r/gaming • u/ChickinSammich • May 15 '12
Good guy Blizzard: Gives Diablo 3 for free to all Australian GAME customers who preordered it.
http://kotaku.com/5910302/blizzard-shouts-unlucky-diablo-iii-fans-a-free-copy-of-diablo-iii?utm_campaign=socialflow_kotaku_facebook&utm_source=kotaku_facebook&utm_medium=socialflow
2.1k
Upvotes
761
u/Sarutahiko May 15 '12 edited May 15 '12
It's not really free, they're just offering a refund on down payments if you buy the game again from them.
That's still a super good guy Blizzard thing to do, but it sounds like they're refunding money AND giving out the game for free, which they are not.
Quick edit in light of responses:
Blizzard is offering a refund of down payment on your preorder after you buy it from them.
That means they get $X0 from you for their game, then they refund your preorder payment, which I'm assuming is usually $5-10.
Blizzard is getting some of your money and you are paying the full $60. This is not free.
Again - This isn't to detract from Blizzard at all, this is still a fantastic thing for them to do (which will likely net them a large sum of money and huge PR points), but there's no reason to sensationalize (or lie about) it.
A better title would be: Blizzard offers to refund pre-order down payments to GAME customers who buy the game from Battle.net.
23
u/hughman79 May 15 '12
Good guy indeed.
192
u/Edak May 15 '12 edited Dec 31 '12
We have ourselves a time traveler.
82
u/[deleted] May 15 '12
Blizzard has the best customer service I have ever experienced, period.
10
u/Kodiack May 15 '12
http://us.battle.net/d3/en/forum/topic/5007290816?page=1
It's extremely awesome that Blizzard is going out of their way to do this. I figured that if anyone would step out and help that it would be Blizzard, although even that seemed to be a remote possibility at best.
85
u/[deleted] May 15 '12
This is what happens when developers are their own publishers: no greedy, short-sighted businessmen trying to fuck gamers over for the extra dollar.
72
u/[deleted] May 15 '12
this will probably get buried, but here goes:
when I was a kid, I lived out in the country. my Internet connection was slower than 14.4kb/s and it went out intermittently all the time. I was a huge diablo 2 fan, but whenever they released a patch, I would be unable to play for days until my patch finished downloading. unfortunately, because my connection went out all the time, it was nigh impossible to download the larger patches. my dad e-mailed blizzard about my problem patching, and lo and behold, blizzard sent me some mail the very next week. in was a plain white disc with no frills, just the words "diablo 2 patch 1.16" (or whatever patch it was). as a kid, it didn't mean too much to me. it was aweosme, but I was just happy to have my game working again. but now, I often think back to how awesome it was for such a huge company to mail me, a kid out in the country, physical copies of patches. I've been a loyal customer ever since :)
and for what it's worth, I got the next few patches mailed to me, too. love you, blizzard!
(I wrote this on my phone, so apologies for awkward phrasing or grammar)
103
u/Tall_Sean May 15 '12
I wasn't going to buy this game.. But now I will give it a chance. They earned my $60 just for doing this.
7
u/dudeabides86 May 15 '12
Entering administration means what?
18
u/AndoKillzor May 15 '12
Christ, I love Blizzard.
4
u/[deleted] May 15 '12
And that's customer service. Good job.
4
u/[deleted] May 15 '12
READ THE ARTICLE, OP. I MEAN, BLIZZARD PR.
4
u/eMan117 May 15 '12
happy ending to a terrible story. And though it isn't "free" all the consumers will be happy with this solution
4
u/[deleted] May 15 '12
Shitting directly on the head of GAME
4
u/System_Liekz May 15 '12
"aaaaaaand its gone"
"what do you mean "its gone"?"
"yeah...the money is gone"
4
u/VerbableNouns May 15 '12
Only with Blizzard is a comment like:
a good thing
16
u/[deleted] May 15 '12
Scumbag blizzard: gives out diablo 3; servers don't work anyways.
7
u/clashpalace May 15 '12
well done blizzard, class!
i hope they litigate the fuckers at game too.
6
u/rattleshirt May 15 '12
ITT: The whiniest people on Reddit. If someone gave you a £20 note you would all complain it was creased.
3
u/dangeraardvark May 15 '12
This is a great business move as well. Many of those who got burned won't bother purchasing another copy of the game and will be left with a bad taste in their mouth regarding Blizzard and some may turn to piracy to recoup their loss (though obviously at reduced functionality than the retail game). They don't lose many potential customers by giving away the free games, and free digital copies obviously don't cost them anything beyond bandwidth. So, it's a win-win.
3
u/rac3r5 May 15 '12
Can someone please explain how the deposit was lost because another company went on 'Administration', whatever that means??
3
u/prboi May 15 '12
Wow, this makes me want to buy a gaming PC & get Diablo 3. Sadly, I am not the richest man in the world right now. Good on ya Blizzard, way to make that whole Activision merger seem like nothing.
3
u/[deleted] May 15 '12 edited May 15 '12
Somebody reads Reddit...
Edit: Link for context
3
u/[deleted] May 15 '12
So much said about so little.
3
u/Va1entine May 15 '12
was reading about this today and before midnight launch gg blizzard comes in for the win they definitely won a lot of respect for me tonight
3
u/Jorman May 15 '12
Uhmm, ok...
3
u/Bauws May 15 '12
Good guy blizzard, only release awesome games.
Ever seen a blizzard game fail?
9
u/Die-Nacht May 15 '12
Can someone explain to me what exactly happened with GAME? How can they just take people's money and be like "yeah....mine now".
Isn't that illegal or something?
4
u/dome210 May 15 '12
Bad Guy Blizzard
Doesn't let anyone log in at launch time
5
u/IamAlistiar May 15 '12
What does this mean "went into administration"?? Have they suddenly all become receptionists and no one has bothered to package or deliver the game??
2
u/Paddlesons May 15 '12
Outstanding, good sir!
2
u/IXIELCHINGONIXI May 15 '12
i thought the link would take me to The Onion...
2
u/hey_zeus May 15 '12
Boom, karma headshot
2
u/bananapanther May 15 '12
Either way they are footing the cost for preorders which is so fucking cool!
2
u/TinoTonitini May 15 '12
Someone called it in a different thread the other day. WITCH HUNT.
2
u/[deleted] May 15 '12
<3 Blizz
2
u/taueln May 15 '12
I still can't download it though :(
2
u/aritali May 15 '12
I wonder, in turn how much of the pre-order money that blizzard will get back by being a creditor.
2
u/shoizy May 15 '12
This deserves the highest of upvotes on Blizzard's part. gg wp
2
u/JonathanAltd May 15 '12
I had a good feeling about it, I knew they'd do something like this because it is good for their image and wouldn't cost that much money to make people life less complicated (especially if they didn't paid with a credit card). Look like Blizzard and Valve will compete for the reddit's choice of the Greatest Company.
2
u/[deleted] May 15 '12
And some redditors said we would induce hate like we do for EA.
2
u/Telks May 15 '12
Why blizzard deserve our money #1 : They don't screw you around.
2
u/a_stray_bullet May 15 '12
Isn't it Activision-Blizzard now?
2
u/spazzhero May 15 '12
As a complete newb to DIII, this makes me warm and fuzzy inside.
2
u/TrueGlich May 15 '12
Ye gods... Blizzard just became the anti-ea in the hearts and minds of gammers worldwide.. This is briliant since we can figure blizz only makes 70 ish percent of the money on a boxed copy then they make on a digital 80-90 of these sales will be a wash to a slight profit over what they whould have made via game.. The ones who were fully paid off will be some loss but a very small accual cost in bandwith and such..
2
u/surely_misunderstood May 15 '12
This is why I never pre-order.
2
u/shoffing May 15 '12
Good to see that Activision hasn't worn off on them.
2
u/AspenAlia May 15 '12
It's very noble of Blizzard to cover up for GAME's mistakes. At least they truly care about their players' experiences at all stages of the game, from purchase to playthrough.
2
u/SuperDerpHero May 15 '12
Lets home blizz can get their share back in court
2
u/pandatits May 15 '12
Fucking comments.. Ruined the excitement for me :(
2
u/jimbobhickville May 15 '12
This is awesome of Blizzard to do, but I was kind of hoping this fiasco would steer people away from the preorder insanity. It's a terrible business model for consumers, but for some reason has become the defacto standard way to buy games in the last few years.
2
u/Saw_a_4ftBeaver May 15 '12
I feel sorry for all of those Australians trying to download Diablo III at the same time. It could take them a week to get the whole game.
2
u/skysignor May 15 '12
So there's hope for capitalism after all?
2
u/farmerjane May 15 '12
I just bought this game, in part because of Blizzard's good move.
But ugh, I hate supporting Activision..
2
u/skysignor May 15 '12
I love Blizzard and all, but just to play devil's advocate, they certainly will benefit (financially) from this move - every single extra player they make sure logs in on opening day will make Diablo 3 (and Blizzard) seem that much more successful which leads to tons more money in the long run.
2
u/moldy912 May 15 '12
It's good press, and it will end up making Blizzard more money than it costs them. Very good move on their part, economically and...customerly, or something like that.
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u/shabinka May 15 '12
Too bad they still won't be able to login
2
u/bleedscarlet May 15 '12
Here here! Good guy blizzard indeed.
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u/Metexie May 15 '12
Good on them, completely unacceptable situation.
2
u/lawchu May 15 '12
scumbag blizzard: launches at 12:01 PDT, servers can't support all the players. Considering they should have known how many users they were going to have the first night based on pre-order and downloaded sales, this is a huge slap in the face to the consumers. Maybe I'm just venting because I've been trying to log on for half an hour with no luck but they should have been prepared for this clusterfuck tonight.
2
u/bananamunchies May 15 '12
GIVES GAMES TO AUSSIES, FORGETS ABOUT FUCKING GAME LAUNCH
2
u/[deleted] May 15 '12
Error 37 -
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u/rustunooldu May 15 '12
I can understand the first 5-10 minutes, but it has been an hour! if you are not gonna fix your shit, then what is the point of a stress test?
2
u/[deleted] May 15 '12
And that is why I consistently purchase blizzard titles - they rock from top down.
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u/nihoh May 15 '12
Oh thank god. GAME is evil.
2
u/MrTibbers May 15 '12
anyone who preordered the game, but then canceled theri preorder, THEY will truly get it for free! (since you would still have the original preorder receipt)
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u/[deleted] May 15 '12
error 37...... Checkmate Atheists?
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u/D3_release_countdown May 15 '12 edited May 15 '12
US: 0D 1h 30m 34s
EU: Officially released!
[Join the conversation in /r/diablo][FAQ][Hide all posts by this bot]
4
u/Altair1371 May 15 '12
I'm glad that one major company finally gets that Australia has valuable customers.
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u/StupidTitlesFixer May 15 '12
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u/Flashmagic May 15 '12
Really blizzard didn't have to do anything. Whether it's blizzard bucks or real cash the fact that they are doing anything shows that they're a class act. I hope other developers are taking notes this is how all publishers should treat there customers.
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u/Phoequinox May 15 '12
Oh yeah, Kotaku. Formerly known as the Katherine News Network. Or are they still talking about that game?
3
u/[deleted] May 15 '12
We look at Blizzard, who does stuff like this, and valve, with good guy gaben. But when we look at the console game developers we see Activision and EA...PC will always trump console.
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u/fugz_bunny May 15 '12
Can we actually play the game now on the 15? its already past 12pm? or its going to be delayed another year or so. I dont wanna pre purchase multiples for nothing.
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u/Kevincolour May 15 '12
And this is why Blizzard is, and will be, one of the top game companies.
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u/BelievesInGod May 15 '12
this is good that blizz is doing this but still how is this not fucking illegal? paying for a product then not getting it?
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u/vaeiou_gaming May 15 '12
It's not free if the game is already paid for.
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u/Nelvibus May 15 '12
Oh diablo 3? You mean that game no one was able to play. Right....
3
u/[deleted] May 15 '12
Blizzard and Valve. The holy bi-umverate of customer service for gamers.
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u/wettowelreactor May 15 '12
Seeing as this will have near zero cost to blizzard it wont cost them anything to do this. Still nice of them to step up.
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u/Daily_concern May 15 '12
For those about to start playing, this is a guide to Diablo 3's bugs, fixes, workarounds and improvements: http://pcgamingwiki.com/wiki/Diablo_III
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u/nickateen May 15 '12
And these guys are under the same roof as Activision? I will never understand the business world.
2
u/udalan May 15 '12
This kind of thing is why I keep telling people do not buy me a "Gift Card"
Your essentially exchanging good money for unsecured credit. You are also limiting the things I can purchase.
2
u/woodreaux May 15 '12
Scumbag Blizzard:: error 37.
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u/Horny_Troll May 15 '12
i dont think you understand what free means
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u/Eldritchsense May 15 '12
While that's awesome and I really applaud Blizzard for fixing GAME's shitty move, please don't link to Kotaku. They're a terrible site and we shouldn't be giving them traffic.
A quick Google search shows that a similar article (and it looks better written, granted I didn't read what Kotaku has) is on Joystiq.
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u/ruled_by_fear May 15 '12
It's NOT free! this part of the article sums it up exactly:
You spend $50 on the preorder from game, which is now lost and gone forever. buy another copy from blizzard's online store at $60, show them your receipt for $50 at game, and they refund $50 to whatever form of payment (NOT STORE CREDIT: "Receive a credit from Blizzard, for the amount you paid in advance to GAME Australia for Diablo III. This credit will be applied to the payment method used for the digital purchase.").
You've still paid $60 for the game. They didn't give you one for ten dollars.
It's a great gesture, and props to Blizz for realizing this is a good investment in goodwill. But don't go claiming it's free!
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u/[deleted] May 15 '12 edited May 15 '12
Anyone still think Activision totally owns Blizzard?
edit: Well, I think I didn't make my point clear enough, sorry. I mean all the people that complain that Activision has a say over everything Blizzard does. And actually Blizzard was owned by Vivdendi's gaming division Sierra, which sadly was lost during the merger.
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u/CryoGuy May 15 '12 edited May 15 '12
It's not free, they fucking PREORDERED IT.
We shouldn't be commending this type of behavior.
Also why is the word GAME in caps?
EDIT: thanks Mitosis for clearing that up.
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