Question About Upgrading Editions

[Zazzaro]

I really apologize if this has been answered but I did not see a search function so please have mercy on my soul. I'm just an excited old school gamer who wants to give some more money and sales to this wonderful dev team!!! I just purchased the Champion Edition off Green Man Gamings VIP section. I would like to upgrade this to the Royal edition when I get my next paycheck which is next Friday. The only place I see that you can upgrade editions is on steam where you can just pay the extra money for champion edition and royal edition from a hero edition base game. I don't see anywhere to just upgrade to the Royal edition from a champion edition pack. The item I really want is the strategy guide. The royal edition has it in PDF. Since I don't really see a way to only upgrade my champion edition copy to the royal edition is it better to just spend another $45 on steam and repurchase my champion edition pre order items again in order to receive the royal edition perks... Am I better off just ordering the real deal collectors edition book strategy guide off amazon (It looks beautful and so well done i think id rather have the collectors edition hardback book) Or is there a way to just pay the difference between a champion pack to royal edition outside of steam that I am not seeing??? I'd love to buy that prima collectors strategy guide separately from this website but I don not see the option to. Are these things that might be available to do after release?

 

Thank everyone in advance so much for your time and cannot wait for release in 2 weeks. This game is going to be soooo amazing its a shame I didn't know much about kickstarter while Project eternity was on there doing it's campaign. I really really hope it does extremely well so they can continue on with great expansion packs adding new content and enough money to start development on a sequel or different type of old school CRPG when the time is right. Thanks again for your time everyone especially if this question has been asked before .

[Ark Evensong]

It's possible there'll be a Champion -> Royal upgrade later on Steam (that would cost less than Hero -> Champion). The page doesn't look finished to me. Just my speculation, though.

 

That said, I'm a backer at a level that gets me the digital versions of the Strategy Guide and Collector's Book, but I went ahead and ordered the physical books as well. They look pretty great, and I'm not a big fan of reading books on my computer screen. (I do have an e-reader, and it's great, but it's just black-white, and doesn't handle PDFs very well.)

 

Note that there's two books :

• Collector's Book, 112 pages, published by Dark Horse contains mostly lore. a.k.a.: Pillars of Eternity Guidebook: Volume one
• Strategy Guide, 512 pages, published by Prima Games. a.k.a. Pillars of Eternity: Prima Official Game Guide (or Pillars of Eternity Collector's Edition Guide)

Yes, the names can be confusing. Make sure you note the page count and/or publisher.

There's also the Digital-Only Campaign Almanac, but that's already included in your current Champion Edition.

Edited March 14, 2015 by Ark Evensong

[eviljim]

If you just want the strategy guide, you can buy the digital version from http://www.primagames.com/games/pillars-eternity.

[Zazzaro]

Thank you both sooo much for taking the time to answer my questions even though I'm sure you have seen them asked a bunch of times. I never saw the page that allows for the $9.99 strategy guide digital download. However, I've been looking forward to this game soooo much and since you cannot really seem to order the collectors edition hardback book from obsidian themselves (when you try to buy it offers you to go to amazon or gamespot) I will probably just order the hardback version off amazon. So thanks again for being patient, not flaming me or talking down to me telling me to look around the forums/Internet and just answering with the information I needed. That hardback edition just looks sooo amazing and I want to help add contributing buying Pillars of Eternity related stuff so hopefully people take notice that there is still a high demand for quality games from this genre and game Devs so we can hopefully get more of them down the road... Without corporate or publisher interference compromising the main vision of the game or rushing it out the door sooner than the game is ready. I'm actually glad there are no romance options in this game because I'm sure the writers would have an idea or two... But then would have to shoe horn other romance options into the story just to try and include everyone's preference that just end up turning out as cheap additional story lines that don't make much sense and you as the player know they are just there to avoid any sort of backlash.

 

Now I just have to hope that my hardcover Strategy Guide along with steam product Pillars of Eternity game code arrives into my Green Man Gaming Account a day or two before March 26th so I can get the game pre loaded and ready for the massive adventure the second It goes live. Also hope my amazon order for the Hardcover Collectors Edition Guide Arrives a day or two early and def no later than March 26th. I'm really sorry everyone, having grown up playing these CRPGs and having a wife now so it's ok for me to stay home and no life a video game for a couple weeks has me so damn excited to dive head first into Pillars of Eternity while giving as much financial support as I can. I feel a little terrible buying the Champion Edition off the VIP section of Green Man Gaming and not buying directly off this website so the Devs got the majority of my money, but getting the Champion Edition at the price of the Hero Edition was just too much to pass up and my wife controls our money and my allotment for PC games isn't all that much per month. That's why I was hoping I could have gotten the hardcover collectors edition of the strategy guide straight from this site but its only amazon and GameStop... And I'm def not giving gamespot a single penny of my money. So I hope the Devs get a decent portion of the strategy guide sales that amazon gets.

 

Wow... Sorry for the rambling post... It's just as you can tell I'm very excited for this game. One of my most anticipated games of recent memory. At least this kickstarter brought my attention to what exactly kickstarter is and I was able to pledge for Torment: Tides of Numenera and also support and drop close to $400 on Star Citizen (Got a F7A Hornet and Constellation ship during the original crowd funding campaign on the RSI website) I really am a true believer that this sort or crowd funding is reviving the gaming industry. Of course some kickstarted games have failed and/or not lived up to expectations.... But this group of Devs that have made solid games that I have spent 100s of hours on in the past I have no problem contributing more than a retail box copy cost of a triple a game because I know they are creating the project THEY want to create without much interference and have earned their chance to create the GAME they want... Not some junky dumbed down for the mass public having the shots called By businessmen who care more about profits than the actual quality of the game. It's why I gave $400 to Chris Roberts. Growing up playing Wing Commander and Privateer for many many hours.... I have zero issues helping fund his project in order to help him create his dream project. Is star citizen a very very ambitious project that might not deliver???? Of course. But, to Achieve big things you must be able to dream big and if any man could pull off a massive space sim like Star Citizen.. It would be Chris Roberts so personally I feel it's worth taking the risk to allow him the ability and best chance to create the game of his dreams. I really think indie type projects like Pillars of Eternity, Wasteland 2, Divinity Original Sin, Torment: Tides and the many many other crowd funded games like this are going to save the gaming industry while delivering us extremely quality titles that us the gamers want... Not watered down generic experiences and tons of sequels created to appeal to the lowest common denominator mass audience in order to cover the dev costs for these AAA games and make profits.

 

TLDR: Indie Games will save the industry, I think it is fantastic we can say screw the corporate suits and fund the Devs directly in order to help them create the games they actually WANT to make and the majority of us WANT to play. I will def help fund whatever project Black Isle Studios/Obsidian Entertainment wants to make next if they take it back to kickstarter or any other crowd funding source to show my support and have a chance to get all the cool swag that comes from the different backer reward tiers.... And last but not least I hope my collectors edition strategy guide and steam code from Green Man Gaming arrive a day or two before March 26th so I can be preloaded and ready to go when the game unlocks (we all know character creation for these games take around an hour at least lol. I can't even remember how long it took me to put together my Wasteland 2 party) and ill have had a day or two to read the intro pages of the strategy guide.

 

If I did miss something and there is a way to order the official hardback strategy guide from this site and not be redirected to amazon or gamespot... please Please PLEASE let me know so the Devs get the majority of my money and support. Again so sorry about the rambling but as a 34 year old who grew up playing/enjoying/and getting completely lost within the fantastic worlds and stories of all those great CRPGs from the past... I am about to explode from anticipation and excitement like many of the other people on this forum who have been here for months/years longer. Happy Adventuring Everyone and one last time if anyone knows how I can order the hardback collectors edition Strategy Guide from Obsidian themselves, def let me know. Ill wait another couple days before ordering off amazon if I have to.

[Cantousent]

lol I blame spambots for the fact that new members have a probation period of being on moderated status! It *was* a little long, and I've never made a long post myself of course :Cant's whistling while looking at the ceiling icon:, but I agree about the crowdfunding. I pledged to ToN based on this one. ...And I loved Wasteland 2, which I got free for pledging to PoE. I'm already satisfied with kickstarter. In fact, I'm backing Seven Dragon's Saga also. I don't have the cash to back everything, and I'm saving a bit of a reserve just in case Obsidz does another one. I have to admit that while I'm a fanboy, I'm not rabid enough to pledge until after I've seen what they do with PoE, but if I enjoy it as much as I hope, then I'll back the next one also.

[PBJam]

well I initially ordered the champion edition from GoG and then decided I want the Royal Edition so I had them refund my order as store credit and I bought the Royal Edition instead.

 

You can try contacting GmG support to see if they'll do the same or if they have some other way of upgrading

Edited March 15, 2015 by PBJam

[Zazzaro]

well I initially ordered the champion edition from GoG and then decided I want the Royal Edition so I had them refund my order as store credit and I bought the Royal Edition instead.

 

You can try contacting GmG support to see if they'll do the same or if they have some other way of upgrading

Hmm that is actually not a bad idea, but I think I'm just going to stick with the Championship edition and purchase the hardback strategy guide.

[Zazzaro]

lol I blame spambots for the fact that new members have a probation period of being on moderated status! It *was* a little long, and I've never made a long post myself of course :Cant's whistling while looking at the ceiling icon:, but I agree about the crowdfunding. I pledged to ToN based on this one. ...And I loved Wasteland 2, which I got free for pledging to PoE. I'm already satisfied with kickstarter. In fact, I'm backing Seven Dragon's Saga also. I don't have the cash to back everything, and I'm saving a bit of a reserve just in case Obsidz does another one. I have to admit that while I'm a fanboy, I'm not rabid enough to pledge until after I've seen what they do with PoE, but if I enjoy it as much as I hope, then I'll back the next one also.

Yeah and that's the problem, some Devs & Companies have just jumped on the kickstarter train just to take advantage of the trend and have huge project mismanagement so they run out of funding well short of a finished game. While I love the kickstarter/crowd funding thing because it allows Devs to make the games they want to make and "niche" games that the huge corporations and publishers don't think there is much interest in, it's really easy for people to take advantage of the process. But for the devs with the experience and that have their heads on straight..... It also allows the devs to create the projects they have A LOT of passion for and its not just some game they are doing to bring home a paycheck which i feel also adds to the overall quality of the game.

 

This is why I will only back the Devs that I know have created quality games that I have enjoyed in the past and do some research before backing. The Black Isle guys will always get my money from here on out though unless Pillars of Eternity is just a flop of a game which I seriously doubt. I'm seriously bummed I missed the initial funding period for project eternity as I would have easily signed up for one of the backer tiers between $100-$200. The only thing I don't really like is the alpha and beta rewards. While some games (I'm a huge sucker for the zombie survival sandboxes so I like alpha access for those) it's ok, a game like PoE or Wasteland 2 you only get the story and puzzles once so I wouldn't want to burn out my excitement for the game playing unfinished/unpolished chunks of the game and would want to go into those games completely fresh. So yeah I think ill end up staying with my Champion Edition and just order the hardback strategy guide off of amazon although I wish I could just order it directly from this site. Ill just have to keep my eyes open and back the next project they have if they use crowdfunding.

 

Again, this is all why I gave Chris Roberts and Star Citizen around $400. Am I a bit worried that the scope of Star Citizen is absolutely huge and it would be one hell of an incredible feat for them to pull off.... DEFINITELY!!!! But I grew up loving Chris Roberts games and I'm more than willing to donate to him and his team in order to help him create his dream project while allowing him and his team the ability to keep Corporate greed and money being the bottom line completely out of the project. If the Black Isle guys next project has some massive scope and ideas and they went for crowd funding to keep away the suits.... I'd throw a bunch of money at these guys too. Thank you everyone for reading my walls of text.... As I said before as a 34 year old who is married and locked into a job, the rebirth of all these old school games I played during my youth by basically the same Dev teams with modern graphics and engines is just an absolute dream come true and I'm just excited and rambling so thanks for allowing me to share my thoughts here.

 

Here's to a huge and successful launch for Pillars of Eternity that allows for expansions, sequels and new IPs from the team while allowing them to stay free from the suits and the dumbing down of their games to appeal to the biggest audience for max profits. HERE HERE!!!!

 

Oh and one more thing... If any of you Devs have a spare hardback strategy guide laying around the office, send me a PM. I'd rather you all and Prima get the entire cut of my purchase over amazon or gamespot getting a cut of the profits. Ok, that does it for my wall of text posts, my posts will be shorter from here on out. Thanks for having me here and I promise to keep the epic worded posts down . Cannot believe we are only 12 days away!

Edited March 16, 2015 by Zazzaro

[Cantousent]

Don't kick yourself.  I only heard about the Project Eternity kickstarter because of a dear friend who had it on his facebook page.  I'd been absent from the boards for a long time at that point.

[Zazzaro]

Don't kick yourself.  I only heard about the Project Eternity kickstarter because of a dear friend who had it on his facebook page.  I'd been absent from the boards for a long time at that point.

Well it makes it easier not to freak out over it considering they quadrupled the money they were asking for. It would have been nice to get the nice backer extras.... But oh well next time ill be ready. Even though I probably won't even use the strategy guide, it just looks like such a nice package and if I do get stuck or need a nudge in the right direction id much rather refer to that awesome looking guide than the Internet or the .pdf file but that is just me.

[Cantousent]

EDIT:  Under advisement of council, apparently my offer was premature.  I need to make sure of the forum guidelines.  lol Anyhow, good luck in your endeavor, Zazz.

[Zazzaro]

EDIT: Under advisement of council, apparently my offer was premature. I need to make sure of the forum guidelines. lol Anyhow, good luck in your endeavor, Zazz.

Well I guess no harm no foul because I did not see your offer so not sure what forum guidelines you violated but thanks for trying and whatever you had to edit anyways lol. What I do see is that amazon and Barnes & Noble have the guide for around $28 BUT there is no in store pickup option. That's an obvious for amazon but I have a Barnes & Noble near me so not quite sure why I can't pre order now and pick it up on the 26th. I live up in Lake Tahoe so Barnes & Noble and Gamestop are about a 40 minute drive to Reno or Carson City so id much rather pre order online now and pickup the 26th. Of course GameStop has is for pre order online and in store pickup (just about as close to me as the Barnes & Noble) but its $39.99. I wonder if they do price match? I think I'd rather pre order the guide and go pick it up on the 26th so I actually have it when I'm launching the game rather than waiting a day or two for it arrive via amazon. Hmmm decisions decisions. This will be the first strategy guide I have purchased in decades (I think Final Fantasy 11 and the first World of Warcraft Guide are the last two strategy guides I have purchased way back in 2004) but again I'd rather show support to the Devs and purchase anything Pillars of Eternity related rather than just pull up gamefaqs or google any questions I might have.

Edited March 16, 2015 by Zazzaro

[Jotra]

You write a lot!   It's awesome to see people like you (and me) so excited about PoE. Too bad you missed the KS they had some pretty awesome rewards available. It is almost certain though that it won't be the last kickstarter project for Obsidian. Next one might even happen relatively soon after PoE, and I would be really surprised even there wasn't one this year at some point at least. They actually teased us about a new KS like a year ago, but I guess that is still under development.

 

To answer your original question they usually offer option to upgrade your order on Steam after the release. Paradox (the publisher) is pretty good at taking advantage of this like that. So hopefully they will offer an option to do it with PoE at some point too.

[Zazzaro]

You write a lot! It's awesome to see people like you (and me) so excited about PoE. Too bad you missed the KS they had some pretty awesome rewards available. It is almost certain though that it won't be the last kickstarter project for Obsidian. Next one might even happen relatively soon after PoE, and I would be really surprised even there wasn't one this year at some point at least. They actually teased us about a new KS like a year ago, but I guess that is still under development.

 

To answer your original question they usually offer option to upgrade your order on Steam after the release. Paradox (the publisher) is pretty good at taking advantage of this like that. So hopefully they will offer an option to do it with PoE at some point too.

Well technically you already can upgrade on steam. But its mainly for if you have the Hero edition you can upgrade to the other two editions. Im good though id rather have the actual hardback copies of the other items rather than pdfs. Thanks for responding. Also i can type a lot because i type really fast lol.

[Kaldaien]

Don't feel too bad, I bought the $140 Boxed Collector's Edition and all I got was this

 

• Pillars of Eternity T-Shirt.

Well, actually I got a couple of other things like a mouse pad too... but despite paying a premium for a physical box, I did not get a physical art book. I will have to buy the strategy guide separately as well, I would have bought a combination physical collector's edition + strategy guide bundle had such a thing been offered during the backer period.

 

You might be better off buying a physical strategy guide anyway. I am not a fan of digital anything, it just does not make sense to me to have a digital copy of the strategy guide when the game runs fullscreen. Having a physical book that you can place on your desk while playing the game is infinitely more useful.

[Zazzaro]

Thats exactly how i feel. Id like to have the actual book. I have an Ipad mini which is super handy to go with playing games and looking up information if needed, having the map up and able to look at... But with PoE (Feel really weird using that since i have also been playing Path of Exile for quite some time) id rather get the actual hardback guide to show my support so hopefully the non gamer suits see there is a lot of interest for games like this.