Okay, first I am not sure if this is even an appropriate thing to post, and if it is which forum it should be posted in. If totally inappropriate just delete, and if appropriate but wrong forum, please move.
Anyway, Steam has a promotion going for pre-orders of the new XCOM remake that if they reach a certain level of pre-orders, everyone who pre-ordered will get a free copy of Civ V. If you already have Civ V, you can gift your free copy... assuming they reach their pre-order sales goal. Details are here.
Now, I am not encouraging you to go buy XCOM, nor to use Steam over other distributors if you are already planning on buying XCOM. I am just saying that under the following circumstances, it might be something to consider:
Now, there isn't really much to discuss with that post, so now that that is out of the way I would like to use this thread to discuss the use of "free" in marketing as this was discussed last night in a certain IRC channel WHICH YOU PEOPLE NEED TO VISIT MORE OFTEN AND IS READILY AVAILABLE VIA A LINK IN MY SIG, DAG NABBIT.
I, personally, am of the opinion that it is totally fine to call the copy of Civ V free in this case because it is being offered at no additional charge to the item which you are buying. If you go to another retailer and just buy the game, you won't be getting the Civ V copy.
Another example I used was my Amazon Prime account. I have had that account since 2006 IIRC. The price has not changed in all that time, yet a year ago or so (maybe a couple of years, I forget exactly when) they added free streaming of select TV shows and movies to the benefits of Prime membership. Now, I personally view that as a free perk since 1) It's relatively new to the perks of Prime membership and 2) the price didn't go up. This was disagreed with.
Anyway, Steam has a promotion going for pre-orders of the new XCOM remake that if they reach a certain level of pre-orders, everyone who pre-ordered will get a free copy of Civ V. If you already have Civ V, you can gift your free copy... assuming they reach their pre-order sales goal. Details are here.
Now, I am not encouraging you to go buy XCOM, nor to use Steam over other distributors if you are already planning on buying XCOM. I am just saying that under the following circumstances, it might be something to consider:
- You are already planning on pre-ordering XCOM
- You already use the Steam client and rather like it
- You don't yet have Civ V or would love to spread the Civ V love
Now, there isn't really much to discuss with that post, so now that that is out of the way I would like to use this thread to discuss the use of "free" in marketing as this was discussed last night in a certain IRC channel WHICH YOU PEOPLE NEED TO VISIT MORE OFTEN AND IS READILY AVAILABLE VIA A LINK IN MY SIG, DAG NABBIT.
I, personally, am of the opinion that it is totally fine to call the copy of Civ V free in this case because it is being offered at no additional charge to the item which you are buying. If you go to another retailer and just buy the game, you won't be getting the Civ V copy.
Another example I used was my Amazon Prime account. I have had that account since 2006 IIRC. The price has not changed in all that time, yet a year ago or so (maybe a couple of years, I forget exactly when) they added free streaming of select TV shows and movies to the benefits of Prime membership. Now, I personally view that as a free perk since 1) It's relatively new to the perks of Prime membership and 2) the price didn't go up. This was disagreed with.
Ahhh, nothing like the scream of a sectoid death in the morning...
Not sure if soundtrack is too epic, or not epic enough. I think... I just might have to get a new computer now.
