I was all set to write NCsoft a stubborn letter about how deceptive it was of them not to clearly indicate that the “Aion Prepurchase” was a download-only purchase that didn’t come with any of the physical benefits (soundtrack, figure, etc.) on the actual product page instead of a separate FAQ and that if they didn’t give me a refund, I would dispute it.  I even took screen shots to show that nowhere does it indicate on any page leading up to the completion of the order that it is a download-only purchase to submit to the credit card company, should it come to that.  In the end, I chickened out and decided that it wasn’t worth it; I like my squeaky clean credit record, it is mostly my fault for not being more thorough (prepurchase =/= preorder) and too spontaneous (although, I grudgingly admit this; all info pertaining to said product should be on the product page, not a separate link that’s not even provided on the product page), and I didn’t want my NCsoft account getting locked.

I still wanted a physical copy, though, so I went to trusty old Amazon and preordered it.  I love real world extra crap; it’s the only reason I care about collector’s editions.  In-game extra crap means nothing to me because I won’t have them anymore after the game is dead and gone, which, I hope, is tens of years from now.  Well, they mean something to me in free, microtransaction games only because the game was free in the first place.  For as much money as a collector’s edition, though, I want something I can use without having to be in the game.  No, that $10 difference in price is not enough to make up for the physical stuff, such as the figure and the soundtrack.  A soundtrack by itself would cost around $15!

So I’m ordering more Aion for $70 even though I already spent $60 on the prepurchase because I’m a stupid, obsessive collector.  I’m mad at NCsoft for not being clear about what kind of store theirs is,  but I’m madder at myself for not having realized that every game being sold off the NCsoft store is really just an account code and nothing more.