Arnir -> RE: No Box/Manual a mistake? (7/16/2004 1:53:40 AM)
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While I don't have a problem with the DD, the situation can be ironic when viewed in certain ways. This isn't a slam on Matrix, just observing the market place. And I'm in a creative mood. <G> Imagine the scene: July 1, 2004. You go into your car dealer: I want to buy the new Pontiac/Porche/Plymouth WTP model. Yes, sir. It's only $45000. What, that's more than I've paid for a car like this in years. Yes, sir, but this is quite a car and it is worth the price. A value if not a bargain, sir. (Add sounds of other customers belittling those who don't like the price). I see your point, okay I'll take one. Great, sir. This way to sign the paperwork. Oh, by the way, where is your truck, sir? Truck? What truck? Well, sir. The PPP WTP is prepackaged for easy assembly. What?!? Yes, sir. The PPP WTP is sent to you prepackaged to make things more efficient for the customer. Huh? This way, sir, you don't have to wait for the factory to acually assemble the vehicle for you. Shaves off a full day and a half sir for you to get this delight into your garage. But, but, how do I assemble it? Really, sir, you can't tell me that you don't have the knowledge and tools to build a car that comes with instructions? Really, sir, cars have been around for over a century. But, but... If you can't do it yourself, then surely you have a friend or two that can do it for you? But, but... Well, sir, I can tell that you and this car belong together. No customer leaves our dealership unhappy. For only $5850 we can assemble the car for you. What? You want more for the car and then want to charge me over another 10% to deliver it in the condition everyone else delivers a car in? Well, sir, you must understand that assembly costs money and this car is such a value. Well, you do have a point. And I really do want this car. Excellent, right this way, sir. Well, my friend has a flatbed that I can pick the car up with. A flatbed, sir? I'm sorry sir, but our access road doesn't handle trucks like that. What?... Okay, this is not a one to one comparison obviously. I understand the .pdf manual especially seeing how much printers charge for a color page. (I know it would be less en masse). I even understand (and like) the DD system. But I really think customers should have the choice of ordering the physical disk and not getting the DD for the same price as DD. If they want both, I can see paying for both. But $10 for a cheap CD (w/o even a fancy game label?) some sort of disk sleeve or jewel case and then shipping & handling? Seems a tad bit excessive. But, Matrix can charge what the market will bear. None of us has a "right" to the game. Either we buy it or not. I do like not having to have the CD in the drive. However, I can fully understand the dissatisfaction of those who feel unhappy with having to DL the product and burn their own disk (often not as reliable as a commericial product burn) for a price higher than many of these people have ever paid. (And for some customers, the glory of dealing with Digital River). And then to be asked to pay around 14% more for a CD? I chose to DL and burn my own CD. Not a big deal for me now that I have a cable modem. A year ago it wouldn't have been an option. I didn't buy the CD because it didn't make sense for me. I'm happy with the game. It is a niche product and I'm interested in the subject. If a new WiR comes out at the same price, I won't be buying it. Don't care enough about the subject. No biggie. Having people belittle those who aren't happy with the price (which happened before release and after release) is not productive. A buddy with a burner is nice but how many people are supposed to be involved in buying a computer game? My point is that is shouldn't be that hard to understand those upset or not buying because of the situation. Oh, one other note, I wish I could alt-tab between the game and the manual. The game suffers graphics corruption if I do that while it is processing a turn. I set my laptop up so I could "multitask" that way. [:)] Before the flame throwers come out: I bought the game. I'm happy with it. I also know that none -NONE- none of my gaming buddies will ever buy this game and play it with me because of the price (and that we don't pirate games). Oh, btw, I did want to point out that I do know that some exclusive cars (kits) come exactly this way. [:)]
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