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Rasbelin
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Tampere (Tammerfors), Finland
Nov 1999
time: 07:15
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First of all I want to make clear that I think
as many apolytoners as possible should
join this coalition for a worldwide shipment
on the Civ III Limited Edition. This means
that even newbies/settlers should be
brave and type away. No-one will excute
you for that. That's a promise.
The name of this campaign will be
"The Biscuit Tin Coalition".
What a clever name! 
I think we must gather an alliance for
lifting the current restriction on supplying
non-US customers with the Civ III LE.
For more on my views and opinions, please
read the email message further down on the page.
What can each of us do?
- join "The Biscuit Tin Coalition"
- discuss about this subject on Civ III forums
on civ fansites like Apolyton CS and Civ Fanatics
- make inquiries at the forums of Infogrames
- contact Infogrames by email
Those who don't want to take part in the
more "active" action, can always give their
moral support at Ape's forums.
What have I, Rasbelin, already done?
I have just sent this inquiry to the sales
department of Infogrames:
Civ III LE not worldwide - why not?
Hi!
I'm writing on this subject, because Infogrames has
suddenly decided to let only American customers get the
opportunity to buy a copy of the Civ III Limited Edition.
Civilization fans outside the US are not able to get
the LE, nor at the local stores nor from webshops
in US. The question on many non-American customers'
lips is "why?". So I ask you at the sales department of
Infogrames US, why won't you let thousands of
fans outside the States share the joy of the LE?
As far as I know, the potential customer amount
for PC strategy games is much larger outside US.
Infogrames could make a fortune with the LE
just in Europe; not to mention the Asian market,
probably many thousand copies in the EU zone.
But you just apparently ignore us!
The American economy is going down and so is
the local confidence of the American consumers.
Wouldn't it then be much more lucrative to try
to get every single penny collected?
Many of the "true" Civilization fans have been waiting
for the release for years. But what happens just before
release? Surprise, surprise! Infogrames thinks that
some American kids deserves more than the
"civers" living in United Kingdom, Germany,
France, South Korea, Japan, Finland, Sweden, Norway,
Denmark; the list is long as Santa Claus' beard.
Is this what the gaming industry calls "listening to the
players"? Apparently it's true in your case.
This act of yours doesn't help you in anyway.
It actually increases piracy of Civ III; and this is true.
Those who don't get their LE, will likely get an illegal
copy from a black marketer.
Until this day I have suffered a financial loss on 72.97$ plus
the handling charge of a SWIFT cheque, that I have sent
to an American webstore as my payment for the Civ III LE.
This was done according to the guidelines of the store,
Amazon.com, and the agreed payment method was cheque.
Today I received an email from Amazon.com that
they can't ship a copy of the LE, because you, Infogrames,
had suddenly set this shipment limitation. Because I had
sent the SWIFT cheque already days before the release
day (30th October), I couldn't know that my cheque
would be sent in vain. That 72.97$ plus handling has
already been charged from my personal bank account,
so I have lost the money. Amazon.com suggested that
I could spend that amount of cash on something else
at their shop or then they could return it.
But I don't want to buy anything else. Even if they would
return the SWIFT cheque, I would still loose the handling
charge plus I would have to pay a refunding charge.
Not to mention that the cheque would arrive after Christmas,
or even later. So until that I would be almost 80$ poorer.
But who has caused me all this trouble? Amazon.com?
No, because they have not made the decision to
have such kind of ban. The one behind this is Infogrames.
I want an explanation to the current ban on worldwide
distribution. And I think I have the fullest right to get one.
If you for some reason wouldn't want to co-operate,
I can tell you that I will not give up.
Sincerly,
Rasmus Anderssén, Finland
Last edited by Rasbelin on 11-11-2001 at 13:46
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rdomarat
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Just FYI, all the posts talking about not shipping the LE outside of the USA aren't exactly accurate. I live in Canada and purchased the LE at my local computer store. It would be more accurate to complain that the LE is not shipping outside of North America.
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Sarcastro
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Chicago, IL
Jul 2001
time: 05:15
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quote:
The American economy is going down and so is
the local confidence of the American consumers.
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Sorry, but that's crap. $50 is not that much, and economic conditions are not bad enough to make American game fanatics shy away from buying this game. Heck, people looking forward to this game will save up for it, not decide not to buy it. That's a pretty weak part of your argument.
(As an aside, don't start thinking that your economy isn't affected by ours - if conditions get so bad that people can't afford to buy a computer game, you'd notice it in your country too. I'd go more into the effects of globalization on widely disparate economies, but this isn't really the place.)
That said, I agree with you all that it's odd that the "limited edition" isn't going to anywhere outside North America. On the one hand, that does make it more limited. On the other hand, it is strange that they're not doing it at all, since there seems to be plenty of demand for it.
One possibility: The LE probably costs more to make than the regular edition, and so even with the increased price, they might more per unit on the regular edition than on the LE, so they actually want more people to buy the regular one.
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Rasbelin
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Tampere (Tammerfors), Finland
Nov 1999
time: 07:15
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quote:
Originally posted by Sarcastro
Sorry, but that's crap. $50 is not that much, and economic conditions are not bad enough to make American game fanatics shy away from buying this game. Heck, people looking forward to this game will save up for it, not decide not to buy it. That's a pretty weak part of your argument.
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I know that, but the mass might get affected.
I'm currently speaking of the American civ fanatics,
but more of those 7-10 year old kids, who say their
parents: "Dad, could you buy me that funny looking game?"
It's true that it might be a weak point, if we consider
the real fans of the game, but for the large audience
it might even matter.
quote:
That said, I agree with you all that it's odd that the "limited edition" isn't going to anywhere outside North America. On the one hand, that does make it more limited.
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Perhaps that's why they call it Limited Edition,
even though I think Collector's Edition would have
been better.
quote:
On the other hand, it is strange that they're not doing it at all, since there seems to be plenty of demand for it.
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True. Why wouldn't a company listed on the NYSE
wan't to make maximum profits? Isn't that one
of the basics in our economy, the capitalistic one?
quote:
One possibility: The LE probably costs more to make than the regular edition, and so even with the increased price, they might more per unit on the regular edition than on the LE, so they actually want more people to buy the regular one. |
Good point, but shouldn't that extra 20$ cover the
costs? That tin can't cost more than 50 cents to manufacture,
that extra paperback could cost 5$ and making that
video is cheap; not to mention the techtree.
So the average costs are 7$ for the LE, plus the
costs of the standard Civ III distribution.
Wouldn't that make about 10$ in extra profit?
Of course it's less than that, probably just 7-8$,
but isn't that still profit?
20 000 x 7 = 140 000
If they sell 20 000 copies outside US-Canada,
it would give them a boost of 140 000$ in
earnings. And they would probably sell over 40 000
LE's outside the US-Canada zone, if they just wanted
to do so.
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Rasbelin
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Tampere (Tammerfors), Finland
Nov 1999
time: 07:15
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Okay, time for a briefing.
First of all no-one has still wanted to
take part in the campaign in a more active
way. At least there has been no questions
on what kind of help could be given, neither
has anyone reported on mailings to Infogrames.
So am I the only one who's active? 
Then a good news. I received this email
from Amazon.com today:
Greetings from Amazon.com!
Just a note to let you know that we received your check(s) today. We will begin processing your order immediately. On the date of shipment, you should receive an e-mail message confirming the date, method, and contents of your shipment.
Please do not hesitate to contact us should you have any questions, and thanks for shopping at Amazon.com!
Best regards,
Customer Service
Amazon.com
So it looks like something might happen, but it's
still unknown, because the item page still hasn't been
changed.
The third announcement is that I have recently
sent a request for information about international
LE shipments to Amazon.com. I'll post their reply here,
as soon as I get. Until that I suggest that you read
the mailing.
Hi!
I have received an e-mail message stating that my payment of the order has been received and accepted by you. But the problem is that I don't know if you will ship me the PC game that I have ordered, because there's a remark at the item page of Civ III LE; the game will only be shipped inside US. If I have done and paid my order with a SWIFT cheque before you set that limitation on the shipment conditions. Does this mean that I will not receive my order, even if I have already paid for it? Or are you going to ship the game to everyone who has preordered the game before the change was made, and that have already paid for they order? Or are you going to do an exceptation with me, and ship the Civ III LE to me, because you have already received my SWIFT cheque, and let the others who have choosed credit card as their payment not get their copy? I'm asking this also at the behalf of "The Bisquit Tin Coalition", the campaign for a worldwide release and shipment right to non US customers to get their Civ III LE. For more information on the campaign, please visit www.the-bisquit-tin-coalition.cjb.net. I would also like to know if Infogrames, the distributor of Civ III, has set this limitation or is it one set by you, Amazon.com?
Thanks for the information in advance!
Rasmus Anderssén, The Bisquit Tin Coalition
Hopefully Amazon.com wil reveal the reason for
this ban and who's behind it. Until that I suggest
that someone would send a new inquiry to Infogrames.
Now let's just hope it's true that this ban might
be just temporary. At least the information at EBgames.com
gives that kind of hint.
Last edited by Rasbelin on 01-11-2001 at 22:03
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Kautilya
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St Louis, MO
Feb 2000
time: 23:15
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The absense of LE is really not worth bothering about.
As I have noted elsewhere the contents of the LE are completely useless. Not even worth one dollar combined.
The tin is OK but not worth 10-15 dollars to me. I guess for some people it is. But be sure to realize that it is the only thing you will be getting.
Even I thought the tin was worth the price I still wouldn't buy LE because of the attitude it reveals from Infrogames/Firaxis when they produce such shoddy stuff inside.
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31-10-2001 21:48
) they will send it to people who ordered the LE before they knew it wouldn't ship to their country? 
(Oh yes just for that derogatory comment I hope it never ships over seas to whatever 3rd world nation you live in)
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