early-adoption
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The Daily Grind: Should early adoption bonuses be purchasable later?
There's a bit of a kerfluffle going on in the Star Trek Online forums at the moment. Cryptic has announced their plans to bring some items into the C-Store, and while that always triggers a fresh round of unbridled rage, the items in question have brought out even sharper divides in opinion. That's kind of understandable -- they're a laundry list of pre-order bonuses, early-adoption bonuses for lifetime subscriptions, and other bonuses used to entice players into purchasing the game sooner rather than later. Some of the players on the forums are pleased with the change -- they got these items earlier and cheaper, after all, and there's no real harm in letting others purchase them. Others are quite upset that what they had seen as a unique privilege is being distributed freely. There are always players who arrive late to a game and don't necessarily have access to the early bonuses. What do you think about making them purchasable after the fact? Does it discourage you from buying games early, does it cheapen the special qualities, or is it a fair chance for late arrivals to get some cosmetic additions?
I'm OK, You're OK: It's cool to be an early iPad adopter
The early adopter tax, along with any associated tech risks, has not escaped the notice of most tech enthusiasts. In the end, it's not much of a factor. We don't buy early because it's a good deal. We don't buy early because it's fiscally sound. We buy early because the technology is cool and we simply cannot or do not want to wait for our preciousssssss to finally come home with us. We are the People Who Stand In Line. In my case, this is a hereditary condition. I blame my father, who would bring home the latest gadgets to an adoring family. We'd gather around the latest technology, glowing in its radiance, having an utter blast using toys that no one had ever heard of, let alone bought. We were the first family on the block (and possibly in the state) to have a microwave, a fax machine (the size, may I point out, of a small car), a personal computer, or a hand-held programmable calculator. It wasn't just cool. It was awesome. Thank you Dad, for being an early adopter. Thank you for showing me the way of the technology geek. Thank you for teaching me that you have to live life in the moment -- because if you don't seize today and play with it, tomorrow will never come. Sure, something better and cheaper is always going to come along some day. Sure, the bugs will work their way out and the prices will work their way down. But if you don't hop aboard the adoption train, you're never going to get to Techsville. Me? I'm going to buy a first-day ticket and have my fun from the get-go.
