One of the coolest — and most expensive — pre-launch MMO deals we’ve seen in a while is the ‘Lifetime’ membership offer for Champions Online. As the name implies, the offer allows people to play the game without fees until the MMO croaks. Like members of the Champions community, we believed the deal was good until September 1st. That’s not entirely true and it’s causing a fuss.
According to this official post, the amount of Lifetime membership subscriptions, as well as pre-launch six-month subscriptions is limited and may sell out before the September date. The limited availability was mentioned in the official announcement, but Cryptic didn’t advertise the fact, or at least make it’s nature explicit, over its Champions Web site.
Message board members are voicing their frustrations, while a few are wishing that the Lifetime memberships — less than 1,000 are left — will still be available on the day they plan to purchase it. Cryptic issued an apology on the board.
“First, we do sincerely apologize for the rather abrupt end to the promotional offers,” the message reads. “It was never our intention to spring that news on our fans or anyone else. In short, we had an allotment of special subscription packages to sell over a fixed time (ending September 1). When we began approaching the offer cap before the date cap, we had to message. Frankly, we never suspected our special offers to be so popular.”
It’s a bit of a mess and an unfortunate one for those who may miss out on the expensive deal who planned to get into it, say, in the next few days. Moral of the story? Buy now or miss out.
[via VE3D]
