663 replies to this topic

[antique_nova]

This thread has confused me, so the lithos that they are holding back for ME are Normandy, thane, grunt, Tali, legion and miranda?

[Dsurian]

Look, they always hold back a few of every Litho...anywhere from 25-75 (a guess, but it seems accurate). In the past, they've just released them once they were sure they had the damages taken care of, but given that a LOT of ME Litho's have been released recently, it's kinda gotten backed up. So yes, the few Litho's that they are going to be releasing over the next month date back to the Normandy, since every Litho before the Normandy (as far as i know) has already had the few Litho's that were held back sold off...

[ThrakF]

Yeah, muzykmann, that is a good point, which is why I said a window but not exact time would be a good idea, and that's still my opinion. Anyway, these are just our opinions, there's going to be people for and against every method of doing it, we're almost certainly not going to change the method, and the last thing I want is for this to turn into an argument or a debate, which it will if this goes on much longer, so let's not have that happen, ok?

[DukeOfNukes]

Umm...why not just do some kind of competition or raffle drawing? I'm not quite sure what they hope to accomplish by having us refresh their page for a month...raise their hit counter?

[cheesetogo]

DukeOfNukes wrote...

Umm...why not just do some kind of competition or raffle drawing? I'm not quite sure what they hope to accomplish by having us refresh their page for a month...raise their hit counter?

Make money from the sales?

Edited by cheesetogo, 04 March 2011 - 07:16 AM.

[MSparkyPants]

DukeOfNukes wrote...

Umm...why not just do some kind of competition or raffle drawing? I'm not quite sure what they hope to accomplish by having us refresh their page for a month...raise their hit counter?

Because then folks would complain about it being unfair. That they didn't have a chance in a completely random pool. Plus, this method has a higher chance that a customer dedicated to checking the store frequently will actually get one, instead of an anon that entered the contest for kicks. From a fairness and logical business standpoint, this is really the only way for them to go about this.

(However, I do believe being a tad more specific would be helpful. It couldn't hurt. Like, as I posted earlier, state something along the lines of "we're going to release a few copies of x-litho-name-here sometime over the next seventy-two hours". A timespan of less than that doesn't sound very appealing for a few reasons, mainly being that there would be an insane amount of stress on both machines, employees, and customers. With a three day timeframe, the vigilant fans would be more likely to be rewarded, rather than the eBay resellers and such.)

Just a random question, does anyone know if a item in the cart is "reserved" for that customer? Or are we all going to scramble for the checkout section after clicking add to cart? (A few stores I know do this differently, so it doesn't hurt to ask ;D)

[antique_nova]

ask mrs domino or a mod

[ThrakF]

yeah, I don't think raffle drawing would be such a good idea. I think MSparkyPants has had the best idea so far, as long as they release it at a time that's reasonable for people over all the time zones, if that's possible. I can see what you mean about if the timeframe was longer, fans are more likely to get it than resellers, and resellers might have more of a chance if it was shorter, and thinking about it, I think you're right. I think a 72 hour timeframe would be bang on personally. And there's no way an item in a cart is reserved, plenty of people (including me with my first attempt at tali thanks to that annoying error which has now been pretty much solved) have put lithos in their cart when it was still in stock, only for them to go out of stock at some point in the checkout process, usually due to errors or something that's not their fault if they were quick to put it in the cart, but if they were close to the end of the lithos in stock, they could just go out of stock on their own while the person's halfway through the checkout. The one thing I don't know is whether something is "reserved" for you once you press submit order if it's in stock barring an error, evidence from previous litho sales has suggested that this may be so, but it's impossible to be sure, so I wouldn't bank on it.

[antique_nova]

you would have hundreds of people repeatedly clicking that button every few seconds for 72 hours straight? you cruel cruel person

[TheRageWithin]

Scratch original content - misinformed/miscommunication.

Still, if you can find out a day that'd be much appreciated for us full-timers, and even if not, any idea if they'll be released at normal selling times or completely random times of day too?

Edited by TheRageWithin, 04 March 2011 - 11:51 PM.

[BeanieBat]

I really picked the wrong time to go away on holiday...

[DukeOfNukes]

wow...really people? I'm not talking about a raffle to give them away for free. I'm talking about a raffle for the option to purchase. This is what ticketmaster and venues have been doing for more than a decade...it's really not that complicated. Say 500 people say they want a Tali. Each of them gets a number between 1 and 500. A random number is pulled out of a hat, and then #27 then has 12 hours to purchase, or forfeit it to someone who will.

Considering most people are in school or at work between 9-5, and the lithos will most likely be going up between 9-5...how is having them appear randomly at all a "fair" solution? This nonsense about "vigilant fans" should be thrown out the window. People (myself included) have already come up with ideas about having some sort of "preferred customers" list, but were greeted with open hostility. This is the same thing...just more poorly executed. Please explain to me how having no other obligations makes you a more "vigilant fan" than me?

[MSparkyPants]

Whoa, calm down. I never claimed that I was "a more vigilant fan" than you or anything of the sort. And I never assumed the lithos would be given away for free if a raffle system was implemented nor did I assume that was what you meant. Personally, I simply dislike the raffle idea. THAT'S JUST MY OPINION. In a raffle sort of contest system, everyone can and will enter. In a sense, everything would be completly fair, true. With the system BWS is using now, the chance that a customer that checks the page frequently will get a rare litho is higher. I think it's neat; it rewards customers that are trying to get the product moreso than others that are not.

You're taking everything I posted and blowing it completely out of proportion and skewing everything into a confrontation that was never there.
:/

Edited by MSparkyPants, 05 March 2011 - 02:48 AM.

[Muzykmann]

Agreed. Duke, no offense was meant man, and you're getting fired up over nothing. I'm sorry you're busy during the day. Really. But this is a store we're talking about. Asking them to sort out some sort of a lottery system is asking for them to go WAY out of their way. It's very nice of them to come on here and listen to our suggestions, give us a heads up on new upcoming products, etc. Asking them to be a lottery system instead of a store is too much.

I wish you the best of luck in getting some lithos. I really do. But in the end, some of us will get one and some won't. It's just the way any limited release works. Asking the store to guarantee everybody equal odds regardless of time zone and availability and scheduling and prior obligations would be a logistical nightmare, and someone would STILL feel ripped off in the end.

[DukeOfNukes]

For starters, I wasn't getting all that worked up. I already own all but one of those lithos...and missing out on it isn't that big of a deal. However, you did very much state that "vigilant fans" are more likely to spend their free time refreshing the webpage at random than people who want to resell...and I can tell you right now that's complete BS. Do you really think somebody who stands to gain hundreds of dollars will check the website any less? Frankly, I would believe that most of the people that are re-selling probably have the ability to stay at home on the internet all day, whereas the people that legitimately want this are more likely tied up at work or school all day.

They could use a raffle to make a lot of money, actually. Every entry costs 1 USD. If you win, that $1 goes towards the purchase...if you lose, it could go towards the purchase of another item in the store. Seems like unloading a lot of merchandise would be well worth the effort of putting into such a system...particularly if you use it again for future surplus.

[ThrakF]

What has happened to my thread? Please feel free to discuss opinions about the way they're releasing the lithos, but please don't let it become an argument. I'm not getting cross with people, It's just a general request.

[NamiraWilhelm]

BeanieBat wrote...

I really picked the wrong time to go away on holiday...

THIS. Im away for a week from march 20th, and shall be kicking myself if i miss out on lithos (which seems likely). 

[ThrakF]

Then don't go away

[NamiraWilhelm]

ThrakF wrote...

Then don't go away

Well its to Tunisia so theres a good chance i wont lol. But yes i see what you're saying, priorities!

[BeanieBat]

NamiraWilhelm wrote...

BeanieBat wrote...

I really picked the wrong time to go away on holiday...

THIS. Im away for a week from march 20th, and shall be kicking myself if i miss out on lithos (which seems likely). 

Yep, I'm on holiday from today until the 16th! 

[NamiraWilhelm]

I reckon you'll be okay if its until the 16th, they did say the end of the month.

[ThrakF]

NamiraWilhelm wrote...

ThrakF wrote...

Then don't go away

Well its to Tunisia so theres a good chance i wont lol. But yes i see what you're saying, priorities!

Yes indeed, priorities!  With that in mind, it's probably a good thing that you were thinking of tunisia.

NamiraWilhelm wrote...

I reckon you'll be okay if its until the 16th, they did say the end of the month.

Umm, sorry beaniebat, but they said end of the month for the 2 new ones, they just said over the next few weeks for the surplus.....

[NamiraWilhelm]

Oh really, the next few weeks? I might have a chance!

[ThrakF]

Good luck then, which ones are you trying to get?