Friday, May 9, 2008

Crom! UPS drops a big thing from a little box.


I received my pre-order registration key for Age of Conan. Depending where you purchase it from, you get different incentive items. I ordered mine from Best Buy so Candyace will be riding a War Rhino at level 40. When I registered, I was informed I also got access to a belt that grants extra item slots for your inventory. Inventory room can be a major problem in early levels of RPG style games so it was nice to see that tossed in. Pre-orders also get a link to download the client software early and have their own launch three days earlier than the general launch date. Perhaps this will eliminate much of the opening day madness when their servers get hammered with level 1 players.
This will be the first time I've attempted to play a MMORPG anywhere near it's launch date so it should prove interesting at the very least.
After all that, the thing that stood out most for me was when UPS delivered the package: Big freaking box! After I placed the order, Best Buy sent me an email. I opened the message to grab my key, but what I got was a message letting me know my 'Bonus pre-order has shipped via UPS'. OK, they're sending me a postcard thru UPS. Instead, picture the usual Amazon sized box for say a game or DVD shipment. When I opened it, there was a box that looked like the full version of the game (7.5" x 5.5" x 1.5"). I popped that box open to find a cardboard insert commonly found in these boxes to keep manual, CD/DVD and miscellaneous advertising all bundled together and unsquashed. After removing this - I couldn't just open the dang thing - I found a piece of card stock with the game logo, a picture much like the one to the side of this post and a Thanks for Pre-ordering at Best Buy - Please go to this link and enter this pre-release key.
I have four children, I am no stranger to waste but this seems kind of excessive. According to the tracking information on the UPS site, this package weighed in at 0.218 lbs. and came all the way from good old Groveport, Ohio. Why drive/fly a quarter pound of cardboard when an email would have sufficed? I guess Best Buy will pass the savings on to me at the store level.

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