Preorder?

[vovan]

I'm sure this has been asked before, but couldn't find anything with "search...

I couldn't locate this on Amazon. Which seems kind of odd, being how the game is going to be out in a month. Any idea why that is the case, and whether Amazon is going to actually carry the game at some point?

[Niptium]

You can always preorder from EB Games : http://www.ebgames.com/Catalog/Produ...oduct_id=72365

[vovan]

That's true. It just struck me as strange that amazon didn't have it, is all. They've been extremely good with pre-orders lately, so I've mostly been pre-oredring there. I remember back when I pre-ordered civ3 with them, the game didn't even ship until a week after the release, which was a bit disappointing. OTOH, Civ:Revolution I got my hands on the day it was released, because they shipped it in advance. And that's been the case with a few other games lately. Don't know if eb and other online outlets have the same delivery speed.

[Niptium]

It's a matter of days to me... Just wait. I do think they'll make it available to pre-orders soon though...

But isn't there a store from which you can buy games and if you have followed Apolyton's link, the site will receive some part of the profits ?

[vovan]

Originally posted by Niptium
But isn't there a store from which you can buy games and if you have followed Apolyton's link, the site will receive some part of the profits ?

Is there one these days? I don't know... I know they used to have amazon affiliate links, and I bought a bunch of stuff through those, even not civ-related, to help out poly. But I think these were removed, and at a glance I don't see any similar links at the moment.

EDIT: Well, there is an amazon link for civ:rev, but yeah, that's no good in this case...

[Niptium]

Well in this case it's up to Take2 Interactive to make sure that their distributor know in advance of Colonization's upcoming release... Why it's not available is beyond me.

[snoopy369]

I will be counting on the good folks at Direct2Drive to provide me with my copy... DVD/CD distribution is so 2005

[snoopy369]

Originally posted by vovan


Is there one these days? I don't know... I know they used to have amazon affiliate links, and I bought a bunch of stuff through those, even not civ-related, to help out poly. But I think these were removed, and at a glance I don't see any similar links at the moment.

EDIT: Well, there is an amazon link for civ:rev, but yeah, that's no good in this case...

There will be a Civ4:Col link as soon as we have a product to link to.

[vovan]

Originally posted by snoopy369
I will be counting on the good folks at Direct2Drive to provide me with my copy... DVD/CD distribution is so 2005

I guess... I like having something tangible though. I am permanently paranoid about my hard-drive dying and D2D not being there to let me re-download. Or something.

Originally posted by snoopy369
There will be a Civ4:Col link as soon as we have a product to link to.

Ah. Good. So Amazon is just slow on the uptake with this one then. OK.

[yin26]

Originally posted by snoopy369
I will be counting on the good folks at Direct2Drive to provide me with my copy... DVD/CD distribution is so 2005

My problem with D2D is that a separate patch version always seems to be needed to patch the D2D game. Sometimes this takes weeks and weeks...if at all! Also, D2D games tend to charge full prices for the "luxury" of the download I guess?

That aside, I think on-line delivery will become the default in years to come. The advantages include taking the brick and mortar reseller (and their markup) out of the price point; the ability to redownload the game should you have a new computer or a crash, etc.; better for the environment (no game box, plastic CD holder, the CD itself, etc.); and in theory any way potential better patch support, though that hasn't panned out yet.

Brad Wardell at Stardock is doing this with Impulse. Have you seen that yet? It's still buggy, but some nice ideas.

[Niptium]

I have bought BTS via D2D but I regret it. First, we are more than one computer sharing 30 GB of download per month - so downloading a nearly 2GB expansion from D2D isn't the greatest. And then, there is a limit of times you can unlock the game (when reinstalling) and if you have run out - like I did - you have to ask for more activation licenses from the D2D customer service and that takes 1-2 days. Besides, downloading 2GB takes quite some time...

[snoopy369]

Originally posted by yin26

My problem with D2D is that a separate patch version always seems to be needed to patch the D2D game. Sometimes this takes weeks and weeks...if at all! Also, D2D games tend to charge full prices for the "luxury" of the download I guess?

That aside, I think on-line delivery will become the default in years to come. The advantages include taking the brick and mortar reseller (and their markup) out of the price point; the ability to redownload the game should you have a new computer or a crash, etc.; better for the environment (no game box, plastic CD holder, the CD itself, etc.); and in theory any way potential better patch support, though that hasn't panned out yet.

Brad Wardell at Stardock is doing this with Impulse. Have you seen that yet? It's still buggy, but some nice ideas.

This has never been the case with Civ4. Every single patch has come out within a day of the retail patch, and for the last three it has come out sooner than the 'official' (2kgames.com) release. I think this is manufacturer specific, and while some folks don't prioritize D2D getting the patch info, 2KGames (or at least firaxis) seems very good at it.

I do think the pricing structure needs to be looked at eventually, but I think it's unrealistic to expect it to be cheaper in the short term (as it is not a big enough model yet to realize significant cost saving). It certainly should be cheaper, eventually, and probably not that far down the road, I'd think. I don't think it's a reason to choose retail over D2D, however - just not a reason to choose D2D over Retail, either, unless you live in Chicago and have a 10.75% sales tax

[snoopy369]

Originally posted by Niptium
I have bought BTS via D2D but I regret it. First, we are more than one computer sharing 30 GB of download per month - so downloading a nearly 2GB expansion from D2D isn't the greatest. And then, there is a limit of times you can unlock the game (when reinstalling) and if you have run out - like I did - you have to ask for more activation licenses from the D2D customer service and that takes 1-2 days. Besides, downloading 2GB takes quite some time...

True, but for 99.9% of users this never comes into effect; the limit is 3, and most users don't install a game on a single computer more than three times. I've not had this problem once...

Sorry to hear you have a 30GB download limit, that of course is a more significant factor in any download ... get a better ISP

[doron]

Amazon has it now for 29.99 - http://www.amazon.com/Sid-Meiers-Civ...0835475&sr=8-1

[vovan]

Sweet. Thanks for the heads-up, doron!