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Digital Disappointment

The wait is over. The Old Republic is finally out and we can all enjoy playing the game that we’ve been waiting so long for. But for some of us, the wait has beem for more than just the game. For those of us who ordered the Collector’s Edition, we’ve been waiting for a long time to get our hands on our extra goodies that come as part of the package. When I was finally able to open up my box, I was extremely satisfied with all the physical items I got. The Gnost-Dural journal, in particular, was more impressive than I was expecting. The digital items, on the other hand, were quite disappointing.

First we’ll start with the item that everyone got for pre-ordering any edition of the game; the color stone. There have been many complaints about the color of this stone and many people feel that it is quite ugly. I’m not one of those guys. But what does bother me is the relatively low stats on the stone. At +7 Endurance, the stone didn’t last me past my late-20s. I would have liked to seen a graduated set of stones. You know, maybe at level 20 I can then buy a new color stone with something like +10 Endurance on it. Something to let me keep my pre-order colors through to the level cap if that was my wish.

Next are the holodancer, holocam, STAP, training droid and flare gun; the items that both the Collector’s Edition and Digital Deluxe buyers were given. The holocam is complete waste. So I click a button instead of hitting “Print Screen” to take a screenshot. Who cares? The holodancer is kinda entertaining, but quickly becomes annoying. The holodancer only last for 30 seconds, but the cooldown on the item is 60 seconds.. It’s totally ruining my dance parties. The flare gun is cool, but it shoots the flare so absurdly high that even in huge caverns the flare usually will disappear into the ceiling. Only use this gun outdoors, and even then the flare will be up so high that no one is likely to even see it going off. The training droid has absolutely no use other than wasting inventory space. In the end, the STAP is the only item really worth having. It’s a kind of neat looking vehicle and it saves you from having to spend the money to purchase one once you hit level 25.

Finally come the two things exclusive to Collector’s Edition owners, the mouse droid and access to a special vendor. The mouse droid is pretty neat. He follows you about, like any vanity pet, and that’s about it. I was pretty happy with my mouse droid for a couple days, until I took a look at the vendor that people who use security keys have access to. It turns out that he sells a mouse droid. A real mouse droid that actually looks like the mouse droids from the films. I want that instead of the ugly green Rhoomba that BioWare gave me. But the thing that I am most disappointed in is the vendor. Who cares if we have an exclusive vendor if it’s full of things that nobody wants to buy. You can choose from another vanity pet, a couple companion customizations, or a really ugly uniform. The VIP vendor that anyone can get access to sells a cool looking speeder and even the Security Key vendor has more and better items than the Collector’s Edition vendor. However, BioWare has said that they plan to occasionally update the vendor’s inventory with new items. I sure hope it happens soon, because right now I’m feeling kind of cheated.

13 replies on “Digital Disappointment”

I am disappointed with the digtial CE items as well… I do love the Fleet passes from the Security vendor though… so useful!

i am to vary disappointed but let’s not forget that some of the items can be changed like the holodancer or the gun lets hope they have the common sense to make the changes and maybe do a few upgrades to put it lightly

I have always felt that the digital items that come with most collectors editions are just tchotchke. I always liked the actual physical stuff, especially books of original artwork. Galaxies had a very nice books as well as Star Trek Online. I know that there are a lot of people out there that just love these little treasures, but if one is paying almost double for in game junk, is it even worth it.

Personally I love the Imperial Trooper Armor from my CE vendor. It is expensive, but I enjoy having my companions in gear I can mod as we level, AND that makes them look like my Imperial entourage.

my crystal was +4 so that must be a difference between the CE (+7) and the DD (+4) but yeah the color was fugly especially on the lightsabers.. the blasters thought it’s fine looking.

Woah Woah Woah… The ce speeder is a speeder anyone can get? I thought that other vendor was CE only too… That is pretty lame

Well, the speeder that the VIP vendor sells is different than the CE one, so the CE speeder is still exclusive. Of course, once you hit 50 you’ll want to have the faster mount, so no one will be driving their CE mounts anymore.

What colour crystal did you get? I’ve only seen +4 Endurance, which is even worse.

I have to say that I’ve been very disappointed so far with the CE items, including what is available at the Security, VIP, and CE vendors. They still have time to add stuff and make it better, but for some reason, I feel like they’ll end up like most companies and just ignore it. After all, they already have our money.

I also was not overly impressed with the in-game items granted by the CE. I am hoping to high heaven that they add more and make it worthwhile in the long run, but for now am left with a sour taste in my mouth. My displeasure began with the pre-order crystal, which I had been lead to believe would be a crystal that I could choose what color I wanted it to be. Some people may think the black and yellow or whatever-the-heck color you want to call it is cool, but I think it’s absolutely horrid as a lightsaber color. And yeah, I figured I would at least get to use it through the lifespan of my character, via an item that updated as I leveled or I could trade in for a higher stat version of it…

At this point, I wish I had saved the money and just pre-ordered the standard game, buying an authenticator later. Hindsight is 20/20 though…

In-game items were lacking. Lot of people feel the value of the CE is from the digital items, which it is not. The physical items of the CE make it worth the purchase. As for the DD, yea, you really do feel cheated. I went CE.

You hit on all the specific points I wanted to make. I forgot what armor type the CE vendor sells for the Republic uniform…, either way, he doesn’t have all armor types up there. I’m guessing he is selling light armor, since everyone can wear it.

I’m hoping for a lot more additions to the CE vendor and eventually the VIP vendor. VIP lounge really needs an upgrade. I think it should have a more penthouse feel instead of a catwalk spokes feel to it.

I feel neglected with the variety of collector’s edition items in the shop. Even though I enjoy the look of the custom armors, each side only gets 1 set of armor, and specifically, the companion customizations are for other classes’ companions, classes I don’t intend to main on! 🙁