Amazon PCDD $15 Walking Dead, $10 TERA ($15 CE) + BOGO

Status
Not open for further replies.
Amazon DVG Deals

Amazon DVG Deals

Official Representative
Feedback
4 (100%)
Hi CAGs,

NOTE: Preorder information is now in the second post of this thread.


War of the Roses - 10% off + free upgrade to House of York edition.

Deal of the week 9/16-9/22:

The Walking Dead (PC/MAC): $14.99 - Steam
Tera Standard Edition: $9.99 + $9.99 credit for another copy to give to a friend
Tera Collector's Edition: $14.99 + $14.99 credit for another copy to give to a friend


Please check out our newly launched Free-to-Play store when you get a moment!




I wanted to let you all know about some exciting new selection we just launched supported by a new technology.

As of today, Amazon.com will be offering Free to Play and MMO games that you can purchase virtual goods, currencies, and subscriptions for on Amazon.com. These purchases will be delivered directly into your game account. We're calling this new service Game Connect.

Amazon has teamed up with our launch partners to bring Amazon customers exclusive content and bonus offers for the opening of the Free to Play store. Here is some of the cool stuff you'll get just for linking your Amazon account with a game account:


Super MNC: Customers who link their Amazon account with a Super MNC account will receive an exclusive Team Spirit Assault Rifle. This weapon for the Assault Pro has a unique, team colored, metal barrel shroud and is only available through Amazon.




Stronghold Kingdoms: Customers who link their Amazon accounts with a Stronghold Kingdoms account will receive a starter pack valued at $10. This pack includes: 10 packs of strategy cards (50 cards), 100 card points, and a 7 day premium token (7 days of Premium).



Shin Megami Tensei: Customers who link their Amazon accounts with a Shin Megami Tensei account will receive a free Incense of Training. By making a purchase of 3,500 Crowns, customers will also receive a voucher (Candle), which is exchangeable for a Heart Candle Necklace. Customers who reach level 20 during the 12 week launch period, they will receive another voucher (Depository Rental Ticket).


Rise of Immortals: Customers who link their Amazon accounts with a Rise of Immortals account will receive a free character bundle. This exclusive bundle includes Karapyss and his alternate character skins Scarab and Pirate.


BattleSpace: Customers who link their Amazon accounts with a BattleSpace account will receive 100 honor medals. By making a purchase of 3,500 Crowns, customers will also receive Commander Alya. Customers who reach level 10 before October 6th, will receive an additional 100 honor medals and ship parts set (α x20, β x4, γ x2).


Iron Grip: Marauders: Customers who link their Amazon accounts with an Iron Grip: Marauders account will be given a booster pack containing 5000 Gold, 2000 iron, repair truck level 2, ambulance level 2, and a tri-scout Level 1.


Allods: Customers who link their Amazon accounts with an Allods account will receive an exclusive starter package, valued at $15. This pack includes: 4x Token of the Explorer that can be brought to the Goblin Banker in your faction's capital in exchange for an increase in the size of the customer’s bag or bank deposit box, a Medium Bag of Crystal Chips that, combined with Gold Dust in-game, allow customers to combine/upgrade runes that increase damage/healing, and an Enchanted Saddle that summons a Rank 1 horse mount.


Pirate Galaxy: Customers who link their Amazon accounts with a Pirate Galaxy account will receive a Rapid Tank Starter Ship and 1,500 Energy to fuel the best items available.


Fiesta: Customers who purchase SparkCash to use in Fiesta will receive a 30-day swift and mighty Dark Pegasus Mount.


8BitMMO: Customers who link their Amazon accounts with an 8BitMMO account will receive three, exclusive, brand-new hats. These hats are a Cowboy Hat, a Blue Baseball Cap, and a Duck. Link your account and start your 8 bit adventure today.

Aika: Customers who link their Amazon accounts with an Aika account will receive an exclusive starter package valued at $15. This pack includes a Mount and Mount Saddle. Use the mount to travel far distances in half the time and resist environmental damages. Use the Mount Saddle to lower the requirement to ride other mounts.


Knights of the Sky: Customers who link their Amazon accounts with a Knights of the Sky account will receive a free Happy Hour, which increases the likelihood of recruiting better Heroes. Purchase 3,500 Crowns or more through Amazon and receive a free Labor Decree, which increases Construction queues from 3 to 5, or purchase 35,000 crowns or more and receive an exclusive free Hero (valid on first purchase only). Reach level 20 before October 6th, and receive 6 items that increase resource gain by 25%. Start playing today.

Rappelz: Customers who link their Amazon accounts with a Rappelz. account will get an exclusive starter package, valued at $15. This pack includes a Stamina Saver that stops stamina from decreasing for 1 hour, an Animal Cracker used to earn 50% more EXP for 1 hour, a Pet Resurrection Spell book that resurrects pets instantly after a fall in battle, a Feather of Summon which instantly summons a friend to aide in battle, and a Hidden Village Pass that gives 7 days of access to the exclusive Hidden Village.



Luvinia: Customers who make any purchase of SparkCash to use in Luvinia will receive a 30-day Flying Griffin Mount.


Flyff: Customers who link their Amazon accounts with a Flyff account will receive an exclusive starter package, valued at $15. This package contains a Magic Broom that allows customers to start flying immediately, bypassing the level 20 requirement, an S Protect Gift Box which will allow customers to upgrade an item to create stronger stats right from the start, a random Gift Box that contains something special, a Police Outfit, and a Kitty Pet to help collect loot.

Steel Legions: Customers who link their Amazon accounts with a NEW Steel Legions account will receive one of three different, fully equipped premium tanks.

Pandora Saga: Customers who link their Amazon accounts with a Pandora Saga account will receive a Beginner Gear set. Customers who purchase 3,500 Crowns or more through Amazon will receive Recipe: Wing Shield Vol. 1 (first time purchasers only). Customers who reach Level 20 before October 6th will receive a horse mount.

And that's just the free stuff you get with linking.

We're also carrying the games below and offering Amazon exclusive in-game packs for each game which provide a higher value than normal virtual good purchases.


World of Tanks: Customers can purchase three different Amazon-exclusive World of Tanks packs: Starter Pack, Advanced Pack, and Expert Pack.


Runescape: Customers who purchase a 90 or 180 day membership package for Runescape will receive an exclusive Golden Katana.


War Inc. Battle Zone: Customers are able to purchase three different War Inc. Battle Zone Amazon exclusive packs: the Merc Pack, Heroic Pack, and Kill Em All Pack


Pre-Order Borderlands 2 from us for 10% off and help me get a tattoo! Yes it activates on Steam!

I am a huge Borderlands 2 fan and I want this to be our best selling pre-order ever. So I've drawn a line in the sand. If, from now until launch, we take 40,000 more preorders than where we were on 7/2/2012 I will get a Borderlands tattoo on my back.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Upvote 0 Downvote
[quote name='bwrobins']I understand your thoughts. The subscriber based email would simply be a means to differ the communication from the thread to a different medium. Therefore all Price matches would be announced via email / PM / text (whatever medium)

My suggestion to Amazon in general is to not follow a Price match based sales environment and to either preemptively have a sale (could have beat Steam to it by having it across the July 4th Holiday) or to just have a policy like (submit your Price Match on a given website and if we have not pricematched within 4 hours we are not going to pricematch). Honestly, saying Saints Row "might" be on sale later this week for $9.99 is not a pricematch it is a separate sale in itself...

As always, much love and appreciation to our faithful CAG rep Tony![/QUOTE]

Thanks again for the feedback. I'll address your points in line:

The subscriber based email would simply be a means to differ the communication from the thread to a different medium. Therefore all Price matches would be announced via email / PM / text (whatever medium)

Again I don't disagree and think this is a good idea. However it would do little to nothing to mitigate the questions asked in thread regarding PMing. We can see this evidenced by the countless "does it activate on steam?" posts related to games that have the words "activates on steam" next to them in the OP.

My suggestion to Amazon in general is to not follow a Price match based sales environment and to either preemptively have a sale (could have beat Steam to it by having it across the July 4th Holiday)
I agree, and we did that this year, here are some examples:

1. Max Payne 3 50% off, we had this on sale from 7/1-7/4 a 4 day period 2 weeks before Steam's 36 hour sale
2. Spec Ops the Line 50% off - I don't think this has happened on Steam yet, we were there several days after the game released
3. The Squeenix Bundle
4. The Paradox Bundles
5. Binary Domain
6. Bioshock 1+2 $7.49
7. Payday The Heist: $4.99, $14.99 4 pack
8. Sniper Elite V2 - $14.99
9. Shogun 2 Fall of the Samurai - $7.49
10. The THQ bundle
11. Kingdoms of Amalur
12. Syndicate $14.99

All of these sales occurred, at minimum, 2 weeks before Steam's sale...I'm unclear how this doesn't directly address your point above?

Lastly, I want to make it 100% clear that none of this feedback is taken personally. I just want to make sure that if you guys are giving me feedback, it is clear enough that I can actually do something with it, rather than just a random set of commentary.

Cheers,
Tony
 
[quote name='Amazon DVG Deals']Hey there,

I think my disconnect here occurred when we shifted this conversation from "when is the SRTT deal occurring?" to "this is what I think Amazon Digital Video Games could do better."

These are two radically different conversations, and I think both are valuable.

To address your steps outlined above.

Examples of easy steps:
Announce forthcoming sales (Date and Games prior to sale):

I think we do this better than anyone else in the market, particularly Steam.

Consistently update the website on a exact time (Deal of the Day like Bestbuy or Deal of the Week like Xbox/PSN)

This happens on the website, every Sunday at midnight the Deal of the Week slot changes. The only incongruity occurs offsite, in forums like this, which is not what you are commenting on.

Include a countdown timer till the deals expire so there is no ambiguity with timezones
etc....

I agree with this 100%.

Cheers,
Tony[/QUOTE]

Thanks for the feedback. My thoughts are just one of many. I am sure others who might be more quiet can also contribute constructively.

As for price matching. I would say just have a clearly stated policy in the OP. Stick to the policy. And for grey areas like a SRTT "price-match" later this week. Don't state it as a pricematch. Just hint that Amazon will be having its own sale later this week that might save you a few bucks more than the steam sale on SRTT. And for that sale that hits later in the week follow the aforementioned three principles (Announce the sale, update on a specified time, and have a countdown timer).

If you just randomly drop the price of SRTT later this week without following those items it either seems like a price match or an inconsistent sale.

Thanks much for your awesome support CAG Rep Tony!
 
[quote name='Amazon DVG Deals']Hey man,

Thanks for the feedback, again though, what you're suggesting in no way addresses the root cause of this conversation.

Root Cause: When there is a Steam deal in the wild the first question on CAG is "Tony are you going to match this". My response, in this case:

1. Could have been to ignore those questions
2. Answer with "no" and no other explanation
3. Answer with "no" and the explanation that we'll be running a deal on the game in the near future (next week) but that I do not yet have the confirmation as to what day, specifically.


Cheers,
Tony[/QUOTE]

I think 3 is the best option from our perspective. You let us know exactly what the situation is so that we could plan our spending.

I think the criticism is coming from people who did not read the original post.

From your perspective, it would have been easier to go with choice 1 or 2; because you would not have had to answer so many questions later on.

I think patience is a virtue that we hardcore gamers do not have.

thanx again
 
[quote name='Amazon DVG Deals']Hey there,

I think my disconnect here occurred when we shifted this conversation from "when is the SRTT deal occurring?" to "this is what I think Amazon Digital Video Games could do better."

These are two radically different conversations, and I think both are valuable.

To address your steps outlined above.

Examples of easy steps:
Announce forthcoming sales (Date and Games prior to sale):

I think we do this better than anyone else in the market, particularly Steam.

Consistently update the website on a exact time (Deal of the Day like Bestbuy or Deal of the Week like Xbox/PSN)

This happens on the website, every Sunday at midnight the Deal of the Week slot changes. The only incongruity occurs offsite, in forums like this, which is not what you are commenting on.

Include a countdown timer till the deals expire so there is no ambiguity with timezones
etc....

I agree with this 100%.

Cheers,
Tony[/QUOTE]


Disconnect seems to be a good term to describe this.

Seems like it's a damned if you do or don't on the insight. I think most people appreciate the insight, the early hints, etc.

To a few I think they would rather have just concrete info.

I think it's a matter of you give some people an inch and they want a foot.

Steam doesn't give you any hints as to what games will be on sale in the future and how much they will go for. Even when some info leaks, it is always unconfirmed. So I think people need to take that into account and realize that if there was a set price/date for a deal it would probably have already been leaked by Tony and when he has that info I am sure he will be the first person to want to give it to us so he can get our business. If anyone is really concerned they will either miss out on the Steam deal or have to pay taxes on the same deal on Amazon they should just get it on Steam and end their grief.

As far as the other suggestions, I definitely agree with most of them as Amazon as a site has a long long ways to go before they streamline information to the consumer in the way most traditional retailers do and I understand it must be tough to be constrained by the system in so many ways.

Finally, anyone feeling like they get attacked or criticized for posting their disagreements/complaints/suggestions, please understand we're all a big vocal group of CAGs who all like to post our 2 cents. It's nothing personal to you, Amazon, or anything like that. I think the biggest motivator on why CAGs are so vocal is our disdain for misinformation. So if someone posts something we disagree with many of us are quick to post our opinion/side of the situation to present a balanced perspective on things. No one is necessarily wrong I don't think and it fosters an exchange that leads to good discussions most of the time. So basically, don't take it personal or ever feel discouraged from posting.
 
I would say that Amazon's price matching is weird, at best. It's nice to be able to ask Tony if it's going to be price matched or not, but it seems counter productive when the responses range from "Yes, the price is up; go look now." to "No, we won't." to "Probably not, but use the thing on the product page to say where you found it cheaper and it may happen."

That last one especially has been really strange when I've seen it come up. It would be nice to have a set price matching policy, which according to the Amazon help page doesn't exist, yet it actually does, and is just inconsistent. I do understand situations here like with SR3, and I totally understand how and why Tony handled it like he did, but it's sometimes even more confusing other times.

Just some thoughts.
 
[quote name='Amazon DVG Deals']Thanks again for the feedback. I'll address your points in line:

The subscriber based email would simply be a means to differ the communication from the thread to a different medium. Therefore all Price matches would be announced via email / PM / text (whatever medium)

Again I don't disagree and think this is a good idea. However it would do little to nothing to mitigate the questions asked in thread regarding PMing. We can see this evidenced by the countless "does it activate on steam?" posts related to games that have the words "activates on steam" next to them in the OP.

My suggestion to Amazon in general is to not follow a Price match based sales environment and to either preemptively have a sale (could have beat Steam to it by having it across the July 4th Holiday)
I agree, and we did that this year, here are some examples:

1. Max Payne 3 50% off, we had this on sale from 7/1-7/4 a 4 day period 2 weeks before Steam's 36 hour sale
2. Spec Ops the Line 50% off - I don't think this has happened on Steam yet, we were there several days after the game released
3. The Squeenix Bundle
4. The Paradox Bundles
5. Binary Domain
6. Bioshock 1+2 $7.49
7. Payday The Heist: $4.99, $14.99 4 pack
8. Sniper Elite V2 - $14.99
9. Shogun 2 Fall of the Samurai - $7.49
10. The THQ bundle
11. Kingdoms of Amalur
12. Syndicate $14.99

All of these sales occurred, at minimum, 2 weeks before Steam's sale...I'm unclear how this doesn't directly address your point above?

Lastly, I want to make it 100% clear that none of this feedback is taken personally. I just want to make sure that if you guys are giving me feedback, it is clear enough that I can actually do something with it, rather than just a random set of commentary.

Cheers,
Tony[/QUOTE]

I apologize if the prior comment made it seem like you did nothing. I was more meaning a true "empty your wallet" kind of sale. Those were excellent sales, but only cover 5% of your product line. I am just suggesting Steam had a number of anxious users more than willing to give their money away this year on the 4th...

And for that sale... why did I not get an email or some other announcement besides this thread... Am I just not on the Amazon DVG mailing list?

Thanks much for your awesome support CAG Rep Tony!
 
Tony,

I honestly feel as though you have been doing a great job as is.

The amount of info you give us is great and that is why we appreciate you here. You tell us what you know when you do and that is awesome.

I think many of us, myself included, just are very antsy for deals during Steam Sales and this particular instance with Saints Row has just heightened it.

Every other time so far everything has been handled well and even now I appreciate you telling us about the deal with SRTT, we are just an antsy bunch when it comes to jumping on a good deal!
 
[quote name='bwrobins']Thanks for the feedback. My thoughts are just one of many. I am sure others who might be more quiet can also contribute constructively.

As for price matching. I would say just have a clearly stated policy in the OP. Stick to the policy. And for grey areas like a SRTT "price-match" later this week. Don't state it as a pricematch. Just hint that Amazon will be having its own sale later this week that might save you a few bucks more than the steam sale on SRTT. And for that sale that hits later in the week follow the aforementioned three principles (Announce the sale, update on a specified time, and have a countdown timer).

If you just randomly drop the price of SRTT later this week without following those items it either seems like a price match or an inconsistent sale.

Thanks much for your awesome support CAG Rep Tony![/QUOTE]

He said that Amazon would have the game on sale later in the week for the same price ($12.49); and he also mentioned that the price would most likely be cheaper but that it was not finalized.

but I agree, once Tony knows the date that SRTT will flip he needs to put it on the OP. I think the problem is that he does not know the price or date though.

We are in effect criticizing him for treating us well and giving us information that no other retailer would.
 
While Amazon may not produce 'in bulk' I think Tony does a far better job at presenting interesting deals/bundles and better savings overall. Whether or not the Steam sales have gotten 'better' value wise over the last couple of years is debatable. I won't argue the haven't gotten more polished/efficient, they have. However, at least the first few days of this Summer Sale seem to be a lot of the standard midweek/weekend deal percentage discounts regurgitated. It just happens to be the entire store so you're overwhelmed.

Value-wise they don't even come close when it comes to stuff like Amazon's Paradox Packs, Squeenix bundle, 2k bundles, THQ bundle, etc. etc. And since I know Tony is a total bro he will craft a Paradox Pack in the future that contains Defenders of Ardania and Warlock~
 
[quote name='georgebot84']He said that Amazon would have the game on sale later in the week for the same price ($12.49); and he also mentioned that the price would most likely be cheaper but that it was not finalized.

but I agree, once Tony knows the date that SRTT will flip he needs to put it on the OP. I think the problem is that he does not know the price or date though.

We are in effect criticizing him for treating us well and giving us information that no other retailer would.[/QUOTE]

Having the game go on sale "sometime" later in the week defeats the prior mentioned: Announce the sale ahead of time, Start the sale at a specific time and lasting for a specific time concept... Those two things provide great consistency!
 
[quote name='bwrobins']Having the game go on sale sometime later in the week defeats the prior mentioned: Announce the sale ahead of time, Start the sale at a specific time and lasting for a specific time concept... Those two things provide great consistency...[/QUOTE]

I don't disagree with what you're saying but it still is not applicable to the current conversation regarding SRTT.

Rather than talk in hypothetical lets role play. Bwrobins, you are in my position, you know that in one week you will have a sale on SRTT. Prior to the sale, which you still don't know the final date for, a competitor runs a similar sale. CAG asks if you will be price matching. How do you respond?

Cheers,
Tony
 
Tony,

Also if you know for sure you can make the SRTT price of $12.49 or $9.99 by "sometime" this week. Why not just hold off on the sale and say we will be having a Saints Row 3 sale "next" week that will update on the normal update interval of Sunday night and last for the entire week. Hinting at a Amazon specific sale no longer seems like a price match.

Just another idea...

Apparently I answered your above question before I saw it asked. Remember, your faithful Amazon supporters and your backlog people are going to be fine with those extra couple days to wait till the following Sunday for the Amazon sale price.

Thanks much for your awesome support CAG Rep Tony!
 
[quote name='bwrobins']Having the game go on sale sometime later in the week defeats the prior mentioned: Announce the sale ahead of time, Start the sale at a specific time and lasting for a specific time concept... Those two things provide great consistency...[/QUOTE]


My main problem with this is who else does this?

And maybe that's not your point, but you bring up Steam and Steam does not announce sales ahead of time. They won't even confirm or deny yearly things like the summer sale. The sales start randomly and each day there is a random set of games on sale. You don't know what games will be on sale ahead of time or for how much, you just know that the particular sale will last one day.

There are very few retailers that announce sales prior to happening or give details. A few have a preview of their weekly ad, but not many. So I understand that ideally we would know when what and how much for every future sale, but it's not something you get from any game retailer. I could understand if other retailers offered sneak peaks on sales, but they just don't.

Also, while Steam may have the entire store (and not really because two games I want aren't discounted at all) on sale this week, Amazon has had hundreds of different games on sale in the last two months alone including entire publisher catalogs and many games Steam doesn't even carry. The difference is they have spread it out over months rather than condense it like Steam does.
 
the current situation in a lot of ways baffles me, though not in your end, but more in what people don't realize even though it's a fairly simple thing to piece together.

like... you say "sometime next week," okay. if it's a straight PM then you have one crowd happy, one okay, but it wouldn't quite make sense with the situation. a PM is far easier to get than not and we know amazon does it all the time. that shouldn't be much problem at all. any difficulty then goes with what you told us, you're saying "we want to undercut the sale you just made to the other big elephant in the yard." that's hard. for that reason anyone should be able to understand not knowing when or what price, it's shooting for a lower price than an ongoing major sale, which is a pretty big deal. it's convincing the other guy that you have enough of a difference in people/userbase that it would be well worth their while to do it; that you have enough of a base on amazon who would be AWAY from the base on Steam right now that you'd get them more money at $10 (or even $11 if that makes a difference) than you would at $12.50. it's saying that the more aggressive, close relationship gets more profit than the less aggressive one.

the timing's the hard part - if this were something in August or something it'd be quite a bit easier i'd imagine - after the major sale, no competitor in sight, boom. nice to just lay it on. here though, totally difficult. especially as Steam is re-running their sale prices AND they could very well run a 3rd time during the sale at the very end (as often happens with many of 'em).

it's very easy to understand the difficulty on your end due to the timing and target goal. that in turn makes it easy to understand the difficulty in nailing the specifics. though i don't think many people thought it through and just went "OH MAN BIGGER SALE!" without realizing that there's a lot of backstage pushing and pulling to get it done, especially when facing Steam head on in one of their two biggest times of the year.


on the topic of a sort of "Amazon Downloads" newsletter, you have to understand that a newsletter's purpose isn't for just a specific audience, but a much, much wider one. CAG, neogaf, sites like these have a specific kind of userbase to 'em. they're more knowledgable and aware of sales, gaming, etc. if amazon is trying to bring out the most of its userbase, it's certainly got a lot done and needs the exposure, so it's a good idea. for sales purposes, the best that i can think of is sending out a newsletter saying "We will have for at !", with a nice list of the games and possible links (if you're familiar with the newegg newsletters or to date myself a bit, gogamer when they were around, you have a rough template of something that can work). but for PMs, that doesn't work unless it runs the same kind of system of . should it? so long as they don't randomly run out of keys, no. a newsletter to say "We have on sale for " could work for all purpose sales, but PM'ing wouldn't work as much for a general populace as sometimes, like during major time periods and sales, you're asking for a constant stream of emails where amazon would be going " is on sale now for !" doesn't look very professional and runs the risk of alienating some of the userbase that's not active on these kinds of forums. that one needs to be played a bit more carefully.
 
[quote name='Umair56']I guess I'm the only one who enjoys BOTH Amazon and Steam's sales and doesn't feel the need to choose a side.[/QUOTE]

This is also a great point. I think you all should make the purchase decision that is best for you. I've told people multiple times in this thread to jump on a competitors deal when I knew it was better than anything we have teed up.
Sales are fun, we should all enjoy them.

Cheers,
Tony
 
[quote name='CheapLikeAFox']My main problem with this is who else does this?

And maybe that's not your point, but you bring up Steam and Steam does not announce sales ahead of time. They won't even confirm or deny yearly things like the summer sale. The sales start randomly and each day there is a random set of games on sale. You don't know what games will be on sale ahead of time or for how much, you just know that the particular sale will last one day.

There are very few retailers that announce sales prior to happening or give details. A few have a preview of their weekly ad, but not many. So I understand that ideally we would know when what and how much for every future sale, but it's not something you get from any game retailer. I could understand if other retailers offered sneak peaks on sales, but they just don't.

Also, while Steam may have the entire store (and not really because two games I want aren't discounted at all) on sale this week, Amazon has had hundreds of different games on sale in the last two months alone including entire publisher catalogs and many games Steam doesn't even carry. The difference is they have spread it out over months rather than condense it like Steam does.[/QUOTE]

Well Steam does this, Xbox Live DOTW does this, PSN Deal of the Week does this and maybe even more. Each are consistent in WHEN and HOW LONG the sales happen. Some like Xbox and PSN provide a sneak peek (Major Nelson, PSN Blog) on what is going on sale the next week. And Steam is just straight up excellent with their system. Midweek sales, Daily sales, Weekend sales all start and end on a specific time. What is on sale for steam is always a surprise for those sales, but we know for sure that "Everything" will be on sale twice a year in a very consistent Summer and Winter sale.
 
[quote name='Amazon DVG Deals']Guys,

Thanks for the feedback regarding the quality of our email campaigns, very much appreciated.

To go back to the root of this conversation. I was commenting on the fact that we wouldn't be PMing Steam's sale on SRTT and attempting to give you guys insight into why. The reason I haven't provided you with a solid date yet is because I don't have one to provide.


Here were my options for communication in this situation:

1. Ignore your quesitons regarding whether or not we were going to PM the SRTT deal on Steam.

2. Simply tell you "no we won't be PMing that deal" with no further context

3. Do what I did, tell you "no we aren't going to PM this deal, and because I respect you as customers who are part of a community I interact with here is why."

Based on the feedback here, what I'm hearing is that you guys would prefer that I not give you this insight, and that you'd prefer I be vague and choose one of the first two communication options above.

Sorry for the delayed response here, I've been trying to figure out how I could have better communicated this and am coming up blank.

Cheers,
Tony[/QUOTE]

Put me down as appreciating what you did to begin with.

Also that I'm not sure about everyone being ready for that level of communication. I would rather have you working out the next fun and interesting thing than spending time clarifying yourself.

It doesn't look or feel great seeing everyone requesting these deals and price matches in the public forum. I imagine it eats up a lot of time on your part. Also looks like begging on this side of the fence.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
[quote name='Amazon DVG Deals']I don't disagree with what you're saying but it still is not applicable to the current conversation regarding SRTT.

Rather than talk in hypothetical lets role play. Bwrobins, you are in my position, you know that in one week you will have a sale on SRTT. Prior to the sale, which you still don't know the final date for, a competitor runs a similar sale. CAG asks if you will be price matching. How do you respond?

Cheers,
Tony[/QUOTE]

Tony,

I responded above without a direct quote and figured you might have missed it.

If you know for sure you can make the SRTT price of $12.49 or $9.99 by "sometime" this week. Why not just hold off on the sale and "hint" that we will be having a Saints Row 3 sale "next" week that will update on the normal update interval of Sunday night and last for the entire week. Hinting at a Amazon specific sale no longer seems like a price match.

Thanks for listening! Bedtime now for sure....
 
[quote name='Amazon DVG Deals']Hey man,

Thanks for the feedback, again though, what you're suggesting in no way addresses the root cause of this conversation.

Root Cause: When there is a Steam deal in the wild the first question on CAG is "Tony are you going to match this". My response, in this case:

1. Could have been to ignore those questions
2. Answer with "no" and no other explanation
3. Answer with "no" and the explanation that we'll be running a deal on the game in the near future (next week) but that I do not yet have the confirmation as to what day, specifically.
[/QUOTE]

I think the best way is to continue as your doing it and try to brush off the vocal minority. I've been on this site now for over 4 years and steam for over 8..etc..etc and in the past month or two I have brought over 100$ on deals from Amazon just due to your constant feedback and how easy it is to find out about sales and upcoming sales.

Please don't think that the vocal minority who are demanding and otherwise upset over not knowing when the exact date of a sale is. As the vast majority appreciate just having a heads up. I mean if you need proof of this just go to the Steam Saints Row 3 forums.

As soon as you posted that Amazon will price match Saints Row 3 price next week sometime and maybe even beat Steam's price. It was posted on the SR3 forum and im sure some people have waited just knowing there is a chance in upcoming month it will be cheaper on amazon. Personally I think that has to be the best kind of marketing, word of mouth marketing.

P.S In fact if I knew Amazon would be price matching before I quickly snatched up SR3 I would be waiting as well for the sale either this month or sometime next month. As long as I have no reason to doubt your word on upcoming sales(and I dont) I have no problem waiting for it finally pop up and have a chance of getting it cheaper. Not to mention despite amazon taking out hefty amounts of commission they enable me to make a great deal of money from home and for that I'd much rather directly support Amazon rather than Steam.
 
Maybe I am in the minority, but I can't really complain about any of the deals posted here and the level of communication or traffic. I think if anyone really needs to be notified when the SR:TT sale shows up, just make some friends here and have them PM you or IM you or something and you're set. As mentioned before, a lot of these deals/promotions have been worked on for a while so we're generally given as much info as he can possibly give so it just sounds to me that people just need to chill a bit and be patient. I'm sure everyone has a backlog so play something and check back a bit later or the next day or wait for the friend contact.

Any deal that I wanted, I haven't missed and picked up. I do follow this thread and the Steam one closely (less so on the Steam one since there's just so much traffic!), but like with many things in life, if you want to save money, you need to put some time in it. Amazon can improve their website a lot, but this probably has to do with a lot of other factors company wide since they have lots of different cooks in the store there.

I suppose from the emails and newsletters we get, nothing really compares to just some of the messages here posted by Tony (which probably has a say in the newsletter/email anyways) so just read this forum or some of the others he answers and you're set.
 
[quote name='bwrobins']Well Steam does this, Xbox Live DOTW does this, PSN Deal of the Week does this and maybe even more. Each are consistent in WHEN and HOW LONG the sales happen. Some like Xbox and PSN provide a sneak peek (Major Nelson, PSN Blog) on what is going on sale the next week. And Steam is just straight up excellent with their system. Midweek sales, Daily sales, Weekend sales all start and end on a specific time. What is on sale for steam is always a surprise for those sales, but we know for sure that "Everything" will be on sale twice a year in a very consistent Summer and Winter sale.[/QUOTE]

From my understanding, and I may be wrong, those two blogs post the weekly deals the day they go live. And every sale Amazon has run usually has a set time period. Sunday to Saturday (or more or less) and those dates can usually be found in the OP here. Yes, a countdown timer would be great, but the information is available and the sales do have set parameters.

[quote name='bwrobins']Tony,

I responded above without a direct quote and figured you might have missed it.

If you know for sure you can make the SRTT price of $12.49 or $9.99 by "sometime" this week. Why not just hold off on the sale and "hint" that we will be having a Saints Row 3 sale "next" week that will update on the normal update interval of Sunday night and last for the entire week. Hinting at a Amazon specific sale no longer seems like a price match.

Thanks for listening! Bedtime now for sure....[/QUOTE]

You probably missed it, but Tony clearly said Amazon was NOT pricematching because they were running their own sale on SRTT in the near future. So it is not, never has, and never meant to be a price match. So maybe part of your frustration is waiting for the price match to flip when that has never been the case and it has never been set to flip. Also, pricematches by nature have no set parameters so there can never be any consistency in them. Most stores don't even price match and those that do only do it on a case by case individual basis. Amazon is the only store that will consistently price match competitors for everybody. They usually PM for the same time frame as the competitor, but not always so I always just buy it when it's hot.
 
[quote name='Sophita']I think the best way is to continue as your doing it and try to brush off the vocal minority. I've been on this site now for over 4 years and steam for over 8..etc..etc and in the past month or two I have brought over 100$ on deals from Amazon just due to your constant feedback and how easy it is to find out about sales and upcoming sales.

Please don't think that the vocal minority who are demanding and otherwise upset over not knowing when the exact date of a sale is. As the vast majority appreciate just having a heads up. I mean if you need proof of this just go to the Steam Saints Row 3 forums.

As soon as you posted that Amazon will price match Saints Row 3 price next week sometime and maybe even beat Steam's price. It was posted on the SR3 forum and im sure some people have waited just knowing there is a chance in upcoming month it will be cheaper on amazon. Personally I think that has to be the best kind of marketing, word of mouth marketing.[/QUOTE]

Amazing how the vocal minority can be misconstrued as "upset" and "demanding". It seems to me that the quiet "status quo" people are suggesting Amazon to just stagnate and not make steps to compete with the competition. Complacency in this market is a bad thing...
 
[quote name='CheapLikeAFox']From my understanding, and I may be wrong, those two blogs post the weekly deals the day they go live. And every sale Amazon has run usually has a set time period. Sunday to Saturday (or more or less) and those dates can usually be found in the OP here. Yes, a countdown timer would be great, but the information is available and the sales do have set parameters.



You probably missed it, but Tony clearly said Amazon was NOT pricematching because they were running their own sale on SRTT in the near future. So it is not, never has, and never meant to be a price match. So maybe part of your frustration is waiting for the price match to flip when that has never been the case and it has never been set to flip. Also, pricematches by nature have no set parameters so there can never be any consistency in them. Most stores don't even price match and those that do only do it on a case by case individual basis. Amazon is the only store that will consistently price match competitors for everybody. They usually PM for the same time frame as the competitor, but not always so I always just buy it when it's hot.[/QUOTE]

Both of the Blogs are posted at least a day ahead of time and for Xbox it is usually a week or more ahead of time (sometimes leaks cover a month)
 
[quote name='bwrobins']Amazing how the vocal minority can be misconstrued as "upset" and "demanding". It seems to me that the quiet "status quo" people are suggesting Amazon to just stagnate and not make steps to compete with the competition. Complacency in this market is a bad thing...[/QUOTE]

In my view if a company rep is even willing to communicate and have a open discussion; It is both "upset" and "demanding" to yell at them for not knowing the exact date and time a game will be for sale if the rep themselves do not know.

Like Tony has basically said the other options is just to ignore questions, or give out a generic "no." I for one am glad that he is willing to give any info when he doesn't have to.

Not sure how that is complacency, I do not know of any other stores reps that come to the forums and talk about sales and promotions and give out free keys, and make a effort to know their customers and have a direct line of communication with them.
 
honestly, amazon continuing to do what they do isn't a bad idea because they have been *very, very good* at it. at this point their biggest enemy is exposure. everyone knows amazon, but until last year nobody knew of downloading games from amazon. some people still probably think that amazon has their own client of some kind ala Origin or something. a lot of clarity, making people understand what it is, how it works, etc all is what they need to focus on.

or in simple terms, the goals amazon needs at this point are less to do with sales and more to do with information. they're doing that, and working to see on where they can improve that. if their "status quo" got people from a major third party message board to go "hey look! Amazon is doing something!" then the 'status quo' is doing its job right. the next step there is how to deal with the number of people eyeing you.
 
[quote name='Sophita']In my view if a company rep is even willing to communicate and have a open discussion; It is both "upset" and "demanding" to yell at them for not knowing the exact date and time a game will be for sale if the rep themselves do not know.

Like Tony has basically said the other options is just to ignore questions, or give out a generic "no." I for one am glad that he is willing to give any info when he doesn't have to.

Not sure how that is complacency, I do not know of any other stores reps that come to the forums and talk about sales and promotions and give out free keys, and make a effort to know their customers and have a direct line of communication with them.[/QUOTE]

I too have nothing to add to this.

Tony, most people here appreciate you and think you're doing a smash-up job.
 
[quote name='Sophita']In my view if a company rep is even willing to communicate and have a open discussion; It is both "upset" and "demanding" to yell at them for not knowing the exact date and time a game will be for sale if the rep themselves do not know.

Like Tony has basically said the other options is just to ignore questions, or give out a generic "no." I for one am glad that he is willing to give any info when he doesn't have to.

Not sure how that is complacency, I do not know of any other stores reps that come to the forums and talk about sales and promotions and give out free keys, and make a effort to know their customers and have a direct line of communication with them.[/QUOTE]

Clearly you have not read any of my other posts tonight. If you had you would see my only request is "Consistency" and I am clearly not "yelling".

Complacency is defined below:
1. A feeling of contentment or self-satisfaction, especially when coupled with an unawareness of danger, trouble, or controversy.
2. An instance of contented self-satisfaction.

Complacency does not target the current actions, such as having a CAG rep. (this is a good thing) Complacency has to do with the unwillingness to see current deficiencies due to contentment... My "suggestions" are all "brainstorming" how we can improve Amazon DVG. Step back and critically think how we can improve Amazon DVG, then respond. That is what I did, take the time to do it yourself.
 
[quote name='yangwenli']Maybe I am in the minority, [/QUOTE]

Nah, you're in the majority. I think most of us realize that Tony and Amazon are doing far more than they even need to for our benefit. We deeply appreciate what they are doing.

BTW, Tony, I have about $20 in credit stored up. Looking forward to what comes during the second half of the July sale.
 
It's funny reading this stuff over (though it's not bad, per se).

In summary, it's:

---

"Hey Tony, you're great, but I have some suggestions! Lets talk it out like adults and see where we get?"

and Tony's like

"Yeah, that's awesome! Let's try to understand each other and see how we can make this a constructive conversation."

and then CAG Tonyluvver 1 is like

"Hey, Tony's awesome you should be GLAD that he does what he does! gtfo."

and then Tony's like

"Hey, I encourage suggestions and feedback. It's all good bros!"

and then the conversation progresses and CAG Tonyluvver 2 is like

"Are you still saying Tony can do better? Be thankful of what you have, Tony eats Steam for BREAKFAST yo."

---

I probably missed something, but yeah, that's it. :D
 
I feel like I must be missing something here. Why are members asking for the price matches to begin with?

Does Steam collect taxes in some locations where Amazon doesn't? I was already thinking this thread looked bleak with begging... I suppose I could google for my answer, but I don't want to be any further disappointed in my fellow "Certainly well Ajusted adult bargain hunting Gamer".

*Went ahead and confirmed it for myself. There are even guides on which states to use as your address to avoid paying taxes... People are truly disappointing.*
 
Last edited by a moderator:
[quote name='solaris389']I feel like I must be missing something here. Why are members asking for the price matches to begin with?

Does Steam collect taxes in some locations where Amazon doesn't? I was already thinking this thread looked bleak with begging... I suppose I could google for my answer, but I don't want to be any further disappointed in my fellow "Certainly well Ajusted adult bargain hunting Gamer".[/QUOTE]
I have to agree with you there. I think the last time I asked for price match was because GameFly was having a sale, and they kinda suck. When people are asking for Amazon to price match a Steam key when Steam is having the same price in a sale though? I really don't know.
 
in some states that's the case yes (tax), but i think it's a matter of some credit obtained as well (e.g., via trade ins) that are associated with an amazon account.
 
[quote name='solaris389']I feel like I must be missing something here. Why are members asking for the price matches to begin with?

Does Steam collect taxes in some locations where Amazon doesn't? I was already thinking this thread looked bleak with begging... I suppose I could google for my answer, but I don't want to be any further disappointed in my fellow "Certainly well Ajusted adult bargain hunting Gamer".[/QUOTE]

For me it's sometimes store credit or obtaining DRM-free versions when possible.

I've still purchased Portal 2 and the new Binding of Isaac DLC from Steam, so I'm not really choosing a store over the other. I just want the best deals and the current competition between the two is making for the best yet.
 
[quote name='Idiotekque']I have to agree with you there. I think the last time I asked for price match was because GameFly was having a sale, and they kinda suck. When people are asking for Amazon to price match a Steam key when Steam is having the same price in a sale though? I really don't know.[/QUOTE]

[quote name='DarkZero104']in some states that's the case yes (tax), but i think it's a matter of some credit obtained as well (e.g., via trade ins) that are associated with an amazon account.[/QUOTE]

[quote name='60fps']For me it's sometimes store credit or obtaining DRM-free versions when possible.

I've still purchased Portal 2 and the new Binding of Isaac DLC from Steam, so I'm not really choosing a store over the other. I just want the best deals and the current competition between the two is making for the best yet.[/QUOTE]

So a combination of people wanting to avoid paying sales tax, and people wanting to use trade in credit... Seems legit.

First thing, dirty and illegal dodging the tax. Will probably be closed and impossible to avoid soon enough anyway, though. States demand that income, after all.

Second, using the trade in credit attained at the best possible value makes good sense in theory. Not so much in practice. You are exchanging real, tangible goods with some value for digital goods with no value. I am speaking from experience, having made this mistake already.

Any other reasons we are pestering this rep to price match Steam? Sounds like you're wasting your own time and the reps.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
[quote name='Mooby'] And since I know Tony is a total bro he will craft a Paradox Pack in the future that contains Defenders of Ardania and Warlock~[/QUOTE]

That'd be great. And maybe include Mount & Blade Collection or Cities in Motion. Paradox Packs are amazing. Keep 'em coming!
 
[quote name='Amazon DVG Deals']So, based on the feedback I've gotten here's what I think the best way to distribute DLC codes without asking people to hop all over the map and register on different sites, but also not limiting to just people who PM me.

We've had some crazy sales the past few months and I've seen tons of posts about what you've picked up in sales.

Name your best pickup (or set of pickups) from Amazon in 2012 and I'll shoot you a PM with the DLC code :).

This keeps everyone here on the thread, and shouldn't be a terrible burden (typing out a few words that is :) ).

Cheers,
Tony[/QUOTE]

Thanks Tony!

My best pickup is Plentiful Paradox Package :)
 
Is 3 extra pages of post on this really necessary? We're gonna let a few petulant impatient CAQ's ruin it for the rest of us? If you guys really want to keep this up, then just make a new thread. I'm willing to go through 20 pages every day in the Steam thread, cause people are discussing the deals at play, not bitching about this kind of crap. A few very vocal people that forget the incredible deals Tony has given us, in just the past few months, and the effort he's put forth, DO NOT represent the vast majority here. They just happen to be able to constantly post their whining. That's it, It's enough. Create a blog, make a new thread, or just shut the fuck up. Get back to discussing the actual deals. Not the lack of updates (It's just been a weekend!!!!), your butt hurt opinions, or how YOU think the business should be run. Wow.
 
[quote name='walkonshadows']Is 3 extra pages of post on this really necessary? We're gonna let a few petulant impatient CAQ's ruin it for the rest of us? If you guys really want to keep this up, then just make a new thread. I'm willing to go through 20 pages every day in the Steam thread, cause people are discussing the deals at play, not bitching about this kind of crap. A few very vocal people that forget the incredible deals Tony has given us, in just the past few months, and the effort he's put forth, DO NOT represent the vast majority here. They just happen to be able to constantly post their whining. That's it, It's enough. Create a blog, make a new thread, or just shut the fuck up. Get back to discussing the actual deals. Not the lack of updates (It's just been a weekend!!!!), your butt hurt opinions, or how YOU think the business should be run. Wow.[/QUOTE]

Fair enough, I'll drop my feedback from the discussion.

Companies should really have to pay for their marketing research anyway.
 
[quote name='bwrobins']Clearly you have not read any of my other posts tonight. If you had you would see my only request is "Consistency" and I am clearly not "yelling".

Complacency is defined below:
1. A feeling of contentment or self-satisfaction, especially when coupled with an unawareness of danger, trouble, or controversy.
2. An instance of contented self-satisfaction.

Complacency does not target the current actions, such as having a CAG rep. (this is a good thing) Complacency has to do with the unwillingness to see current deficiencies due to contentment... My "suggestions" are all "brainstorming" how we can improve Amazon DVG. Step back and critically think how we can improve Amazon DVG, then respond. That is what I did, take the time to do it yourself.[/QUOTE]

No I have not read everyone of your posts here; sorry don't have the time.

Honestly, I'm still surprised their are people here that would defend people who come here and yell at the rep with lines like, "WTF!! whats the release date", "Whens the date Tony", "This is BS I want my date." Obviously if people are making suggestions that is good and shouldn't be a issue at all. But that is not at least what I am talking about, only people im talking about are the ones described above.

But I doubt that is what Tony was asking when he asked us how to best handle this situation in the future when someone asks, "Hey are you going to put XX on sale soon?" It goes without saying there is always room for improvement in everything.
 
[quote name='TotalHenshin']
Tony, most people here appreciate you and think you're doing a smash-up job.[/QUOTE]

+1. And thanks for the SR3 code!
 
Thanks for the quantum Conundrum deal. Feel like i'm not being a good cag by getting this at 40%, but thats good enough since I really want to play this one. Glad it didn't win the 33% community vote yesterday, cause I would have bought it then. This is one of the main games I wanted out of the summer sale.

Also, sorry if I'm missing something here, did not see it in the OP. How long is the Arma II sale going on for?
 
[quote name='shaggyc']Also, sorry if I'm missing something here, did not see it in the OP. How long is the Arma II sale going on for?[/QUOTE]
It's the Deal of the Week.
 
Considering that the Bioshock pack was made Steam activate-able, is it possible that the Dead Space pack will get the same treatment eventually? I know Dead Space is published by EA, so it is probably less likely, but I am still curious as Amazon often has lower prices than Steam, even during the Summer Sale.
 
[quote name='Devasive']Considering that the Bioshock pack was made Steam activate-able, is it possible that the Dead Space pack will get the same treatment eventually? I know Dead Space is published by EA, so it is probably less likely, but I am still curious as Amazon often has lower prices than Steam, even during the Summer Sale.[/QUOTE]

You might want to pick it up on Steam since no EA game will able to be registered on Steam
 
Does anybody know if digital preorders (interested in X-COM in particular) still adhere to the preorder low price guarantee thing? I already had an amazon preorder for the disc version in case it was Steamworks. Figured I'd switch to the digital version.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
bread's done
Back
Top