Yeah, I've logged into Paypal a few times over the past two days and my account balance is 0 and they're showing they've processed a refund to my Discover card on the 24th. It's just hasn't actually impacted the balance on my card yet.
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Ni No Kuni Collector's Edition for EU/NA [failure level well beyond critical mass]
- Thread starter rockman zx
- Start date
Yeah, I've logged into Paypal a few times over the past two days and my account balance is 0 and they're showing they've processed a refund to my Discover card on the 24th. It's just hasn't actually impacted the balance on my card yet.
CuthbertAllgoodz
Member
wow I was just making a remark, I was not attacking you, it is funny to see you go. Man with an attitude like that you might not last that long on here, calm the hell down mister chillax.
eudaemonic
Member
I wonder if it would even be worth reprinting the book if everyone in here with a burning desire to have it buys the CE from overseas and thus has it anyways.
Maybe they should Kickstart the book in order to gauge demand and print what's needed...
Maybe they should Kickstart the book in order to gauge demand and print what's needed...
Jacksonlee
Member
i think im just ganna buy the jap version of the book via online for 30~ dollars.
and learn the damn langauge.
and learn the damn langauge.
Twilight Princess
Member
the quality of the book and plush should be exactly the same, right? i assume they are mass produced in china.
zeopower6
Member
The plush appears to be pretty much standard crane game fare (if not slightly lesser in quality) while the book appears to be essentially the exact same as its Japanese counterpart just in English. What do you mean by the the 'quality of a book and plush being the same'? From what I've seen, the book looks good while the rest of the bonuses look a bit cheap.
Twilight Princess
Member
quality of paper, ink etc.
I think the idea is trying to confirm that the EU versions of the book are identical to the US version, and not a cheaper version with crappy binding and worse materials.
Fishpond NZ is reporting 2 wizards edition left in stock.
Is the book for the Japanese DS game, and the Japanese PS3 game the same? From what I understood the DS game won't get fan-translated because of the requirement to translate the book, but if the PS3 book is adequate and translated in english maybe it's not a problem at all.
Is the book for the Japanese DS game, and the Japanese PS3 game the same? From what I understood the DS game won't get fan-translated because of the requirement to translate the book, but if the PS3 book is adequate and translated in english maybe it's not a problem at all.
JennyTablina
Member
It's worth noting, all Namco or Digital River were really obligated to do, by rights, was make sure you got the product you ordered, or in the case of things going south - refunding your money if they fail to get the goods to you in a certain amount of time. Which it seems is at least starting to happen (I imagine Namco will be leaning heavilly on Digital River to ensure everyone who needs to be refunded is done so asap)
They don't have to offer the guide for free at all (or that $20 voucher), they could just say that those cancelled will get their money back, and tough luck on the CE full stop. Mostly they don't because that would be considered poor show. It's the same in any other situation in retail, the store will always do the upmost to make sure the customer gets what they want - in the case we can't give you what we want, we offer the alternative - or give a gift of goodwill (be it a refund, coupon or item) to make up for the mistake. Namco-Bandai US is basically clearing up the mess Digital River left them.
Ordering a whole batch of guides isn't cheap, specially when your giving them away instead of making profit. But I imagine making a specific run of the Wizard's Companion would cost much more and take even longer to deliver to people - even when Namco UK released a bunch of Wizard's Companions for GAME to give away with Ni No Kuni's standard release, it was notably the untranslated Japanese book, not the English translation. It's a bit more useful to offer a guide that can be delivered on short notice so people can use it for their playthrus
zeopower6
Member
Well...
The book that was originally included with first press limited edition copies of Ni no Kuni: Shiroki Seihai no Joou had a copy of the "Magic Master Classic" aka the book that came with Ni no Kuni: Shikkoku no Madoushi and didn't exactly align with the in-game book on the PS3.
However, I think for this release, they took the digital book from the PS3 game and placed the contents into an identical shell to the Magic Master Classic. So I would suppose they're not exactly the same.
You could probably still use it and get through the DS game just fine and a fan-translation would be possible.
Cbajd5
Member
Yes it's very useful to have a strategy guide for a game you aren't receiving from them and can't buy from them.
please don't hurt me
CuthbertAllgoodz
Member
haha
Just curious, what do you think would have been a realistic satisfying compensation for your troubles?
rumbalumba
Banned
save the fact that we don't have the game because they cancelled our order, so what's the point of getting a guide for something you don't have?
besides, i think most people are still willing to pay for the book to be reprinted, even the whole WE to be reprinted. the thing is, we're getting something we didn't ask for. they could just re-print the books and charge us for it, i wouldn't object to that. why? because that's what we initially want. if we wanted a guide, we could've just bought it from a million other online shops (which a lot of us already did). i think most people would be fine paying for the book if they ever offer it to cancelled orders. getting a guide for a game you don't have, and $20 off a store which doesn't carry the game you're interested in, isn't a solution in any way. better late than never. i'd be fine if i were to wait for weeks just to get the book and even pay for it. we've already missed the release date anyway.
Cbajd5
Member
Maybe at least making more of the NinoStarter stuff for the people who go out of their way to get the EU Wizard's Edition? It doesn't seem unrealistic for them to do that.
Or to something else that's neat like the non-living Drippy plush Amazon gave away in a contest a while ago. Or at least they could sell that. It's much cooler looking than the Wizard's Edition one.
Edit: Or a copy of Jojo's Bizarre Adventure : All Star Battle. Or at least tell us it's coming out in America.
please
cleveridea
Member
Was in target and saw game in stock
Me I'm waiting for WE to arrive Monday
Me I'm waiting for WE to arrive Monday
You didn't ask me, but what I'd have liked to see:
In the ideal world where I am grand high ruler, I'd have liked to see them take short-term backorders for the Standard Edition (if they wanted to be really considerate, the Standard Edition with the WE color booklet and disc art; if they could find another stockpile of Japanese books in a warehouse somewhere, throw those in, although I'd imagine they've probably finally gotten rid of them all), free shipping, so people could get the game for $40 with the DR coupon. Swap out the free strategy guide for the Wizard's Edition DLC codes (since it costs them essentially nothing to offer those.) None of the above would have been super-difficult for them; as it stands it does kind of suck that their version of a mea culpa doesn't actually help you get the game.
They're fun to flip through if you don't care about spoilers.
Lucent
Member
Well, people who get the guide can use it WHEN they get the game? It's not like the game itself is exclusive to Namco's store like Xenoblade was for Gamestop and Nintendo's site.
CuthbertAllgoodz
Member
I agree that it seems reasonable to ask for something that does not worth that much but that is not buyable by people who never pre-ordered the WE.
iammeiam's idea is pretty good too! Same optic.
Since it is useless to you, in a great act of generosity, you will give it away here to someone who has the game, right?
And yes I am sure that people are ready to pay for the book to be reprinted, but the point that some of us keep bringing is that we do not think that there is THAT many people who wants the book. I am sure that it would cost them a lot to print a very limited quantity, as a business, the idea does not make much sense. They do not really have a way to gauge how many they could sell, making a big reprint(to lower the cost) risky.
Don't get mad at me! =)
Cbajd5
Member
Wait, I know the answer to this:
Kickstarter!
I am completely understanding if someone wants to punch me.
Lucent
Member
Free punching bag? YAY! =P
Anyway, a kickstarter wouldn't be bad. I would say they could just make a kickstarter, say "we need at least this many orders to go through with it" and take everyone's money so they wouldn't have to overprint. If there's not enough to make it feasible for them, then they don't waste any time.
Ninostarter already happened though.
rumbalumba
Banned
well it doesn't take them that much effort to know. there's probably less than a thousand people who pre-ordered the wiz ed. all it takes is an email or a call, or an announcement. majority of people's reaction towards their proposed solution has been negative. you're speaking as if they have zero means to know what people want (which is bs). the book was the main pull for people. who bought the wiz ed for the doll? and we shouldn't care or sympathize about what matters to them as a business, but what matters to us. why give us something we didn't ask from you? we bought the wiz ed to get items we can't get anywhere else. d-u-h. why give us something we could've gotten somewhere else? it's just sad to see people resort to an iffy online retailer from halfway around the world and find a solution for themselves.
NoLootBoxDev
Member
I was checking on the store, to see if they got more stock for Ni no Kuni (standard), its not listed any more, I guess they dont want the people to use the $20 on that game.
Demand for the book at this point is probably not very high.
It's not so simple to print. The guide is simple because that was already being re-printed. Namco will just buy them from Prima and give it to you. Starting a whole new print run for a few hundred copies of a book is not at all feasible. They would need to print lots of them to make the per unit cost worthwhile.
And this is a really jerk perspective but what about those of us who ordered in the summer? Why should our long term commitment to the game be devalued because Jan-17ers feel they deserve to get something they originally missed out on anyway? To the point of arguing that it should be made widely available to anyone for purchase just so you can be satiated despite missing the NinoStarter pre-order that was up for a couple months.
There are other ways to get it anyway (European/Australian CE) if you really want it.
Namco did more than they were legally obligated to here. If I see an advertisement for a coat and I go to the shop and find that it's sold out, the shop isn't obligated to give me another like-value coat in return. Or even to give me a cheap hat. They don't need to do anything. Namco didn't need to do anything. It could've just been "sorry, sold out." But they're offering you something for free in goodwill.
Again, it's not the ideal compensation but it's more compensation than they're obligated to give.
Namco should really only have had to fix the problem for NinoStarter customers who had "billing issues". Jan-17ers were just given the chance to pick up some excess stock. But now it's become a thing where people feel they totally deserve to have this and Namco is a terrible company for not giving it to you no matter how logistically ridiculous it is to fulfill your desire.
... I feel really bad and uncomfortable for arguing this. But this thread has really soured me on the whole thing in a different way.
EDIT:
It's a jerk thing to say but I think my 6 month NinoStarter order is more valuable than your January 17 impulse gamble of 3 copies.
But whatever. Now I feel like total scum for saying that. I guess I'm done.
It's not so simple to print. The guide is simple because that was already being re-printed. Namco will just buy them from Prima and give it to you. Starting a whole new print run for a few hundred copies of a book is not at all feasible. They would need to print lots of them to make the per unit cost worthwhile.
And this is a really jerk perspective but what about those of us who ordered in the summer? Why should our long term commitment to the game be devalued because Jan-17ers feel they deserve to get something they originally missed out on anyway? To the point of arguing that it should be made widely available to anyone for purchase just so you can be satiated despite missing the NinoStarter pre-order that was up for a couple months.
There are other ways to get it anyway (European/Australian CE) if you really want it.
Namco did more than they were legally obligated to here. If I see an advertisement for a coat and I go to the shop and find that it's sold out, the shop isn't obligated to give me another like-value coat in return. Or even to give me a cheap hat. They don't need to do anything. Namco didn't need to do anything. It could've just been "sorry, sold out." But they're offering you something for free in goodwill.
Again, it's not the ideal compensation but it's more compensation than they're obligated to give.
Namco should really only have had to fix the problem for NinoStarter customers who had "billing issues". Jan-17ers were just given the chance to pick up some excess stock. But now it's become a thing where people feel they totally deserve to have this and Namco is a terrible company for not giving it to you no matter how logistically ridiculous it is to fulfill your desire.
... I feel really bad and uncomfortable for arguing this. But this thread has really soured me on the whole thing in a different way.
EDIT:
No, but I'm sure lots of NinoStarter people care if their long term commitment is devalued because of latecomers.
It's a jerk thing to say but I think my 6 month NinoStarter order is more valuable than your January 17 impulse gamble of 3 copies.
But whatever. Now I feel like total scum for saying that. I guess I'm done.
zeopower6
Member
I think someone probably just removed the access to the links because people kept complaining about it, haha.
http://store.namcobandaigames.com/s...=UQRztQoBAlYAAGYVCFcAAAAO&rests=1359246261276
You can still check it out here if you want to keep track of whether they get stock of it in the future.
rumbalumba
Banned
^lol Namco does not care about devaluing your Wiz Ed. do you actually think namco went, "oh we shouldn't print more because it wouldn't be a limited edition now, would it?" Also, it was Namco who advertised everywhere about a re-print, on twitter, facebook, etc., they even made an unboxing video of the wiz ed on youtube.
I have DLC for Ni No Kuni I want to sell. I figured I'd see if GAF wants it before I throw it on ebay. These prices are based on what I see is selling on ebay. I also put this in the Buy and Sell thread.
I have one Gold Hurly Familiar($15) and one Griffy Familiar($40) code.
I'm looking for paypal only. PM me if there's any interest.
I have one Gold Hurly Familiar($15) and one Griffy Familiar($40) code.
I'm looking for paypal only. PM me if there's any interest.
The only people really entitled to be mad are those who preordered it, got the confirmation that they were going to get it, and then had the rug pulled out from under them (regardless of when they preordered).
That said, 200+ customers diehard enough to order a niche special edition need to be taken care of, from a PR perspective if nothing else.
While it might cost them more than they'd like to order another run of them, it's going to hurt them moreso via bad press and word of mouth that they totally screwed over customers who, let's face it, are the core audience for this freaking game.
Good luck to them trying to do this kinda crap going forward, considering how pretty much all of their upcoming titles this year are in the same ballpark as Ni No Kuni (in terms of sales potential).
zeopower6
Member
Honestly, they should have been more transparent about the amount of copies in that 'restock' and also not allowed it to go on for like 3 hours before stopping. There were a lot of people who had preorders elsewhere that canceled them because of this restock and thinking they got a copy.
Cbajd5
Member
Just saying, but because they did the January 17th thing they committed to giving those people something. If they couldn't possibly fill pre-orders made as soon as the time they stated it was supposed to start they shouldn't have done it at all. If that stock was only there for/because of people who had billing issues then why would they wait to contact those people until the 24th?
It's worse because they had phone reps telling everyone they were still going to get it.
I think most people who got it aren't being considerate of those who didn't, that's my opinion. If they hadn't I'm guessing they would be so considerate unless they didn't want it in the first place.
rumbalumba
Banned
wow what a total scum. what kind of entitled jerk would think, "oh serves them right!". Namco offered a legitimate, guaranteed way of getting us a Wiz Ed, plain and simple.
rumbalumba
Banned
exactly. i already had guaranteed UK Wiz Eds and i decided to cancel all of them to get the NA Wiz Ed. too bad i should've trusted the online retailer that i've never heard of instead of ordering it from the official site of the game's publisher. now how twisted does that sound?
zeopower6
Member
I think stocks are being confused at the moment.
The January 17th thing was because they had 'extras' (probably additional ones made alongside the ones ordered in the summer) while the January 24th ones via the secret link were there for people who had billing issues and the ones who made it 'early' for the 17th. (but people were able to order those just with the link regardless of if they ordered or not)
The 'glitch' of the preorder staying open for so long was really quite the messup. I think as soon as it opened, just about everyone was pretty much screwed after that initial 2-3 minutes of people saying it was up. Rich was right in saying that it wouldn't last long.
DigitalDevil
Member
Oh, because you were so intent on getting the wizard edition. That's why you ordered it months ago during the ninostarter right? because you wanted it so desperately? Oh wait, you ordered it less than ten days ago. obviously, you have been pining for a long time and just can't live without it now.
I can only speak for myself but I was blindsided by the positive buzz this game was getting near its release. The word out of Japan from people I trust (8-4) was that the game was poorly written and it "lacked soul." Apparently the English localization fixed that so I was really interested in getting the WE upon hearing the buzz. If I had known the game would be this good I'd have been there for the Ninostarter.
I agree that eBay hoarders who ordered multiple WEs on the 17th are scum though.
I'm one of the Jan 17thers, but in my defense I'd started checking in November (I think) to see if they'd reopened orders.
I honestly think the shiftiest thing about the way this all played out is that they (they here being DR) had to know by the end of the 17th that a substantial number of people had just bought something they'd be unable to deliver. They chose to sit on that information for a week, and by the time they came clean about the situation it was too late for people to try and take advantage of any of the other limited-edition stuff out there (steelbooks, Amazon preorder DLC code, etc.) Add in that a group of people who ordered on the 24th essentially got a free pass to cut in line, and it leaves a bad taste in my mouth. Had they just cancelled my order on the 18th, I'd have been disappointed but accepting. As it is, the DR coupon just irritates me because why would I want to trust those people with my money again?
Namco isn't obligated to do anything for me, DR isn't obligated to do anything for me--they're not even obligated to do anything for the poor people who ordered last year and got screwed out of copies due to billing issues--but I do wish that their version of going above and beyond to express sincerity wasn't essentially giving me an awesome inner liner for the coat they just failed to sell me.
Some people are certainly raging way harder about this than is logical, but the strategy guide hasn't been sufficient to un-irritate me at Namco/DR.
zeopower6
Member
At least all those eBay listings (including rumbalumba's) are gone now (from that wave of orders anyway).
Even though I 'heard things' about the game, I still wanted it asap, lol. Then again, as soon as I heard about the game and the eventual PS3 edition, I WANTED IT NO MATTER WHAT. I don't think I've wanted anything on the PS3 to be localized and in my possession so much except maybe Tokyo Jungle.
rumbalumba
Banned
oh right because your desire of getting something should be measure by how much you're following a game. /sarcasm
5 months ago and ten days ago, we all paid the same $99. also, totally stupid to gauge one's interest on a product only made available for two opportunities. who are you to say i wasn't interested about the wiz ed 4 months ago? you speak as if people who bought the wiz ed 10 days ago have only heard about the game exactly 10 days ago? ever thought of people who missed the wiz ed the first time but have become very involved with the game after that and up until release? you speak as if you either heard of it 5 months ago or ten days ago. what a pathetic analogy.
Cbajd5
Member
But the stock for the 17th apparently didn't even last until the time they said it was going to start. That's a bit ridiculous.
And if it was for people with billing issues why didn't they contact them before the 17th? And if they were the same stock as those who got it on the 17th then the people on the 17th were still denied their orders for the exact same reason as those who had billing issues and couldn't resolve them before the link got out.
zeopower6
Member
Yeah, but I heard some people who ordered after the time that it started were able to get copies. -shrug-
Why didn't they contact them before the 17th? Because they're crazy and don't know how to manage things? I don't really have an answer for that but judging from the mess so far, I'd guess it's because Digital River is incompetent.
Basically, I see it as...
- they get several thousands of orders back when they were taking preorders
- they make those thousands of copies as well as a large handful of extras for gifting via giveaways/contests and an eventual 'restock' (which sold out quickly)
- a LARGE amount of the orders made back when they were initially preordered are canceled and are sitting around made but unpurchased due to payment information/whatever
That last part is where I think the extra copies from the 24th came from despite a lot of reps and emails saying that 'stock was depleted'. I feel bad for people who had payment issues because their copies were made but ended up going to -insert other person here-.
FlyingTeacup
Member
i sincerely apologise for the utter appalling behaviour of namcobandai and digital river, who denied you the ample profit off ebay.
dark_preacher
Member
Well I'm not sure what's going on with my order. I was an August ninostarter order and my order was cancelled. I called in multiple times on jan 23 as I kept ordering through reps over the phone and then immediately getting cancellation notices. I've had absolutely no updates since, but my account has been charged three seperated times. Not sure what to think.
Cbajd5
Member
And that's why Namco Bandai hasn't done enough yet, they're still insisting on using Digital River.
What does your order status look like on the website?
You're all right. I said something that I knew was wrong in the moment but posted it anyway. I let my emotions go too far and said something I should not have. I apologize.
Certain attitudes really agitated me but it's really only coming from one person and I was incorrectly grouping everyone together and arguing against the one.
Again, I apologize. This is a bad situation no matter how we look at it and if those who were wronged are unsatisfied with Namco's response, then it is fair to say neither Namco or Digital River have done enough.
rumbalumba
Banned
lol i'm not even getting any profit from it. besides, you keep bringing that up as if i lost a profit. i lost my wiz ed and my nephew's. who the hell cares what an ebay buyer missed out on? i certainly don't, so you better stop putting words into my mouth.