A lot of you have been asking us as to what our plans are for Cataclysm updates. Well I’m sorry it took so long and here is the official announcement 🙂
- Cataclysm Updates will be included to customers who purchase from July 24th 2010 onwards or have only owned our guides for less than 6 months prior to Blizzards release of Cataclysm.
The updates will include Leveling / Dungeon / Dailies & Events Guide. - Cataclysm Dungeon Guide updates will be free to all customers who own it.
- The first 500 customers who bought our Dungeon Leveling Guide during our opening special will receive all updates for Cataclysm for free, (Dailies & Events guides will be included).
- Cataclysm updates to all Bonus Guides will be free to all customers who own it.
- Customers who have purchased our guide before November 2008 would have inherited our Lifetime Update** promise and they will receive a free update to the Cataclysm Leveling Guide and any future expansions.
- An update fee for Leveling and Dailies & Events Guide Cataclysm content will be required for all other customers that didn’t fit any of the criteria above.
- Cost will be $20 for a single guide or $30 for both guides (upgrade fee will cover both Alliance & Horde)
** We used to offer Lifetime Update promise in the past however this offer was removed at the end of November 2008 and we will honor that promise for all customers who purchased our Leveling guide before November 2008.
FAQ
- What updates will I get for free if I didn’t fit any of the criteria above? ( Recently purchased or within 6 month grace period, Inherit lifetime update for Leveling guide, or First 500 Dungeon Guide customer)
- Updates to Dugi’s Guide Viewer addon are always free.
- Updates for Level 1-80 content are free ensure that all Classic, Burning Crusade and Wrath of the Lich King content will work for you.
- Updates to all Bonus Guide that you currently own are free when they are ready.
- What will Cataclysm updates fee cover?
Leveling Guide update fee will cover new Worgen and Goblin starting zone and the newLevel 80-85 zones.
Dailies & Events Guide update fee will cover level 85 Dailies & Events guide - I purchased my guide after November 2008 and it says LIFETIME in the members area, doesn’t this mean I will get lifetime updates ?
This is a definition required by our Membership system so that your account would never expire and you will be able to access the product that you have purchased for life. This does not imply that you’re entitled to free lifetime updates as you would have only seen this message AFTER your purchased. please refer to the original sales page for the complete description of what you have purchased. - When will the Cataclysm updates be released ?
Close to the release of Cataclysm expansion itself, our goal is to complete the Leveling and Dungeon guide first and get you ready just before Cataclysm is released. Then we will release the updates for Dailies guide a little later. - The update fee cover both Alliance & Horde and I only play eg. Alliance will there be a cheaper option for single side faction?
No sorry we will only offer the 1 price, think of it as a Bonus.. (ie. Update fee for Alliance will come with Horde update as bonus and vice versa) - When will the Bonus Guides be updated?
Our main focus is to complete the 3 paid in-game guides updated first and have them running smoothly 100% , then we will update the Bonus Guides as soon as we can. We hope to get them done within the first couple of month of Cataclysm. - So if I purchase your guide right now I am 100% covered for Cataclysm?
Correct 🙂
I hope this clear things up, if you have any more question regarding our Cataclysm update or anything else don’t hesitate to post your question in the comment section below.
-Dugi
100 replies to "Cataclysm Update Announcement"
This is something from Feb 2009 and the total cost at the time would have been $94 USD. And you would have also received a ton of special offer between then and now.
1. Dailys & Events opening special (cheaper price + free guide you could have got free horde guide)
2. We added in-game talent guide for free, Video tutorials for Dailies & Events guide for free to all members.
3. WoWAuctionMastery special (cheaper price + free dugis guide of your choice) you could have got the dailies got for free.
4. MassiveWoWGold guide special (chaper price + free dugis guide or free in-game pet)
5. Christmas Gift & Special (You had the chance of getting WoWAuctionMastery guide free for just being online no purchase required)
6. Continous updates to the Leveling Guides for free, we even added new zones for free.
7. Re-opening special after we release our new Addon special upgrade price, to which we consult with each customer that contacted us individually aswell and gave everyone the best deal possible according to which guide they have.
8. Dungeon Guide opening, special cheaper upgrade price again for ‘members only’ with the addition of free Cataclysm update.
9. And now we offer cataclysm update deal where 1-80 updates is completely free, and a completely reasonable update price.
After the Zygor / TourGuide debacle I really think we have proven ourselves that we will never let our old customers down no matter what the cost. We are being consistent by treating new customers the same old customers by offering them a good deal.
So did you took advantage of any our offer and giveaways ?
did you do your part as a old loyal customer and support us?
why won’t you support us now?
have your view changed because we are trying to be fair to new customers?
I just want to say thanks for all the work on these guides and continual work unlike some of the good ones of the past (brian’s, Joanne’s) and looking forward to what Cata may bring and future guides.
Still currently having fun leveling as a pally tank using the dungeon guide fun stuff
Wow what a joke! My post got deleted, I guess DugisGuide doesn’t like criticism.
We delete non-constructive post not criticism. Cristisms are helpful with providing some valid points and concerns unlike your post.
I wouldn’t exactly be proud to have posted something that was either too rude or irrelevant to warrant deletion. My advice is to look at what you wrote and try to rephrase it in terms of a constructive question or comment. If it can’t be done, well, that should tell you something.
Hi UltimateWOWGuide.
Let me just start by saying that I like you guides very much, and I will have no problem in buying an upgrade to the CAT expansion, but what I would like to know is how you find out if you where among the first 500 to buy the dungeon guide and then automatically qualify fot the free upgrade?
Best regards
Steffen.
it will say in the members area under “Your Subscription”
I purchased your guide a week ago, and because i have not waited an extra week i will have to pay extra when cata comes out is that correct?
You will likely fall under the 6 months grace period.
I only purchsed a short time ago,
In my opinion I have well used the program.
I am able to accomplish things that I could not have had the time to do.
My benefit continues and I want Dugi’s Benefit to continue.
I can only imagine the hours of playing wow he had to do…
Hey Dugi you hireing?
ChuckT
Storm in a teacup people!! If I read things correctly it will cost $30.00 if you don’t meet any criteria. Please correct me if I,m wrong. This is not bank breaking money(even for me as a very low income earner). Think about how much will we pay Blizzard for the upgrade and how much we are already paying in monthly fees to Blizzard.
dugis, I don’t know where I fet into all this, but if I have to pay for the new one I sure will, love your guide keep upthe good work.
The issue is the offer of a free upgrade to new customers, i think the lifetime debate is just muddying the waters here.
I’m afraid I agree with Emma here. If the policy to provide this upgrade to new customers free of charge is kept, I will, out of principle, no longer purchase any additional material, upgrades or otherwise. I feel it is a betrayal of those early adopters and loyal customers and a sad reflection of a policy where customer satisfaction and loyalty is put second place to profit. ( It has been proven that Customer Satisfaction is the largest benefit in driving incremental revenue growth, something I think you are in serious danger of destroying)
I honestly hope you take on board some of the comments made here today Dugi as a reflection of how your policy is viewed by your customers, and an indication of the potential damage to your revenue stream and brand reputation. There have been very few comments of support here for your current plans. These are not just idle gripes from people trying to get something for nothing. These are honest, concerened comments from people who are willing to pay for the upgrade but are feeling severely cheated by the decision to give them a less than favourable deal compared to new customers.
I will let the matter rest now, and hope you re-consider your position.
You made some good point Jim, however I think this is a confusion over our wording.
We will adjust our sales page to ensure new purchase will INCLUDE Cataclysm update rather promoting it as a FREE update, and our prices will remain the same. Just like how Blizzard released a ‘Battlechest’ pack for the same price as the original Classic on its own when it was released.
It’s not just over wording. This is my last post on the matter as I feel I will have expressed my concern over it. It just sounds dishonest, when I am pretty sure you aren’t. You have always been very responsive to customer issues (that I’ve seen). If you did exactly this same thing when BC and then WotLK came out with 0 problems..then awesome. Continue it cause it’s your business model and it works.
But the complaints you are hearing from some of us sound like they are news to you – so there is something you are doing differently with this new offer for new purchases, and it just doesn’t sound right. It sounds unfair. Sure, life isn’t fair ..blah blah…in the grand scheme of things it’s a game..blah blah. But you’ve always acted with integrity and this sounds creepy. You can bet that if the few of us (well the reasonable ones anyway) responded here, there are more folks that are grumbling about it and not saying anything. I’m expressing this concern cause of the principle here, not cause I can’t buy the new guide when it comes out. The issue is..if it’s creepy and I feel my trust as a return customer has been pushed aside – well..the guide is nice to have, but it’s not essential. I’ll make it to 85 on my own, tbh.
That’s it, not gonna argue it any more with you. Blessings to you and your family.
well, I really don’t understand the ‘dishonest’ and ‘creepy’ part when I have laid out on the table right here for us to discuss, If you’re going to question my integrity I would appreciate you elaborate further as to why otherwise it is a bit rude. I really don’t think you took the time to think about it and posted based on kneejerk feelings.
Your earlier post you state that new customers should just put up with it, pay full price and pay for an update. Well we believe this is unfair to new customers as they had less time to actually use the guide before updating, and if you can imagine the uproar of recent customers who have purchased our guide a few weeks/months before Cataclysm only to be charged again, it would be far worse than this.
We have never neglected old customers, whenever a new product is available a special cheaper price is always offered in the members area for old customers. Whenever we have a special old members also get a better deal or have everybody forgotten that?
The update fee is also priced accordingly for old customers only, if we didn’t care about old customers then we would force old customer to pay close the original price you paid for the first time.
Why don’t you compare us with other guide sellers when they released their WOTLK expansion last year.
We offer 6 months grace period for new customers, $20 update fee covers for both Alliance & Horde for old members
Guide seller 1: 3 months grace period for new customers, $20 for old members for each side ($40 for both)
Guide seller 2: $47 for 1 side.
Guide seller 3: $47 for 1 side.
I genuinely believe we are being very reasonable.
First of all, I love your guides. They have actually gotten my lazy butt to level some long ignored alts. But, I still say you have created an essentially new product and should charge existing owners of your previous version of the product an expansion fee no matter when they bought (buy) it. For example: my son just bought a game that has been out for a couple of years. An expansion for the game just came out. He still has to pay full price to “expand” his version of the game but we did get to download numerous patches and updates to the game free from the game’s website. I think I can also explain some of th frustration people are expressing: Laying a topic out for discussion is great but only if the participants feel the discussion can actually affect a change in policy. Otherwise it is so much dust in the wind. No matter what you eventually decide I will buy Cataclysm, and I will buy your guide to help navigate my way through it as efficiently as possible. Thanks for a great product(s).
I see you’ve been deleting a lot of the negative comments Dave, shame on you.
No I have only deleted your comments, try to contribute to the discussion.
I’m pretty shore you’ve deleted a few others as well, but I could be wrong.
Dugi, “Classic, Burning Crusade and Wrath of the Lich King” not cata, i were promised a 1-80 lifetime. since the new areas are level one and up?
1-60 is the new Classic… IT IS included
* Updates for Level 1-80 content
Ok, I gotta say as a customer I’m a bit bummed that Dugi won’t be offering free updates to everyone but as a businessman I can totally understand. Cataclysm is going to require some serious work on not only Dugi’s part but his staff as well and its going to cost money. In order to provide you with the best possible product it is going to require a little bit of a fee on your part.
And just in case anyone is wondering, I bought my guide in February 2009 so I will not be getting a free update. I will have to pay like anyone else 😀
Dugi, Cheers mate and keep up the great work! (I’m an affiliate and I will continue to promote your products over Zygor any day of the week)
The guide aint the issue, its the lifetime 1-80 offer that a lot of ppl bought.
How is this an issue?? did you read the Faq?
FAQ
1. What updates will I get for free if I didn’t fit any of the criteria above? ( Recently purchased or within 6 month grace period, Inherit lifetime update for Leveling guide, or First 500 Dungeon Guide customer)
* Updates to Dugi’s Guide Viewer addon are always free.
* Updates for Level 1-80 content are free ensure that all Classic, Burning Crusade and Wrath of the Lich King content will work for you.
* Updates to all Bonus Guide that you currently own are free when they are ready.
This comment made get deleted but I’m still making it. Can you people do anything besides complain? Why must you be complete ******* because you can’t understand the policies set forth when you buy a product? While I would agree that levels 81-85 are the true upgrade and that’s what we should only paying to upgrade. However, the ENTIRE continent of Azeroth is receiving a new look. Which entails creating new paths for all the guides. Since they don’t create themselves Dugi has to take the time to create those. Are you telling me he doesn’t deserve compensation for his time? Next time your boss needs you to do something (of course I’m taking a huge leap here assuming you have a job) tell him/her to take you off the clock while you do it. In fact tell him/her to take you off his/her payroll and they you’re going to work from him absolutely FREE! And remember, only YOU can prevent ********!
I totally agree. Dugi’s Guide development team worked hard to produce a product and the mistake being made is offering it without some charge to anyone at all…
What are you talking about Costa? Nobody here is complaining about having to pay for it, we’re complaining about the fact that new customers get it free. Not only that, but Dave is calling this an update and promises on his site that updates are free for life. What you said above Costa is irrelevant, a promis is a promis.
or a promise JK
And i for got to comment on the catalysm part, yes Blizzard Entertainment has cata, as an upgrade, but we arent talking Blizzard’s products are we?
We are talking leveling guides brought to you by our fine team at ultimatewowguide.com
And they offer a program with a lifetime offer.
Dugi , one of the reasons I bought your guide was because the FREE LIFETIME updates like it is in your site. So I really don’t know what to think now because i read one thing and you tell me another one.
Thanks in advance,
I agree. I bought mine in 2009 and it said free life time updates via an email i got from dugi. I bought it and now those who bought before 2008 will get cata for free… Im feeling tricked… (im not zygor)
This is incorrect, we have only offer Lifetime updates prior November 2008, we kept our records. I don’t know how you came to the conclusion that we offer lifetime updates before you purchased.
In Dugi’s defense here. We need to be clear on the difference between an “update” and an “Upgrade”. An update refers to maintenance of an existing product as what we get with bug fixes and point release updates. An upgrade is generally a new product or new funtionality. Cataclysm is not an update, it is an upgrade. I would not expect any viable business to give Free Lifetime Upgrades as this severly restricts growth and revenue. To give you a comparison, Microsoft provide “Lifetime” updates of their products, hence why OS service packs are free, however just becuase you bought Windows Vista, you are not entitled to an Free upgrade to Windows 7.
Dugi is not doing anything untoward or wrong by charging for a product “upgrade” and does not go against the promise to provide lifetime “updates”.
”An upgrade is generally a new product or new funtionality” Its still the same program i assume, and same functionality just with new cords and quest. I would call this an update
Hi Jim,
Yes there is a difference on an upgrade and an update.
But! Customers like me bought a lifetime leveling guide 1-80
So i dont really care about the 80-85 side of it, i care about the 1-80 lifetime offer.
That will include the new starting places for alliances or horde, as it is a 1-80 lifetime offer.
If not whats the point of bying a life time offer, back in feb. 2009 (when i started)
If Dugi wishes to make an ”upgrade” from 1-85 fair by me, but that said there is the little 1-80 in between.
If you but a zippo ligther you get a lifetime offer on it, so if anything happens to it, you get it replaced for free, but if you want to upgrade it you have to pay for a new one.
The update is withing improvement of the product so that it still will work for the intension of when you first bought it.
That said, i bought a lifetime 1-80 product, and adding other zones to it is therfor considered as an update, not an upgrade.
If i want the last 5 levels as an upgrade of a fine product i will buy an upgrade.
Very well put and absolutely correct. Unless the new guides are offeing new programing to enhance the use and application of the guide only the Cataclysm material is actually an “upgrade” or more accurately an expansion. The other 1-80 material if changed to adapt and remain viable with Blizzard game changes other than the introduction of expanded material would be defined as an update. I am more than willing to pay for expansion material but updates were represented as being “free lifetime updates”.
That is a fair point, and a view I had not considered. Its a faction based 1-80 guide therefore the new starting areas should be included as an update as its a faction update. I still think charging for any new content for the new 80-85 level cap quests would be fair.
It wasn’t what attracted me; product producers always find a loophole or reason around around their “lifetime” offers…
What loophole are we talking about ? we are honoring our lifetime update promise to customers who purchased our guide in 2008. We have never offered it pass that. Who is really the one trying to find a loophole…
My aren’t we touchy? I was saying why “lifetime” offers don’t influence me in a purchase, not you in particular. I didn’t purchase your product because you offered a lifetime option. You seem to be trying to “one up” in your responses. You may find you clever yourself out of a whole lot of customers. If you bother to read my comments, you’ll see I don’t think anyone should get the new expansion of the guide for Cataclysm for free. So who is looking for a loophole indeed? This all too fun…
That response is only for your loophole comment above… and not your all your post as a whole.
i agree with dave and jim and think the incentive for new and existing customers should be the same. I also agree that you need to make money from this, but it seems like you are forgetting your old customers in favour of new ones. Everyone who has purchased in the past and the future will have paid the same ammount, so why should newwer customers get a better bite of the cherry. If you offer it free to new customers, you should offer it free to all, that is good business, because a lot of your customers join through word of mouth. If older customers are left out, they are less likely to refer others.
Well by this logic.. we can never have any discount ‘sale’ or bonus incentive for new customer, then how do we run a business?
Have you ever gone to a store to buy something then you see the same item reduced at half price a month later because its about to be replaced with a new better stock item?
Do you go back to the store and say hey you can’t do this because I bought this item full price a month ago and I have recommended my friend to go to your store, you should treat all your customer consistently.
Our old guides will be replaced when Cataclysm arrive, its not fair for new customers to be charged full price for the old guide that will only last a few months before cataclysm then charged again for an update.
So we have to either…
1. Reduce our current price and charge an update fee for new customer or
2. Keep our current price and include cataclysm update to new customer as part of the purchase.
and we decided to use the 2nd option.
Option 1 is fairest.
i agree, option 1 is by far the best option. Option 2 is not the same as 1 morally (possibly even legally)
It is perfectly fair for a new customer to be charged full price for the guides before the launch of Cataclysm. We all were. I started playing very late into the game and didn’t get special consideration. My late start was actually the reason I wanted your guide.
I just don’t see why you think that’s not fair, but you do think it’s fair to give them the new guide for free, and no concession for your old loyal customers? I just don’t understand that. Since you are citing business standards, it’s just stupid to drive away repeat customers in favor of new ones. Repeat customers recommend you with a kind of advertising you just can’t buy.
Its same thing the, if the cost of the update is $20 then we will drop our price by $20. Total price paid for old and new customer is the same.
WoW….that is all I can say, guys have you ever ran a business? Honestly I can tell you have not. I will give you an example of how business attain new customers. Dish Network, DIRECTV, Cox Cable, Time Warner Cable, Suddenlink, ComCast, AT&T U-Verse, Verizon FIOS and so forth as you can tell this deals with the digital providers of video to homes. They attract new customers get (this type of package for X amount of money for a certain amount of period, get X amount of receivers in your home standard, high def, whole home connect…ect…ect..)it pulls in the new customers to increase business. So the new customers seem to be making out big time while old customers are paying the same. Remember older customers had a discount most likely because I know when I purchase with Dugi I got a discount off my purchase, which in turn made me from a new customer who was very satisfied on his purchase and after the 60 days I decided to keep it which if I did not like it I would of been fully refunded.
If you look at the criteria he posted:
# Cataclysm Updates will be included to customers who purchase from today onwards or have only owned our guides for less than 6 months prior to Blizzards release of Cataclysm. (I do beleive he mentioned this in the guide for the purchase. Cataclysm is not in affect with WoW at this time so to let his new customers know this will be included with purchase, trust me if he sold the guide and told a new customer they will have to pay an upgrade to get the Cataclysm nobody will purchase it.)
# Cataclysm Dungeon Guide updates will be free to all customers who own it. (This is the same disclaimer like with the old guide you own it Dugi will upgrade that type of guide, which in turn you have to understand the guide is changing because WoW is changing so ones who do not fit the criteria will have to pay a small upgrade fee if they want to continue to use the guide)
# The first 500 customers who bought our Dungeon Leveling Guide during our opening special will receive all updates for Cataclysm for free, (Dailies & Events guides will be included). (Well this was an offer for the Dungeon Leveling Guide which then he offered if you were one of the first 500 customers on purchasing this type of guide you will get the Cataclysm for free and guess what he was still offering that guide for 2 weeks from launch, because I was still getting the emails on it and it was on the site.)
# Cataclysm updates to all Bonus Guides will be free to all customers who own it. (Again another disclaimer that it you have Cataclysm it will upgrade the Bonus Guides that come with it.)
# Customers who have purchased our guide before November 2008 would have inherited our Lifetime Update** promise and they will receive a free update to the Cataclysm Leveling Guide and any future expansions. (Well guess what, I meet this criteria also, I purchased my guides before this date and if you are a loyal customer like me who has been with Dugi you should have no worry because you will get he Cataclysm upgrade because you are considered “Life Time” customer. Why it changed after that Dugi would have to answer but in most business sense terms change because of the popularity, his guide took off and it showed a future forecast of a product that sells. (Look at the market for WoW, if these side companies would play in the Stock Markets and tie in with Blizzard Entertainment their stock would go up and people would really make money.)
The overall of this is he has a product which is good, people who first purchased it before November of 2008 are safe…people after had a second change to purchase the Dungeon Guide if they were in the 500 first purchase then you are safe from any upgrade fee. The ones who just purchased the guide will get the new expansion included which is fair.
The economy changes what you buy today is not guaranteed to be the same price for tomorrow, with Dugi in the business to sell guides, and if you do not fit the criteria then sadly one would have to pay. Heck when it comes out I most likely will make a donation to Dugie for the great job he is doing, and yes I am saying this as a loyal customer.
@Krimage. You are indeed correct, I have never ran a business. However I am responsible for advising blue chip companies on how to approach marketing and TCE, albeit on a much larger scale. I advise CEO’s and CFO’s on driving multi billion dollar revenue’s so I do feel somewhat able to comment on this, despite never running a business on my own 🙂 (its ok Dugi, I’m giving you the advice for free :-P). As to the content of your post. You are absolutley 110% correct in everything you say….if you were running a business 5 years ago :-S. Your reasoning is outdated I am afraid and forward thinking companies changed their approach to focus on the “Total Customer Experience” as Incremental Revenue for existing customers can now account for upto 75-80% of total revenue sales. This is why you now see service related companies gauranteeing that existing customers will always be offered the best deal on offer, to keep loyalty and stop people leaving and using a competitors product.
@ Jim- It is good to know someone with business sense and with you handling Blue Chip corporation stocks you have a key mind on the business outlook. Yes the outlook of companies have changed over time, what could be done to keep a long term customer, and by saying this I still do not believe Dugi needs to give his new product because I feel it is not an update or upgrade, it would be considered an expansion which honestly Dugi should label the new product. The new product is not an update because he is adding to it and not changing the old. The upgrade could follow under thing because as World of Warcraft is doing is upgrading their whole environment and to play the new expansion properly the consumer will have to purchase the expansion which then will upgrade the whole new environment. Dugi guide for the Cataclysm is expanded which needs to be upgraded so it can work with the new environment change.
Remember WoW stated the old world is going to be changed, areas that were barren will have new life while other flushing lands will be in chaos…dungeons will be changed because they are going to be long gone and buried to no access. As the whole environment changes the consumer has to purchase it to interact, so the ones that are complaining they have to pay for the upgrade expansion then they need to go after Blizzard Entertainment and state to them hey I paid for this and now you are changing so I want that expansion for free. Whenever an expansion is put out the consumer has to pay for it, but if they are updating their software it is to fix things.
So all in all if I wanted to continue to use Dugi product I would not mind paying for his expansion service…..
As a fairly recent purchaser and avid user of your guides I am a bit perplexed. The simple solution to the problem is to charge existing product owners an “upgrade fee” no matter when they bought it (ala Windows X.x to 7). New purchasers pay full price no matter when they buy prior to the Cataclysm release. Everyone will be getting new guide material that you and your team worked hard to develop and you should be compensated for it. Favoring new purchasers to entice them to buy now does show a lack of appreciation for existing customers as both in the end are getting basically the same guide with the addition of the Cataclysm material not an obsolete product.
I agree that option 1 is the fairest, that was not the point i was trying to make. I do not mind if i have to pay for the update, because if it is anything like its predecessor it will be worth the fee. What i meant was that if you charge your loyal customers, who stuck by you during all your recent problems, then fairly you should charge everyone. That is the only fair option.
i agree in the main about the previous posters second comment. I dont think the issue here though is that existing customers should get a free upgrade but the issue is giving the update free to new customers who buy the exact same product that i have already bought. I think you should either remove this incentive, or as previously suggested, adopt a consistent approach and offer all those that have already bought the product being offered to new customers today the same deal.
Cataclysm Updates will be included to customers who purchase from today onwards or have only owned our guides for less than 6 months
Judging from past history, Blizzard will likely release Cataclysm around November – December so customers who recently purchased around June / July will also be covered.
i read that in your post. Not sure how that answers my concern though. It doesnt really matter when the product was purchased, those who purchased prior to your cut off will still be affected.
I have been a supporter of yours and have loved using your guide since I found it – which is just before the cutoff date. I have to agree with the other posters on this one. IDK if it’s the way you’ve worded it or what, but it sounds like newer folks get somethign special while those that have supported you and recommended you highly to friends are screwed.
Honestly? I don’t care what the industry standard is. I have supported you and recommended you. I can understand not offering the Cataclysm update for free, but this really is kind of a slap in the face.
and P.S. I’m going to be less likely to buy the Cataclysm guide (or recommend it) and more likely to take my chances leveling myself if it’s full price to long-time subscribers.
I’m afraid I disagree with Vidar. I do not find your policy fair at all for 2 reasons. Those of us that supported you and bought your guides during the troublesome relaunch, and helped/assisted with information to help debug and fix the viewer will have to pay an additional premium for the Cat update. The second reason is that those who buy the current guide from today, paying no more than I paid, will get the update for free. You are offering and incentive to new customers and making those that are already loyal pay extra. I find this most dissapointing to be honest. I understand you are in this to make money, but at least be consistent and show some loyalty to those that have been loyal to you.
It is also unfair on new customers who have just purchased the guide then have to paid an upgrade fee a few months later down the track. Compare the price today and the price you paid and it is clear that older customer also paid less , and older customer also used the guide for much longer that new customers.
Of course we appreciate our old customer support but we need paying customers to survive.
Thanks for the quick reply. I understand that revenue is key to a succesfull business. I have no problem with paying for the update, its through innovation and new feature enhancements that you drive revenue through your existing and new clients. My issue, and was probably put more appropriatly by Dave, was that I feel you are being unduly unfair to your existing clients by offering new clients something for free that loyal existing clients will need to pay for. If someone want s to buy the guide without cataclysm so close to the release date then this is their choice, and should be liable to the same rules. I am sure those people who purchased a DVD player 4 weeks before the release of Blu-Ray players didnt receive an offer to upgrade for free. Also, your point about those that have already purchased have already recived the beneift of longer use doesnt really stack up, especially when those who have used it longest of all (thove prior to Nov 2008) are also getting thefree upgrade, although I understand this is contractual, it does go against your argument. All I am asking for is consistency, either make it a cost upgrade to all, or free to all (those with current lifetime upgrade status excepted).
The price of PS3 was $1000 here when it was first released and now its around $500 as it will eventually get replaced with new products. did old customer get ripped off? no because they paid a premium to use it earlier than everyone else.
Instead of reducing our current prices progressivelly as we get closer to Cataclysm we will include the updates instead as part of the purchase, if we were to charge new customers an update fee aswell as old, then we will drop our prices to match. It will be the same thing.
Dropping the price and charging an update fee is absolutely the correct thing to do. As you quite rightly point out this is industry standard practice (as shown in your ps3 example) and is a far fairer solution to this. Artificially keeping the price of the product high and not implementing price errosion over time, purely to market something as “free” is in my opinion a dishonest practice and I am surprised this is the methodology you are adopting here (and have openly admitted to :-S )
You made some good point Jim, however I think this is a confusion over our wording.
We will adjust our sales page to ensure new purchase will INCLUDE Cataclysm update rather promoting it as a FREE update, and our prices will remain the same. Just like how Blizzard released a ‘Battlechest’ pack for the same price as the original Classic on its own when it was released.
@Dugi, I Do think you are missing the point of my concern as the battlechest example actually strengthens my position not yours :-S. I can understand why, as some people are arguing the upgrade should be free to everyone…which is not something I agree with. My position is it should not be free to anyone. This is putting you into a defensive stance and detracting from what I think is the real issue here. To take your battlechest example, Blizzard had their classic product, which they sold for an amount of money. They then released the battlechest pack. The major, and quite signifiact difference between this and what you are proposing is that they were selling the battlechest pack as a seperate product and only when it was ready to ship(sell). They did not sell the classic product 6 months before the relase of battlechest with a promise to new buyers that they would get the additional battlechest content for free when it was released. Nor do i think those that bought the classic pack alone only weeks before the battlechest release feel cheated, I expect they just chalked it up to experience. Did the sales of the classic product alone fall in the run up to battlechest? I would think the answer was probably yes and a completely natural progression where a product upgrade is about to be released and people delay their purchase until the new release. I Guess your idea here is to stave off that sales dip by saying to new customers, “hey dont worry. Buy it now and we will give you the upgrade when we release it”. This is a good policy for a “short term” fiscal gain, but is (IMHO) bad in terms of customer satisfaction (existing customers) which will affect your “long term” revenue.
Not everyone thinks the way you do Jim, I still believe the envy of new customers is without merit and a minority view and I’m willing to take that calculated risk.
1. Giving away free updates to everyone is not an option because we have to make a living to keep this guide going. (at the end of the day this is what all our customers want)
so if we were to change our policy: old customer that was in the same criteria above will still have to pay the same price, so old customers current position will not change at all.
2. From our experience the past 4 years, customers who purchase a guide close to the expansion EXPECT a free update, this is just how it is at least with the wow guides industry. Perhaps because a lot customer already conditioned to this standard with other guide vendors and we can’t change that.
If we reduce our price right now to compensate for the expansion, new customers are not going to even notice that it is because that they will have to pay for an update a few months later.
They will make the assumption that they paid the standard price at the time, and when the time comes for them to be charged an update fee it will be a shock to them. And charging them 50% more (vidar suggestion below) than old customers for the update will be an even bigger shock when they have only used their guide for a few months.
Trust me when I say it is worse for our customer relations if we were to charge everyone an update fee.
Dugi:
That is correct it is like this in any business. The whole reason for what you are doing is to attract new customers to your product. I have been a long time customer and I have also made sure I was one of the first 500 who did your last purchase to the Dungeon Level Guide.
I can see where long term customers feel they are neglected, but as a true long term loyal customer one would made sure they purchased the upgrades to qualify for this free upgrade. I know personally the Dungeon Level guide did not sell out for about 2 weeks because Dugi was still promoting it and stated to include with the first 500 the Cataclysm upgrade for free.
Trust me Dugi you are doing a fantastic job offer a great product and it really works. Well worth what I paid for.
I think Jim has a valid point. It’s all about semantics – or the wording.
If Cataclysm were a patch which merely altered or added content to the 1-80 areas then it should be given as a free update.
Cataclysm is an expansion though, with an increase to level 85, so is by no means an update.
Those customers who bought with a specific incentive which included Cataclysm updates should get it for free as part of the deal they signe dup to.
Everyone else should pay for it.
Perhaps exisitng clients could get it at a discounted price, say 50%. With all new clients having to pay the full price, although I imagine usual marketing strategy would apply to provide some early bird incentives.
Simply put; if I did not purcahse Cataclysm as an expansion, then I wouldn’t need a level 80 – 85 guide as presumably the world changes would not have happened for my account.
If I am wrong and the changes do occur for levels 80 and lower, then an update should be made reflecting those changes and included as a lvl 1 -80 update for free.
This, of course would complicate the whole thing, requiring 1 updated 1 – 80 guide and 1 new 80 – 85 guide.
You’ve stated, clarified and even altered your Cataclysm guide policy publicy. I don’t think you can please all the people all of the time. So stick to your policies and invite anyone who has a specific issue about their individual circumstances / expectation to discuss with you seperately.
At the end of the day $20 is not going to break the bank, if this were discounted to say $10 for existing customers who won’t benefit from some early bird incentive, then even better.
The other alternative is to forego the guide and go it alone – but then speed levelling or content exploration is a personal choice.
Hi Duigi, Thanks for clarifying, it makes things so much easier. I think your upgrades policy is generous, as ever, and will endear your clients to return and recommend your products.
Cheers