Planetary Annihilation Beta for $40! (Today only)

Just to add a bit of perspective here - do any of the people complaining about the price drop get annoyed at Valve during their Steam sales? Because it's the same concept - price drops are unannounced beforehand, you might end up paying 3x what you needed to if the game goes on sale the following day.

Personally I'm glad to get some more publicity for PA and to get some more players into the game!

Also - I'd wager that none of you have any knowledge of marketing. Uber are, at the end of the day, a business, and need to market to make PA as profitable as possible.

It would probably even out a bit if the "sale" purchases didn't get the other bonuses like special commander and orchestral soundtrack. Is that the case?
I'm not too bothered, I mean, I can accept that sales will happen. I can understand where people would be miffed if they paid the exact same price 24 hours earlier and NOT get into beta...c'est la vie, I guess!

Remember, people, first world problems!

@Uber: When will be the deadline in CET (GMT +1)?

Some of you misunderstand the thing. Steam sales give the games cheaper - after they release. It's like you pay for ready product, and sale gives it cheaper. Here we are talking about people who preordered the game (NOT from kickstarter but from the developer) and paid 40$. Now someone who didn't wait that long gets more for same price before release. You say it's OK because of charity, but you miss the whole point. You don't preorder the game half year before release to pay more and get less than a month before release. I would most likely wait and not preorder at all till this sale so I could get beta, help charity, don't care about game development at all and get the preorder goodies. Where is the point of preordering early? Sales can happen and they will ofc, but to make a sale before release is like telling all the people who paid the same and get less to not support your products because their input is not respected.

Edit: Nothing against the whole sale, but make all that wait worthy for people who invested the same value in development.

Imagine if Kickstarted wasnt 20$ for copy but 60$, then after kickstarter you could get it for 40$ and 3 days before release for 20$ and still get all the bonuses. It ruins the idea of preordering and backing, takes away they joy etc. As someone said before - for faith you shall be rewarded, and now people who did not anticipate the game as much get more.

I agree that it is a bit of a problem. Usually sales give you a lower price at the cost of not having the product until the sale. So if you buy the game at release it may cost $40 while 2 months later there could be a sale for $20. This is fine, people understand that the lower cost comes at the price of not having the game for those 2 months.

I think most people can also understand sales for exactly the same product. Preordering has been expensive in the past but could get cheaper closer to the release date. The game itself may be cheaper on the release date (I don't know) so while the preorderers paid more than the release-date-purchaser they have both bought exactly the same thing. Some people have had issues with this in the past but mostly I think that the preorderers understand that they are backers so it's ok for them to pay more for exactly the same thing.

This case is distinct from the previous two cases in that the people who held off on their purchase are actually 'rewarded' for doing so. They don't receive the product later or at the same time as the backers, they receive it earlier. Of course Uber can say "It's my product I can do what I want" but it doesn't exactly make people trust them.

The silly thing is that I doubt there would be this much hubbub if the Humble Bundle price was slightly more than the preorder price. Say it costs $45, that is an insignificant difference but I think it would be enough of a difference for people to perceive a payoff.

Making it sell for 45-50$ would make a difference or take the bonus preorder goodies away. There needs to be something to distinguish people who backed the game 6 months before release and people who get it through sale.

Dear,

I currently "own" a retail-only key. However after the humble bundle "promotion". I was wondering if I can upgrade my retail-key with the beta-upgrade via the humble bundle. Or will it be 2 seperate keys?

thanks for answering. I did browse through the topic but could not find a similar question. Thank you for answering!

You keep your retail key, you pay 40$ for another key that gives you equivalent of Warfare edition of the game preorder.

I think, in fairness, GoogleFrog makes a good point. The people taking advantage of this sale are getting bonuses that usually people who wait for a month or so POST release get. That doesn't seem like a particularly logical pre-release strategy, even if it attracts new customers. You will just build resentment in the existing fan base, which is never fun. It's also a somewhat damaging approach to just say "there will be sales, deal with it" (which I also said, myself, and have since reflected upon) and take a very laissez faire stance on it all.
It's not going to stop me playing the game and enjoying it, or indeed following UBER, but it rather hurts, given that I just pre-ordered a $40 key for my friend and am now missing out on enjoying BETA with him. It adds an element of unease which didn't exist before.

I DGAF what they do to promote the game if it's going to help them produce a better final produce then go for it.

Actually it should look like this

I can emphasize with people but they made a decision and their going to have to accept that choice as well as Uber. Hey look on the bright side they donate some money to charity and the player base grows.

Hey I would like my money to be spent same way but I wasn't told there will be a chance, since I was sure I get best deal for the price. And no, I don't need a second copy of the game.

I think a few people explained things pretty well after you posted, but just to add a bit of perspective here - Let's compare what's going on here so it's clear.

Valve:

1. Lists games for pre-order at full price.
2. Waits for the release date to pass.
3. Lowers the price of the same game AFTER the release date.

Furthermore, they allow you to cancel your pre-order so you can switch if any charity sales come up.

UberNet:

1. Lists a game for pre-order on their website for $40 several months in advance.
2. Lists the same game for $40 + the ability to donate to a charity as part of the purchase + Early access while the Beta is going on, nearly a month before release.
3. Waits for the release date to pass.

Furthermore, they don't allow you to cancel your pre-order, so if a charity sale comes up you can't switch.

It's a pretty big difference.

Yep, same here.

And what value do you place on the significant marketing potential this deal has for Uber? More people backing the game before release = more flexibility for them to make it. Don't forget, PA is being built on a fraction of the budget of your usual RTS game, and every extra sale at this point allows them that little bit more flexibility to make sure that the game they release is as bug-free, feature-packed and awesome as possible.

There is no way they could have known about this sale when pricing their Kickstarter pledges or indeed release pre-orders. They were given this opportunity and seized it by the horns, as well they should. They'd have been daft not to.

No one tells not to use the opportunity, we just tell to respect people who paid the same amount for the game months ago thinking they spent their money best possible way. Now a new way opened with more benefits and you can't switch to it. This is what hurts.

I think you're missing the issue here. Nobody is against Uber having this sale. Nobody is against them having the sale at $40 just like it is right now. Nobody is arguing against the marketing benefit, or the publicity benefit, or the additional funds for the game.

The issue here is that those who decided to pre-order the game for $40 a few months ago (not part of the kickstarter) feel undercut by this. The $60 pre-orders and the kickstarter pre-order folks don't care because they've been in the beta for several months already. Their pre-orders and kickstarter backings benefit them because they had the foresight and the passion to put their money up front early. Early supporters get benefits. That's how it works.

That's not the case for people who pre-ordered at $40. Because of this sale, there was NO benefit to pre-ordering at the $40 level. None. In fact the $40 pre-order had a negative impact by locking in your funds so you can't contribute those funds to the charity if you want to.

Again. The sale is a great idea, it will help a lot of people who really need it, and it helps the game. Win win. I agree.

People just feel screwed because they put their $40 up front early to support the game, to support the direction, and it came back to bite them in the end because their support was ultimately meaningless and did not benefit them. It actually hurt them.

As I've said before, the lesson here is to never pre-order anything. Usually the downside of pre-ordering is that the game ends up being terrible. At least in this case it just means you have to wait an extra month to get into the game. I think the game will still be good.

I think here we have the crux of the problem. Completely different mindsets.

EDIT: To clarify, I've bought two beta keys in the last fortnight. That means I'm 'out' about $40 as a result of this. I've as much right as anyone to be complaining about this if I so chose.

How is this support ultimately meaningless? How did they get no benefits? How does it actually hurt?