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Looks like I was right when this was first brought up about the preorder stuff, Bioshock Infinite.
Only 2k games I don't own are the sports ones, oh well :(

Originally Posted by Triggerhappy14 So it is Bioshock Infinite then? Awesome! Now I know to wait to preorder.

Not sure why you'd wait to pre-order...but you're welcome .

Cheers,
Tony

It's a conundrum for me. On one hand, I'm much more likely to buy with a little something-something up front to play with. On the other, I realize the potential for abuse.

But then I don't know what else Take 2 has in their catalog that I might want so maybe it's a moot point.

I think people are missing the important point here. He said we'd have a sale on the publisher's games to go with the first $15 credit. Then another sale again after release for the release of the other $15 credit.

Now you're convincing him to go with a $30 credit AFTER. Which means we'll get one less sale and the sale won't be as good to make using that $30 credit not go as far. That was the point in splitting the credit up. So we couldn't spend it all at once on any one game. We'd put more of our own money toward the on-sale game. Now... it'll be $30, which would pay for most games even non-sale. Sooo... they'll be far less likely to go along with a sale plus that credit.

Thanks, guys. We can't EVER have anything nice because of you worrywarts worrying over hypothetical abusers of a hypothetical system.

Originally Posted by HisDivineShadow I think people are missing the important point here. He said we'd have a sale on the publisher's games to go with the first $15 credit. Then another sale again after release for the release of the other $15 credit. Now you're convincing him to go with a $30 credit AFTER. Which means we'll get one less sale and the sale won't be as good to make using that $30 credit not go as far. That was the point in splitting the credit up. So we couldn't spend it all at once on any one game. We'd put more of our own money toward the on-sale game. Now... it'll be $30, which would pay for most games even non-sale. Sooo... they'll be far less likely to go along with a sale plus that credit. Thanks, guys. We can't EVER have anything nice because of you worrywarts worrying over hypothetical abusers of a hypothetical system.

Meh, I'd think for any of us $25 off the pre-order is better than any combination of $30 in credit for 2K games. Can you name one or two other 2K games you would buy now after the Xmas sales?

I also think we are better off in the long term if Tony's deals aren't spoiled by abuse.

Originally Posted by HisDivineShadow I think people are missing the important point here. He said we'd have a sale on the publisher's games to go with the first $15 credit. Then another sale again after release for the release of the other $15 credit. Now you're convincing him to go with a $30 credit AFTER. Which means we'll get one less sale and the sale won't be as good to make using that $30 credit not go as far. That was the point in splitting the credit up. So we couldn't spend it all at once on any one game. We'd put more of our own money toward the on-sale game. Now... it'll be $30, which would pay for most games even non-sale. Sooo... they'll be far less likely to go along with a sale plus that credit. Thanks, guys. We can't EVER have anything nice because of you worrywarts worrying over hypothetical abusers of a hypothetical system.

Originally Posted by asheskitty Meh, I'd think for any of us $25 off the pre-order is better than any combination of $30 in credit for 2K games. Can you name one or two other 2K games you would buy now after the Xmas sales? I also think we are better off in the long term if Tony's deals aren't spoiled by abuse.

Exactly what asheskitty said.
Honestly, 2K stuff has been on sale in bundles so much I would honestly be surprised if people here doing have 90% of what they wanted from them. The only games I can even see people caring about are Borderlands 2 and the new Xcom just because 50% off has been their lowest price around most places iirc.

Civ 4-5
The Darkness 2
Spec Ops The Line
Mafia 2
Borderlands
NBA 2k
MLB 2k

Those are the other games they have besides the other two I mentioned and that I can remember off my head.

We have seen bundles (awesome bundles) for all but the sports titles and we have seen ALL including the sports titles are large discounts already multiple times.

Unless X-Com or Borderlands 2 is on sale for $20 before $15 credit applies, I don't see there being rampant abuse (unless there is a free game). Even so, you could just set the sale so you get a decent usage of your coupon the first time, and wait until the second credit for a more awesome sale.

Originally Posted by HisDivineShadow Thanks, guys. We can't EVER have anything nice because of you worrywarts worrying over hypothetical abusers of a hypothetical system.

Let's not be naive here. You offer the internet at-large a chance at a free $15 and they're going to take it. By the thousands. I'm not arguing that, for the 'legitimate' consumer that $15 and $15 isn't the better scenario; merely pointing out to Tony that it's probably in his best interests -- as the head of Amazon PCDD who has to maintain a working relationship with Take 2 -- to avoid opening himself up to mass abuse. And make no mistake, it will get abused hardcore.

Originally Posted by Mooby Let's not be naive here. You offer the internet at-large a chance at a free $15 and they're going to take it. By the thousands. I'm not arguing that, for the 'legitimate' consumer that $15 and $15 isn't the better scenario; merely pointing out to Tony that it's probably in his best interests -- as the head of Amazon PCDD who has to maintain a working relationship with Take 2 -- to avoid opening himself up to mass abuse. And make no mistake, it will get abused hardcore.

This is why I start these conversations here on Cag, you guys make a good sounding board, stay tuned .

Also, to clarify, I'm not the head of Amazon PCDD, that's my boss, who is pretty rad too. I just run the marketing (which ends up bleeding into operational stuff pretty regularly).

Cheers,
Tony

Just make it so if you use the pre-order credit (don't make it automatically applied credit when you buy something), the pre-order locks to your account and you can't cancel. And make this clearly stated so no one goes "wtf!".

A bit harsh maybe, but you're screwing yourself over otherwise.

Originally Posted by xanchui Unless X-Com or Borderlands 2 is on sale for $20 before $15 credit applies, I don't see there being rampant abuse (unless there is a free game). Even so, you could just set the sale so you get a decent usage of your coupon the first time, and wait until the second credit for a more awesome sale.

This is a fair point. It all depends on what's being offered. You could also structure the promotions creatively.

Originally Posted by Mooby Yeah, honestly I wouldn't bother floating it as a test. As someone mentioned it's going to hit Slick Deals and every other website and everyone and their brother will preorder and cancel just for $15 credit. I'd just go with the $30. Only outcome I see here is Take 2 getting ticked off at the split version of the promotion.

I second this. I highly advise you (Tony) to just go straight with the $30 post-release, or at least something that doesn't give illegitimate customers the chance at free money.

With the $15/$15 split, you're setting up for failure. Don't give the interwebs a chance, and just eliminate the free money outright. There are more asshats and black hats than there are white hats. This has been proven time and time again.

Originally Posted by asheskitty This. I was thinking of commenting that my cynical side doesn't not like publisher restricted discounts ($ off or store credit is far better) and that's before trying to factor in if there is anything else from the publisher that I want/don't-have. That said, I've never pre-ordered software.

I'll back what everyone else here is saying. It'll be abused. Anyone remember the 5% off GG for life for subbing to IGN Prime? Wonder how many people actually paid money for IGN Prime vs how many people took advantage of the 5% discount until the cancelled it.

Yeah... take it straight off the preorder, or give the credit after the fact.

It's promo sounds cool in any form but limiting to one publisher is probably a deal breaker for me. Like others I have too many games and the credits would waste away. I'd much rather have a bigger discount off or a generic amazon digital games credit even if its a smaller amount.

I'd second giving credit after the game comes out or flip it and make it buy this gift card and get $30 off this preorder.


Of course the advantage of the split is you get to promote their games twice.

Originally Posted by Dreamweaver7 I'll back what everyone else here is saying. It'll be abused. Anyone remember the 5% off GG for life for subbing to IGN Prime? Wonder how many people actually paid money for IGN Prime vs how many people took advantage of the 5% discount until the cancelled it. Yeah... take it straight off the preorder, or give the credit after the fact.

I believe it was 15%. Either way, GG pulled the bigger " you" on that one when they cancelled the "permanent discount" and basically said "permanent doesn't necessarily mean permanent".

Originally Posted by Idiotekque I believe it was 15%. Either way, GG pulled the bigger " you" on that one when they cancelled the "permanent discount" and basically said "permanent doesn't necessarily mean permanent".

It was 15%, I doubled checked my tatoo to be sure.

I see it as a Buddhist lesson in the impermanence of the digital world.

Tony,
This might be a little off topic (but, by the way, the $15 off is quite the motivator for me to pre-order ), but are you planning to PM gamefly's 2K deals? I think Mafia II is the most enticing of the bunch there. Just got an Amazon gift card, and I've been waiting for Mafia II.

Originally Posted by Idiotekque Just make it so if you use the pre-order credit (don't make it automatically applied credit when you buy something), the pre-order locks to your account and you can't cancel. And make this clearly stated so no one goes "wtf!". A bit harsh maybe, but you're screwing yourself over otherwise.

This is probably the best solution but I imagine it would require some rejiggering of systems on your end.

Originally Posted by Genocidal This is probably the best solution but I imagine it would require some rejiggering of systems on your end.

/agreed, and am pitching this to the dev team on Monday .

Any sort of solution like this will be a while out though, especially since I won't have much data to build a business case for bumping something else.

Cheers,
Tony

This will get abused.

Tony said it himself during the Editor's Choice promotion last month: many people bought cheap DLC to hoard coupons, and only spent them on cheap/free games (like the $0 Hotline Miami and Bioshock). This is why we didn't see the $1 games from 2012. I would bet a lot of coupons went unused (unless they bought MS Arcade bundles to flip at $2 a game, but that's a lot of hassle for $5 profit).

If this pre-order promotion is meant to generate more pre-orders for a game from Amazon, then yes it'll work. But don't expect people to actually get charged for those games.