Amazon PCDD - Important Update New Community Manager Incoming!

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Hey CAGS,

I’ve got some news I’m both excited and sad to share with you at the same time. I’ll be leaving the Digital Video Games team in Mid-March to join the marketing team for Amazon.com’s Loyalty and Rewards program, Amazon Coins. My boss and I have talked extensively about how to maintain and continue our presence here and across the other communities we’ve created in the past couple of years. To that end I’d like to introduce you to Josh, who take over monitoring, updating, and responding to this thread. Josh will be ramping up over the next couple of weeks, he  will be posting shortly to introduce himself.

Now that the “what’s going on” part of the message is out of the way I want to tell you all how much I love CAG and the posters here. This was the first community I joined when I started this job (anyone still remember that first thread?) and all of you have had a huge hand in shaping how we think about and execute Community Development and Management here at Amazon, which has in turn shaped my career these last two and a half years.

I started to write out a section calling out the regular posters and realized the list would be both overly long and incomplete at the same time. Instead I’d like to thank you all again, you all have my deep and sincere gratitude. I’ll still be around and my gaming accounts aren’t going anywhere so feel free to hit me up anytime you want to chat. I’ll probably still hang out in the thread too :).

Thanks again everyone, let me or Josh know if you have any questions!

The Indie Store has launched!
Amazon.com is launching a storefront dedicated to supporting and promoting PC/Mac/Web-based Indie Games. Our Digital Video Games team is a small group of passionate gamers and we’re all really excited to help Indie developers reach more customers quickly by providing a quick and simple process for bringing their games to market. Additionally we’ll be supporting the Indie Store with a ton of promotions, both at and after launch. Many of these promotions are designed to give the developer the opportunity to maximize their revenue. For example, Amazon is forfeiting all royalties from bundle sales and passing them along directly to the developer, we’ve also created an “Indie Spotlight” program to help customers learn more about the games and developers they love. We view the Indie developers as some of the most creative in the industry and we want to help them continue to create new and innovative experience for customers.

Why we are doing this:

  • Allow customers to discover an entirely new category of games on Amazon.com
  • Help developers reach new customers quickly. Our onboarding process is straightforward and we want to sell every Indie game available
  • We want to leverage our strengths to support and help the developers who are driving forward innovation and creativity in the games industry
General Information

Hi CAGs,
I'll be posting deals we're running on Digital Games (PC/Mac, Free to Play, Sony/Microsoft Points/Subs).

I'm also here to answer questions you might have, get you closer to the developers by hosting Q&As, setting up podcasts, live streaming gameplay etc. If I don't respond to a question you have in thread please send me a PM. These ping my email address and make it more likely that I will see your question and respond more quickly.

Cheers,
Tony


FYI. EA Games sold by Amazon will not activate on Steam.
F.A.Q.S.:

1. Does the game I'm buying from Amazon Activate on Steam/Origin/Uplay? What DRM does the game use?

There are two places to identify DRM on a digital video game detail page:

At the top of the page, below the title:

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In the "Product Description" section:

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2. Note on Electronic Arts Games - For the most part, EA games sold on Amazon do not activate on Steam. Most activate on Origin.

3. Note on DRM with limited activations:

Our Policy



4. Sometimes I'll do giveaways.

5. I work with developers and publishers to get fun (or at least what I think is fun) content to share with you all. Here are some examples:

a. Check out the Pax Gameplay videos here: Xcom: Enemy Unknown I played Xcom with Jake, the Creative Director for the game, a few months before the game came out Also, on this page, check out the Q&A, also a community driven event.

b. Check out the interview on this page: Borderlands 2 we did this interview at E3 with Randy Pitchford this year.

c. We've partnered with the ++GoodGames Podcast to feature many of the games we carry. They talk to the developers about the game development process, how the games are conceptualized and managed, all kinds of fun stuff. I'm working on putting together full link list and will update when I have it.

What else do we sell?

Xbox Live Points and Subscriptions:

1600 Microsoft Live Points
4000 Microsoft Live Points
12 Month XBOX Live Subscription
3 Month XBOX Live Subscription]
12 Month + 1 XBOX Live Subscription

PSN+ Subscriptions and PSN Points:

$20 PSN Points
$50 PSN Points
12 Month PSN+ Subscription
3 Month PSN+ Subscription

We also have a Free-2-Play store supported by our GameConnect technology. Gameconnect allows you to link your Amazon.com account with free-2-play and MMO accounts so that you can buy things like in game currency, premium game time/subscriptions, in game items, etc. on Amazon.com using your Amazon.com payment options and have this content delivered directly into your game.

5. Price Matching notes: Generally we do not match international retailers (GMG, Gamersgate, etc) or physical retailers (Best Buy, Newegg.com, etc.)
To check out the Free-2-Play games we offer you can visit our storefront here: Free-2-Play Store

 
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ccie3554 said:
So Mr. EA lurker guy - How about letting Tony put BF4 Premium up on the EC list 75% off pre-coupon to help make it up to those of us that bought broken-ass BF4 around launch?
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Don't listen to the sweet nothings he whispers in your ear. Mr. EA lurker guy what you really should do is put BIOWARE POINTS on sale for a decent discount. You, me, my neighbors, random people on the street, we all know those would sell like hotcakes and make you lots of steamy money and also make people start to change their opinions around here.

EA can become better than the whimsically perceived worst company in America! I have faith!!

But honestly, putting Bioware points on a good discount and offering them with EC would net EA and Amazon many many purchases since it would be like the second time ever on sale and the first time in years. Win/win/win for everyone involved, please make it happen!!!

 
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Master Miguel said:
But honestly, putting Bioware points on a good discount and offering them with EC would net EA and Amazon many many purchases since it would be like the second time ever on sale and the first time in years. Win/win/win for everyone involved, please make it happen!!!
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The keyword here being good. ;)

 
Oh noes, somebody on the internet think EA is the worst company eva.
 
What do people who put money behind their opinions think?  For the Past 5 Years:
 
Capture.png

 
Yeah, they look pretty satisified with EA.
 
...man, that chart only really makes you happy if you got in 2012 or later. Anything before gets pretty depressing at that point where you can summarize it as "Why the hell did you do an MMO." Mind you, the value of a stock has pretty much nothing to do with how good a company is in this context. Its ability to make profit's irrelevant from how employees are treated or general perception of actions taken by the company. 

 
asheskitty said:
Oh noes, somebody on the internet think EA is the worst company eva.

What do people who put money behind their opinions think? For the Past 5 Years:

Capture.png


Yeah, they look pretty satisified with EA.
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No offense, but customer satisfaction has nothing to do with it.

Wall of text incoming:

First of all, there's no such thing as bad publicity. After a while, people only remember the popularity of a certain name, but not the cause of that popularity. Next to that, many people only hear about the popularity but never really search for the cause, because they don't care enough to research it, it doesn't interest them.

Secondly, EA is a publisher, you do not buy an EA product for the publisher, you buy it for the game. Half of the people who buy EA's games (many of which are aimed at the casual crowd) hardly even know what the EA logo at the start of the game really means.

Thirdly, there are so many more reasons why their shares could have risen in value. For instance, they have acquired a lot of small developers over the years and have since then expanded their assets.

Conclusion: Share value and customer satisfaction have no correlation.

 
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It's not like Bioware points would actually need to go on sale if the Bioware store itself put the dlcs on sale. After all, it's not like we expect sales on steam wallet codes.
 
I'd advise people just avoid buying EA stuff if they don't like the price on Bioware points or games or DRM or whatever.  Buying would be like going to an abusive b/f or g/f after they physically assaulted you (think Chris Brown) and being happy about it.  There are other games to play while you wait them out.

These are all for profit companies after all and as an investor in ATVI, the reason their stock price is doing well is limited discounting.  Better yet, why argue with oil companies or EA, or ATVI prices and just invest and laugh all the way to the bank.

http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?t=5y&s=ATVI&l=on&z=l&q=l&c=ea%2CJCp&ql=1

I sorta disagree that share value and customer satisfaction aren't related...Look at JCP or any company that has a "POOR" customer service and the stock/company will eventually collapse (vs. AMZN, etc...).  The problem is for CAGs, no discounts or high prices usually means "POOR" customer service which is the opposite of what the company (remember profits) wants.

Most general consumers, when it comes to prices are pretty stupid as seen by how many people buy into new games and companies like ATVI and EA selling billions on first day releases.  Most of the general public are pretty happy, I'd guess with EA and only the gaming old timers/elite are upset (minus everyone being mostly pissed with DA2 of course)...

 
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wilflare said:
hmm hope there's more bundles coming up!
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I hope there are more great deals coming up. We're halfway though the month, and there has only been one great deal so far... and it was for games that I already had. :whistle2:(

(The 505 games and Saboteur bundle get honourable mentions.)

We need more participation from Namco, Capcom, Ubisoft, and Bethesda... pretty much anyone other than EA (who've put in some good deals), 505 (likewise), and 2K ( :nottalking:).

 
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Detruire said:
I hope there are more great deals coming up. We're halfway though the month, and there has only been one great deal so far... and it was for games that I already had. :whistle2:(

(The 505 games and Saboteur bundle get honourable mentions.)

We need more participation from Namco, Capcom, Ubisoft, and Bethesda... pretty much anyone other than EA (who've put in some good deals), 505 (likewise), and 2K ( :nottalking:).
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already have Saboteur (thanks to the famous Origin code glitch lol)

would love to try Syndicate... but not sure for $5

 
yangwenli said:
I'd advise people just avoid buying EA stuff if they don't like the price on Bioware points or games or DRM or whatever. Buying would be like going to an abusive b/f or g/f after they physically assaulted you (think Chris Brown) and being happy about it.
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Ummm.... No. No, it wouldn't. Not even a little.

I'm all for smart consumer choices but overpaying on your discretionary entertainment budget is not even a little bit like domestic physical assault :roll:

 
I finally figured out why the whole story about Tony having a friend who works EA sounds familiar:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0432043/?ref_=ttpl_pl_tt

Based on the popular Manga/Animated Film Series, Sanctuary: The Movie is the live action version of Sanctuary telling the story of two boys who survived the Khmer genocide in Cambodia and now try to create their own sanctuary in Japan. Asami is going into politics to become a national leader, seeking to create a new and better Japan, whereas Hojo wants to improve Japan by "infiltrating" and changing the other side of Japanese society, the Yakuza, becoming one of their bosses and most influencial members. Together, they are working their way up, each if them in his very own way, just to fulfill their dream: creating their very own sanctuary in a world that has gone mad.
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Replace "create a new and better Japan" with "create a new and better digital gaming environment." Then replace "going into politics" with getting a job at Amazon, and "joining the Yakuza" as with getting a job at EA.

Am I reading too much into this? I think not.

 
Syntax Error said:
Ummm.... No. No, it wouldn't. Not even a little.

I'm all for smart consumer choices but overpaying on your discretionary entertainment budget is not even a little bit like domestic physical assault :roll:
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My point again is that if you want to overpay (in CAG terms) for EA or Activision stuff, then go ahead...It's OBVIOUSLY not the EXACT same as being physically assaulted! duh...but the concept IS the same since it's overpriced/FULL price for Bioware points so just move on and do without it.

Buying it and paying the full price is telling them, yes, feel free to charge me the full MSRP and I'll continue buying it since I have no self control when it comes to my discretionary entertainment dollars and can't wait for it to be on sale or do without it. Obviously, they sell enough of it to full paying people to not / never lower the price.

Your money, your time, but buying it to me again IS telling the publishers they can charge whatever they want and you'll just take it as a consumer...Until people stop buying it, the publishers will do whatever they damn well please.

 
Detruire said:
I hope there are more great deals coming up. We're halfway though the month, and there has only been one great deal so far... and it was for games that I already had. :whistle2:(

(The 505 games and Saboteur bundle get honourable mentions.)

We need more participation from Namco, Capcom, Ubisoft, and Bethesda... pretty much anyone other than EA (who've put in some good deals), 505 (likewise), and 2K ( :nottalking:).
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I'd like to see some love from WB too...

 
yangwenli said:
My point again is that if you want to overpay (in CAG terms) for EA or Activision stuff, then go ahead...It's OBVIOUSLY not the EXACT same as being physically assaulted! duh...but the concept IS the same since it's overpriced/FULL price for Bioware points so just move on and do without it.

Buying it and paying the full price is telling them, yes, feel free to charge me the full MSRP and I'll continue buying it since I have no self control when it comes to my discretionary entertainment dollars and can't wait for it to be on sale or do without it. Obviously, they sell enough of it to full paying people to not / never lower the price.

Your money, your time, but buying it to me again IS telling the publishers they can charge whatever they want and you'll just take it as a consumer...Until people stop buying it, the publishers will do whatever they damn well please.
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Rule #48 Do not try to reason with a SJW on the internet.

 
targetbsp said:
Why? What do you think is still wrong with it?
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City size for one. I loves me some simcity, and now that online only has been removed Im tempted yet again. So then I go back and read reviews and the issue of incredibly tiny cities still always rears its ugly head. Without being able to make huge areas, with better AI for path finding, public transportation systems be put back in that were removed from 4, its just simsuburb

I do want to like it, since for me theres not a bigger timesink than simcity so I would love an up to date version. But really what 90% of the fans wanted was just simcity4 with some new additions, flashy graphics, and updated path finding which mods had previously fixed, pretty much what had been done with each revision previously. Instead what they got was something that gave them city sizes 1/10 of what they were used to, actually removed options and items, and has worse pathfinding than the previous revision (possibly even without the mod on sc4 that fixed it)

 
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Hey there,

I got hit up about the Sid Meier posters yesterday and went to the mailroom to see what was up. Someone goofed and they are still here. I'm sending them out again today.

Cheers,

Tony

 
yangwenli said:
My point again is that if you want to overpay (in CAG terms) for EA or Activision stuff, then go ahead...It's OBVIOUSLY not the EXACT same as being physically assaulted! duh...but the concept IS the same since it's overpriced/FULL price for Bioware points so just move on and do without it.
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No, it's not remotely the same. Voluntarily buying some games at full price is not even a little teeny bit like being physically assaulted.

This isn't some "OMG Women's Issues!" thing, it's just a question of perspective. Comparisons like that make people look touched in the head. They're video games. It's disposable entertainment. A luxury item. Completely unnecessary for you to buy or own. EA isn't "mistreating" you by offering a game for $60 with additional DLC; they're putting out an option for you as a consumer to accept or turn down. There's no room for a sane comparison to being attacked by a spouse or partner. It's just a stupid comparison that makes people look WAY too obsessed with friggin' video games.

Bruticis said:
Rule #48 Do not try to reason with a SJW on the internet.
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Single Jewish Woman?

 
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