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In this week's Five on Friday we cover purchasing the expansion, Stygian Abyss gargoyle conversion tokens, and housing in TerMur.



Click HERE to read the full article.



More...
 

IanJames

Certifiable
Alumni
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
So, no discount. . . .

Well count yourselves one upgrade from me instead of five.
 
V

Vaen Swiftar

Guest
Also since some have problems with the gamecodes store will we be able to order the upgrade codes via email or phone call to customer support?
Players will be able to purchase the expansion through the Official EA Store and through the UO Gamecode site. For players purchasing multiple copies we highly recommend using the EA Store as players will be able to purchase up to 5 copies per order.
-Adida
Who the hell is Adida?
 
W

woody_cats

Guest
so max number we can buy during the promotion is 5 well there goes the number of active accts i have lol . Refuse to pay for the accts can not upgrade even of willing to pay price. wow have at least 15 active accounts boy will i be saving money.
 

Shamus Turlough

Lore Master
Alumni
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
Wait... so we can cuss in game?

Please note that profanity itself is not prohibited, as Ultima Online is a teen rated game by the Entertainment Software Rating Board.
Color me informed...
 
C

Chrissay_

Guest
so max number we can buy during the promotion is 5 well there goes the number of active accts i have lol . Refuse to pay for the accts can not upgrade even of willing to pay price. wow have at least 15 active accounts boy will i be saving money.
It's not the maximum you can order it's per order. So if you have 7 accounts to upgrade you will make 2 orders with the EA store. One with 5 in your shopping cart and one with 2 in your shopping cart. It's just a maximum per order.
 

shanshu

Seasoned Veteran
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
I think I've decided not to purchase your expansion at this time. Too little, too late.
 

Odin of Europa

Slightly Crazed
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
UNLEASHED
It's not the maximum you can order it's per order. So if you have 7 accounts to upgrade you will make 2 orders with the EA store. One with 5 in your shopping cart and one with 2 in your shopping cart. It's just a maximum per order.
How about those people that don't have a credit card, how can they buy it? Will it be available on PayByCash?
 

Tina Small

Stratics Legend
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
Chrissay, a very common concern about the UO Gamecodes store that hasn't been addressed yet with regard to the EA store is whether or not it imposes a limit on the number of orders placed within a specific time frame. I believe the UO site restricts you to something like two orders within a 30 day period.

Does the EA store limit the number of orders you place with the same credit card and/or e-mail information within any particular time frame?
 
C

Chrissay_

Guest
How about those people that don't have a credit card, how can they buy it? Will it be available on PayByCash?
All of this information will be covered in the announcement. But, the alternative payment method for North America is the EA cash card for the EA Store. http://www.eacashcard.com.

They can be purchased at:
  • Walmart
  • Safeway
  • Toys R us
  • 7 Eleven

I believe pay by cash will be an option but as I said earlier all of the details will be available in the announcement.
 

Viper09

Grand Poobah
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
All of this information will be covered in the announcement. But, the alternative payment method for North America is the EA cash card for the EA Store. http://www.eacashcard.com.

They can be purchased at:
  • Walmart
  • Safeway
  • Toys R us
  • 7 Eleven

I believe pay by cash will be an option but as I said earlier all of the details will be available in the announcement.
7 Eleven? lol
 

Xalan Dementia

Slightly Crazed
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
remember ML combo pack wasnt offered right away. why would they want to lose money by having groups of people pool together and buy a combo of upgrades (thereby screwing ea out of money)? after the promo stuff ends then there may be a combo pack. I honestly dont see how anyone would have more than 2-3 accounts anyway.
 

Odin of Europa

Slightly Crazed
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
UNLEASHED
All of this information will be covered in the announcement. But, the alternative payment method for North America is the EA cash card for the EA Store. http://www.eacashcard.com.

They can be purchased at:
  • Walmart
  • Safeway
  • Toys R us
  • 7 Eleven

I believe pay by cash will be an option but as I said earlier all of the details will be available in the announcement.
Thanks Chrissay :)

I'm in the UK, but I have my payment method sorted, I was asking because I know other people were wondering about it.
 

RaDian FlGith

Babbling Loonie
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
Can you ask EA Marketing why they have chosen not to offer a 5-pack discount? The answer may determine whether I purchase even 1 upgrade.
 

RaDian FlGith

Babbling Loonie
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
remember ML combo pack wasnt offered right away. why would they want to lose money by having groups of people pool together and buy a combo of upgrades (thereby screwing ea out of money)? after the promo stuff ends then there may be a combo pack. I honestly dont see how anyone would have more than 2-3 accounts anyway.
The idea that anyone would "thereby [be] screwing ea out of money" is an interesting one given that a $29.99 digital upgrade that includes not one physical aspect to it (save the bits and bytes it occupies on my account as a "yes" or "no" flag in their database), I'd say there's an issue with approaching it in that manner.

And it couldn't have been very long after ML was released, because I know I purchased a multi-pack, and have a Charger of the Fallen for each of them; sort of implies it was during the initial sales period.

As for honestly not seeing how anyone would have more than 2-3 accounts anyway, it's pretty easy. You take a code, you assign it to a username, and you have another account. Some of us have either multiple personal accounts, or multiple family accounts -- I know the argument that each person should be responsible for their own account, but what if we're talking about a family where mother, father, child at college, and two children in high school are all playing UO? There are families where playing UO is an activity they enjoy doing and discussing -- much like my friend who plays WoW, and his wife plays WoW, and the three children are all in a hurry to grow up so that they too can play WoW.

It. Happens.
 

kittykat

Journeyman
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
Will the Gargoyle tokens we get to change our characters race be tradeable?
Yes they will be tradeable but you have to have to have an SA Entitled Account to use it.
-Mesanna
probably a dumb question...but if you use the token to change a char into a gargoyle, are they a gargoyle forever more? or can they find their human/elf heritage again? (lol - meaning, is there any way to turn back to human)
 

kittykat

Journeyman
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
And it couldn't have been very long after ML was released, because I know I purchased a multi-pack, and have a Charger of the Fallen for each of them; sort of implies it was during the initial sales period.
Like you, I bought a pack as well and have 5 chargers (hmm, in fact I think I have one left to claim) - and I'm pretty sure that I upgraded my main account(s) from that pack so I'm thinking it was right out of the gate that ML was offered in a 5 pack....but...I also seem to recall paying full price for that 5 pack. I *think* it was offered as a way for people to be able to get past the 2 limit in the uogamecodes store (which at that time only sold one or two items, so the only care for the limit was if you had more than 2 accounts, hence they came up with the 5 pack).

Least that's the way I remember it lol
 
Y

Yalp

Guest
I have questions regarding this question that was someone else's question....

Will the new Enhanced Client be fully released (out of beta) on September 8th along with the expansion?
The Enhanced Client will remain in a beta state when the expansion is launched. We don’t plan on calling it officially released until its truly ready
.

-Supreem

does that mean it will be release on Sept 8th, but it will still be buggy, but it will be open to all? Or does that mean just buy your codes on Sept 8th and when it's ready it will be released in a further announcement?
 

Xalan Dementia

Slightly Crazed
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
think about it,
you are selling apples at a dollar a piece, a group of 5 people come together and demand you sell them a pack of 5 apples for less than a dollar a piece. wouldnt you rather have that dollar per apple?
its called business
 

Xalan Dementia

Slightly Crazed
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
I have questions regarding this question that was someone else's question....

Will the new Enhanced Client be fully released (out of beta) on September 8th along with the expansion?
The Enhanced Client will remain in a beta state when the expansion is launched. We don’t plan on calling it officially released until its truly ready
.

-Supreem

does that mean it will be release on Sept 8th, but it will still be buggy, but it will be open to all? Or does that mean just buy your codes on Sept 8th and when it's ready it will be released in a further announcement?
they mean, the enhanced (3d-ish) client will still be in open beta like it is now. you can use it with sa or without, just like now. it will be considered out of beta when its finalized.
 
Y

Yalp

Guest
they mean, the enhanced (3d-ish) client will still be in open beta like it is now. you can use it with sa or without, just like now. it will be considered out of beta when its finalized.
grr.. head spins.. ok.. so the token is for the expansion, (lands. new skills etc) to be opened on Sept 8th. The SA client will be open beta (assuming, since it's closed now) but we will be able to access the new land in either client (after Sept 8th and provided we buy the token)? Do I have that right?
 

Viper09

Grand Poobah
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
grr.. head spins.. ok.. so the token is for the expansion, (lands. new skills etc) to be opened on Sept 8th. The SA client will be open beta (assuming, since it's closed now) but we will be able to access the new land in either client (after Sept 8th and provided we buy the token)? Do I have that right?
I believe that is spot-on. :)

Lands be open on the 8th and client still in open-beta.
 

Xalan Dementia

Slightly Crazed
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
SA content is in closed beta, the enhanced client is in open beta
so anyone can use the enhanced client now and after the 8th. tuesday morning you can log onto either client and access all the new stuff as long as you bought the expansion code.
 

Silverbird

Slightly Crazed
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
What is the proper procedure to insure the best results when putting in a harassment call?
Behavior that is always considered harassment includes derogatory and/or hateful comments that are sexual, racist, religious, or related to gender or creed. Origin has a zero tolerance policy towards harassment of this kind, as stated in our Terms of Service, and violation of the above can result in immediate and permanent account suspension on the first offense.
I wonder where this has been copied from. :D
 
M

Mitzlplik_SP

Guest
so max number we can buy during the promotion is 5 well there goes the number of active accts i have lol . Refuse to pay for the accts can not upgrade even of willing to pay price. wow have at least 15 active accounts boy will i be saving money.
5 Copies PER order. I don`t see where it says all you can buy is 5,that`d just be stupid.

IMO if you are someone with 15 accounts and can afford the $195 a month for that habit..... You CAN afford the money to upgrade them all,stop whinning.That goes for everybody crying about multiple accounts. You knew what ya was gettin into when you decided to become a full fledged addict.:coco:
 

Tina Small

Stratics Legend
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
grr.. head spins.. ok.. so the token is for the expansion, (lands. new skills etc) to be opened on Sept 8th. The SA client will be open beta (assuming, since it's closed now) but we will be able to access the new land in either client (after Sept 8th and provided we buy the token)? Do I have that right?
I think the code theoretically allows characters on your account to access the new content. However, this team is pretty sneaky and I have yet to see them do much that is truly cut and dried and doesn't have a twist to it. So don't assume immediately exercising and taking advantage of such access will be a piece of cake. (Refer to Draconi's post yesterday about house placement in Ter Mur as an example.)

And no, the beta testers aren't busy stockpiling a darn thing on their home shards to give them a jump on accessing expansion content. The ones I've been interacting with have been busy feeding Petra lots of info to post on Stratics as soon as she is allowed to do so.

I believe the tokens (not sure of quantity, thought I read the number 3 somewhere) are for the purpose of converting an existing human or elf character into a gargoyle instead of making a new one from scratch.
 

RaDian FlGith

Babbling Loonie
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
think about it,
you are selling apples at a dollar a piece, a group of 5 people come together and demand you sell them a pack of 5 apples for less than a dollar a piece. wouldnt you rather have that dollar per apple?
its called business
Please tell me you didn't just try to use this as a "business" example.

Okay, taking your same example, say you have 100 people willing to buy apples at a dollar a piece. You'll sell 100 apples, and make $100.

However, you know that you have about 25 people who will buy 5 apples for $4.75. You have enough apples to sell 400 apples, but you're fairly certain that today, you will only sell 100 apples -- one to each person. But if you reduce your price slightly, 25 people will buy 4 additional apples.

So your choices are:
1) Sell 100 apples at $1.00 each.
2) Sell 75 apples at $1.00 each, and 125 apples at $4.75 for 5.

Your resultant sales will be:
1) $100.00
2) $75.00 + $118.75 = $193.75

Now, yeah, you "lost" a quarter each sale of the 5-pack of apples, but you gained almost double the amount you would have had you insisted on selling them at $1.00 each.

THAT is called business, and it happens every day in America. Consider that there's no real reason for a store to offer a buy one, get one sale... I mean, wouldn't they rather have that money from the second one? Of course, people are lured in by special deals, and now, instead of buying one at some point in the future when you might need it (or maybe never buying it at all), you instead have two, but that store has your money.

I mean, simply flip open a Sunday newspaper... there are tons of specials that defy the logic of "Wouldn't you rather have that..."

And it's because marketing folks understand that you can make more money by creating inventive ways to attract your customers to buy them.

What does EA lose if they offered a 50% discount on that 5th upgrade, or even a 25% discount? Meaning that you would spend $119.96 on the first four clients, but that fifth one might only cost you $15.00 or $22.49. Yeah, by your argument, they've lost the rest of that money. But let's say I have 5 accounts... I KNOW that I only play 2 or 3 accounts, and the other two only hold houses (this means EA makes $12.99 a month on me for a square of pixels and a little data storage space; less bandwidth than a webpage view when I login to do something). Now, I'm probably only going to upgrade 2-3 accounts... the third is iffy... I maybe only play it rarely. So EA gets 2 confirmed sales out of me... $59.98... but let's say I give them that third sale... $89.97. Now, let's take a fictional 5-pack into consideration... and let's say I save 25% on that fifth upgrade... I'll spend $142.45 for five accounts. Why'm I doing it? Because if I do it with the 5-pack, I'll save just a little bit of money, so they've enticed me to say, "You know what? I'll go ahead and upgrade it now."

Now here's where the interesting part comes in... You could say that EA lost that $7.50 on the fifth account in "profit," but I can say that they gained $52.48 that they would have to bank on me eventually upgrading and spending (mind you, that they just gave everyone ML for free, there's got to be a number of accounts that did not make that final leap -- and I know for certain that some of them were mine). Here's the even more interesting part... EA doesn't "lose" anything. They aren't producing a box. They aren't losing something to a distrubutor. There's absolutely nothing physical or tangible here at all. Now, if UO's in such a state that "losing" $7.50 on a 5-pack sale will seriously impact UO's bottom line for development in the future... well... it's in a state worse than you or I might even consider. Because, again, that "loss" of $7.50 is actually a gain on what people would not otherwise be spending.

Business lesson over.
 

RaDian FlGith

Babbling Loonie
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
5 Copies PER order. I don`t see where it says all you can buy is 5,that`d just be stupid.

IMO if you are someone with 15 accounts and can afford the $195 a month for that habit..... You CAN afford the money to upgrade them all,stop whinning.That goes for everybody crying about multiple accounts. You knew what ya was gettin into when you decided to become a full fledged addict.:coco:
Err, anyone with 15 accounts is probably paying for them 6 months at a time, which means their habit is only $150 per month. Just because someone can afford to spend $150 per month in entertainment, it does not reason to follow that they can afford to spend $450 to upgrade those accounts (in case you're not following along, that means spending $600 in one month on entertainment).

You may consider requesting a multi-pack discount as whining. Me, I think on EA's part, it's good business practice. Because unless there are housing tiles in SA that this mysterious 15-account holder can't live without (unlikely), without that 5-pack discount, EA's never going to make 15 accounts worth of upgrades from that person. They might get quite a bit more out of that very same person if they do offer a discount.

People are funny creatures... they learn how to justify expenditures.
 
Z

Zodia

Guest
I don't know what to call you anymore! Chrissay is your first known name and your board name, now your FoF name is Adida.
Her name has been written in large letters in her sig as Chrissay "Adida" Zeeman in every post she has made in the last year. Try waking up and paying attention.
 
Z

Zodia

Guest
and you people with 15+ accounts or whatever need to STFU seriously.
 
C

Connor_Graham

Guest
probably a dumb question...but if you use the token to change a char into a gargoyle, are they a gargoyle forever more? or can they find their human/elf heritage again? (lol - meaning, is there any way to turn back to human)
That isn't a dumb question at all. I had the same thought myself, and would like to know the answer.
 

christy1221

Slightly Crazed
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
probably a dumb question...but if you use the token to change a char into a gargoyle, are they a gargoyle forever more? or can they find their human/elf heritage again? (lol - meaning, is there any way to turn back to human)
That isn't a dumb question at all. I had the same thought myself, and would like to know the answer.
I was wondering this too. Just in case I didn't like a certain character being a gargoyle I would like to be able to change them back.
 

Xalan Dementia

Slightly Crazed
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
Giving discounts for buying bulk is why big box stores are killing small business. thats the only true business lesson. Now stop the whole "give us the combo pack or we wont buy it at all" bs. buy it for your main account, if you see the need to add access to any other account then pay for it. you dont get a discount for bulk monthly subscription so ya dont need a discount for upgrading them. end of discussion
 

MalagAste

Belaern d'Zhaunil
Alumni
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
UNLEASHED
Campaign Supporter
At this point.... me and my 8 accounts are thinking.... Hum... spend nearly 200 bucks on upgrades... or... just say I think I've had enough?

With the "community" nearly gone, everyone who's left concerned more about getting the "prize" or some big money item than about the game, having a good time, building a community.... more are interested only in themselves...

I'm growing to the point where even I barely log in and when I do often times I am not sure what to do... I don't want to play a solo game... I want the "community" back that made things "fun".... The friends...

You know I was in Beta and I tested one thing.... housing... but they weren't very concerned about my opinions on the matter. The housing wasn't important to them.... though it makes up probably 75 % or more of my gameplay... and it's very important to me.. the customer.

I look around and I'm a bit tired of being called a "Trammy" or a "Carebear" because I refuse to cheat to play... I refuse to run scripts... I refuse to run hacks... I want to play by skill... not machine.

Call me a Trammy if you want... But I have PvPed... not like it is "foreign" to me.... and not like it's something that I am "ascared" to do...

But to be told by a higher up in the DEV team that they are going to force the carebears into fel...

Forget it. Kinda like I'm not forced to buy a single copy of SA. At this point I am a bit underimpressed with SA. Sure there are some nifty things... but for the most part... seems like more expense than it will bring back in entertainment.

I certainly hope that their marketing does consider giving a "discount" to a 5 pack... because I'll put it this way... I have 7 character slots on every account, every single one of my accounts is upgraded through ML (which I PAID to do) and every one of them reaps the benefits of increased storage... But at 30 bucks for one lousy code that just "turns on" some access to a new land that I am not real jazzed about .... I think I can find something else for my 200 bucks... infact... I may just close up and find something else to do with that other 100+ bucks a month....

And before you ask.... No you can't have my "stuff".

Every day I'm becoming less and less interested in SA.
 

christy1221

Slightly Crazed
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
Giving discounts for buying bulk is why big box stores are killing small business. thats the only true business lesson. Now stop the whole "give us the combo pack or we wont buy it at all" bs. buy it for your main account, if you see the need to add access to any other account then pay for it. you dont get a discount for bulk monthly subscription so ya dont need a discount for upgrading them. end of discussion
That's just your opinion. But they are going to lose money doing it this way because a lot of people won't buy as many.
 

sablestorm

Babbling Loonie
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
Can anyone verify that if I get the more expensive version, I'll get both an account upgrade and a new SA account code?
 
A

altarego

Guest
Seriously, most of the people with "multiple accounts" are really just groups of friends/guilds/scripters/businesses, etc. who aren't even remotely connected with each other financially.

Why should they get special dispensation that individual account-holders can't get? How would you be able to tell a legit family with 5 accounts from a gold farming business with 5 accounts?

The example given above is basic econ 101, but isn't generally applicable to perpetual recurring charges that aren't tied somehow to a particular consumer or household of consumers - unlike, say, cell phone charges. In the end, by lowering the price for a privileged group of consumers, you wouldn't actually be getting them to buy any more product than they otherwise would at the regular price. That logic would only work if your 5 account household suddenly had an incentive to move to 6 accounts, based on the lower price. Get it?

If you decide that you'll only upgrade 3 out of your 5 accounts because of a lack of discount, EA hasn't really lost any money.
 

Tina Small

Stratics Legend
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
Can anyone verify that if I get the more expensive version, I'll get both an account upgrade and a new SA account code?
I've read nothing so far that mentions buying a code to set up a new account. I think the $39.99 option buys you the account upgrade and 30 days of game time, which you presumably can use on any account you want.
 

RaDian FlGith

Babbling Loonie
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
Giving discounts for buying bulk is why big box stores are killing small business. thats the only true business lesson. Now stop the whole "give us the combo pack or we wont buy it at all" bs. buy it for your main account, if you see the need to add access to any other account then pay for it. you dont get a discount for bulk monthly subscription so ya dont need a discount for upgrading them. end of discussion
Interesting, if narrow-minded, opinion. I didn't say "give us or we won't buy at all." I defy you to show me anything similar in my post. My claim is that there will be LESSER sales, not NO sales.

I don't get a discount for bulk monthly subscription? Really? Check again. I pay for 6 months at a time on several of my accounts; it doesn't cost me $12.99 to do so.

Your silly response that buying bulk is what is killing small business is ludicrous. First off, buying bulk occurs in many areas in life; it's akin to what labor costs. For instance, if you go to a printer (ie: someone who prints stuff), and ask him to print 50 posters, you'll find that there's barely a difference in cost between 50 posters and 500 posters... and yet, by printing 500 posters, your per cost value will be significantly cheaper (thus you could sell more of the posters at less of a cost and still make more money on it than had you just printed 50 posters).

I suppose you're probably an armchair economist, but maybe you should know something about what you're talking about before you start slathering posts about as if they're fact.
 

RaDian FlGith

Babbling Loonie
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
I've read nothing so far that mentions buying a code to set up a new account. I think the $39.99 option buys you the account upgrade and 30 days of game time, which you presumably can use on any account you want.
The $39.99 option is for new accounts (ie: owns no UO account at all), and includes 30 days of play time like any new account.

The $29.99 is only the upgrade code.

The 30 days of play time will not apply to an existing account.
 
C

Chrissay_

Guest
I've read nothing so far that mentions buying a code to set up a new account. I think the $39.99 option buys you the account upgrade and 30 days of game time, which you presumably can use on any account you want.
Incorrect. This is for a NEW account only. This DOESN'T provide a 30 day game time code with it. It works like purchasing any MMO for the first time.
 

sablestorm

Babbling Loonie
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
Incorrect. This is for a NEW account only. This DOESN'T provide a 30 day game time code with it. It works like purchasing any MMO for the first time.
So if I wanted both an upgrade and new account code, I've have to spend $70 and buy both options or does the more expensive option include both an upgrade and new account code?

Oh and when we bought previous versions of UO with their new account codes, those all came with 30 days free. Some even came with 45 days free so people who purchased UO for the first time by buying, let's say the 9th Anniversary Edition, would not have been charged account fees for those first 30 days.
 
Z

Zyron

Guest
think about it,
you are selling apples at a dollar a piece, a group of 5 people come together and demand you sell them a pack of 5 apples for less than a dollar a piece. wouldnt you rather have that dollar per apple?
its called business
Please tell me you didn't just try to use this as a "business" example.

Okay, taking your same example, say you have 100 people willing to buy apples at a dollar a piece. You'll sell 100 apples, and make $100.

However, you know that you have about 25 people who will buy 5 apples for $4.75. You have enough apples to sell 400 apples, but you're fairly certain that today, you will only sell 100 apples -- one to each person. But if you reduce your price slightly, 25 people will buy 4 additional apples.

So your choices are:
1) Sell 100 apples at $1.00 each.
2) Sell 75 apples at $1.00 each, and 125 apples at $4.75 for 5.

Your resultant sales will be:
1) $100.00
2) $75.00 + $118.75 = $193.75

Now, yeah, you "lost" a quarter each sale of the 5-pack of apples, but you gained almost double the amount you would have had you insisted on selling them at $1.00 each.

THAT is called business, and it happens every day in America. Consider that there's no real reason for a store to offer a buy one, get one sale... I mean, wouldn't they rather have that money from the second one? Of course, people are lured in by special deals, and now, instead of buying one at some point in the future when you might need it (or maybe never buying it at all), you instead have two, but that store has your money.

I mean, simply flip open a Sunday newspaper... there are tons of specials that defy the logic of "Wouldn't you rather have that..."

And it's because marketing folks understand that you can make more money by creating inventive ways to attract your customers to buy them.

What does EA lose if they offered a 50% discount on that 5th upgrade, or even a 25% discount? Meaning that you would spend $119.96 on the first four clients, but that fifth one might only cost you $15.00 or $22.49. Yeah, by your argument, they've lost the rest of that money. But let's say I have 5 accounts... I KNOW that I only play 2 or 3 accounts, and the other two only hold houses (this means EA makes $12.99 a month on me for a square of pixels and a little data storage space; less bandwidth than a webpage view when I login to do something). Now, I'm probably only going to upgrade 2-3 accounts... the third is iffy... I maybe only play it rarely. So EA gets 2 confirmed sales out of me... $59.98... but let's say I give them that third sale... $89.97. Now, let's take a fictional 5-pack into consideration... and let's say I save 25% on that fifth upgrade... I'll spend $142.45 for five accounts. Why'm I doing it? Because if I do it with the 5-pack, I'll save just a little bit of money, so they've enticed me to say, "You know what? I'll go ahead and upgrade it now."

Now here's where the interesting part comes in... You could say that EA lost that $7.50 on the fifth account in "profit," but I can say that they gained $52.48 that they would have to bank on me eventually upgrading and spending (mind you, that they just gave everyone ML for free, there's got to be a number of accounts that did not make that final leap -- and I know for certain that some of them were mine). Here's the even more interesting part... EA doesn't "lose" anything. They aren't producing a box. They aren't losing something to a distrubutor. There's absolutely nothing physical or tangible here at all. Now, if UO's in such a state that "losing" $7.50 on a 5-pack sale will seriously impact UO's bottom line for development in the future... well... it's in a state worse than you or I might even consider. Because, again, that "loss" of $7.50 is actually a gain on what people would not otherwise be spending.

Business lesson over.


Person who that was to just got rediculously pwned

hang your head in embarassment
 
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