Box? No Box?

[Nosuperiors_Damnfewequals]

After listening and reading, I get the impression that SA and everything to come is still up in the air about a box presence.

Come on Marketing, and Devs, get it together. If you make SA, and market it like you did ML, you might as well save your time and just release SA piecemeal to us.

No box, no impulse buy, no advertising...waste of time.
If WoW had been released as download only, do you seriously think it would have anywhere near the subscribers it does?

Is Warhammer gonna be a download only game? hmmm

And before I am told "ya can't box UO cause of the graphics" I am talking about SA and the SA client (assuming they get it right this time.)

So get off the fence, and go ahead and plan on putting some boxes out there!

 

[FrejaSP]

Why can't we have both?

I sure hope I can buy it without box just like ML as I live in Denmark and boxes are a pain to get to Denmark and very expensive too.
But we all know, boxes are needed to get new players and some just love to have the box.

 

[BartofCats]

they said at the townhall yesterday that there WILL BE a box... only if and when SA is ready to ship. Which means to me... it will be next september/october (if they are smart) or it will be out before that like say... just after E3 in feb/march. (probably smartest)

I would like to know if we are finally getting 10 char slots or not. LOL and how many orange soulstones we are getting, what new "ethy" that everyone can have and all the other goodies to make a bucket full of drool happen come with the pre-order.

 

[Eslake]

They didn't say there Will be a box, they said it was something they wanted to know from US.

I say box it. If it looks good enough to bother putting on a shelf at least.

That way you can put the new cloth map in it.


Having a download version at the same time is a problem.
Retailers won't stock something that the distributor/provider is also selling. Specially in cases such as this where buying a Code-Only from EA would likely be cheaper than the retail box.

So put the boxes (With the map!) on the shelves, and 3 months later start selling Upgrade-Only codes for a slightly reduced rate and without the box gifts.

 

[Mavar]

Why can't we have both?

I sure hope I can buy it without box just like ML as I live in Denmark and boxes are a pain to get to Denmark and very expensive too.
But we all know, boxes are needed to get new players and some just love to have the box.

Ditto.

 

[Doomsday Dragon]

I want a disc if I am paying for something I want a physical object for my money not to mention that I could use the bandwidth for something better like playing the game instead of downloading GBs worth of new material for it.

If your in a crap location where stores don't stock much just get online order it the same as you would the upgrade code and then wait for it to land on your front steps. Whats so hard about that? I pre-ordered SE from amazon because of my location.

 

[Dermott of LS]

...

I want a box as well, but I also want a method to buy the upgrade WITHOUT having to buy a physical copy as well.

Even with multiple accounts, you only really NEED one copy of the client.

That was one of the (many) mistakes I thought they made with LBR was forcing people to get physical copies for EACH account.

 

[FrejaSP]

If your in a crap location where stores don't stock much just get online order it the same as you would the upgrade code and then wait for it to land on your front steps. Whats so hard about that? I pre-ordered SE from amazon because of my location.

I don't want the box, I don't want the disk, I just want my upgrade to same price as all your US guys and same day.

If I order the box from US, it won't land on my front step, I have to pick it up somewhere and I have to pay twice the prize in taxes because I'm from outside US.

It was so great with SE, that I could get the upgrade just like all others. Why is that so hard to understand?

 

[Haddy G]

No box, no impulse buy, no advertising...waste of time.
If WoW had been released as download only, do you seriously think it would have anywhere near the subscribers it does?

Considering the Warcraft RTS games sold over 11 million worldwide, yeah WoW probably would have the subscribers it has without a box.

But I agree with you UO needs a box on the shelves, people who never heard of UO need to see a retail box with good graphics on the back. So I hope this new client coming works out.

 

[GAMBIT35]

They can't have a box because there just aren't enough players left who play UO to justify shipping it to EB Games and Wal-Marts around the country.

 

[Ailish]

I would say box in the US/Canada and DL overseas (DL that comes with the same or equal goodies that the box comes with). Also, upgrade codes on the website so people dont have to buy multiple boxes for their multiple accounts.

In 3 months add the DL for US/Canada.

 

[Juicy Fruit]

But someone will buy it none the less, if not to get home and say this game sucks, someone will buy if they pitch it right with good graphics.

 

[AesSedai]

Box? No Box?
- Sounds like a decision that will ultimately be made by EA marketing and nobody else.

How many might sell? Will enough be sold to even justify the big chain stores stocking it on their shelves?

How much more will it cost for a box v. a download? And will that additional cost dissuade people from buying it?

I don't see how the answer could be: both.
Because I don't see how it could be on many store shelves if less than 100,000 of the boxes were sold.
I get the feeling that 250,000+ would need to be a minimum target # of sales (wouldn't that mean about 100K in North America?), in order for the big chains to stock it in box form.

(How about if EA used some leverage and just put up some gargoyle cardboard advertisement for it in stores, complete with graphics and the usual teasers/enticers you see on boxes, & then informed potential customers to goto the website for more info. and the $xx download? You might lose plenty of impulse purchases, but it might be another way to get a store presence if the number-crunchers aren't persuaded well-enough to feel it is 'box-worthy'. Sure EA marketing you can swipe this public thought, see I like UO and see its potential; & you could hire me if the price is right, heh.)


So yeah, it is a matter of what the collective WE want. But I feel that the only reason it is a matter of what WE want is because there needs to be enough of a WE in order for it to be able to persuade EA marketing that it could be financially beneficial to put it on store shelves.

 

[Beefybone]

I get the feeling that 250,000+ would need to be a minimum target # of sales (wouldn't that mean about 100K in North America?), in order for the big chains to stock it in box form.

Please don't pull industry numbers out of your ass. If this were correct, there never would have been any UO boxes ever.

 

[AesSedai]

- Kind of like how they did with Mondain's Legacy (when subscriptions were under 250K worldwide)?
Granted, I did pull the numbers 'out of thin air', but, well, we're free to think what we like, right?

 

[Eslake]

What you say makes sense, but is relating to "retail for profit" where game boxes are "ratio to break even."

As unbelievable as it may sound, subscription games don't sell retail boxes to make a profit. At least not in the immediate sense.

They instead run a study (or ask marketing to make a wild guess ) to determine how many copies they are reasonably sure they will sell, and produce as many as that number of sales will cover the costs of.

A 2CD or 1DVD game with a manual and a few colorful screenshots and minor embossment runs about 10:1.
So if they are sure they will sell US 15,000 copies, they will make about 150,000 copies and hope that the gradual later sales of those beyond the 15k net new customers who will pay 3X as much in 1 month of subscription as they made selling the box. Not to mention gamecodes and powerup tokens.

 

[AesSedai]

- Great point. I kind of forget that EA has realized they stand to make a lot more money off of MMOs with their secondary incomes instead of just their initial box sales... my faux pas, I do believe I did simply fall back on the EA-Madden-method of income.

 

[Spellbound]

Think a box with cloth maps would be excellent. If they decide on no box, but only download version, please UPDATE the versions on the site as they change! Also why not piggyback offer trial UO:SA onto WHO's box/contents? Anything to get UO's name into the public eye will help garner more subs. Excluding UO from the Mythic website, difficulty getting token/upgrades, helping people having issues with starting a sub from the web, and reliable and up to date downloads for users are all things that should have been fixed eons ago.

 

[galefan2004]

I totally believe that they need to put a box out for this expansion. After the nightmare that was ML, there is no way I will ever buy another online expansion that is created by EA.

 

[galefan2004]

Why can't we have both?

I sure hope I can buy it without box just like ML as I live in Denmark and boxes are a pain to get to Denmark and very expensive too.
But we all know, boxes are needed to get new players and some just love to have the box.

It might be interesting to see if that is still the case because to my knowledge Mythic has a very good connection with Europe, and I don't remember hearing the same complaints about DAoC boxes as I did UO boxes (over the years).

 

[Richtor Darkbane]

They can't have a box because there just aren't enough players left who play UO to justify shipping it to EB Games and Wal-Marts around the country.

I live in a small city and wal-mart and EB both sold out of UO 9th Anniversary several times, I traveled to the closest large city and they also sold out, there is no trouble selling the boxes if they include in game gifts with the purchase.

I myself would prefer a box for sure! I think the marketing team needs to really get on top of things, I think a UO commercial on television wouldn't be bad (although expensive), it would peak alot of interest, and should really hit on the strengths of UO compared to it's competitor(s), real t-shirts as a vet reward that promote the game/expansion would rock. Free advertisement for them when vets wear the shirts. A better buddy referral system would also be nice, better rewards for referring a friend, such as possibly free play time if that person stays with the game for a certain amount of time, a choice of some unique in game rewards would be cool too.

But anyway yes BOX!

 

[xempathy]

I don't even find this to be a question. We all want a box on shelves. The question is whether to let people download it offline as well. The person from Denmark made a good point. But we definitely need boxes on at least SOME shelves. How else are you supposed to find all the new players that leave World of Suckcraft?

 

[Pawain]

I say do both.

Put a box in stores with a cloth map,a free 45 days plus a free advanced character code.

Put it on the web for download also. You just dont get the extras.

Make the box cost 10 bucks more if needed.

 

[MalagAste]

I must say I want BOTH..... Definitely GOT TO have a BOX on the shelves.... Need to have MORE advertisement than just a blurb on the EA website..... Need banners all over as well as need to put adds in some gaming magazines and such.....

Would be good to give new players some sort of incentive to plunk down the 12.99 a month on the game and NEED some sort of book help guide to go with it... Prima I belive it was used to offer a Guide book that was GREAT once upon a time.... would LOVE to have that again..... one that details things like the whole crafting system.... all the recipes quests and such.. Not just send them to websites that will get your account banned for mentioning.... REAL honest help for new players and old alike... one that tells folk WHERE to find some NPC's.... I recall my prima guide has usefull information in it such as what NPC's sell which items... so if your looking for say an NPC selling grapes or chess boards, or Hair dye.... you would know where to go. Since there are NO councilors anymore if we really WANT new players to come join UO then we MUST give some sort of assistance.. and for the love of god please do not say to use the UO website as that is a waste of time and we all know it...... finding information on there about anything game related is an effort in frustration much like wasting 2 hours of your game time paging a GM just to be told that they can't replace lost or stolen items when what you really wanted was for them to just come and re-deed the hanging skeleton in your closet.

Anyway... Please Box it. And don't botch it.

 

[Wynne]

I live in a small city and wal-mart and EB both sold out of UO 9th Anniversary several times, I traveled to the closest large city and they also sold out, there is no trouble selling the boxes if they include in game gifts with the purchase.

I myself would prefer a box for sure! I think the marketing team needs to really get on top of things, I think a UO commercial on television wouldn't be bad (although expensive), it would peak alot of interest, and should really hit on the strengths of UO compared to it's competitor(s), real t-shirts as a vet reward that promote the game/expansion would rock. Free advertisement for them when vets wear the shirts. A better buddy referral system would also be nice, better rewards for referring a friend, such as possibly free play time if that person stays with the game for a certain amount of time, a choice of some unique in game rewards would be cool too.

But anyway yes BOX!

I also had to drive around within 50 miles of my location to find a store that had any 9th Anniversary collection boxes left. I called several stores, and they were sold out and each said they were expecting a new shipment. I placed several boxes on hold for when they arrived. Then picked them up when they did arrive. Family members got me some as gifts, too, and they also had a hard time finding them for me.

I remember those stories from other people, too. Boxes sold out in the stores. I wonder what the final figures for the sales of the 9th anniv edition were, up to the time when the 'pre-order' rewards were turned off. I'd be very interested in knowing if the ninth anni collection created some financial income rather than a loss. The pre-order 'rewards' were a great incentive for long-term players, but new players would not know WHY the rewards were so important/special. That would be a great thing to add on the boxes, if there is a box: an indication of the immersive experience that is UO (and a bit about why the 'rewards' are specia... "You can be a rares collector, a treasure hunter, a mighty elven or human or gargish warrior, a travelling beggar, a thief, you can create and design your own home, you can meet and interact with thousands of other players throughout the world on one of {insert number of shards here} many persistent-state iterations." etc.

The New Haven quests are much more interesting than they had been before; the low level rewards are a nice start to helping out a new player in this item-based game. They also help the new player (AND vet player!) get a nice little boost to 50 points. It would be great if that information is in the box, too. Also a bit on skills and skill training, reputation and fame/karma titles, etc.

There's just so much to do in UO, and that fact needs to be imparted to the potential new player and make them as excited about UO as we all were when we first started....and as I am again after an almost two year hiatus from UO.

And yes, an upgrade code at the same time would be wonderful for those who cannot get the box so easily, or want to upgrade several accounts.

 

[GAMBIT35]

I also had to drive around within 50 miles of my location to find a store that had any 9th Anniversary collection boxes left. I called several stores, and they were sold out and each said they were expecting a new shipment. I placed several boxes on hold for when they arrived. Then picked them up when they did arrive. Family members got me some as gifts, too, and they also had a hard time finding them for me.

I remember those stories from other people, too. Boxes sold out in the stores. I wonder what the final figures for the sales of the 9th anniv edition were, up to the time when the 'pre-order' rewards were turned off. I'd be very interested in knowing if the ninth anni collection created some financial income rather than a loss. The pre-order 'rewards' were a great incentive for long-term players, but new players would not know WHY the rewards were so important/special. That would be a great thing to add on the boxes, if there is a box: an indication of the immersive experience that is UO (and a bit about why the 'rewards' are specia... "You can be a rares collector, a treasure hunter, a mighty elven or human or gargish warrior, a travelling beggar, a thief, you can create and design your own home, you can meet and interact with thousands of other players throughout the world on one of {insert number of shards here} many persistent-state iterations." etc.

The New Haven quests are much more interesting than they had been before; the low level rewards are a nice start to helping out a new player in this item-based game. They also help the new player (AND vet player!) get a nice little boost to 50 points. It would be great if that information is in the box, too. Also a bit on skills and skill training, reputation and fame/karma titles, etc.

There's just so much to do in UO, and that fact needs to be imparted to the potential new player and make them as excited about UO as we all were when we first started....and as I am again after an almost two year hiatus from UO.

And yes, an upgrade code at the same time would be wonderful for those who cannot get the box so easily, or want to upgrade several accounts.

If that is the case, then there would be no debate if they are going to put boxes or not.

 

[christy1221]

I would like to have both too.

 

[Lord Drakelord]

I hope it comes out in boxes at the stores, so many folks in the past when they see the game ask where they can get it, but when I tell them they can't unless they download, they all say something about dial up, or slow connection etc.. Tried to tell them about a file manager, but to most folks that is lost, 'zing over the head' when the 9th anniv came out, we purchased 4 boxes for the four accounts back then, have 5 accounts now.

 

[Lord Sir Scott]

No Box, there are still boxes from years ago on store shelfs...

 

[Lord Drakelord]

No Box, there are still boxes from years ago on store shelfs...

Like where do you live? There are no boxes here, been none since the 9th anniv was sold out.

 

[drinkbeerallday]

I wish they would market UO for what it is. A classic game with a unique feel and a great community that is unlike any other game out there.

It should be marketed to adults billed as a game that has 2 clients to accommodate owners of any PC sold within the last 10 years.

Also it requires less of a time commitment than World of Warcraft and other games and has small scale community/guild based PvP rather than boring 100 v 100 uber battles.

 

[christy1221]

Like where do you live? There are no boxes here, been none since the 9th anniv was sold out.

Nope none here either. I couldn't even find one at a store that is 2 hours away from where I live.

 

[Lord Sir Scott]

hehe i wont say, but i do travle a lot, and when i travel i keep my eye open for UO Boxs

Visit out of the way places, you would be suprised, i even know of a store that had about 20.... NMex hehe go figure i guess they dont play down south lol

 

[Lord Drakelord]

hehe i wont say, but i do travle a lot, and when i travel i keep my eye open for UO Boxs

Visit out of the way places, you would be suprised, i even know of a store that had about 20.... NMex hehe go figure i guess they dont play down south lol

Sad that places like that cannot just send them on up the chain so folks can purchase them. However most folks will not buy the 9th anniv unless they need the CDs since the rewards were turned off, not like the 8th anniv sets, if you fine one of those the codes were still good after 2-3 yrs for all those really nice tokens.

My wife took a trip to St Louie last yr, and found a 9th anniv box at one store there, thinking it was the set that had the code she purchased it, only to be told by me when she got home later that week that the code was no good any longer, but you still had the new player code on it. Now I told all my family members if they happen to see a 8th anniv box or UO.GOLD out there to grab them. As both have codes that are still good today.