WOTLK $36.99 from Newegg.com

[Tdog]

This might be better in the software section of the forums but, meh. If you haven't reserved all your copies of Wotlk already Newegg.com ('http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832127005&Tpk=wrath%20of%20the%20lich%20king') is selling them for a bit cheaper than most of the gaming stores will be. They are not charging shipping costs either apparently.

[algol]

Newegg often has games shipped for shelf price or a few bucks less. Another few bucks off if you don't have to pay tax for them. Great baseline for when there aren't any significant offers for a new game release.

[Kromtor]

Are we not going to be able to immediately upgrade online when it comes out?

[Oswyn]

Imagine 5 million people trying to download 15GB at the same time...

[moosejaw]

Agreed Fur. I prefer the digital download.

Nothing like rushing home with your multiple copies of a new release only to find out your are missing the cdkeys in a few of them. Digital upgrade has been immune to this when I have used it. When I upgraded to a full 5 accounts I got my battlechests at Best Buy. When I opened them up I was missing the vanilla wow cdkey but the bc keys were there. I did get them exchanged but it was still a hassle having to drive back to the store. There was also a bunch of pilfered cd keys from the bc only boxes. The CSR forums were full of posts about it.

[Bigfish]

Blizz doesn't want to distribute several terrabytes of expansions? I can understand that. I can't click a button to upgrade my account and install the expansion from 1 dvd on to all my computers? Makes no sense.

[Sam DeathWalker]

They don't want to undercut their retailers, same reason you can't buy cars directly from GM factory. They give some profit to the retailers in exchange for shelf space advertizing their product.

[Nachtkinder]

Ooooo....Its a really good thing I read this. I was fully planning on doing Digital Upgrades on all my accounts.

Unfortunatly NewEgg can't guarentee release day delivery to Alaska, so I guess its time for me to head to Gamestop.

[Kromtor]

god damn i hate it when MMO's force me to go out of the house

[Coltimar]

Ooooo....Its a really good thing I read this. I was fully planning on doing Digital Upgrades on all my accounts.

Unfortunatly NewEgg can't guarentee release day delivery to Alaska, so I guess its time for me to head to Gamestop.You in Alaska mate? Sweet! Where? I just moved from Bethel last December.

[moosejaw]

god damn i hate it when MMO's force me to go out of the house

I don't mind leaving the house. I hate having to make multiple trips due to some other geek stealing the cdkeys from the boxes. It happened with BC. It will happen with Wrath.

Blizz can set the same retail price for the digital download. Alas some people simply prefer to have a box and a dvd when all it will do is collect dust.

[moosejaw]

They don't want to undercut their retailers, same reason you can't buy cars directly from GM factory. They give some profit to the retailers in exchange for shelf space advertizing their product.I am sure if you offered to buy 36 cars, maybe they would let you buy direct. :D

[algol]

Imagine 5 million people trying to download 15GB at the same time...The Blizzard Downloader is a bittorrent client. It would actually be pretty fast.

[hotdogsrgross]

Heyyyy..

If you play 5 accounts, you have to buy 5 boxes? No upgrading online on 4 and buying 1 box? That sucks. I don't need 5 copies of the software :(

I'm not in any rush to be the first to omg lvl to 80. Besides....$200 for content that I wasn't really looking forward to?

[Prepared]

This might be better in the software section of the forums but, meh. If you haven't reserved all your copies of Wotlk already Newegg.com ('http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832127005&Tpk=wrath%20of%20the%20lich%20king') is selling them for a bit cheaper than most of the gaming stores will be. They are not charging shipping costs either apparently.

Thanks a LOT Tdog!!!! You saved me some money! I will probably get the copies after release day, but the way it's going, I won't be able to get into the expansion on release anway because I will more than likely be only level 67 then. Plus I found out that all of the stores in my area are selling only ONE COPY per sale. I need 40 copies! Newegg is cheaper too so I went with Newegg!

Thanks again..

[algol]

I won't be able to get into the expansion on release anway because I will more than likely be only level 67 then.I'm looking at waiting a couple months and picking it up cheaper that way, or maybe getting one copy for my old singular account. Never went in for plate-wearers before I went above dual-boxing, and it would give me an instant tank for boosting. Not a geared-out 70, but helpful.

[Farleito]

Imagine 5 million people trying to download 15GB at the same time...

I take it you've never heard of BitTorrent ('http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BitTorrent_(protocol)')?

[Tdog]

This might be better in the software section of the forums but, meh. If you haven't reserved all your copies of Wotlk already Newegg.com ('http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832127005&Tpk=wrath%20of%20the%20lich%20king') is selling them for a bit cheaper than most of the gaming stores will be. They are not charging shipping costs either apparently.

Thanks a LOT Tdog!!!! You saved me some money! I will probably get the copies after release day, but the way it's going, I won't be able to get into the expansion on release anway because I will more than likely be only level 67 then. Plus I found out that all of the stores in my area are selling only ONE COPY per sale. I need 40 copies! Newegg is cheaper too so I went with Newegg!

Thanks again..NP. Hell I was only thinking of 5 boxers saving like $50. I wasn't even thinking that you and Sam could be saving like $400.

[Haruko]

I would jump on this, but my younger brother works for Wal-mart in the electronics dept. I'm saving 20% on the whole purchase so 5 x CE's plus game time is gonna be a huge savings for me.

[Smoooth]

Thanks for this. I preordered 4 from them and I'm going to pick up 1 on release day from a store.

[Kulzor]

I'm just going to go to a store at 6am or so and buy them. 5am if I can get up early enough.

[heyaz]

Imagine 5 million people trying to download 15GB at the same time...

And manufacturing and shipping 5 million copies to retailers was a much easier feat....

[algol]

And manufacturing and shipping 5 million copies to retailers was a much easier feat....It's a well-worn path, regardless.

[Prepared]

I'm very happy to report that Newegg.com is AWESOME! I got all 40 boxes of Wrath of the Lich King today, the day of release at about 3pm in the afternoon!!!! They were shipped last night! At cheaper than any other place around plus getting all of them on the day of release, I'm very happy with them. I didn't have to pay for postage either!!

[Gadzooks]

Imagine 5 million people trying to download 15GB at the same time...

And manufacturing and shipping 5 million copies to retailers was a much easier feat....Manufacturing that many cds these days is not that much work - with the automated systems they have now, especially overseas, it's not that big a deal - making 5 million of them, you're probably looking at a dollar or less per box, including cd/dvd, all printed materials, and the custom imprinting for the cd-keys. I've worked on projects like that, not 5 million, but I've worked with the big boys in CD duping and box manufacturing, it's really not that big a deal.

Bandwidth for 15g, spread out over several million people? $$$$! Which is why they use Bittorrent, if they had to host servers with direct download, they'd be broke.

Me, I'll probably buy 5 copies online, get the keys, and download one installer, install one copy, set it up with all the addons and stuff - then make 4 symbolic links to it. I did that for BC. :)

[ahtremblay]

Imagine 5 million people trying to download 15GB at the same time...

And manufacturing and shipping 5 million copies to retailers was a much easier feat....Manufacturing that many cds these days is not that much work - with the automated systems they have now, especially overseas, it's not that big a deal - making 5 million of them, you're probably looking at a dollar or less per box, including cd/dvd, all printed materials, and the custom imprinting for the cd-keys. I've worked on projects like that, not 5 million, but I've worked with the big boys in CD duping and box manufacturing, it's really not that big a deal.

Bandwidth for 15g, spread out over several million people? $$$$! Which is why they use Bittorrent, if they had to host servers with direct download, they'd be broke.

Me, I'll probably buy 5 copies online, get the keys, and download one installer, install one copy, set it up with all the addons and stuff - then make 4 symbolic links to it. I did that for BC. :)'

lol, man, I'm trying to contradict you or anything, but if you think worldwide shipping of 5 million boxes of physical material is simpler than allowing direct download over bittorrent, you need help!

[algol]

lol, man, I'm trying to contradict you or anything, but if you think worldwide shipping of 5 million boxes of physical material is simpler than allowing direct download over bittorrent, you need help!Simpler, if your users are all technically competent and nothing goes wrong.

If you think that would ever happen, or that Blizzard is stupid enough to piss away massive quantities of money because you think they need help, well...Idon't know what to tell you.

[ahtremblay]

I think its rather obvious that blizzard is simply trying not to undercut its retailers (as required by contract) and desire shelf space to bring in new users. After 2-3 months, it will be upgradable online.

[Gadzooks]

Imagine 5 million people trying to download 15GB at the same time...

And manufacturing and shipping 5 million copies to retailers was a much easier feat....Manufacturing that many cds these days is not that much work - with the automated systems they have now, especially overseas, it's not that big a deal - making 5 million of them, you're probably looking at a dollar or less per box, including cd/dvd, all printed materials, and the custom imprinting for the cd-keys. I've worked on projects like that, not 5 million, but I've worked with the big boys in CD duping and box manufacturing, it's really not that big a deal.

Bandwidth for 15g, spread out over several million people? $$$$! Which is why they use Bittorrent, if they had to host servers with direct download, they'd be broke.

Me, I'll probably buy 5 copies online, get the keys, and download one installer, install one copy, set it up with all the addons and stuff - then make 4 symbolic links to it. I did that for BC. :)'

lol, man, I'm trying to contradict you or anything, but if you think worldwide shipping of 5 million boxes of physical material is simpler than allowing direct download over bittorrent, you need help!It's fine, I'm not mad - but do you know how much bandwidth is? It's not so much a "simple" decision, as it is straight up a cost issue.

One box probably cost them less than a dollar to make. The retailers pay the shipping costs.

Paying for bandwidth for 5 million copies? Who knows - but I'm betting the cost/account is more than shipping a box. Then they get to seed enough for everyone, pay for the bandwidth, and have enough left over for those who got it finished to log in...

Who knows? Maybe they could do it - but I don't know if their infrastructure could handle it, if they could afford the bandwidth, plus the stress of 5 million people hitting the seeds or their servers, then there's the impact to the bittorrent network...

[PyrostasisTDK]

Imagine 5 million people trying to download 15GB at the same time...

And manufacturing and shipping 5 million copies to retailers was a much easier feat....Manufacturing that many cds these days is not that much work - with the automated systems they have now, especially overseas, it's not that big a deal - making 5 million of them, you're probably looking at a dollar or less per box, including cd/dvd, all printed materials, and the custom imprinting for the cd-keys. I've worked on projects like that, not 5 million, but I've worked with the big boys in CD duping and box manufacturing, it's really not that big a deal.

Bandwidth for 15g, spread out over several million people? $$$$! Which is why they use Bittorrent, if they had to host servers with direct download, they'd be broke.

Me, I'll probably buy 5 copies online, get the keys, and download one installer, install one copy, set it up with all the addons and stuff - then make 4 symbolic links to it. I did that for BC. :)'

lol, man, I'm trying to contradict you or anything, but if you think worldwide shipping of 5 million boxes of physical material is simpler than allowing direct download over bittorrent, you need help!It's fine, I'm not mad - but do you know how much bandwidth is? It's not so much a "simple" decision, as it is straight up a cost issue.

One box probably cost them less than a dollar to make. The retailers pay the shipping costs.

Paying for bandwidth for 5 million copies? Who knows - but I'm betting the cost/account is more than shipping a box. Then they get to seed enough for everyone, pay for the bandwidth, and have enough left over for those who got it finished to log in...

Who knows? Maybe they could do it - but I don't know if their infrastructure could handle it, if they could afford the bandwidth, plus the stress of 5 million people hitting the seeds or their servers, then there's the impact to the bittorrent network...Blizzard wouldnt even have to do it, they could third party it out through direct2drive and steam, both would love to have the chance. D2D has sold blizzards products in the past, shame they didnt this time.

Also... you gotta understand that just because they offer the online version, doesnt mean 5 million people will use it. Hell there are still people who break into cold sweats anytime their credit card gets NEAR a pc...

I'd say at most 50% would use the download, and if they sent it out to Direct2drive they could split the bandwidth with them, on top of that blizzard always uses torrents... so no issue there either,

**Edit just to add this, there is now a digital download available straight through blizzard.