Update: The Official Pre-order page is up. It lists what you get for the CE, Digital Deluxe, and Standard. Pay close attention to the differences between the CE and the DD. The CE gets two exclusives: In-game store and Mouse Droid.
Lots of “leaks” (Graev and I just chuckle when they say it’s a leak because they’re intentional) are showing the SWTOR pre-order and CE details. The latest comes from Gamestop.
No [expletive]ing way am I spending $150 on a collector’s edition.  I’m really excited for SWTOR and love collector’s editions, but I have a rule now that I do not spend more than $10 over the box price for any collector’s edition unless it is amazing and I don’t spend over $20 more period.
A ton of stuff comes in the CE. Anything interest you?
Exclusive Gentle Giant Darth Malgus statue
Star Wars: The Old Republic game discs in collectable metal case
The Journal of Master Gnost-Dural annotated by Satele Shan
Old Republic galaxy map
Custom security authentication key
Exclusive music of Star Wars: The Old Republic CD
High quality Collector’s Edition boxIn Game Items:
Flare gun: Fire flares into the air
Training droid: Hovers at your side for combat assistance
HoloDancer: Project your own holographic dancer
HoloCam: Keep visual records of in-game adventures
STAP: Sleek and unique in-game vehicle
Exclusive Mouse Droid: Spunky droid to join your adventures
Exclusive Collector’s Edition store: Unique in-game vendor with a dynamic assortment of items
It’s been decided that the statue is worth like $50-80. If that’s the type of thing you drop money on then maybe you’re the kind of person this is aimed at, but for me it would sit on the shelf and collect dust. I’d prefer putting that money to use buying an entire additional game or more. The fluff crap like flare guns are throw-away. The mount, I’m sure, will offer no major advantage. What really interests me out of all of that is the unique in-game vendor and I’m only interested in that because I have no idea what it will sell. If it sells more fluff, I’ll pass.
Maybe they’ll offer a digital CE on Origin. I’d pay $10 over the standard price for all those in-game items pending any revelation about the vendor’s offerings being worthwhile. I will not go anywhere near the $150, though.
The authentication key, is that akin to WoW’s authenticator? If so, that’s about the only item that would explain pumping the price up.
No art book?
I don’t think that is crazy for a Collector’s Edition. I paid $100 or so I think for my Warcraft III CE. If it was only the digital items, I might agree with your assessment.
I think the more damning news is that they are including possible benefits for CE players on top of making it a subscription game. Feels like EA is already trying to squeeze every penny out of this game in hopes of making some money.
@Rog: My list may not be accurate/complete. I think there -is- an art book of some sort. The authenticator is like WoW’s; probably with some unique art on it since they’ll be available to non-CE people. What actually makes the price pumped up is the statue valued at $50-80.
@heartless: I paid the same for my WC3 CE. Graev got Batman Arkham Asylum for $120. I did SC2 and Vanguard and a few others. That’s why I instituted my new rule. I realized I was wasting my money.
$150 is ludicrous. I would spend an extra $10 but that’s about it.
Curious. How do you know the leaks are orchestrated?
Apparently that statue is very expensive…whatever company makes those charges a lot. I just want the in game items.
Some type of at-launch microtransaction deal was to be expected based on Bioware’s recent offerings, but this seems like too much money to ask from loyal fans, despite the epic amount of collector’s content.
Do we even have a release date yet?
Most expensive EA project ever. Remember that.
CE’s (usually) have higher margins so are quite popular from a publisher’s point of view. Hive off some cosmetic items, add in a cheap statuette (EA aren’t paying $50 – $80 a statue) and extra fluff. Package it up in a prettier box and then threaten exclusivity. Watch them fly off the shelves.
CE’s are more expensive to make, certainly, but they return good margins which is why so many titles offer them.
Just bought my $150 CE – plus $25 express shipping to Australia thanks to the extraordinary decision to exclude half of the world from the launch 🙁
I know it’s a lot of money but compared to some of the hobbies my mates have, gaming is pretty cheap… I’m a sucker for a CE!
Yay for region lockouts!
WTF EA, I want to buy your game and you won’t let me???
OH HAI GETA!!!
I purchased the standard addition digital download. I did not fall for their Jedi mind trick to buy the CE version.
I saw the minimum spec for anyone wondering.
OS – Windows XP, Vista/7
CPU – AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual-Core 4000+ or better Intel Core 2 Duo Processor 2.0GHz or better
RAM – Windows XP: 1.5GB Windows Vista and Windows 7: 2GB PCs using a built-in graphical chipset, 2GB RAM recommended.
Video – ATI X1800 or better* nVidia 7800 or better* Intel 4100 Integrated Graphics or better*
DVD-ROM – 8x or better *Minimum of 256MB of on-board RAM and Shader 3.0 or better support.
I’m buying it.
The fluff will be nice if I’m still playing a year down the line, and the authenticator is handy full stop.
Besides, I plan to flog the statue on ebay at some point, so hopefully I’ll end up with a lot of money back.
The freaking digital CE is 80$ as much as most boxed ones. Good god.
http://i.massively.joystiq.com/2011/07/21/star-wars-the-old-republic-pre-order-is-live/
$80 for the digital delux edition and $60 for the standard! WTF? Why are they charging $60 for the standard over the $50 every other pc game does? And 20 more bucks for those in game items, wow…
It’s almost like someone at EA knows the only chance they have at making significant money here is in the first month…
$150 is one thing, you do get a bunch of physical junk if that’s your thing, but $80 for the digital version is pure insanity.
Watch that vendor sell power.
Let’s face it this IP star Wars has a lot of hardcore fans who are collectors of all things. Having said that this caters to them as that statue to them is a “unique must have” and they will pay for it. If you look at value there are a lot of good items in there. The CD music for this game we know will be over the top and that alone is probably 15-20$ retail.
Anyhow, this is why they have the option of standard edition which is what most people buy but the CE is suited for a particular market. It will sell no doubt. I wont be one of them though.
I got sucked into buying SWG’s collectors edition, with the sleek oversized black box and books etc.
I definitely will not be wasting money on this CE.
Just pre ordered the digital deluxe.
Omg WTF? Just realized the digital deluxe doesn’t get the in game store or the droid.. That’s CE only, that’s a scam.
I just can’t do $80 for a digital CE. What does the in-game special CE vendor sell? If it’s like extra content or something… maybe. But if it’s “special lightsaber colors!” then forget about it.
60$ is the new standard price for EA’s games at launch. so 20$ for a pet, cosmetics and a mount. I got quite a bit of use out the turtle mount in Rift so it’s possible the mount might be the more useful part of the digital CE.
@keen
Collector’s Store
Unique in-game vendor with a dynamic assortment of items available only to purchasers of the Collector’s Edition.
If you preorder the digital deluxe or the CE you get a 6 day head start also.. I’d you preorder standard you get a 3 say head start.. Not really a big difference.
@Bartillo: I know, I can read the same thing on the website. That tells me absolutely nothing about what the vendor sells.
Looks like I’m going standard for now.
It’s prob cosmetic items, that would be my guess.
$150? I wish. In Europe they are selling it for 150€, that’s $215.
lololol!
Ive already determined to put my money where my mouth is and will not be giving any money away to a developer that caters to the WoW crowd or decised that themepark hand holding shallow gameplay is the future. Im holding out my gaming dollars for TSW and GW2.
@Bartillo there’s 2 droids, one that helps you with combat, the training droid, thent he vanity pet, the mouse droid, only the latter is exclusive to the physical CE, both the CE and the digital deluxe include the combat droid.
I was thinking… I bet the CE Store is gonna have items that would normally cost $ in the cash shop (which we know they will have with the sub just like WoW) but those items are free for CE people so they can be shown off for how cool they look and get people to buy them.
Considering they are sold out of CE the questions are now moot. I ended up ordering the Digital Download edition. Expensive but it come with a vehicle and I’ve always foud mobility important early in most games.
Well look like the Digital Deluxe is the way to go. Although I need more info on that Ingame Shop and the Mouse Droid you won’t get.
It sounds like that Mouse Droid is just a non combat pet that can follow you around.. That other droid sounds like a combat companion.. You don’t get a companion in your story till like level 10 so id think that droid is just to help fight with you for level 1-10… I doubt you can have the combat droid and a companion at the same time.
I bought the Digital Deluxe… yeah it was $80, but it’s Star Wars. They could have charged $200 and $100 for the different editions and people would still have no problem with it.
I probably would have still gotten the DD had it been $100, because at that point, whats another $20? I couldn’t justify the $150 though, just because I bought the SWG CE – and that one sucked. I haven’t bought another CE since, but that may change with Mass Effect 3.
I wish the DD came with the vendor and droid pet, but whatever. I wanted the vehicle most of all because I view transport as pretty important early on.
The only thing that has really put me off still is that there is no mention of a release date (before you buy). When you buy, it mentions they are aiming for holiday 2011. I don’t know why they couldn’t publish that information for everyone.
A. It doesn’t seem terrible for everything you get, even though it is one of the most expensive CE’s to date. (I guess they are trying to recover that 100 million budget on box sales alone :P)
B. I don’t buy CE’s anymore unless the game has particular sentimental meaning to me. This one doesn’t.
I dunno. If you can afford $150 it’s awesome. If you have to chose between the CE and 2 games then it sucks.
I’m just sad the way gaming is becoming more and more like RL. The haves and the have nots.
Wow…
As someone who has been following the game since announcement i’m left with a very bitter taste for TOR now. There are so many Australians/Aus guilds already set up ready to go, spreading the good word about this game, defending the game etc. Only to find out in such poor fashion that its not even available to us.
http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=382918
^^ I’d be shocked if Bioware/EA didn’t see this #%!tstorm coming. Over 1k already, closed thread opened a new one 150 pages.
This part right here makes me sick:
“We fully intend to deliver to you an amazing game when we expand our service post-launch, but right now we cannot commit to any timeframe for when that may happen.”
POST LAUNCH? Wow…
I know most of you here aren’t suffering from this issue. I just felt it was worth mentioning. Living in a country that always receives games at the same time as others, suddenly being treated as 2nd class citizens isn’t appreciated nor going down well at all.
TLDR: No early access for Australians (+many other areas) Not able to play the game at launch. No time frame at all. Oh but its ok to buy it through Amazon, they won’t be restricting IPs. I just won’t be jumping through hoops like the monkey EA thinks I am to hand them $$$$.
I pre-ordered the collectors edition! 😀
I have found that in no case have the in game pre-order items ever had any lasting value including mounts. Superior items will be readily and rapidly available. I’ll save my $20 for something more meaningful like a few Sazeracs…
@Havok: Buy it off of Amazon and have it shipped to you. There won’t be any IP blocking as I understand…
@gankatron: I may end up doing that. In fact importing is usually my first choice considering the huge extra costs of buying games locally here ($50 US game v $110 Aus).
My problem is (like others left out) the very poor way they have gone about announcing this. Its the first time i’ve actually gone “hmmm I guess I can go through Amazon since they said they will not stop anyone who can get a hold of a copy from playing… WAIT A MINUTE NO F$@! THIS”
Many people it seems are going through the same anger and disappointment. I’m not an EA fan by any means and I really don’t feel I should have to, as I said earlier “jump through hoops” for it. I really appreciate your info gankatron its what i’ve read too. I could go on about it but i’ll leave it there and to the swtor forums where the topic certainly doesn’t show any signs of slowing.
Sorry if i’ve gone off the topic a bit, in RE to that: I agree 100% $150 not in this Galaxy!
Don’t forget proxy, vpn, and other connection solutions that will put your detected connection in your country of choice; however, these options may introduce unwanted lag.
On the flip side, the US and Aussie seem to be introducing a lot of privacy intrusion BS lately and you may need those solutions before long anyway. Just a thought …
@Havok,
Actually there is conflicting information from EA reps about whether there will be IP bans in-game.
Stephen Reid (Community Manager) is currently looking into it, as he previous stated there is no ban, but has had to retract his statement.
Twitter feed
“Sleep soon. Please understand on IP blocking stuff, I will investigate, doesn’t guarantee I am right or you will like answers.”
UnSub is spot on about the reasoning behind CEs and the associated higher margins and I’m also with SynCaine in cynically fearing this is a “Cash and Run”.
This is not just because “It’s EA/Star Wars” but perhaps they already fear the conversion rate will be low.
When I saw the headline I was immediately reminded of the laughable lifetime offer for the last Cryptic turkey which was announced before anyone had even played a demo of the game. Yeah that was a Sub plan rather than a CE but it was an attempt to grab money up-front from a game they knew was crap.
My worry levels for this game have thus increased to “Very Nervous”.
Oh yeah, and all the actual swag in the CE is crap, but then I never buy CEs anyway and consider them exploitation of the fanboy/conspicuous consumption crowd. I can’t think of a single CE I’d have even wanted even if I was not so tightfisted with my cash 🙂
The price will be even more ridiculous here in the UK too and I’ll thus be even more outraged once that’s confirmed 😛
UK Prices so far:
Collector’s Edition: £130 ($211) – GET. TO. F**K.
Digital Deluxe: “To maintain a high quality of service, only certain regions worldwide will be able to pre-order Star Warsâ„¢: The Old Republicâ„¢.”
Standard: £40 ($65) – I just won’t pay that much for a PC game which then requires a Monthly Sub.
I also resent that the UK does not qualify as a “certain region” and unless this turns out to be a brilliant game I shall be passing altogether.
I can’t wait to see how things turn out after this is launched…either way, I predict hilarity.
Keen
Would you pay 150.00 for DAOC 2 with the updated graphics, game engine and the soul of the pre TOA game intact. And EA or current Mythic having nothing to do with it.
@Jay P. Not for a CE, no. Would I fork over $150 a guaranteed DAOC 2 just how I want it? Given the perfect bubble scenario, I’d pay $150 if it were a “lifetime” because I know I’d play over 2 years and get my money out of it.
I’ll wait until a year after when the $150 collector’s edition has made its way down to $60, like the Halo 3 mega edition I found on clearance at Target, or how Final Fantasy XIV’s collector’s edition is at Gamestop for $25.
The CE might already be sold out. Guess they got a limited amount of those statues and tons of crazy star wars/bioware fans.
@Mesar: Thanks for the info. I think i’m just going to wait it out. See if there are any solid announcements and timeframes for Aus and check out the reception of the game at launch. I just wish I could somehow reserve my character names though 😛 Oh well.
Keen, I need my daily keen and graev fix! can you make it happen? a header every day! that would be awesomesauce!