Expansion Pre-Order Bonus

Discussion in 'The Veterans' Lounge' started by Benito, Aug 28, 2019.

  1. Qbert Gallifreyan

    Nah, it isn't, since nothing you do there holds on your character. We had actual early access to the live game for that one (had to pre-order and do a few quests).
  2. Xianzu_Monk_Tunare Augur

    Aside from access to Beta, there has not been anything meaningful from Pre-ordering for several years. It will not be an illusion or mount. At most, it will be a housing piece, an ornament, or something that is similarly just fluff.
  3. Tenken Augur


    Think most are just referring to the collector's/premium bonus and not actual pre-order bonus like this thread was about (me being one of them). Pre-order, if was going to be a bonus will be just another hat ornamental (beta reward) which one can assume be a pre-order reward that you already mentioned above.
  4. Corwyhn Lionheart Guild Leader, Lions of the Heart

    Havent the last few preorders been a rock garden and statues etc?
    Gyurika Godofwar likes this.
  5. Tenken Augur

    Think you get that stuff if you buy the expansion, don't think it matters if you pre-order.
  6. Tenken Augur

    Guess not :(
  7. Xianzu_Monk_Tunare Augur

    You have to go back to sometime before Premium editions were even a thing before you can find a pre-order bonus which was not fluff. The Collector's and Premium editions always include bonuses which are much more than just fluff; they regularly have Familiars, Illusions, and most especially Mounts which typically have some of the best clickies of that type in the game.
    Corwyhn Lionheart likes this.
  8. Benito EQ player since 2001.


    The last pre-order bonus illusion was the Shroud of the Bokon released with The Broken Mirror which included a Collector and Premium edition.

    https://www.everquest.com/news/last-chance-shroud-of-the-bokon-expansion-bonus

    I think several players purchased the base TBM expansion before release so as not to "miss out" on the Bokon illusion. It would be a good marketing tactic for the devs to apply for this upcoming expac.

    As for Tenken's question, there is a separate reward for Beta (referred to as Beta Reward) after collecting a requisite amount of tokens. The last cool beta reward was the Cowl of the Dreadlands Yeti from EoK. I am thankful that Ngreth didn't lock the Jann's Veil to TBL beta only.
  9. Benito EQ player since 2001.

  10. Tenken Augur

    Interesting.

    I missed out on quite a few things during my hiatus (underfoot-Hot & cotf-eok) :(.
  11. Xianzu_Monk_Tunare Augur

    Touché, I had forgotten about that one as it was pure fluff, offering nothing other than the illusion portion.

    Anymore though, they limit the illusions to something that will include a buff as well since there are limitations to how many illusions that can be used anywhere.
  12. Benito EQ player since 2001.

    An illusion is a step up from a rock garden. :p

    All expansion pre-order, collector, or premium edition illusions do not provide a buff. The only buff/illusion combos are found through key achievements (Gunthak Swabby Eyepatch, Jann's Veil). Expansion buffs are reserved for the CE/Premium mount line (Mount Blessing Taza, etc) and perhaps EoK expac bonus familiars.

    Ngreth says he is prioritizing illusions toward expansion perks so an pre-order illusion (or mount) might fall under his parameters of allowance:



  13. Xianzu_Monk_Tunare Augur

    The vast majority of the Collector's and Premium editions include at least one buff granting illusion, buff granting familiar, and buff granting mount. When there have been multiple illusions in a set, the less expensive edition tended to get one without a buff while the more expensive one got one with a buff. The ones without this are the outliers not the norm.

    The reason why illusions are unlikely to be seen as a pre-order bonus again leans toward the fact that per-orders are there for an incredibly limited time, only a few months, and many people don't know about it for far less. In many cases people do not even learn about what the bonuses are until the expansion comes out at which point it is now impossible to get. So considering the pre-order bonus has tended to be only fluff tending towards housing, making it an illusion would likely do more to antagonize people in the long run rather than encourage them to pre-purchase in the short term.
  14. Benito EQ player since 2001.


    I did not state that no expansion item provides a buff. Rather, illusions are excluded from expansion buffs. The only instance of a familiar buff was EoK's Drogan Goblin Familiar and Succulent Familiar. It is standard for mounts to grant a buff (Mount Blessing). Can you name the expansion illusions with a buff (not achievement)?


    You could apply the same reasoning to the Heritage Crate illusions so the point is moot.
  15. Corwyhn Lionheart Guild Leader, Lions of the Heart

    Hadn't thought about it that way but it does make some sense in making preorder bonuses just fluff.
  16. Benito EQ player since 2001.

    The Broken Mirror pre-order bonus was an illusion (Shroud of the Bokon).

    Daybreak has released limited edition items such as Golden Ornaments ($200) and Clockwork Ornaments ($99) - and, before that, SOE Live rewards - so Xianzu's point is null in terms of the company's marketing decisions. Furthermore, EQ2 offers an illusion (with a buff) for their pre-order bonus which is evidence of a lack of prohibition from Holly.
  17. Xianzu_Monk_Tunare Augur

    And they faced significant blow back each time they did it.
    Also, people don't generally care about ornaments.
  18. Benito EQ player since 2001.


    I didn't notice the blowback at the time. A forum search for "Shroud of the Bokon" only yields concerns for single claim and not 999 claim, and questions about illusion keyring space.

    Furthermore, Daybreak released one of the coolest illusions of all time with "Cowl of the Dreadlands Yeti" (old model Kunark Yeti) for EoK beta reward but there wasn't much fanfare at the time.
  19. yepmetoo Abazzagorath

    Pretty sure it offered protection from the zonewide debuff that you had to finish progression to otherwise remove, iirc. So not fluff.
  20. yepmetoo Abazzagorath

    Let's be serious:

    Preorder bonus - housing thing that is a block of ice (they aren't going to waste the new shaders)

    Standard edition: nothing
    Mid level edition: mount, illusion, 1 bag, random garbage no one wants
    Expensive level edition: 2nd better mount, 2nd bag, merc skin themed on velious, more random garbage no one wants
    Elyssanda and Pano like this.