my family have been fortunate to not suffer from the current economy but we still know the value of a dollar.  At the same time I see the other side in the case of a game like FE where it is a small company with limited resources and what will be a small niche audience. I dont think anyone believes we will have more thank maybe 150k subs although some are more optimistic than myself.  You can buy a hard copy off amazon for sure and some gamestops seem to have copies. The hard copy isnt going away but for small indie companies I think its all but extinct.

Originally posted by cichy1012

Is the stress test client or open beta client the same thing as the retail. May want to try to download it and use a friends account on the other side of the US :)

The beta clients will update to the latest version through the autoupdate feature. I'm still using what was originally a closed beta client.

Be prepared for a lengthy download though, there have been lots of updates.

Yea was just gonna try to start downloading it it get a head start. Im going to call the other gamestops near and with a stroke of luck the online inventory is wrong, and they have them there at the store. They open at 12:00which an  jhour away.  If they dont then Ill call my friend and give it a go. If I like it Ill just get the cd key online and Im good to go.

Originally posted by parrotpholk

Originally posted by bluegrazz

Originally posted by nickelpat

 I think it's the picky gamers who are damaging themselves. I love having my boxes too, but I really don't care that much. I buy a ton of stuff off STEAM because it's cheap and quick. That's where I had to buy FE because my local GameStop didn't have it.

In the end, you have to stop being "I have to have the box or I'm not getting it". When you do this you're only hurting yourself. As you said "By the time it gets here I won't be interested" and you'll miss out on an amazing game. I would recommend you bite the digital download bullet, go to Direct 2 Drive, Fallen Earth's site, or STEAM and download it. Or order it from GameStop, Amazon, Fallen Earth's Site, probably GoGamer too.

No, I don't think many loose customers, because big name games are usually available quite readily at GameStop or WalMart or offered through services like STEAM and D2D where many buy them.

 

I feel a bit ripped off by not being able to buy the box and being forced to go the Digital Download route... Buying the Box means I am helping to pay the salary of my Neighbors, the printers, the binders, the Truckers, etc.... Buying DD means I am paying the same amount and not helping to employ anyone but the corperation- I dont get a price break, they just get more profit.

I will buy DD (because I HAVE to) but it makes me wonder why I pay the same for them to merely use the electricity to process my credit card and send me an electronic copy of the game- No printing cost, no transport cost, no shelf space- AND (being an old timer) I have witnessed that Boxed copies of ALL games are growing smaller and smaller as DD takes hold (Yet prices are not coming down)

Steam is the biggest rip off in the world (I will never buy from Steam) but when I have to I will go the DD route (but as these corperations are become greedier and greedier I am close to giving up Online Gaming and just Torrenting the single player games- seriously) because very few people are benefiting off of DD, only profit margins AND I remember the 1980s when a PC store carried everything, niche and mainstream- Now they cant anymore? Why? Oh because it nets them more profit going DD.

I do somewhat agree with you. I do believe DD games should be a minimum 10 dollars cheaper. Me and my family have been fortunate to not suffer from the current economy but we still know the value of a dollar.  At the same time I see the other side in the case of a game like FE where it is a small company with limited resources and what will be a small niche audience. I dont think anyone believes we will have more thank maybe 150k subs although some are more optimistic than myself.  You can buy a hard copy off amazon for sure and some gamestops seem to have copies. The hard copy isnt going away but for small indie companies I think its all but extinct.

I too am fortunate to not have been hit hard by the financial mess- But many of my friends and family have... I also understand that smaller companies have smaller budgets (but also smaller overhead) and that excuse just spirals out of control (by not employing printers, binders, truckers, clerks- that just means less people able to buy your product that cost the same as a product that helps employ those people) so a discount for a digital download SHOULD be a given (more than $10 IMO) especialy with an MMO that will expect a monthly sub as well as purchase cost.

I remember back in the day when games had 200+ page manuals (high quality) cloth maps, etc... Now you get a .PDF inside the disk or get a link to an "online manual" but prices continue to rise. I know this isnt the point of this thread but in my Hometown a printer just shut down this week- A printer who employed 100's (many gamers I'm sure) who will now be drawing unemployment, welfare, whatever that we ALL are paying for... Well, since games dont have manuals anymore (and thus dont use printers)  why dosent the price come down?

Companies are outsourcing programers, artists, designers, developers etc. to India and China (no offence to those people) and no longer providin games except by DD (in many cases) and yet still expecting consumers to pay the same price. In my buisness (I dont outsource- Nor would I) when I find a way to save a buck I pass that savings on (nets me more buisness long term) but the trend in PC gaming seems to be no savings are ever passed on. Period. They will outsource, offer no boxed copy, online documentation but still want $50 dollars... Even Free trials are becoming a thing of the past.... Yet when we Pirate a game they scream "Foul- You are taking money from us"

Just a rant- but...

Originally posted by bluegrazz

Originally posted by nickelpat

 I think it's the picky gamers who are damaging themselves. I love having my boxes too, but I really don't care that much. I buy a ton of stuff off STEAM because it's cheap and quick. That's where I had to buy FE because my local GameStop didn't have it.

In the end, you have to stop being "I have to have the box or I'm not getting it". When you do this you're only hurting yourself. As you said "By the time it gets here I won't be interested" and you'll miss out on an amazing game. I would recommend you bite the digital download bullet, go to Direct 2 Drive, Fallen Earth's site, or STEAM and download it. Or order it from GameStop, Amazon, Fallen Earth's Site, probably GoGamer too.

No, I don't think many loose customers, because big name games are usually available quite readily at GameStop or WalMart or offered through services like STEAM and D2D where many buy them.

 

I feel a bit ripped off by not being able to buy the box and being forced to go the Digital Download route... Buying the Box means I am helping to pay the salary of my Neighbors, the printers, the binders, the Truckers, etc.... Buying DD means I am paying the same amount and not helping to employ anyone but the corperation- I dont get a price break, they just get more profit.

I will buy DD (because I HAVE to) but it makes me wonder why I pay the same for them to merely use the electricity to process my credit card and send me an electronic copy of the game- No printing cost, no transport cost, no shelf space- AND (being an old timer) I have witnessed that Boxed copies of ALL games are growing smaller and smaller as DD takes hold (Yet prices are not coming down)

Steam is the biggest rip off in the world (I will never buy from Steam) but when I have to I will go the DD route (but as these corperations are become greedier and greedier I am close to giving up Online Gaming and just Torrenting the single player games- seriously) because very few people are benefiting off of DD, only profit margins AND I remember the 1980s when a PC store carried everything, niche and mainstream- Now they cant anymore? Why? Oh because it nets them more profit going DD.

I'm not sure how STEAM is a ripoff, a lot of people say this and don't understand it completely. You don't HAVE to be online with STEAM to play, you can set it into offline. Which means, if the STEAM servers go down, you will lose any games you haven't DLed (as with any other DD service) but you will still be able to play the games in offline mode. But, this is not about Steam! :P

I love boxes, I went to GameStop for 3 days after the release to see if they had it in (the store is only 12 miles away from me), and when they didn't I bought it on Steam. Otherwise, I only DD games I REALLY want, GameStop doesn't carry, or if the DD is much cheaper. Such as D2D's 5 dollar sale or Steam's MASSIVE holiday sales.

I'm just saying, people need to be less anal retentive about getting the box, and if the DD is available get it if you want the game. Otherwise you must just want the box, and is that worth 50 bucks? If you want the game, buy it how it's available.

Originally posted by cichy1012

I live in Northwest arkansas, and I do live out in the country, while we have 2 best buys, and a few games stops all withing a 20 -30 min drive isnt bad, they still dont stock it. I can drive 92 miles to Olkahoma, but I prefer not to. I guess as someone posted, the trade off of country, might be worth it.

Hey another Arkansan, I grew up in Northwest Arkansas, I live near Conway, Arkansas now and it's no where to be found in any store. Even stores in Little Rock are not carring it. I would order it off of Amazon but I not really sure my 3800+ single core machine would play it or I would have it !

Originally posted by augustgrace

I did a search with gamestop and there are no stores within 100 miles that carry a physical box of Fallen Earth.  I think the OP best bet would be to order a box online. 

Fallen Earth would do better if they had boxes on shelves, but they are a small company that can't afford to buy shelf space.

Gamestop sells used games. If they can't sell it used, they don't like the carry it. Even with new console games they push pre-orders so hard so they only need to buy just enough for pre-orders and one or two extra people. 

Noting this, they hate carrying anything PC since there is no resale value on it for them. Which means unless it's a very very large store, they likely won't even carry one copy of a new PC release unless someone else happened to pre-order it. 

tl;dr: Gamestop sucks, PC gaming is mostly digital now, and you should go to BestBuy or something for your box copies.